Author's notes/Disclaimer: Chapter 20. Woohoo! I created the Knights and this story while Naoko Takeuchi owns everything else. And isn't it ironic that this chapter is published on Raye's birthday? Anyway, on with the story...

Chapter XX: Friends and Enemies.

Ext. Hiwaka View Apartments, Cherry Hill, Tokyo - November 2nd 2002, 7:25 pm.

The air around Cherry Hill that evening was bitterly crisp, the chill of winter appearing somewhat early. At the entrance to the apartment building dressed in his best dinner suit and blue tie stood Mark, anticiapting Darien's arrival. He was seriously looking forward to this meal, although inside he was extremely nervous. It wasn't everyday that he had the opportunity to dine with his future King and Queen of Crystal Tokyo. Looking around, Mark gazed at the neon metropolis of Tokyo city centre to the south, amazed at how vast yet small the rainbow glow of the neon lights atop the tall building a few miles away. Because his room faced the Hiwaka shrine, he had never seen this view at night before, so he was amazed by the sheer wonder of the city below him.

"Hey Mark. Get in." Mark's attention diverted away from the view as he noticed that Darien in his red sports car had pulled up beside him. He was wearing a very smart dinner suit, a lot like Mark's. Mark opened the door on the passenger side and sat down in the leather seat before belting himself in.
"Hi Darien. Thanks for the lift."
"That's okay. Anyway, who would want to go on the public transport dressed in a dinner suit?" Giving a slight snigger at Darien's joke, Mark gazed out the front window as the streets of the Juuban district came into view in the distance.
"Heh. I guess so." Darien continued to smile as he switched on the radio, a random j-rock song quietly playing in the background.
"Anyway, you're from England aren't you?" As Darien turned onto the inner-city motorway, the bright street lamps above gave the interior of the car a golden glow.

"Yeah. I'm originally from Liverpool, but my family moved to Southampton when I was ten."
"Ah. So what do you think of Tokyo so far then?" Casting his eyes all over the place, Mark looked around at the various areas of the magnificent metropolis.
"Pretty good. Cherry Hill's a pretty nice area, and Tokyo just seems amazing with all the neon lights and stuff. The best thing though is the honour of meeting you guys." Smirking with modesty, Darien gave a quiet laugh.
"Hey, we're nothing special. We're just ordinary people in the end. Anyway, it's an honour to meet one of my English counterparts." Mark felt very honoured by Darien, but decided to change the subject before the conversation turned into one of nothing but ego-swelling respect for their future selves.
"Just wondering, what was it like when you first found out about the Moon Kingdom, Tuxedo Mask and everything else?" Still smiling, Darien took a few moments to think before answering.

"Well, probably the same as everyone else. It started in the autumn of 1996 with these weird dreams where I was on the moon with a beautiful blonde girl who later turned out to be Serena. About a week after that I received a crystal rose in an unmarked silk-lined box. I didn't quite know what to make of it at first, but when I found a note hidden inside the box with my transformation key written on it, I tried it out and voilá, I'm wearing a very sharp tux.

"I was kinda freaked out about it at first because there was no explanation of what was going on, but there was a small part of my mind thinking how good this might turn out to be. The day after that I met Serena for the first time, although not on the friendliest of terms. I accidently knocked into her near the arcade which made her pretty mad. I also managed to pick up her test paper, which she had failed miserably on. I kinda teased her about the low mark, which made her livid." Mark chuckled at the story of Darien and Serena.

"That night I had another one of those dreams, and I was starting to become fed up with having so many strange dreams. I was in the middle of nowhere and the voice of a woman was telling me to protect the one who calls herself Sailor Moon. My first reaction to that was to wonder if that voice had meant to say Sailor V, but when I turned on the TV in the morning the top story on the news was that a fuku-wearing superheroine rumoured to be called Sailor Moon had foiled an attack by one of the agony uncles at Tokyo 1 radio.

"After that I had seemed to gain a sixth sense. Whenever something wasn't quite right, images of Serena in trouble would flash to my head, and as soon as I could figure out where it was I tried to get there as fast as I could. Ninety-nine percent of the time I get there but there have been a few occasions in the past where I had turned up after the battle had finished. On one occcasion I completely missed a battle which was going on a few metres away because I was finishing a college report.

"Overall though, it's something very fun. I can't believe how lucky I am to be the reincarnation of the Prince of Earth. I get plenty of action whenever there's a Dark Kingdom campaign going on, I've got the Kingdom of Crystal Tokyo to look forward to and I've also got a beautiful wife-to-be. I don't think it could get much better." Turning off the motorway, Darien glanced down at the clock in the dashboard.
"Speaking of the Serena, have you popped the question to her yet?" Mark hoped he didn't seem too intrusive, but Darien simply glanced over at him for a split second before turning his attention back to the road.

