Disclaimer: I have to save for a car now, so my dream of owning Sailor Moon is shot. Oh well, I'll keep borrowing the characters anyway…

Note: Thankyouthankyouthankyou for all the reviews. I love getting reviews. And here is a new chapter as a reward for all the reviews. I don't promise that it's very well written as I am currently taking happy pain medication. You know what I mean. I promised you Darien torture and there's about to be some… in the next chapter *grins evilly*

And ten points to whoever can guess what/where/why/who the Court are. And yes, they will be explained at some point in the story. Maybe. Or maybe I'll just leave a gigantic unexplained plot-hole. Or 12. J ~wanders off to torture Darien and watch Lord of the Rings and drool over Legolas and Aragorn~

Chapter 15

Rei stood beside the table where the Court was gathered, glaring mutinously at Serena. "What…Do… You…Think…You're… Doing?" she ground out.

Serena's ocean blue eyes widened. "Having lunch?" she said, smiling as the other three joined Rei. "Hey all! These are my friends from New York. They're all here for the…"

"SERENA!" Rei yelled. "Who is that guy?" she was pointing at Theirry. "And what are you doing with him?"

"He's my boyfriend," Serena was confused. She'd told them about Theirry the other day…

"He is NOT! He can't be!" Rei growled. "You already have one! Darien- remember him? The love of your life?"

Puck choked on his Coca-Cola. Diana absently pounded him on the back, keeping her eyes on the newcomers. Theirry looked as if he couldn't decide to laugh or punch something.

Serena laughed. "The Love of My… Rei, chica, you know Darien was just a crush. A leftover bit of…well, unfinished business. But it's finished now, remember? We broke up? Again."

"You love him!" Mina cried, "Darien's your soulmate! How can you forget the Moon…"

Serena silenced her with an intense glare. "I remember, Mina. I remember perfectly well. And I promise you I'll never forget Endymion or what we had, but Darien is not, nor will he ever be, Endymion!"

"But he is Endymion, Meatball head!" Rei said.

Serena shrugged. "Could have fooled me."

"That's not all that hard, you know…" Rei remarked with a smirk.

"Er… Sea?" Illianna asked hesitantly, "How about some introductions?" She spoke quietly, but quickly, as she hoped to avoid an actual fight.

"Sorry Lia." Serena smiled and gestured toward the newcomers. "These are my oldest friends, Rei, Ami, Mina, and Lita…And these are my new friends…"

Lita was staring at Gabriel. He was so lean and muscular… tousled dark hair, dark eyes… He was definitely a rebel, definitely dangerous. And then there was Puck, shorter, with white hair and pale blue eyes, dressed in baggy jeans and a green shirt, his name fit him well. Quinn wore a similar outfit, though he had spring green eyes and ebony hair much neater than Gabriel's. Ash, with appropriately ash blond hair, his changing eye colors, and that slow sexy grin that made one think of cheshire cats and canaries… Theirry, Serena's boyfriend, had the palest blond hair she'd ever seen and eyes that would melt a girl from kilometers away… Zach had brown hair and looked as if he spent all his time very nearly sulking, though with his boyish face it looked very endearing…

It was Rei's yelling again that brought her back to real life. Thank God they were the only occupants of the Crown.

"Serena, come home with us right now! These… people don't care about you! We're your friends! What is wrong with you? You haven't acted normal since you got here and…"

"Shut UP, Rei!" Serena snapped, glaring at the taller brunette and standing to face her.

Rei's mouth opened and closed repeatedly as the other scouts stared blankly at Serena. "I have tried to be nice to you, and I have tried to act like everything was the way it was, but it's not and frankly, I don't want it to be! I am not the girl you knew, and I will not let you tell me what to do and call me names and pretend to be my friends any more! I'm sick of it. I'm sick of you and Darien, and the whole mess!" Serena paused, taking a deep breath and trying to calm herself, then without another word, she turned and walked out the door.

A few heartbeats passed, and the arcade was unusually silent. "I think I'll go tell Andrew that those orders are to go…" Puck said.

"I'll come with!" Illianna said, practically jumping at the chance.

Quinn cleared his throat. "We better go talk to Serena…"

The rest of the Court began getting up, when Rei turned on Theirry. "You," she hissed, "I don't know what you've done to her, but you are going to pay…"

"I haven't done anything to her, she's her own person," Theirry said, his eyes meeting Rei's calmly. "It's hardly our fault that she's realized what dismal friends you are."

Rei let out a shriek of rage and launched herself at him, only to be hauled back by a pair of hands clamping onto her shoulders. "Not so fast there," Ash said with a grin. She tried desperately to kick him.

"Truth hurts, don't it?" Dee asked her with a smirk. Mina and Lita glared at her. Dee laughed, tossing her long black hair, and looking down on them condescendingly.

Before anything else could be said, or another fight could erupt, Diana stepped in. "All right, that's enough! We need to go find Serena and make sure she's okay."

"Yeah," Gabriel added, "It's not every day you dump so-called friends."

