Opposing Protectors
Disclaimer: You all know what I'm going to say so why bother?
AN: Just to let you know ahead of time (because I know you're all waiting for Serena to get her memories back) there a few things I want to happen first and it might take a few chapters for this to play out. But I have a really cool idea (or at least I think it's cool) for how she gets them back...I just hope that you'll like it when I finally get to that part of the story. Once again, thanks to all my wonderful reviewers...I love you all! Now, on with the story.
Chapter 13: Truth Be Told
"Welcome home, my love." Darien said to Serena as she looked around at her surroundings in awe. She then looked at Darien and smiled, thankful for his comforting presence.
"So, this is Earth. Seems nice enough." Serena said, as she really couldn't think of anything else to say.
By this time, all the Senshi had detransformed and were ready to head to bed. They were all partied out and were ready to crash on the nearest comfortable spot available. They made an almost unanimous vote to have a sleepover at the Temple. When Serena had doubts about whether they'd be allowed to crash there for the night, the others quickly explained that Raye and her grandfather, each being a Shinto Priest or Priestess accordingly, lived there with an ex-rock star named Chad. Reassured by this information, as well as intrigued by it, Serena quickly agreed to the idea of the sleepover. They all found a place to crash and promptly fell asleep.
Early the next morning, after only a few hours of sleep, the group received a very rude awakening from Grandpa Hino.
"ALL OF YOU WAKE UP NOW!!! Where on Earth have you been!? You're families have all been looking for you. I got calls from each of them wondering if you were here, seeing as how you guys spend so much time here. And they all wanted to know the same thing as I do...WHERE WERE YOU!?"
Now that they were awake and alert, they thought madly to come up with a good excuse as to where they had been for the past three days. Serena, who was right now terrified of this strange old man, clung to Darien for dear life. The Senshi had forgotten to tell how eccentric Raye's grandpa was. In her amnesiac innocence, she told him where they had been, hoping it would calm him down.
"We were on Nagare'boshi helping Seiya and her friends free their planet from Akuma's evil control. I'm sure that we didn't mean to worry you, sorry if we did. Please don't be angry, we were only doing our jobs (or so I'm told she thought to herself) and it was for a good cause after all." All this while she had still been clinging to Darien, but now she moved slightly behind him, just in case her words had had the opposite effect of what she had hoped and had angered him further.
The Senshi had frozen in their spots and were now smacking themselves mentally. How could they have forgotten to tell her that no one on Earth knew who they really were? They all sat, waiting to see what Grandpa was going to do next. Grandpa, meanwhile, was eyeing them all suspiciously. He knew the girls well enough to know that they were hiding something from him. But usually when they were hiding something, they'd come up with some questionable story that could never be proven or disproved, not some ridiculous, outrageous and unbelievable story such as Serena was suggesting. He walked over to Serena who for her part simply moved even further behind Darien.
"What's with her, why is she hiding?"
"Ah, she has amnesia...sir. She's a little shaky right now." Darien gulped and tried to hide his nervousness. He'd never dealt with Grandpa before, at least not when he was in this kind of mood. It was kind of scary.
"Oh...I'm sorry my dear. I didn't mean to frighten you. I didn't realize that you didn't remember me or my sometimes rather extreme mood swings. Pleas don't be afraid, I won't hurt you. My bark is worse than my bite." Grandpa started laughing at his own joke as he often did while the others just stared.
Serena was really confused now. Just a second ago, this creepy old man was absolutely furious, now he was in a happy and joyful mood. She just didn't get it. But, deciding to trust his word that he wouldn't hurt her, and knowing that the others were there to support her, she moved away from behind Darien so that she was now sitting beside him.
"There now, that's better." Grandpa resumed. "Now why don't you tell me the whole story as you know it?" he said addressing Serena.
"NO!!!!!" everyone cried at once.
Serena didn't know what to do. Should she tell this scary old man the story before he got angry again or should she listen to her friends. She chose the latter, knowing that they would come to aid if the creepy man yelled at her. At their loud outburst though, Grandpa turned towards the rest of the group and stared at them suspiciously. He then refused to let them do anything or go anywhere until they had told them what was going on. This was the last straw for Raye, she had had enough and she snapped.
"What!? You have no right! For one thing they don't live here and two, I'm 18 years old and I have my own life! I'm not going to report to you every time I go somewhere!"
"Why you ungrateful brat! I raised you and this is the thanks I get? Young people have no respect for their elders anymore!"
