Hello Minna, here is the much awaited Chapter 8 of Tangent. I'm overjoyed from the amount of reviews I have received for this story. Most of you are enjoying the bashing and there will be more…much more. Anyway, thanks to Angel of Serenity for your words of encouragement. I hope to see the next installment of your story… whose title escapes me, but is listed as one of my favorite stories!!! Also thanks to Sadiqa D. for the email and reviews. And to Sailor Leo for the reviews and the emails…I hope this chapter satisfies you! And please don't kill my characters!! I will list those who have entered my 'Who did It?' contest for Homicide whenever I post the next chapter.

As always… I don't own Sailor Moon. But this particular interpretation of the 'R' season is mine, so are the characters Ayden and Blake. And all twists and turns are mine too.

"Lets get it on!"

A Tangent in the Future

By Crystaldove

Chapter 8

Artemis and Mina, who were still in disguise, walked back towards Central and continued to laugh at Miss H's reaction to Artemis.

"We're being watched." Mina said and turned around slowly. "Come out, we know you're there."

"Serena?" Darien slowly walked out from behind the bushes. "You're back…I'm sorry about earlier. You should have told me about your plan."

"Why, were we speaking to you? Then you had the nerve to disrespect my princess and the Queen's sacrifice! You better be glad Serena isn't here!"

"What are you talking about, you are Serena?"

"Nope." There was a flash and Mina appeared from Serena's form. " She isn't here. She is still recuperating from her assignation attempt."

"I didn't try to kill her, there was, it was a droid…I was aiming for the droid. Why won't you believe me?"

"Why should we? There is no 'I' in team. Besides …I know you have the ability to call back your roses, if you are telling the truth."

"Artemis I didn't see you."

"I'm not surprised Darien. You couldn't possibly see anything beyond your ego. Well as enchanting as this conversation is…we have work to do. Lets go Mina."

The two walked away and left Darien speechless. When Darien arrived home, he explained to Luna what had transpired before he remembered she couldn't answer him. So Luna decided to contact Artemis.

'Artemis?'

'Yes Luna?'

'Why was Mina assuming Serena's guise?'

'You don't know?'

'Because of her disappearance?'

'Partially, but she was instructed to.'

'You've spoken to Serena?'

'Of course, she would never abandon us…like you did her.'

'Why didn't you tell Darien, he's devastated.'

'With what, guilt. Why are you so concerned for his welfare? You didn't even ask if 'your' princess was ok.'

'Is she alright?'

'Yes, she is being taken care of.'

'By the girls?'

'By none of your business and I don't feel like answering any more of your mundane questions. I must go.'

Luna sighed and sunk to the floor. Darien looked at her and noticed her pensive mood.

'I guess Artemis didn't tell her anything either…like she could tell me anyway.'

Meanwhile…

Serena was taking a tour of the Black Moon Citadel.

"How long have you been here Ayden?"

"About 2 years now. I was just turning 16 when that bastard banished us."

"16, what about Blake?"

He was 14."

"My god you were so brave to stand up to the king like that."

"Sometimes but other times I've felt stupid."

"Why?"

"I let my emotions take control, rose up to his bait…it was my reaction that brought us to Nemesis."

"No!" She interjected and turned to face him. " It was Endymion's jealousy, his need to have total control…that is what brought you to Nemesis. That is also why I chose to stay. I want to help you solve your problems and I know I still would in the future. The queen knows this problem wasn't your fault, why didn't you ask her?"

Ayden lead her to the castle's Drawing Room.

"There are some things I haven't told you about the future. I was hoping not to tell you, but that would make me no better than Endymion. I told you that I saw Neo-Queen Serenity and her daughter when we first returned. My spies found out that she would be spending the next afternoon in her private garden. My plan was to approach her there. Before I could go to her, the palace alarms sounded. It seemed that her Imperial Silver Crystal had been stolen. Blake saw Endymion on the inner courtyard and went to confront him. Serenity was looking for Endymion since he didn't respond to the alarms. When I found my brother; the king was strangling him. I was so enraged…I had to make him pay. Serenity saw this and tried to stop him from hurting my brother, she yelled for him to stop and then she saw me. She was happy to see me and Endymion saw this. He dropped my brother and stormed over to her…he grabbed her…he was hurting her. That was the last straw, I couldn't just sit by anymore. I was pushed over the edge. The dark energy that had seeped within my body for the past two years pooled to my sigil and formed this third eye. I shot a beam at him, at Endymion…and she. I'm still not sure he already had her restrained …I'm not sure if he pulled her in front of him or she did it herself. But she got hit…I hit her with the beam. She was encased in a crystal and I couldn't get her out.

