Home on the Range

By Kallie

Ch 3

Sage had gotten up early to meditate. It was one of his habits. He went to sit under the only tree around (that would be Serena's). He sat down with his back pressed against the tree, and waited for the sun to come up.

Raye, who had already been up for an hour, moved to the tree. She walked to the single mound under it, and knelt down. "I'm sorry Artemis. I'll miss you." A lump caught in her throat. She watched as the sun began to slowly peek over the horizon. She felt the first few tears slide down her cheeks, and dealt with the pain the best way she knew how. Raye decided to grace Artemis with her voice. She smiled to herself, "Well you always wanted to hear me sing Artemis. Here's your chance." She took a deep breath and began.

Vs 1:There's a hero,

If you look inside your heart

You don't have to be afraid of what you are

There's an answer

If you reach into your soul

And the sorrow that you know will melt away.

Refrain: Then a hero comes along

With the strength to carry on

And you cast your fears aside

And you know you can survive

So when you feel like hope is gone

Look inside you and be strong

And you'll finally know the truth

That a hero lies in you

Vs2: It's a long road,

When you face the world alone

No one reaching out a hand for you to hold

You can find love

If you search within yourself

And the emptiness you felt will disappear

Refrain (again)

Lord knows, dreams are hard to follow

But don't let anyone tear them away

Just hold on

There will be tomorrow

And in time you'll find the way

Raye broke down and started to cry. Strong arms encircled her from behind, and she stiffened. She whirled around, masking her pain with anger. Sage was standing there.

"I'm sorry."

The look in his eyes stopped her reply. She stared at him for a moment, then threw her arms around him and started to sob.

Sage was slightly taken aback by this, but wrapped his arms around her waist. Just giving her comfort by letting her grieve. When her tears where done, she pushed away, wiping at her eyes. "Thank you." And she started back to the house. She turned around to look at him. "Are you coming?" She inclined her head toward the house. He smiled and hurried to catch up with her.

They walked into the kitchen to see Lita standing at the stove. "Morning!" She greeted cheerfully. They looked toward the rest of the girls who were sitting at the table. Serena's eyes were closed, her head was nodding, Mina was looking at Lita in disgust, and Mia was helping Lita make breakfast. Ami was up taking care of Luna. "How can she be so cheery this early?" Mina asked incredulous, still looking at Lita.

Raye snagged a cup of coffee and sat down next to Serena. She was going to ask Sage if he wanted a cup, when Serena's head hit the table.

"OWWWWWWW!!!!!!!" She jerked it up, oatmeal covering her forehead. Raye spit the coffee she'd been drinking all over Sage, who was standing in front of her. The others started to laugh uncontrollably.

Serena glared at them all, while she was wiping her face off. Raye was apologizing profusely to Sage. "I'm so sorry."

"It's OK. I'll just change my shirt."

"I feel bad, so you have to let me wash it."

"No that's OK."

"I insist."

He nodded. "All right then."

Lita, still giggling, asked Sage, "Are the others up yet?"

"No."

"Well, breakfast is almost ready. Who wants to wake them up?" When no one volunteered Mina raised her hand. "Fine. I'll do it."

"Thanks." Lita smiled at her.

"Wait Mina!" Mina stopped and looked at Mia. "You'll need this." Mina was handed a small tub of water.

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

"You'll know when you get there. But save it for a certain blue-haired boy." Mia smiled mischievously.

Mina walked out the door muttering. When she reached the bunkhouse, she knocked. Nothing happened. It's too early for this. She thought to herself. If I'm up, they should be up. She banged on the door, then stormed in.

"Everybody up!" She yelled. She went to the windows and threw them open, letting the early morning light filter in. She turned around to see Cye sitting up and looking at her. Mina set the tub down and marched over to Ryo and Kento. She threw the covers off, "Rise and shine!" They grumbled but got up. She turned to see Rowen still asleep. Without thinking she picked up the tub of water and threw it on him.

Rowen shot up with a shout. "What was that for?" he demanded.

Mina gave him a sugary smile; "You needed to wake up." She turned and walked to the door. "Anyone who wants to eat, come with me."

Cye, who had gotten up right before Mina came barging in, stood up and followed her.

"Mina wait!"

She turned to him, "Yes?"

"I just wanted to escort you in." He grinned, and offered her his arm. She studied it then smiled. She linked her arm through his and they entered the house.

"Aww, isn't that cute." Raye commented. Mina and Cye blushed, and sat down.

"Are the others coming?" Serena questioned. She was awake now.

"Yep, they'll just be a minute." And that was when the guys burst through the door.

"Let's eat!"

"Kento!" came the response from the guys and Mia.

"Sorry." The girls laughed, while looking at Serena. "What?"

"Nothing Serena. Would you be so kind as to take this up to Ami?" Lita asked.

"But Lita, then I'll be late."

"I'll do it." Ryo volunteered. Mia smiled at him.

"Thanks Ryo. " Lita said as she handed him the plate of food. He took it and went upstairs. He knocked and entered Luna's room. Ami stood up when he entered. "Thanks, just set it down there." She pointed to a small table.

