"Serena..." Darien said quietly, "What if I told you I want it all to
change? What if I told you I want us to be friends? Heck, more than
that. What if I told you I want you to be my girlfriend?"

"Well, then I'd say-" she stopped, and blinked, "What- what was that
last part?"

He looked deep into her blue eyes. There was no turning back now.

"I... I have feelings for you," Darien admitted, "I'm sorry, but I
don't want Ann, and I don't want you to be with Alan. I... want you
to be with me, Serena."

"..."



Sometimes
by Phantasy Star
--------------------

Chapter Six


"Wh... what?" Serena asked.

"I want to be with you," Darien said, looking deep into her eyes.

He had turned now to face her, barely sitting on the park bench anymore.

"Be... with me?" Serena echoed softly, "You... and me...?"

Darien nodded, "Serena..."

"No, you can't, Darien," she whispered, "You can't want to be with
me..."

"Why not?" Darien said.

"Because... because I can't..." Serena said as tears began to fall, "Oh
Darien, I'm so sorry... I can't, I just can't..."

"You're choosing Alan over me..." Darien whispered.

She flinched when she saw Darien's intense gaze, so full of hurt
and confusion. Her heart broke, realizing that he was serious.

"I don't know," she admitted as she shook her head, "But... I just
know that I can't do this..."

"What does he have that I don't?" Darien said softly, "I can be a nice
guy too... I can be romantic, Serena. There's a whole side of me that
you don't know about... If only you'd give me the chance..."

'I know more about you than you know about yourself,' Serena thought
silently, 'And that's why we can't be together...'

"Darien," Serena said as she shook her head, "I-"

Just then, her communicator beeped.

"My... pager..." Serena said softly, "Mom wants me home, probably.
I've got to go."

She stood up, but Darien grabbed her hand.

"I really need to go," Serena said.

Darien looked like he was about to protest when he stopped and seemed
to realize something.

"Be careful, Serena," he said, reluctantly letting go of her.

"What... what do you mean?" Serena asked.

"Just be careful."

* * *

"I don't understand why we have to send out another Cardian, Ann."

"The tree's almost completely recovered," the pink-haired alien
replied with a smile, "Maybe this energy will push it over the edge..."

"We'll have to see..."

* * *

"Mars... Fire... Ignite!"

"Venus... Love chain... Encircle!"

The monster were-wolf screamed in pain. Then it howled in fierce anger.

"Mercury... Bubbles..."

Amy screamed as a blast of energy hit her in the stomach, sending her
flying.

"Need some help, guys?"

"Finally!" Mina exclaimed.

"What took you so long, Meatball Head?" Raye muttered.

"I'm Sailor Moon!" Serena shouted, "Champion of Love and Justice!
On behalf of the Moon, I shall right wrongs, and triumph over evil.
And that means you!"

Serena took out her sceptre, "Time to send you back where you belong."

Suddenly, the wolf Cardian started charging towards her.

"Hey, quit moving!" Sailor Moon cried.

The monster roared and jumped up high into the air, ready to pounce.
Serena had barely enough time to gasp, when-

"A white rose!" Jupiter exclaimed as a blur of white streaked across
her vision.

Serena froze, still trembling, as she watched the simple white rose on
the floor, on the Cardian's foot.

"Moonlight Knight..." Sailor Moon whispered.

"Finish it off, Sailor Moon," he commanded.

She nodded, "Right!"

* * *

"Whew, that was a tough battle," Lita said.

"Made me seriously hungry," Mina said, eyeing the burgers on the table
that Andrew had just brought them, "Mind if I dig in?"

"Serena, you don't look so good," Amy commented worriedly, "What's
wrong?"

Serena sat down with a sigh, "Everything. Well, everything meaning
Darien. Ugh, I hate him. I hate him I hate him I hate him."

"Did he make fun of you again?" Amy said as she put a hand on Serena's
shoulder, "He's just teasing you, Serena. Don't take it so seriously."

"Yeah," Mina agreed in between mouthfuls, "That's just the type of
person he is..."

Serena wrapped her hands around her hot chocolate, letting it warm her
up. "That's not it..." She sighed, "Darien... He told me he has feelings
for me."

The girls gasped.

"Aw, that jerk!" Lita said, "Want me to kick his butt?"

Serena rolled her eyes, "Okay, okay. I know it's stupid for me to see
this as... as a *bad* thing, but..."