Ami grabbed Lita to keep her from punching Gabriel. Susan was looking the Scouts over, her eyes critical. "Don't be so hard on them, Gabe! They're just little girls…" She was looking at Ami, at Mina's bow, and at their little sailor dresses. "And they don't even get what they did wrong!"

"Susan!" Diana said sharply, "That's enough!"

Susan's honey brown eyes barely glanced at Diana, but she was silent. Instead it was Dee who took a step toward the Scouts. "Theirry's right, you know, we've never done anything to hurt Serena and we never would! We've been there when she needed us, we've shown her a whole new world…" her smile was cold. "What have you ever done besides laugh and call her names and tell her to grow up, to be the old Serena?"

The Scouts stared at the girl before them, as she advanced, mocking them, her voice clear and cold. Rei started, she could feel the power in the girl… Such power…

"Dee!" Diana was glaring at her friend. "Stop it. It's not your fight!"

Dee stepped back and sighed, looking disappointed. "You're right, Di." The tall amazon turned to follow the others out the door.

Ami shivered as she watched the group leave

"There is something seriously creepy about those kids," Mina said finally.

"You're telling me! They are waaaaay too pretty…" Lita was frowning.

"Didn't you feel it when that girl, Dee, got close? She's got some serious power vibes…" Rei said thoughtfully.

"Are we certain Serena's safe with them? What about all those awful things they said?" Ami looked at the others.

"They're just mean, shallow snobs," Rei snorted.

"So why does Serena like them?" Mina asked her, looking at Rei sharply. "I mean, we did tease her an awful lot…"

"That's what friends do! And anyway, Serena's going through a rough time, she's not going to be the best judge of character…" Lita said, staring at the door.

"I still don't like them," Rei grumbled. "I don't think they're quite what they say they are…"

Serena walked down the street, heading for the park. She put on her Raybans to hide herself. She always felt better with her sunglasses on- if the 'windows to the soul' were hid, she didn't feel so exposed. It was easier to hide your emotions with sunglasses on. She knew what she'd just done: she had finally told Rei and the others what she felt. Serena had ended the friendship. And it saddened her, but not much. She had other friends, closer ones, perhaps better, perhaps not. She had a new life, new secrets… a new life that the Scouts could never dream existed. Secrets that they'd never believe even if she told them… A smile touched Serena's lips, her step lightened a little, she rounded the corner. "Ouch!" she ran straight into someone. She stepped back, "I'm so sorry, sir! I didn't see you and…" she apologized with a smile, looking up at the man… the smile wavered… Tall, dark hair, dark blue eyes… Darien. Damn it all.

Darien smiled down at the girl in the sunglasses. "That's okay, no harm done." She laughed at that, and her looked at her a little more closely. That laugh was oddly familiar.

Before he could question her further, she was walking away. "Wait, Miss…?" The girl turned back and waved, before dashing off toward the park. Well, she was definitely strange. He hadn't been run into for so long… Not since Serena left… Darien frowned and walked toward the Crown Parlor. He had been waiting for her to come back, waiting for the summer, but he hadn't heard anything about Serena coming back. Andrew ought to know though, as she was always fond of the Crown.

As he approached the door, a large group of kids, obviously Americans, were leaving. They didn't look too happy… Hopefully the games weren't out of order or anything.

Darien took a seat at the counter Andrew was wiping off. "Looks like you've had a busy afternoon," he said, motioning to the group making its way down the street.

"Oh yes," Andrew said, looking at the retreating figures wistfully. "They're here for the summer from America," he glanced over to where the scouts were sitting huddled together. "Unfortunately I think their highnesses have taken a dislike to the new kids."

Darien laughed. "Really? Usually the girls are so friendly…" Andrew snorted.

"Huh. Yeah." He was having a hard time forgiving the girls for chasing off that cute Illianna.

Darien was grinning. "So, any reason the girls hate them so much? They can't be jealous of them already…"

"Wanna bet?" Andrew said, sitting down next to his friend. "Didn't you even notice the girls with them?" he was looking at Darien expectantly.

"Well, they were nice-looking…"

"Nice-looking?" Andrew looked at Darien as if he'd grown an extra head. "Those girls are gorgeous. And rich. And really funny…" he looked a little dreamy. Darien waved a hand in front of his face.

"Earth to Andrew? You've already got a crush on one of them haven't you?"

Andrew straightened his apron. "No I don't," he cleared his throat, "Anyway, why are you here?"

"I… er, I came to ask if you've heard from Serena…" Darien looked at his best friend pleadingly. Andrew stared at him, and started laughing. Just wait till Darien saw Serena. And Theirry… Might do the boy some good…

"She was just in her today. Those kids are her friends from America. Apparently the girls aren't too fond of them…" he sobered up. As Darien's friend he really had to warn him… "Look, Dare, I think you ought to…"

"She was HERE?" Darien yelled. "Where'd she go? Where?" He demanded.

"To the park, but you really need to…"

But Darien was already gone, racing toward the park.