Hello!! And I'm back once more. I'm so glad you all liked the previous chapter.  Thank you so much for the great reviews! *sniff* I feel so loved. Just so you all know, in my story Sammy is much closer to Serena's age (they are like 1-2 years apart) than they actually are in the anime. Here I am talking like it actually matters.  He's not going to be there long anyway. *sigh* Because I've created my own characters or that fact that some of them (i.e., Beryl) have no actual last names, there are a lot of made-up names in this story, some first, some last and some both, so if you do not recognize some of the names, you know what's going on and how they got there. As before, I do not own any of the characters from Sailor Moon so please do not sue me! Anyhow, enjoy! *^_^*

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon nor do I own any of the characters therein.  Therefore do not sue me!!!

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            Ikuko heard the front door close, followed by the murmur of "Good afternoon" heralding her daughter's return home. She straightened a portrait on the wall next to her before heading to the entrance to greet her daughter. She glanced at the grandfather clock across the hall. It was 6:40. Strange—Serena didn't usually come in at this time. She smiled as her daughter walked towards her.

"Hello, dear."

 They exchanged cocktail kisses.

"You're a little late. Where have you been?"

"Mitzu Somae invited me and a few other girls for tea this afternoon. I haven't been out for a while and I needed to do something to cheer up so I went."

"I'm glad, dear. It made me a bit concerned to see you moping about so. Are you feeling better now?"

"Yes, somewhat." "That's lovely. Are you ready to talk about it?"

Serena felt somewhat provoked by this gentle urging.

"Well, no...not yet. Soon, though. Maybe."

"Okay, darling.  Whenever you're ready. Well, go clean up. Chef says dinner will be ready in a bit."

"Hai, oka-sama."

She bounded up the stairs, and her mother looked after her. She was growing up so quickly.  She smiled. Though she and her daughter hadn't spent much time together lately, she knew that they shared a bond. Each was there for the other.

Serena collapsed backwards onto her bed and heaved a deep sigh. In her mind she scrolled through her entire school day and then rolled over onto her stomach and cupped her chin in her hands. She hated school. It wasn't that she was a bad student (she hoped to be valedictorian in her graduating year) or that she disliked her teachers. Nor was it the students, because she'd never been in any sort of skirmish, and she could never wish for better friends than for the five she had now. She disliked school because she felt alone and, sometimes, empty.  She felt she had two spaces in her that neither her mother nor father could fill.  It seemed to her that everywhere she went within the halls of her school, there were couples. Kissing, playing, cuddling. Something she doubted she would ever do again. Ever since the last week, it seemed the words "I love you" held a dishonorable position in her heart. But that wasn't the only thing that was bothering her. She reached out for a framed photograph on her nightstand, an old family photo. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked at the boy standing tall in the picture with his arms around her laughing figure. She smiled, fleetingly. She hadn't laughed in so long.  She tossed it back onto the dresser, dropped her head onto her folded arms and began to weep. Why did his going still tear her heart out of her chest every time she thought of it?  Her pitiful wailing brought her mother up the stairs as fast as she could come.

"Bunny?  Bunny, darling, my baby, what's wrong? What bothers you so?"

Serena wiped her eyes only to release a fresh set of tears. She could barely be heard through her sobs. 

"W-w-we…we loved him.  I l-loved him…s-s-so m-much…my little brother…m-my friend.  Why? Why did he die?"

Yuko gathered her daughter up in her arms and hugged her.

"We all miss him, Bunny. Very much." She stroked Serena's hair and continued. "It was an accident…an accident. Remember?" She shook her head. "They forgot to run a drug check."

She paused and gently picked up the picture frame. Even she could not believe that the young man in the picture was gone. It was only 2 months since his death and yet, it seemed like an eternity to her. He'd never been a strong child—always in and out of the hospital since birth…but he was a fighter. He had been on medication for his hemophilia and another slight condition he'd had, and a while later he was given another drug for a rapidly developing heart condition. Two and a half weeks after the administration of the second drug, he died. 14 years of bountiful vitality and energy gone in a tragic instant. 

"These things happen."

Serena pushed her away.

"But why did it happen to him? Of all the people in this god-forsaken world, why him? Out of all the people to forget to run a check on, they forgot on someone with his entire life ahead of him. On our Sammy-someone who they knew was in weak health, at that."