"But you do..." Mina said, "Because...?"

"Because he has to make everything so complicated for me! I had actually
gotten over him, I really did! And I was so happy... to be with Alan.
Now... he has to go and blurt it out and, and... and I don't know what
to do!"

Serena rested her forehead against her hand.

"What did you tell him?" Lita asked softly.

"I told him that I can't... but we got interrupted by the battle..."

"This *is* complicated..." Mina admitted.

Amy sighed, "This is *exactly* why people shouldn't date until they're
out of school. Boys are just trouble."

The others stared at her for a half a minute. Colour rose to Amy's
cheeks.

"Aaaaanyway," Mina finally spoke as she turned back to Serena with
sympathetic eyes, "Serena, you've got to choose."

"I don't want to choose," Serena said, shaking her head, "I don't
want to hurt either of them... If only Darien didn't feel this way...
He's such a jerk. He knew... He knew that I was with Alan! And he just
had to come and ruin everything like he always does."

Serena wiped away a few escaped tears, "Why does he have to like me all
of a sudden...?"

"Raye..." Lita spoke up, "You've been pretty quiet about all of this.
What do you think?"

Raye sighed.

"I don't see why you can't understand this, Meatball Brains. You can't
throw everything with Darien away just because some dreamy guy walks
into the picture. What you and Darien have goes deeper than some silly
crush..."

"But this new Darien is different!" Serena protested, "I don't even
understand him! One minute, he's a total jerk, and the next, he's
telling me how much he wants to be with me?"

"Is that the only reason you don't want to be with him?" Raye asked.

Serena looked up at her, surprised that she knew there was something
else. Deep inside, she knew that Raye understood her more than any
of the others.

"No..." she said softly.

Lita and Mina inched closer, curious. Even Amy leaned a little bit
towards her.

"It took me forever to get over Darien, okay?" Serena said with a
frown, "And I'm scared. I'm scared it's just going to happen all
over again, you know? We died for each other on the moon, and we
died together again here."

A tear slipped down her cheek, "I can't do it all again. If something
happens this time..."

"Either way..." Raye said, "Darien likes you, and so does Alan. So now,
you have a decision to make."

The others all looked glum.

"And I can't just forget about Ann..." Serena said softly, "She trusts
me... And I know she likes Darien..."

Her voice broke, "It's too hard, guys. It's just too hard..."

* * *

Darien sat in his dark apartment with his hands wrapped around a cup
of coffee. He wore the same clothes he had worn before, now wet from
the rain.

"Arrughh, stupid!" he said to himself, "Why did you have to go and
tell her how you feel? Now she'll never go near you again..."

Darien tried to blink away tears. It had always been this way.
Anytime he felt anything for anyone, they'd leave him alone. Just
like his parents, just like Fiore.

And now Serena.

'I should have known..." he thought as he lifted one hand to his
forehead, 'I should have known Serena would never go for someone like
me...'

He groaned, wishing he had kept his mouth shut and never said anything.

'Why would she leave a handsome, romantic guy for someone like me?
Someone who'd been nothing but cold to her, someone who she never even
considered a friend until recently?

'Someone... someone who grew up with no parents and no love, exactly the
opposite of her...'

He pushed the cup of coffee away from himself and rested his head
on his arms.

'What's going to happen to us now, Serena?'

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.

He rested his head in his arms and ignored it.

"Darien?" Serena's voice came.

* * *

"Where can he be?" Serena wondered aloud, then sighed, "Oh well, guess
I'll try again later."

She was about to turn away when the door swung open, and she found
herself face to face with a dripping Darien, hair still wet from
the rain.

"Hi," he said simply.

She stared at him for a second, then tried to smile.

"I... I wanted to talk to you," Serena said nervously, "Do you want to
change first though?"

Darien shook his head, "It's okay."

Serena took a step in, cautiously. She smiled to herself when she saw
the stain on the carpet where she had dropped the milk bottle for Jordan.

"I'll go make some cocoa," Darien offered.

"No," Serena said, "I... I won't be long."

She could see the disappointment in Darien's eyes.

"Oh..." he said quietly.

"Darien..." Serena said softly, "I... I just want to tell you that...
You're such a great guy... You're smart... and you're... attractive...
It's completely my fault that I can't be with you."