"How are you doing?" Ryo asked concerned. Ami looked tired and a little bedraggled.

"I'm fine. Thanks."

Ryo nodded, and went back downstairs. When he entered the kitchen, everyone was there. "Where's Darien?"

"He went into town to get us some more supplies, and to gather his stuff. He offered to help us out. " Serena replied happily. The girls all looked at her with knowing looks. She blushed when she noticed them.

"He wants to help us!"

"Hmm, I wonder why that would be. Could it be because of a certain blonde haired beauty."

"Mina?" Rowen asked. Everyone looked at him.

"Tell me he's not serious."

"Give him an hour."

"Oookay." Mina gave Rowen a weird look. "Well, you boys get to start working today."

The guys all ignored that comment and continued to eat. The girls decided to follow their example as the food was rapidly disappearing.

When that was finished, and everyone had washed-up/changed, they gathered outside. All the guys were to go out and repair parts of the fences. They gathered the supplies and tools needed. Lita gave them sack lunches, while Mina handed them directions. Raye and Serena had gone and gotten their horses.

The girls all gathered by the door and waved at the guys. The guys waved back and rode toward where the first repair would be.

When the guys were gone the girls turned toward each other. "So, who's going to do what today?" Mina asked.

"Well, for starters, it's my turn to go stay with Luna, and Ami's going to be in the study going over paperwork." Mia said and walked inside.

"That leaves the rest of us. " Raye commented.

"And what exactly is there that needs to be done today?" Mina asked.

"The garden needs to be weeded, the house cleaned, and the storehouse wall needs to patched, then the whole thing repainted."

The girls looked at Serena. "How do you know all that needs to be done?" Raye demanded.

"I found Luna's list of things to be done."

"Oh."

"OK. Here's the plan. Raye cleans the house, Lita and Serena repair the storehouse, and I weed the garden." Mina said.

"How about I weed the garden and you help Serena. Then when I'm done I'll come help you." Lita suggested.

"Fine." The girls all agreed, and set off to gather what they'd need. Lita had just finished the garden when Darien arrived. She took the stuff from him, gave him a lunch, and sent him to help the guys fix fences. Then she went to help Serena and Mina with the storehouse.

The two had managed to fix the hole, but the painting just wasn't happening. Or at least painting the storehouse wasn't happening. Mina had paint all over the front of her shirt, and Serena had it in her hair. Plus they had splotches on their faces and various other spots on their body.

"Just what are you two doing?"

They turned guiltily to Lita. "Umm, nothing?"

"Uh-huh. Sure you were." She smiled. "Now let's get to work and finish this thing."

While they were working, Raye had been cleaning, but she had had to quit so she could watch Luna. Mia was currently scrubbing the parlor floors, which were by study. She could hear Ami muttering.

She stood up and set the brush back in the bucket. She stretched, happy that she'd finished. "Ami? Do you want some help?" She walked into the library, to see that the desk was littered with papers. Ami was currently trying to jimmy open a lock on the bottom drawer.

Ami looked up at Mia. "You wouldn't happen to know how to pick locks would you?"

"Sorry. That wasn't something they covered in finishing school."

Ami laughed. "Well could you look over by that section." She pointed toward the middle row of book in the back. "Luna and Artemis are famous for hiding documents in hollow books. And that was their favorite spot."

"Any titles I should look out for?"

"Yeah, anything to do with myths or the moon."

Mia nodded and started looking. She looked up when she heard Ami's shout of triumph. Then turned back to the bookshelf.

Ami rifled through the papers looking for past documents that had to do with the deed and any financial information that might have been hidden. She stopped when she ran across something surprising. She was just about to call Mia over, when Mia called her over.

"Ami! I think you should see this!"

Ami hurried over, still carrying her papers. "Here, we'll exchange papers." She quickly scanned the papers, then slowed down to really read them. She looked at Mia. "This can't be right."

Meanwhile with the Boys . . .

The Boys had set out early, and after a few wrong turns, found the fence in need of fixing. They set the wood down next to the hole. Kento grabbed one piece and pulled. It easily came off. The others helped repeat that process until they had removed the crumbling section of fence.

Then Ryo and Sage held the pieces of wood in place, while the others started to nail them into place. They finished the first fence in about an hour. (Remember they have to take down the whole fence section. And it's pretty long.)

Then they moved to the next spot, which was a couple miles away. Darien joined them shortly after noon, just as they were sitting down to eat. He waved to them.

"Hey Darien."

"So how long you guys been out here?"

"Not that long."

"Darien?" Sage asked.

"Yes?"

"How did you and Serena get together?"

"Excuse me?"

"Well, I was just wondering how the two of you got together. You're such a solid couple."

"I didn't start out that way."

"Oh, I've got to hear this." Rowen said.

"See, I met Serena 3 years ago. I was walking down the street and . . .

Flashback . . .

Darien was walking down "Main Street"; it was his first week in this new town. He looked up and saw a girl a few years younger than him walking towards him. Her long blonde hair caught the sun and gleamed. She was about two feet in front of him when she tripped, knocking into him, and bringing him down.