"Can you keep a secret?" Mark paused, slightly surprised at Darien's question.
"Yeah." replied Mark wearily.
"I haven't actually proposed to her yet, but I've almost saved up enough for a beautiful diamond ring she's had her eye on for ages. I just need a few thousand more Yen. I'm hoping to buy it at the end of the month."
"Cool."
"I've decided that I'm gonna propose to her at the wedding of a friend of ours." Mark could probably guess who this friend was.
"Amy Mizuno?"
"Yeah, that's her. Who told you about the wedding?" Mark sighed as he looked out towards the stars, the faint red glow of the planet Mars encased within a sea of black.

"Raye did." Darien realised that he had just done what he had tried to avoid - reminding Mark of Raye. He quickly attempted to change the subject before he had the chance to accidently upset Mark further.
"Oh. So what was it like when you first found out you were the Mars Knight?" Mark glanced back towards Darien before looking out at the many rows of cars ahead of them.

"Quite a shock at first, just like everyone else. One lunchtime back in late 1996 this grey cat with a golden crescent on its head came up to me and gave me a red jewelery case with my name engraved in gold on it. before I got chance to look inside my Sailor V-obsessed friend came over to join me for lunch. When I eventually got home that day I looked inside the box I found a quite magnificent necklace with a ruby pendant.

"Just then the same cat I saw earlier had just appeared next to me and started talking. At that point I didn't know whether I was losing my marbles or not, but after a bit of explaining by the cat, who called herself Ganymede, I soon discovered that she was telling the truth. That night I had my first Silver Millenium flashback, but it only explained the general events of the night. My personal involvement didn't become clear to me until a year and a half later.

"That first dream of the Silver Millenium was also the first time I saw her..." Darien glanced worryingly at Mark, not wanting him to become upset over Raye so close to the next mission.
"Are you okay?" Mark stretched his arms before looking back at Darien with a faintly solemn look on his face.
"Yeah, I'd much prfer to talk about her anyway. Talking about her increases my confidence of bringing her back and reminds me what exactly we're fighting for." Taking Mark's belief into account, Darien decided to change the subject back to Raye, even though her capture was causing him pain inside as well.

"So when did you first find out about Raye? Was it love at first sight between you two?" Again, Mark paused for a few moments to find the right words before replying.
"Well, I think it was when we actually met for the first time in September, but I've known about her for a couple of years. The first time I saw her was the very first dream I had about the Silver Millenium when my escense was standing on the Royal Balcony looking down at the ballroom. As I looked down to the dancefloor below me, I noticed my former self entering the room hand-in-hand with an absolutely stunning maiden with long raven hair and gleaming indigo eyes. It was the events afterwards that give me nightmares." Darien glanced at Mark and sighed before turning his attention back to the road.

"I can understand. The Silver Millenium gives every senshi nightmares." Serena had already told Darien Mark's story of the Silver Millenum, so he had to be careful as to what he said.
"Well, it was nearly a year or so until I finally discovered the civilian name of her reincarnation, and even then Central were weary to give out any further information. Nothing much happened for the year after that since I had my GCSEs as well as protecting Britain to worry about, but I always kept a picture handy to remind myself of the past. I was convinced that our past lives were connected to our present lives.

"Then came the summer of '97. A very unpleasant year. Our lot were very distraught to find out that the Senshi were dying, and both the Germans and the Americans as well as ourselves were trying to pull together funds to fly to Tokyo and help you out. The battles ended before we had put together the money, which was good in a way, but it posed a new problem." A large apartment block came into view as Darien slowed down.

"What problem was that?"
"The supposed 'Big Freeze' that would allow Princess Serenity to create Crystal Tokyo had not yet occurred, and with the Princess dead the Earth could not survive this ecological disaster. The command centres of the three remaining divisions did a thorough worldwide search for any sign of the Star Seeds of the Princesses while our Pluto Knight took temporary charge of the gates of time. It took nearly three months, but it was the Germans that got the first results when they found Sailor Mercury's star seed in the Black Forest. The only problem was that because the black forest is so big, it took them a further two months of searching to find it.

"After that we stepped up our searches found what appeared to be Sailor Mars' energy signiature somewhere in the far south-east of England. We checked it out and found that her star seed was buried within the white cliffs of Dover. I decided to take personal charge of the recovery of Sailor Mars' star seed since Anna was spending the summer in Tokyo. It took us nearly two months, but we finally managed to drill a hole deep enough to get a small robot in and recover the star seed. A couple of days after that we finally got the star seed out undamaged, but something very strange happened to me when I held her glowing star seed in my own two hands..." Darien listened to Mark with genuine interest about the recovery of the star seeds.