She covered her face with her hands and her body shook with the intensity of her resumed sobbing. Yuko held her. After a while, Serena's cries subsided and were replaced by soft, regular breathing. Yuko leaned over to look into her daughter's face. She'd fallen asleep. Ikuko rose painstakingly from the bed so as not to rouse her sleeping child.

"Sleep well, darling."

She closed the door behind her when she left the room.

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            The woman glanced at him warily from across the table. He had refused food and drink, hadn't uttered a word since he came in through her door. And now he sat there watching her, drinking in her countenance and that of her home. He made her uncomfortable with his penetrating blue gaze. She shifted slightly in her seat. She hadn't seen this boy for years, and out of the blue he just shows up on her doorstep in the dead of the night.  Her brother's child.  His resemblance to his father was unnerving. 

"So why did they wait so long before sending you?"

"Who is this 'they' you are referring to?"

His voice had made a sudden transition from the uncertain tenor he'd greeted her with at the door to the cold bass she was hearing now. 

" 'They' did not send me."

She sensed some form of distress in his voice as he said this.

"Well, then, wh--"

"They died. 6 years ago. A car accident on their way home from some business trip."

She went rigid with shock. Six years?! She could see his eyes clouding, the tears forming. As quickly as the tears were there, a blink swept them away.

" It took days for them to tell me. At that point I was totally alone in the world. But I should have been used to it. They were always gone to somewhere or another. I was always alone. They never had much time for me."

His voice trailed off. He looked down for a moment.

"But they loved me."

He raised his head; his voice thick with emotion. 

 "They always made sure they told me they loved me."

At that moment, Mrs. Momo Jenkins-Chiba did not feel so uncomfortable around this boy. She, instead, felt that she had something of a maternal obligation to him. She got up from her seat and approached him slowly. There they were for a few moments, watching each other.  Then she was holding him and he was crying noiselessly in her arms.

"It's alright. Everything is going to be alright."

Six years! Lord!! Six years since her own brother and dear sister- law's death and she had heard nothing of it. Why didn't Kino tell her about this? She felt confused. She looked down at her nephew. She'd never had children because she could not bear, and she felt it had deprived her of a certain part of her life. Well, he was here now, and she was going to take care of him as though he was her own.

"Darien, Darien."

 She rubbed his shoulder lightly. She supposed he'd never had a chance to have a good cry, to mourn-he'd probably been too busy trying to figure out how to survive on his own.  Suddenly, long buried memories floated to the top of her mind. 

"Darien, what was the last name your parents gave you?"

"Darien, you yourself said yourself that your parents loved you.  Did you truly think they would leave you alone in this world with no way to fend for yourself?"

He looked up at her, curiosity gleaming in his dark eyes.

"What, exactly, is that supposed to mean?"

"I know life was hard for you, but think back.  Darien, only your mother's last name was Stone. Didn't you know your father's?"

He shook his head.

"I can't believe…the nerve!" She jumped up, visibly upset. "He never told you? Are you sure?"

Darien shook his head.

"Your parents were not middle class people as you were raised to believe. Your father's last name, Darien, was Chiba."

His eyes widened in shock before excitement stamped itself all over his face.

"Chiba? You mean my father was a member of the Chiba Clan? One of the richest, if not the richest, families in Japan?"

His aunt smiled and nodded.

"If your father is deceased as you say he is, there are some forms, bonds, and accounts that will need to be attended to.  Your father had been planning for this his entire life.  We will need to move as quickly as possible.  Once all this business is done, hopefully, as early and Thursday, you will be, once all legal documents are signed, a multi-billionaire, worth over $72 billion in liquid and other combined assets, fit to join the ranks of the rest of your esteemed relatives. Welcome to the Chiba family."

A look of pure astonishment was soon replaced by an over-joyous and non-relinquishing smile.

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 What a way to end the chapter. Sorry if the 72 billion bit seems a little over, but these are the upper elite, and if you're gonna make someone rich, well, make 'em rich.  I mean, if the city can have a budget of $342 billion, a person should be able to have at least a quarter of that in their personal assets.  I hope you like. I'm sorry that this chapter was so short, but I've started writing the next one and I promise you it shall be longer. Ta-ta for now!!

*~ Moonlight Siren ~*