"I'm so sorry." She apologized. She quickly stood up and offered him her hand. He took it and pulled himself up.

"You should be more careful, you klutz." Darien said, a little mad that she'd knocked him down.

Serena's mouth fell open. "Ah . . . well . . . I said I was sorry." She retorted angrily. "You, you, you rude, arrogant," she searched for the right word, "thing!"

"Oh that was clever. You've wounded me." He said sarcastically.

Serena "hmph"ed and turned around. She started to angrily walk down the street. Darien watched her, amused. He'd have to find out her name.

"Hey wait!" He called after her. "What's your name?"

Serena ignored him. "Come on. You won't turn into a pumpkin if you tell me will you."

She turned on him. "It's Serena Tsukino." She snapped and marched on.

End flashback . . .

" And that's how I met Serena. Of course she wouldn't talk to me for several months. I finally got her to admit she liked me, after I started helping out at the ranch for three months. The girls thought it was hilarious."

"That's quite a story." Cye said, eyes wide. "You've come a long ways since then."

Kento gave Darien a sly look. "So when are you gonna ask her to marry you?"

"Umm, well I was going to ask her yesterday. But with all that's happened I thought I'd wait."

"Maybe you should ask her anyway. It might help her cope."

"Thanks, I'll think about it."

Lunch was over so they got back to work. They worked steadily and finished all the fences. They arrived back at the ranch at dusk.

They dismounted and stabled their horses. They went inside, only to be sent back out by Lita. She insisted that they clean up. When that was done, they went inside and sat down at the table.

Serena and Mina walked in; both were scrubbing their faces. They still had paint on their clothes, but their faces were almost clean. Raye walked in and sat down wearily. Lita smiled at her, then left to go take care of Luna. Mia and Ami walked in, both deep in thought. They silently sat down.

"Mia, Ami, are you OK?" Mina asked concerned.

"We're fine, thank you." Mia answered. They discussed it earlier and decided that they wouldn't mention anything until they were positive about their find.

"So how's Luna doing?" Sage asked.

Ami perked up slightly at this. "She appears to be getting better. She woke up today, and her fever's gone down."

"That's good."

"I'm hungry, let's eat." Serena commanded. The others shook their heads but did as she said. Supper was passed discussing what they'd all done that day. When they'd finished, they moved into the parlor, except for Serena and Darien. They went for a walk.

Upstairs, Lita was talking to Luna, who had lapsed into sleep. She looked over to see her sleeping. "Oh well." She smiled.

Lita walked over to change Luna's bandage. She pulled the old one off and gasped in surprise. The wound was filled with a funny colored puss. It looked like it wasn't healing in the least. "Luna." She said, trying to wake her. She didn't respond.

Lita rushed to the head of the bed, and shook Luna's shoulders, "Luna!" She noticed that Luna's breathing was sounding forced.

Panicked, Lita ran down the stairs and into the kitchen to get clean bandages. The others looked at her questioningly when she came out. "Something's wrong with Luna. I think her wound is infected!" She shouted as she ran up the stairs.

Mia, Ami, and Sage shot out of their seats and followed her. Mina ran outside to get Serena. She found her and Darien standing under Serena's tree.

"Serena! Luna's getting worse!"

Serena turned and ran toward the house. She burst through the door and hurried up to Luna's room. When she got there, she found Mia and Ami frantically trying to find the disinfectant the doctor had given them. Lita and Sage were trying to keep Luna awake.

"Luna!" She cried and flung herself at Luna.

Luna turned her head and smiled at Serena. "Hello Serena."

"Luna you've got to pull through this."

"Oh Serena. I'm so tired. I've lived a good life, the best part of it being when you girls came into my life."

"But Luna, if you die whose going to help me with my wedding." Serena pleaded.

Luna's eyes shone with happiness. "Serena I'm so happy for you. But I'm so weary of this world."

"Luna, please! I need you!" Serena cried, tears streaming down her face. "Please Luna!" Lita joined in. "It won't be the same without you here to guide us."

"You girls don't need me anymore. I've taught you all I can." Her voice was getting weaker by the minute. "Just promise me that no matter what, you'll keep fighting."

"We promise Luna." Ami said. She'd sent Mia to go get Darien, Mina, and Raye. So they could say goodbye. There was nothing they could do. It was all up to Luna, and she appeared to be giving up.

"We're here Luna." Mina announced.

"Oh girls." Luna's voice was now so soft, they had to crowd around the bed to hear it. "I love you all. You remind me so much of your parents." She looked at Darien. "It's your job to protect them now." Darien nodded solemnly. "You know I will."

Luna turned, a far off look in her eyes. They were all waiting for her to say something else, when Raye realized that Luna had stopped breathing.

"No! Luna!" She cried. It was too much, and she broke down sobbing. Mia came in and checked for Luna's pulse. She turned to them, a sad look on her face, "I'm sorry girls. She's gone."

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That's all folk! And chapter three winds to an end. Remember share the love and review!

-Kallie

Disclaimer: Don't own either show or their characters. Wish I did, but I don't. I also don't own the song. It's Hero by Mariah Carey.