"When I picked up the star seed, everything just froze. The other Knights were completely still, the waves of the English channel behind us stopped dead and I stopped breathing. My esscense was still moving, but everything else had just stopped. As I looked around I realised that I was out of my body even though I was still in my Knight uniform. It was increadibly weird seeing time stand still around me. I turned round, and standing right in front of me was the Princess of Mars herself, looking exactly like she did on the eve of the Silver Millenium disaster. I was very scared at the time, especially after learning about my involvement in the disaster, but she just walked closer and closer towards me.

"She stopped right in front of me and instantly wrapped her arms around me. I honestly didn't know what to make of it all, I mean a million or more thoughts were flying through my head. It was then that she whispered into my ear - 'Prince Mark. We finally meet again after all this time, my love. One thousand long years, but now I see your beautiful face once again.' - I remember every single word she said. She did not speak in English, or any other language I know of for that matter, but I somehow understood every word she said. She then moved her head back and kissed me. At that moment I felt like I had known and loved her for an eternity. When she finally broke the kiss after a long while, she whispered something else - 'I'm waiting for you Mark. Please say you'll be there for me.' - before I had the chance to say anything else I was back in my own body and I collapsed to the ground, the star seed carefully cushioned between my hands."

Darien turned the engine off just as Mark finished his story. Without realising how long he had been talking for, Mark now realised that they were in a large car park, a brightly lit apartment block shadowing them. Darien realised that he had just gained a very valuble insight into Mark and Raye, and was now certain in his mind that Mark was the man to bring Raye home. He knew that Serena would have just as good a chance of bringing back Raye, seeing as she had been one of Raye's closest friends since they first met. However, how would that affect the possible destinies of Mark and Raye if Serena saved Raye?

Serena knew herself that it would be best to let mark handle the situation when the time comes, but after hearing this story Darien would have to emphasize this point to her even further. As Darien and Mark stepped out of the car and made their way towards the apartment block, he knew that by finding out more about Mark the plans for the final battle could be edited to help him. However, he didn't want to bring up the plans in question at a humble dinner party - he had enough on his plate to worry about, including Serena's cooking.

Int. Recovery Room 1, Moon Kingdom Central Tokyo Branch - November 2nd 2002, 7:50 pm.

It had been over a week since Mina had been struck on the head by Sailor Mars, but already she had regained consciousness and was able to walk on her own two feet again. Her face still showed that she was still quite ill, being as pale as it was, but her overoptimistic personality had convinced the rest of her that she was okay. As she dropped the Sailor V Manga Raye had given to her on her Birthday onto her bed, Mina lifted the covers off herself and started stretching her arms, her torso and then her legs.

"Gotta get back into shape... Gotta be ready to help the girls..." With a look of sheer determination in her eyes, Mina stretched some more before finally standing straight. As she made her way to her temporary wardrobe and took out her orange and black running suit, a pair of white trainers and a white towel, Artemis entered the room.
"Mina! What are you doing!" Artemis disapproved of the attire Mina held in her arms.
"I'm just getting a bit of exercise before I get a shower." Artemis simply shook his head.
"You of all people should know that you should never aggrevate an injury. It'll keep you out of action for longer." Mina simply shrugged her sholders and knelt down to the white cat.
"But it's also best to exercise the unaffected muscles while you're on the road to recovery otherwise it'll take longer to get back on top form." It was useless for Artemis to try and argue - Mina had an answer for everything to do with sport and the human body.

"Just watch your head. You're very lucky Sailor Mars didn't break a hole in your skull, and you're also lucky you only got a flesh wound."
"I know Artemis. I still get headaches, but not that often. I'll be okay, trust me."
"Mina, I really can't see why you want to train now when you've got all the time in the world. You're too ill to take part in next Friday's mission, and I don't think the next mission after that will take place until December -"
"Which gives me about a month, which is virtually nothing in recovery time. David Beckham, the England soccer captain, broke his metatarsel bone about a month before the 2002 World Cup tournament. He trained long and hard on his other muscles for that month, and even though he wasn't at one hundred percent his metatarsel bone had healed and he could lead out his team. That's why training your other muscles while injured when you've only got a small timeframe is important." Artemis simply stepped aside as Mina left her room.

"And why did you use that example in particular?"
"Because David Beckham is such a hunk!" called Mina as Artemis sighed in disbelief.

Int. Chiba Residence - November 2nd 2003, 8:00 pm.

Mark was very impressed by the home of Darien and Serena. The setting of Juuban wasn't quite as beautiful as Cherry Hill, but still the apartments themselves seemed magnificent. On the outside they looked pretty well maintained and well lit and the balconies leading up had a very impressive view of South Tokyo, Cherry Hill lurking in the south east of the landscape. However, he was even more impressed by the inside of the apartment. As he took off his shoes - he knew that it was customary to take off your shoes inside a Japanese house - he looked around at the many pictures on the wall, the lamps giving them a yellow tint.