~Flashback~

"Endymion let me go…I need to speak with him."

"No, he is a criminal and it seems that banishment isn't permanent enough for him!"

"Haven't you done enough to him…to his people?"

"The alarms have sounded because of him."

"That is false, if you had responded to my summons, you would have known that the alarms sounded because my crystal is missing!"

"He stole the crystal?"

"How Endymion? Only members of the royal court can enter my crystal chamber."

"There is always a way my nieve wife."

"Enough of your accusations, release me."

"I will not let my wife embarrass me by running to the aid of some planetary traitor! Now go back inside and let me handle this. I swear woman why do I put up with you?"

"You will show her some respect you sorry excuse for a monarch!"

"I will treat 'my' wife however 'I' want to! Guards restrain this treacherous thief!"

"Let. Her. Go!"

"Nooooooooooooo!"

~ end flashback ~

"I was dumbfounded…he wouldn't let me check on her, so I released the droids Blake created…in hopes of killing him."

"And the queen?"

"She's in a coma laying in an impenetrable crystal tomb deep inside the palace. That beam would have if not mortally then seriously wounded the king. And even afterwards he called her a fool for risking her life. In her motionless state he blamed her for everything that happened. When he found out that no one could undo my spell and the silver crystal was indeed missing, he realized his mistake. I could have killed you Serena."

"Ayden, this is the result of cause and effect."

"You don't understand, none of this would have ever happened if I kept my rage in check… you would have not had to endure the pain of this war."

Serena stood and knelt beside him and took his hands into her own.

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. If not for this war, I would still be in the dark about Darien's true feelings for me. It was my heartache, my anger, that triggered memories of my past abilities and strengths. Because of this war I am stronger, and if not for this war…I would have never met you."

Ayden raised his head and looked deep in Serena's eyes, smiling slightly.

"You are a treasure far more precious than the rarest diamond. Spending the past few hours with you has given me more joy than I can ever remember receiving."

He reached out and touched her face; Serena looked back at him with astonished eyes. He closed the gap and kissed her gently.

"I'm sorry…I shouldn't have done that. I just loose control when I'm with you."

He jumped up and taking Serena's hand continued his tour without further discussion.

Back at central the girls had arrived for their follow up meeting. Artemis and Mina were already there and started the meeting. She also told them about her encounter with Darien.

"What do you mean 'I wasn't trying to kill her?' We all saw him aiming his rose at her, and lets say that there was a droid…since when does he 'not' try to draw the enemy away before striking? He let some dumb enemy insult his oh so high collegiate intelligence?"

"Don't forget his emotional murder either Lita. His barb about her and the Queen was beyond low… even for him."

"Well all of that is true Mina, but he isn't the issue…for now. I was trying to chart the orbit for the planet that Serena is on. Nemesis is as old as the other planets in the solar system and according to scans I found in the computer done during the Silver Millennium; its orbit is continually expanding. This is why the planet is so hard to locate in the 30th century. It's appearance resembled Saturn around 250 million years ago. It was also located between Neptune and Pluto, but the counter-clockwise orbit of Neptune offset the clockwise orbit of Nemesis and caused it to repel. The friction was like matter and anti-matter, each time Nemesis's obit crossed Neptune's, the force pushed the planet further away until it became the last planet of the solar system."

While Amy gave her Einstein-like explanation, Artemis charted the orbit on several panels of the computer for the girls to see.

"This friction was like an explosion every time the orbits crossed."

"So an 'explosion' of matter and anti-matter would cause what to happen?"

"Well Raye it's theorized that this space between positive and negative forces creates a hole that pulls everything in."

"A black hole?"