"It's okay," Darien said as he turned away, "You don't have to
explain... You can just leave if you want to."

"Darien," Serena pleaded, "Please listen to me. Any girl would be
lucky to be with you. It's just that... me... well, I'm... I just can't.
I'm sorry."

Darien nodded, "I didn't expect you to like me either..."

"Darien..." Serena said, "I like you, I do... really. Just... not that
way..."

He nodded again, "I understand."

Then he turned away and stepped into the living room, "I think I'm going
to finish some work."

Serena's gaze fell to the ground, "I guess I should go then."

"Probably," came Darien's curt reply.

She stood there for a moment, in uncomfortable silence, hoping that he
would turn back to her and tell her that he forgave her. That they
could still be friends.

But he just stood there, his back to her.

"'Bye, Darien," Serena said softly as she disappeared through the
doorways.

* * *

Serena walked down the street with her head down.

'I'm going to do it...' she thought, 'I have to do it. It's not
right anymore...'

She gasped when she saw the figure a distance from her, walking down the
street in her direction. She quickly dodged into an alleyway and waited
as the dark-haired young man walked past.

Serena exhaled loudly. 'Whew, glad he didn't see me...'

She turned and looked at Darien walking down the street and continued on
her way. She had been avoiding him for two weeks now, knowing that she
wouldn't have anything to say to him.

Finally, Serena came to an apartment building and took a deep breath as
she walked in through the front doors.

* * *

Serena stared at the floor of the small apartment in uncomfortable
silence. The sun was beginning to set outside, and there was a orange
glow on the coffee table.

"I don't... I don't understand, Serena," Alan said quietly.

"I'm sorry," Serena said softly, "I really am. I wish... I wish I'd met
you earlier, or... or..."

Her voice trailed off, and she looked up at Alan's frowning face.

"I'm just no being fair with you, Alan," she said with a sigh, "I'm with
you for all the wrong reasons. You don't deserve to be with a girl who,
who's just seeing you so that she can get over someone else..."

"You like someone else," Alan finished for her.

Serena shook her head, "No... We're... we're not going to be together.
It's just, I can't do this to you anymore, Alan. You should be with
someone who can really, really... devote herself to you."

Alan nodded slowly, "I'm sorry too, Serena."

"You're such a great guy," Serena said with a sigh, "I wish things had
turned out differently..."

* * *

She put her hand over her mouth and let the tears fall as she stepped
out of the elevator.

Did she just make a horrible mistake? Alan was attractive, smart, and
interesting. And obviously cared about her...

But she threw all that away, for what?

Darien.

It was always Darien.

"I hate you, Darien.." Serena whispered to herself painfully, "Why do
you keep doing this to me?"

She couldn't go with Darien and betray Ann, and go through the whole
ordeal of dealing with the million problems that came with a relationship
with him.

But Alan... It wouldn't be right for her to use him as a substitute.

Serena shook her head from her thoughts and was about to cross the
street on her way home when the glare from a pair of car lights made her
cover her eyes with one hand. She frowned when she saw the red sports
car pulling into the building.

Then her mouth dropped open in shock when she saw a certain redhead step
out of it.

"'Bye Darien!" Ann said cheerfully and waved as the car disappeared down
the road.

"Ann?" Serena said incredulously.

"Oh, hey Serena," the other girl said with a smile, "What're you doing
here?"

"I... came to see Alan," Serena said, "Was that...?"

Ann almost blushed, but the timid smile suddenly turned into a proud
smirk, "Darien took me out to a movie."

"What?" Serena whispered.

"I guess I owe it to you, partially," Ann said wryly, "You did help us
see each other more often that we would've been able to..."

Serena could only nod dumbly, "Oh... Wow..."

Ann grinned, "I'm so glad it finally happened. You won't believe how
happy I am."

Serena offered a small smile back, "Congratulations, Ann."

"Well, I'd better go in," Ann said, "See ya."

Serena waved as the redhead disappeared into the building.

Then she dropped her hand and blinked away tears. Two weeks. It had
only been two weeks since Darien said he wanted to be with her.

She was stupid to think that Darien could genuinely care for her. Was
it all just a joke?

Suddenly, she heard a roaring sound come up from behind her. She turned
around and saw the familiar red sports car pull up to her.

"I thought I saw you," Darien said as he leaned out of the driver's
window, "Need a ride home, Serena?"