There were many pictures on the walls of the hallway, most of them pictures of Darien and Serena. However, he noticed one fairly large photo in particular. It seemed like a large group photo, yet it didn't seem like an office party or school photo. In it stood several people. Mina was leaning on the shoulder of a fairly short woman with blue hair. Serena with her arm around Darien kneeling by a pre-adolescent girl with bright pink hair, her hairstyle almost identical to Serena. Mark wondered if she was Serena's little sister.

Stood behind Serena, Darien and the pink-haired girl were Amara and Michelle, arms aournd each others' waists as they posed for the camera. Either side of them stood Hotaru and an older woman, someone who looked pretty much like Sailor Pluto. In the far left hand side stood three young men, each dressed in red suits and black shirts. Mark had no idea who these three guys were, but it was fairly obvious that the Scouts knew them. Finally to the far right of the picture stood Raye, back to back with Lita, both women making peace signs towards the camera.

That had just struck Mark. He knew that Raye and Lita were friends, but seeing the two together in the picture made him feel slightly guilty - slightly guilty about the fact he had exploded in such a fashion at Lita the week before. He now realised that he was going through was probably ten times worse for Lita. Even though he had known about Raye for nearly six years, Lita had known Raye for six years and was one of her best friends.

"We've invited a few other guests around as well. We're just waiting for Michelle and Amara now. If you'd just like to follow me." Mark quickly looked away from the photo and followed Darien into the lounge, the amber glow of the lamps givinag it a humble feel. As he saw the low table in front of him, he looked around to see who was present. Hotaru, Darien and Lita. As he knelt down at his place, butterflies invaded his stomach as Lita looked him in the eyes. She seemed slightly angry, her typical attitude towards Mark.

"I'll be back in a few moments. I've just gotta help Serena in the kitchen." As Darien left to help his girlfriend out, Mark smiled at the two women at the table.
"Good evening ladies." Hotaru, wearing a fairly long black dress, smiled back at him. Lita, dressd in a quite glamorous green dress, simply looked at Mark before slowly turning away.
"You must be Mark. I've heard a lot about you." Hotaru seemed nice enough, but he sincerely hoped that Lita hadn't been spreading lies about him.
"Indeed I am." Mark looked over towards Lita, noticing that she was still looking away. However, he noticed that she had a ratehr dejected look on her face. It was now or never.

"Lita, can I talk to you in private please?" Lita seemed very surprised at Mark's request, but grudgingly accepted.
"Yeah, go on then." Lita slowly stood up and smoothed out her dress before leading Mark to the dim hallway. Hotaru gazed at the pair, interested as to what was going on.
"Lita, I'd like to apologise for all that stuff I said at the Uni last week." Lita looked very unimpressed.
"It's a bit late for that, isn't it?" Lita's anger seemed to intensify tenfold at Mark's apology.
"Please Lita, just hear me out, okay?" Lita paused for a short while. From what Mark could tell, she was trying to calm herself down.

"Okay then. What's brought this on all of a sudden?" Mark simply glanced at the wall behind her.
"That photo. You back to back with Raye. It just made me feel really guilty after all that I said." Lita glanced at the photo behind her and realised exactly what he meant. She simply froze as she tried to remember what everyone was like when that photo was taken.
"So... You just saw us in the photo and it made you feel guilty..." Mark paused to find his words as Lita continued to gaze into the photo on the wall.
"Yeah. I knew you were friends with Raye, but I never realised exactly how close until I saw that photo. Now I can put things into perspective. You're probably feeling a whole lot worse than me about this Raye situation..."

"You can say that again. She's gone through a hell of a lot since that photo was taken. It's all those events since that's made us extra worried. She had seemed fairly bright over the past couple of months, whether it's down to you I don't know, but until then she's been extremely quiet and shy. Up until her grandpa died she was quite snobby and very tempermental, but still very lively. She liked nothing more than to take swipes at Serena. After that everything fell apart."

"I've heard the whole story. Her father tries to take legal care of her, but the case is thrown out because the hearing would be after her eighteenth birthday, and the year after Chad leaves her so she tries to commit suicide cause she thought she had nothing left to live for. I've heard Chad's side as well." Lita turned around and looked at him with a hurt expression on her face.
"Don't bring him into this."

"Okay, I didn't mean to mention him anyway. All I'm asking is for peace between us two. I was wrong for shouting at you like I did, and I can understand why you were chasing after her. I'd sooner be friends with you than enemies. If we work together, we'll probably be able to get her back sooner." Mark extended out his right hand towards Lita. "Whaddya say?" Lita paused for a few agonising moments before cautiously shaking Mark's hand.
"Yeah, okay. I'll give it a go. Anything to bring Raye back."

End of Chapter 20