Destiny Can Seem So Wrong

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.

7- Secrets I Never Knew

Serena had received no sleep after her devious doings the night before, and rightly so, she knew. There was a Scout meeting at the temple this morning, and she knew she had no choice but to go. Luna had insisted that although Serena and Raye were no longer talking, Serena had to attend this meeting for the sake of the Scouts. There was no backing out, but Serena had tried several times to get out of the mandatory meeting, begging, crying, pleading with Luna to let her stay home. It was to no avail, however. Serena was now on her way to the temple with Luna on her shoulder.

"Serena, will you please at least look like you're willing to be part of the team?" Luna complained. "Honestly, anyone would think you were on the way to death row. Now cheer up, and that's an order."

"Nothing to cheer up for." Serena continued to look glum.

Luna sighed and gave up. There was something very strange going on with Serena, and whatever it was, Luna didn't like it one bit. It was affecting Serena's eating and sleeping, but no matter how many times Luna had attempted to get the problem out of her, Serena never gave in and said anything.

The second Raye saw Serena approaching the temple she made a ghastly face. "What are you doing here, Meatball Head? I thought I told you never to come back here!" she said, the anger in her voice loud and clear.

Serena flinched but let Luna do the talking.

"Raye, whether you like it or not, Serena is a part of the Sailor Scouts and will be here for any Scout meetings, so can we please try to make this as painless as possible?" Luna stated.

Raye scoffed, "Like Serena even cares about being a Scout anyway!"

"Raye, cool down," Amy insisted, worry scrawled all over her intelligent features. "The last thing we need is Serena deciding to leave the Scouts because of a petty fight, so please don't start, okay?"

Serena sat down furiously, tears forming in the corners of her stunning blue eyes. "Yeah, it's not like I asked to be here, and I sure didn't ask to be Sailor Moon, so you're all luck I'm here at all!"

"You are so unbelievably selfish!" Raye screamed at her. "Can't you think of anyone besides yourself?"

Serena felt the awful sensation of guilt squeezing her heart with strong fingers. She knew she was selfish, very selfish, but she wasn't about to admit that to Raye Hino of all people. "Raye, get a life. None of us asked to be Scouts, and we all have different opinions about what it means to be one. Mine is that I didn't ask to be one, so why should I have to be stuck here listening to you?" she hollered.

"Well, Serena, if you don't want the responsibility of being a Scout, I'm sure there are other people willing to take the title of leader for you, seeing as you're too weak to handle it anyway!" Raye shouted in rage.

"ENOUGH!" Artemis bellowed so forcefully that every single person jumped. "That's enough, you two. I'm not here to listen to your petty squabbling and neither is everyone else, so if you want to fight, do it somewhere else and in your own time, not at this meeting!"

"Artemis is right," Amy said with conviction. "We're a team, and we need to get along to fight the Negaverse, so stop it."

"Exactly. This isn't the Raye and Serena show, if you hadn't noticed," Lita scolded the two embarrassed girls.

"Right. Now down to business-" Luna began.

Just then Serena saw an extremely familiar figure making its way up the temple stairs. "Darien," she whispered, beginning to tremble in fear. "But what is he doing here?"

"Darien!" Raye shouted happily. "Hi! What a surprise."

"Isn't it, after last night?" Darien looked icily at Raye and handed her a sweater. "Here. You left this in my closet."

Raye gave a tiny, surprised laugh. "Darien, is something wrong?"

Oh, no, Serena thought with an uneasy groan inside her head.

Darien laughed nastily. "What a stupid question to ask, Raye." He shook his handsome head and folded his arms.

"Are you feeling all right, Darien?" Raye looked worried.

"I'm just fine, Raye. Better than I have been in weeks." Darien continued to stare coldly at her. "Now, I really must be going."

"Wait! Why the hurry?" Raye grasped onto Darien's sweater sleeve. "What's going on? Talk to me."

"I don't think we have anything to say to one another, Raye. I thought I made it clear last night that I didn't want to be with you anymore, and I have no intention to change my mind," Darien said succinctly. "So if you don't mind, please let go of me."

Raye jerked back, long dark hair flying behind her. "You made WHAT clear WHEN?"

"Oh, Raye, I don't have time to play games. It's over, so please don't make this difficult. You know very well what happened." Darien turned to leave, but Raye still held to his sleeve in desperation.

"What happened, Darien? I don't understand. Are you saying you decided to break up with me last night or something?"

"I'm leaving." Darien looked completely disgusted. "You were there, so I'm not going to waste my time explaining anything to you. Goodbye, Raye."

Raye realised Darien was serious and unlatched her fingers from his sleeve. "Darien-"

The only answer she got was a chilly gaze, and then he turned and jogged down the stairs of the sacred temple. Everyone sat and stared at Raye in astonishment, not quite believing what they'd seen. All but Serena, who stared at the ground, cheeks ablaze, eyes glassy with unshed tears. Serena sat in her spot, visibly trembling, trying not to cry.

Water ran clearly down Raye's blushing cheeks. "What happened? I never even went over there last night. I don't know why he did this. I thought he loved me." Raye now started sobbing openly. "I loved him. I still do." Raye sat down and put her hands over her face. "He must have had secrets I never knew. Maybe that's why he did this. Maybe there was someone else."

The other Scouts all looked saddened by Raye's tears, but didn't know what to say.

Serena, tears trickling down her face by now, crawled over to her shattered friend and wrapped her tight in her arms. "I'm sorry, Raye," she sniffled into Raye's raven-black hair.

Raye looked up at Serena. "What are you sorry for? You didn't do anything." She buried her head in Serena's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Serena. You're still my best friend."

Ashamed so badly she couldn't even speak, Serena just held her devastated companion and hid the tears still falling down her cheeks. There was nothing she could do now, not now that Darien had been so final with Raye. All Serena could do was live with the knowledge that she had done this and shoulder the guilt to boot. She knew that jealousy had forced her to do this, and was now good and sorry that she had let that come between the friendship that she and Raye used to have.

It couldn't ever be exactly the same after this. Not now that Serena had this horrible secret deep inside that just would not allow itself to be set free.

And certainly not while she still wished with her heart and soul combined that one day Darien could still be hers.