A heated argument ensued that ended up with Raye trying to storm out of the room. Grandpa stopped her at the door.
"Where do you think you're going young missie? You're grounded until you tell me where you were. I was worried sick about you for three days, so you're not going anywhere!"
""Wouldn't it just be easier to tell him the truth?" Serena spoke up quietly, feeling bad for having caused this problem. She was also a little worried about how the others would react to this question...she didn't want more trouble.
"There you go, she has the right idea!" Grandpa said enthusiastically.
The Senshi debated this idea for a while before agreeing that it seemed to be the only way out of this mess. They later figured that they would probably have to tell all their families, but that could be dealt with later. So they made Grandpa swear on his life and theirs that he would never tell another soul. Once he had promised, they told him the whole story, from beginning to end, finishing off with their transformations as proof that what they had said was true.
Once they had detransformed, they heard a loud thud near the doorway. They looked over to see an unconscious Chad lying at the door. They dragged him into the room and began the process of waking him up. When he finally opened his eyes, they began drilling him on what he had seen and heard. He admitted to knowing everything and swore up, down, left, right, and center that he would NEVER EVER repeat a single word of what he knew.
A short question and answer period followed before the group was permitted to leave. Raye's grounding was lifted and the others left with frowns on their faces, they were not looking forward to the task of telling their families about who they really were. The Outer Senshi (minus Hotaru) were glad that they didn't have any relatives to worry about. Serena and Darien thought that they might be home free because Serena didn't live with her parents anymore, but their hopes were crushed when they got home and found a message on their machine from Ikuko, inviting them to dinner Thursday night, and it was already Wednesday afternoon.
With the inevitable fact that they would have to tell Serena's family everything as well, Darien called the Tsukino residence and accepted their invitation; telling them that they had something very important to discuss with them. After hanging up, he and Rini started teaching Serena how to use her powers and how to transform...after all, who knew what was going to be required to prove themselves to her very critical family.
The next night at the Tsukino residence..........
Kenji was pacing back and forth. This mysterious important matter had him worried. After all, what could be so important, that they couldn't even mention the topic on the phone? Since yesterday, his mind had been coming up with worst-case scenarios. Ikuko had been trying to get him to relax the whole day.
"There's something wrong, I just know it."
"Now honey, you're probably over-reacting. I'm sure there's noting wrong."
"No, there was something in his voice, I'm telling you. What if Serena's sick, or she has cancer, or worse...what if our little baby's dying?" he started to panic.
"Honey, calm down! Everything's going to be fine, you'll see."
"Yeah dad, they probably just found out that she's pregnant and know that you're going to flip out on them."
"What!? Pregnant!? No, she's too young! She's only 18! Besides, they only got married three weeks ago! It's too soon! She hasn't even finished school yet! She can't be..."he was cut off by the ringing of the doorbell, much to Sammy and Ikuko's relief.
Ikuko went to open the door and let their guests in. She was rather surprised when she saw a slightly nervous Darien, a more slightly frightened Serena and an almost giddy Rini (who thought that this was going to fun...seeing her grandparents' and Sammy's reactions to their news). For a moment, Ikuko thought that maybe Kenji and Sammy were right...maybe she was pregnant.
"Hi." Darien said bringing her out of her daze.
"Hi. Please come in, dinner's almost ready. It should be finished in about fifteen minutes."
"Thank you."
"So what was it that you wanted to discuss with us?" Kenji asked while trying to keep his cool.
"Actually, it would probably be better to wait until after dinner for our discussion." Darien replied. "And I know this may seem like an odd request, but could we keep the conversations at the dinner table very general please? I'll explain why later during our discussion."
"Alright." The family agreed, although they were slightly confused as to what was going on. And they hadn't failed to notice that Serena had been particularly quiet since they arrived.
The family ate quickly as they all wanted to get on with the important part of the visit...the discussion. Once everyone had finished, they gave their compliments to the chef then proceeded to relocate to the living room.
Once the family was all seated and settled in, Darien and Rini began to explain everything to the Tsukino family, from the days of the Silver Millennium to the present and including a few details of the future...Rini's true identity being one of them. The family had been told that all questions were to be asked at the end, as they knew that there would be many. As father and daughter finished their story, they looked to Serena who now stood up with them and the three of them transformed, providing the proof and validity of their story. When they finished their transformations, the Tsukino family just sat there and stared at them in utter disbelief.