"Yes, but others theorize and I agree, that such a force would cause an equated fusion of the positive and negative space."

"The boomerang orbit changed this equation, and the constant repulsion made the planet weaker and more susceptible to the negative space surrounding it…causing a planet that radiates pure negative energy or Nemesis."

"And Serena is stuck on that thing! What's going to happen to her?"

"Calm down Mina. Remember when Darien was brainwashed by Beryl, he was weak physically and emotionally… that's the only time negative energy can influence you."

"And what Darien did to her doesn't fit that theory?"

"If this happened a few weeks ago…I wouldn't be sure how she would have handled it, but since she started looking at things objectively her resolve and her esteem have strengthened."

"I'm glad, this breakup has affected us all; about time something good came out of it."

"Hey Ayden, where's Serena?"

"She's resting. I guess she's overwhelmed from what I told her."

"What did you tell her?"

"I told her about the queen…about the attack; I told her what Endymion did to you."

"How did she take it?"

"Better than I expected. She understood my motives and that my intent was not to hurt the queen. I wanted to tell her everything…but the look on her face…"

Ayden toward the window and in the dreary light of the Nemesis day, Blake watched as tears streamed down his brothers' face.

"Neo-Queen Serenity is an unattainable fantasy…"

"And Serena?"

"I kissed her… if she gives me a chance, I won't hesitate and I won't take her for granted like Darien either."

Serena tossed in her sleep. She kept seeing the things Ayden told her earlier that afternoon. In her dreams she reflected on her relationship with Darien. She remembered his cold demeanor, how she was the one putting the effort into the relationship. How even in battle he seemed aloof, only appearing to save her from the final blow, but not preventing her from getting hurt. She woke with a gasp.

"He never did love me…I doubt if he even cares about me. How could I be so stupid?"

Ayden was coming to check on Serena when he heard her muttering violently to herself and he ran into her room.

"Serena what's wrong?"

"He never loved me Ayden…never! I thought that his love decreased over time; Darien has told me he hates me several times, but never once that he loved me!"

She started shaking and tears fell from her eyes. Ayden was still new to expressions of emotion so he hesitated before reaching out to hug her. Serena grabbed him in a tight embrace and cried on his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry for breaking down like this Ayden, it's just I was thinking about what you told me and…"

"No, this is my fault, I shouldn't have told you."

"It's ok." She said wiping her eyes. "I would still have so many unanswered questions. Now I know the truth."

A dark shadow appeared over Ayden's face for a moment.

'You only know half of the truth.' He thought. "It's late and you really need your rest."

"Ok, thank you Ayden." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "And I'm not mad about um…you know from earlier. Goodnight."

"Yes, it is…now…I mean see you in the morning."

Ayden practically fled from her room before leaping in the hall.

'She's not mad about the kiss…maybe I will get to tell her how I feel after all.'

Darien had another restless night of sleep. Reeny was proving what an annoying child she really was and tending to Luna's mood swings was getting on his nerves. But the major cause of his trouble was seeing Serena's face every time he closed his eyes. The look on her face when he accused her of dishonoring her mothers' memory haunted him. He would then see her fall over and over. Most days he awoke in a cold sweat and others he woke mouthing her name.

Serena awoke the next morning refreshed and glad that in alleviating some of her fears, she put some of Ayden's to rest. After hours of much thought she decided…

"Before I leave… I will help Ayden and Blake!"

end chapter

It's me again…I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. I hope you understood the technical stuff. I'm an astronomy buff; I based the theory of Nemesis from the information on Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Pluto is the planet with the weird orbit and during your great, great, great, great grandchildren's lifetime, 247 years from now because it just finished in 1999, Pluto will be the 8th planet because of it's' orbit. Neptune actually affects Uranus' orbit and tilt with the clockwise and counter-clockwise orbits of it's' two moons. Which could explain the love of Haruka and Michiru. I mentioned in a previous chapter that Nemesis was thought to be a moon of Neptune but the orbit was strange, that was also true about Pluto. I got all that matter and anti-matter stuff from magnets and a really old cartoon that was on MTV's Liquid Television (how many of you remember that show?" Ok, no more Bill Nye for me. TTFN

Dove