tinaetelford@yahoo.com
Chapter OneFirst Published: August 2, 2003
Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.
To the Reader:
I apologize for not updating Malicious Love, and creating a new story! Unfortunately, a brilliant plot form in my head, and I had to get it down. Thus, I present you with Fallen Angel.
I'm doing something I've never done before, in the fact that I'm going to just go ahead and publish this fic without letting it sit for a few days. I figure if need be I'll go through and edit it… a bad tendency I have. But yeah, just publishing this now to prove that I haven't been sitting on my butt, and not writing! Ha! Enjoy!
Please do review to any degree. Any type of review is very much appreciated!
~Tina E. Telford~
Start Chapter One.
My mommy left us when I was three. I'm not allowed to ask about her. I've tried, but it just makes Daddy mad.
Sometimes, Daddy will tell me about her. He'll say that she was his angel and that when I smile, I look just like her. He'll tell me all about her sparkling, clear, blue eyes and her carefree laugh. But he'll only tell me about Mommy when he's sick, when he has a bottle of wine next to him.
Daddy tells me that he would've left too, but he promised Mommy that he'd take care of me. I know Daddy loves me, but sometimes I think that he loves me only because Mommy wanted him to.
I used to wonder all about my mommy. It was too hard to just depend on what Daddy would slip when he was sick. And my nanny, Luna, was always tight-lipped. She'd just shake her head and tell me to go play. If I hadn't found the locked room, I would've never known. I would've never been able to see my mommy again.
Once when my Aunt Mina was over, I overheard her talking about my mommy. She talked about how Daddy had taken all of Mommy's things and locked them away in their old bedroom. How Daddy had cleaned out the whole house so that there wasn't a single picture of Mommy left. That's how I found out about the locked room.
There's a locked door in my house, a door that no one is supposed to know about. A big, long tapestry covers it. I would've never found it had I not played hide and seek with my best friend, Elios. After I heard Aunt Mina say the things she did about Mommy, I knew that had to be the door.
It's a good thing that Elios knows how to pick locks. He says that he can open anything because his daddy taught him. His daddy's a locksmith. I don't know what my daddy does. He's not home very much. And when he is, he just looks at me really sad and pats me on the head. And then Luna tells me to go away because Daddy begins to drink his wine. I don't know why she won't let me stay with him.
The day that Elios and I got into the room, I was really scared. The room was full of spider webs and all the furniture was covered with white sheets. Elios kept saying a ghost was going to come out. But then, I saw her! I saw my mommy! In a dark corner of the room, there were lots and lots of big, framed picture. All of them were the same person, my mommy! She was just like Daddy had told me. Her blond hair, blue eyes, and a really pretty smile – like mine! Daddy was in some of them too. He looked so happy with Mommy. In one picture there's a baby, I think it's me! I don't remember Mommy much. Before I found the locked room, I was always so afraid that I would completely forget her. But now I know I won't! That day, Elios showed me how I could unlock the door so I could go there everyday!
That's where I go now when Luna is too busy to look after me. I like to look at the pictures. When I touch Mommy's face I can imagine Mommy smiling at me and patting my cheek just like I am hers!
I miss my mommy so much. I wish she hadn't gone away…
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In the Past"Darien! You must try to go on! I loved Serena as much as you did, but she's not here. You have to move on! Serena would have wanted that, for you and Rini," Mina said urgently.
"No! You don't understand Mina," Darien replied in a whisper, while he held his head to his knees as his hands squeezed his hair.
Mina sighed. Looking around, her heart filled with dread. The room was a mess. It was obvious Darien hadn't bothered to clean up for days. "So unlike him," Mina thought. "It was always Serena being the messy one and Darien scolding her to be neat." Mina gave a small smile and walked closer to the bed, where Darien was sitting in despair.
As she approached, Darien looked up. His appearance was devastating, and sent a wrench to her already broken heart. Huge bags shadowed his eyes. The eyes that had once lit up when Serena entered a room, were now a dark, dark, black. Pit-less. The hair that was usually neat before Serena or Rini would playfully mess it up, looked like Serena and Rini had done a hour's worth of rubbing his hair. But his time it hadn't been Serena or Rini. It had been his lack of care for his appearance. He hadn't bothered to shave in days. The usually smooth chin had become the home for small beard.
"I loved her. Hell! I still love her. I won't give up! A woman doesn't just leave like that! She'll come back, I know she will," he said desperately.
Mina smiled with pity. "Darien," she whispered with a strain, as she rubbed his back, " She's not coming back." Mina said as tears began to slowly make their way down her face.
Darien sighed and resumed to his previous position of sitting with his head in his knees.
She got up to leave the room as Darien looked up to ask, "Mina? Do you think she left because of me?"
The tears were uncontrollable as she looked upon his face. The poor man she thought. "No, Darien. She didn't leave because of you. You know Serena loved you. She loved you and Rini so much. You made her so very happy."
Mina closed the door silently as she made her way down the stairs. She heard Rini's questions as she made her way down the stairs.
"Where's my mommy?" Rini asked innocently while sitting on Rei's lap facing her.
"Far away," Rei said with a forced smile.
"When is she coming back?"
Ami let out a sob. Rini was startled as she turned around to say, "Don't cry, Aunt Ami." As she turned around, she was faced with her Aunt Rei's teary face and from behind she heard her Aunt Lita begin to sob as well. In sudden fright, she asked Rei urgently as tears too began to slip down her cheeks, "She's not coming back, is she?"
"Oh sweetie! No, I'm sorry. Your mommy isn't coming back," Rei cried as she pulled Rini into a tight hug.
"Why isn't Mommy coming back? Was I a bad girl?" she said between the tears that had begun to grow and grow.
Mina rushed from the staircase and came to retrieve Rini from Rei's lap as she answered, "Oh no, sweetie! You're such a good girl! Your mommy just had to go to a far away place."
"But why won't she come back?"
"Shhh!" hushed Mina.
"I want my mommy," Rini began to cry hysterically.
"Let's put you to bed. I think you need to take a nap now, darling," Mina said gently as she carried Rini up the stairs.
As they left, Ami whispered, "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. I shouldn't have cried and distressed Rini. She's little, she won't understand."
"Oh Ami!" Lita laughed through her tears as she tried to wipe them away, "No need to be brave. We all miss Sere and love her dearly."
As Mina descended the stairs, Ami asked, "Is she all right?"
"Yes. She fell asleep the moment I put her down in bed. Darien on the other hand…"
"The fool!" Rei cried angrily. "How can he be like this at a time like this?"
"Rei! Try to be sensitive to his feelings. He's just lost his wife. He loved her dearly!" reprimanded Lita.
"Will I loved Sere too! God! She was my best friend! I'm not falling apart like he is. Rini needs him!"
"Not everyone is as strong as you are, Rei," Ami said gently.
"I've got to go," Rei said briskly. As she shut the main door, she leaned against the door and whispered, "Oh! But I'm not brave at all. I want Serena back too!" She sniffled silently as she made her way to her car and drove away.
Mina looked away from the bay-view window as she watched Rei drive away. "She's hurting badly. We all are."
"Is anyone staying to watch over them tonight?" Lita asked.
"I think Andrew said he was coming over later," Mina said as she picked up her coat and purse.
As the three women exited the tudor-styled home, Darien watched them silently from his window. "How I miss you so much dearest," he whispered silently as he fell to the floor, leaning his head against the window, crying.