Disclaimer: You all know what I'm going to say so why bother?
AN: Just to let you know ahead of time (because I know you're all waiting for Serena to get her memories back) there a few things I want to happen first and it might take a few chapters for this to play out. But I have a really cool idea (or at least I think it's cool) for how she gets them back...I just hope that you'll like it when I finally get to that part of the story. Once again, thanks to all my wonderful reviewers...I love you all! Now, on with the story.
Chapter 13: Truth Be Told
"Welcome home, my love." Darien said to Serena as she looked around at her surroundings in awe. She then looked at Darien and smiled, thankful for his comforting presence.
"So, this is Earth. Seems nice enough." Serena said, as she really couldn't think of anything else to say.
By this time, all the Senshi had detransformed and were ready to head to bed. They were all partied out and were ready to crash on the nearest comfortable spot available. They made an almost unanimous vote to have a sleepover at the Temple. When Serena had doubts about whether they'd be allowed to crash there for the night, the others quickly explained that Raye and her grandfather, each being a Shinto Priest or Priestess accordingly, lived there with an ex-rock star named Chad. Reassured by this information, as well as intrigued by it, Serena quickly agreed to the idea of the sleepover. They all found a place to crash and promptly fell asleep.
Early the next morning, after only a few hours of sleep, the group received a very rude awakening from Grandpa Hino.
"ALL OF YOU WAKE UP NOW!!! Where on Earth have you been!? You're families have all been looking for you. I got calls from each of them wondering if you were here, seeing as how you guys spend so much time here. And they all wanted to know the same thing as I do...WHERE WERE YOU!?"
Now that they were awake and alert, they thought madly to come up with a good excuse as to where they had been for the past three days. Serena, who was right now terrified of this strange old man, clung to Darien for dear life. The Senshi had forgotten to tell how eccentric Raye's grandpa was. In her amnesiac innocence, she told him where they had been, hoping it would calm him down.
"We were on Nagare'boshi helping Seiya and her friends free their planet from Akuma's evil control. I'm sure that we didn't mean to worry you, sorry if we did. Please don't be angry, we were only doing our jobs (or so I'm told she thought to herself) and it was for a good cause after all." All this while she had still been clinging to Darien, but now she moved slightly behind him, just in case her words had had the opposite effect of what she had hoped and had angered him further.
The Senshi had frozen in their spots and were now smacking themselves mentally. How could they have forgotten to tell her that no one on Earth knew who they really were? They all sat, waiting to see what Grandpa was going to do next. Grandpa, meanwhile, was eyeing them all suspiciously. He knew the girls well enough to know that they were hiding something from him. But usually when they were hiding something, they'd come up with some questionable story that could never be proven or disproved, not some ridiculous, outrageous and unbelievable story such as Serena was suggesting. He walked over to Serena who for her part simply moved even further behind Darien.
"What's with her, why is she hiding?"
"Ah, she has amnesia...sir. She's a little shaky right now." Darien gulped and tried to hide his nervousness. He'd never dealt with Grandpa before, at least not when he was in this kind of mood. It was kind of scary.
"Oh...I'm sorry my dear. I didn't mean to frighten you. I didn't realize that you didn't remember me or my sometimes rather extreme mood swings. Pleas don't be afraid, I won't hurt you. My bark is worse than my bite." Grandpa started laughing at his own joke as he often did while the others just stared.
Serena was really confused now. Just a second ago, this creepy old man was absolutely furious, now he was in a happy and joyful mood. She just didn't get it. But, deciding to trust his word that he wouldn't hurt her, and knowing that the others were there to support her, she moved away from behind Darien so that she was now sitting beside him.
"There now, that's better." Grandpa resumed. "Now why don't you tell me the whole story as you know it?" he said addressing Serena.
"NO!!!!!" everyone cried at once.
Serena didn't know what to do. Should she tell this scary old man the story before he got angry again or should she listen to her friends. She chose the latter, knowing that they would come to aid if the creepy man yelled at her. At their loud outburst though, Grandpa turned towards the rest of the group and stared at them suspiciously. He then refused to let them do anything or go anywhere until they had told them what was going on. This was the last straw for Raye, she had had enough and she snapped.
"What!? You have no right! For one thing they don't live here and two, I'm 18 years old and I have my own life! I'm not going to report to you every time I go somewhere!"
"Why you ungrateful brat! I raised you and this is the thanks I get? Young people have no respect for their elders anymore!"
A heated argument ensued that ended up with Raye trying to storm out of the room. Grandpa stopped her at the door.
"Where do you think you're going young missie? You're grounded until you tell me where you were. I was worried sick about you for three days, so you're not going anywhere!"
""Wouldn't it just be easier to tell him the truth?" Serena spoke up quietly, feeling bad for having caused this problem. She was also a little worried about how the others would react to this question...she didn't want more trouble.
"There you go, she has the right idea!" Grandpa said enthusiastically.
The Senshi debated this idea for a while before agreeing that it seemed to be the only way out of this mess. They later figured that they would probably have to tell all their families, but that could be dealt with later. So they made Grandpa swear on his life and theirs that he would never tell another soul. Once he had promised, they told him the whole story, from beginning to end, finishing off with their transformations as proof that what they had said was true.
Once they had detransformed, they heard a loud thud near the doorway. They looked over to see an unconscious Chad lying at the door. They dragged him into the room and began the process of waking him up. When he finally opened his eyes, they began drilling him on what he had seen and heard. He admitted to knowing everything and swore up, down, left, right, and center that he would NEVER EVER repeat a single word of what he knew.
A short question and answer period followed before the group was permitted to leave. Raye's grounding was lifted and the others left with frowns on their faces, they were not looking forward to the task of telling their families about who they really were. The Outer Senshi (minus Hotaru) were glad that they didn't have any relatives to worry about. Serena and Darien thought that they might be home free because Serena didn't live with her parents anymore, but their hopes were crushed when they got home and found a message on their machine from Ikuko, inviting them to dinner Thursday night, and it was already Wednesday afternoon.
With the inevitable fact that they would have to tell Serena's family everything as well, Darien called the Tsukino residence and accepted their invitation; telling them that they had something very important to discuss with them. After hanging up, he and Rini started teaching Serena how to use her powers and how to transform...after all, who knew what was going to be required to prove themselves to her very critical family.
The next night at the Tsukino residence..........
Kenji was pacing back and forth. This mysterious important matter had him worried. After all, what could be so important, that they couldn't even mention the topic on the phone? Since yesterday, his mind had been coming up with worst-case scenarios. Ikuko had been trying to get him to relax the whole day.
"There's something wrong, I just know it."
"Now honey, you're probably over-reacting. I'm sure there's noting wrong."
"No, there was something in his voice, I'm telling you. What if Serena's sick, or she has cancer, or worse...what if our little baby's dying?" he started to panic.
"Honey, calm down! Everything's going to be fine, you'll see."
"Yeah dad, they probably just found out that she's pregnant and know that you're going to flip out on them."
"What!? Pregnant!? No, she's too young! She's only 18! Besides, they only got married three weeks ago! It's too soon! She hasn't even finished school yet! She can't be..."he was cut off by the ringing of the doorbell, much to Sammy and Ikuko's relief.
Ikuko went to open the door and let their guests in. She was rather surprised when she saw a slightly nervous Darien, a more slightly frightened Serena and an almost giddy Rini (who thought that this was going to fun...seeing her grandparents' and Sammy's reactions to their news). For a moment, Ikuko thought that maybe Kenji and Sammy were right...maybe she was pregnant.
"Hi." Darien said bringing her out of her daze.
"Hi. Please come in, dinner's almost ready. It should be finished in about fifteen minutes."
"Thank you."
"So what was it that you wanted to discuss with us?" Kenji asked while trying to keep his cool.
"Actually, it would probably be better to wait until after dinner for our discussion." Darien replied. "And I know this may seem like an odd request, but could we keep the conversations at the dinner table very general please? I'll explain why later during our discussion."
"Alright." The family agreed, although they were slightly confused as to what was going on. And they hadn't failed to notice that Serena had been particularly quiet since they arrived.
The family ate quickly as they all wanted to get on with the important part of the visit...the discussion. Once everyone had finished, they gave their compliments to the chef then proceeded to relocate to the living room.
Once the family was all seated and settled in, Darien and Rini began to explain everything to the Tsukino family, from the days of the Silver Millennium to the present and including a few details of the future...Rini's true identity being one of them. The family had been told that all questions were to be asked at the end, as they knew that there would be many. As father and daughter finished their story, they looked to Serena who now stood up with them and the three of them transformed, providing the proof and validity of their story. When they finished their transformations, the Tsukino family just sat there and stared at them in utter disbelief.