Chapter 17

            Serena looked up at Rei with nervousness at the pit of her stomach. She couldn't move for a split second. She looked away from Rei's searching eyes and looked at Darien? ['Darien?'] she whispered desperately as she folded her hand together.

          He moved closer to her and took her hand in his. He breathed deeply and pulled her closer to himself wanting her to know that he was there for her no matter what. He looked at Rei's shocked face and ran his free hand through his hair. "Rei, Serena and I… well, we were…" he didn't know how to say it, it was harder than he thought it was.

          Rei shook her head in denial as she looked from Darien to Serena. "NO! You don't mean it. Do you?" she asked as tears came to her eyes. As they looked away from her gaze she knew, she knew that they did. "How could you? I thought we were meant to be together," she cried as she looked at Darien. She changed her gaze to Serena and looked at her with the most broken eyes that Serena has ever seen before. "I thought you were my friend. How could you do this to me?" she asked as tears poured out of her eyes and down her delicate face. She felt betrayed and she wanted to run. She wanted to run far away.

          Darien looked at her and felt bad, but he could never regret what he did with Serena. It was something special to them and he wouldn't trade it for anything. He looked over to Serena and his heart almost broke as he saw the tear that was filling up her eyes. ['Serena, please don't cry.'] he pleaded as he looked at her fully. She looked down and brushed the tear away from her eyes.

          ['I feel so rotten and so dirty.'] she thought as more tears came into her eyes.

          Darien looked away, hurt that she would think like this with him. He thought she wouldn't regret it like him, but he was wrong, so wrong. He thought he had a chance with her but…

          Serena's head shot up when she heard Darien's thought, she didn't mean it that way. ['No Darien, please don't say that. I could never regret what happened between you and I. It is something that will always live with me. I just felt so bad for cheating on my best friend.']

          Darien sighed loudly and squeezed her hands gently telling her it's okay.

          The other just looked with pure shock as their ex-leader and prince stood in front of them holding hand no less.

          "Serena?" Amy asked as she looked at her friend. "You had an affair with the prince?" she asked incredulously.

          Serena turned away from everybody as tears fill her eyes. "Yes." She whispered in a tight voice as she used her other hand to brush the tear away from her eyes. "I think I have done enough damage." She said as she tried to walk away from everybody's searching eyes. Darien pulled her to him preventing her from going anywhere.

          "You are not going anywhere. I don't care what my destiny is. All I care about is you. The princess and the prince were in the past. This is Serena and Darien, not Rei and Darien." Darien pleaded with her as he held her closer to himself. ['Don't leave me.'] he begged as tears filled his eyes. ['I need you. I want you to be my queen, not Rei. Please?'] he asked as he tightened his hold around her. He blinked back his tears trying not to show too much emotion. He rested his head on her shoulder as he inhaled her scent.

          Every one around them started to look with shock at the exchange of emotions. Rei couldn't help but love the way they fit. She knew she should be hurt. And she was, a little. But to see them like this, it made her think otherwise. She could actually feel the love bond they have created around them. It was more than she could ever have with him. She shook her head and turn to the other to see them looking at her worriedly. Knowing what they were thinking, she smiled at them.

Darien berried his head deeper into her neck as he kissed it softly, she sighed as she hugged him closer. She felt his pain, his fear. ['I'll stay.'] she whispered quietly to him as she pulled back and held his face between her hands and pulled him to her, pressing their lips together in a soft tender kiss. It didn't go any further than that as they stayed locked for a minute or two.

          They were in their own little world when they heard a person clear their throats. They pulled away from each other and looked at the forgotten group. Rei raised a brow at them and almost laughed when they looked at her with nervousness. She smiled a little easing the tension around them.

          She chuckled a little, "I should have known. You two were all over each other for the past few weeks." She shook her head and smiled brightly.

          "I'm sorry Rei," Serena whispered looked down at the floor. But before Rei could answer, there was loud crush coming from the door. They all looked over to see Zoisite standing there with a wide smirk on her face, as rose petals twirling around her.

          Andrew, who has been quite all this time trying to figure out what the prince and stuff meant, walked to the weird dressed women, "Excuse me miss, but can I help you?" he asked as nicely as he could. But what ever it was that he was expecting, it wasn't what he got. With the click of her finger, he was thrown at least 100 feet, slamming against the other side of the wall.

          The others gasped as they saw their friend being thrown against the wall. They ran to his side and helped him up. Darien stood in front of Serena protecting her as Zoisite walked to their side. "What do you want here, Zoisite?" he demanded as he got ready to attack if necessary. Zoisite's smirk became wider. This was amusing. Then she looked all of them over and noticed that the girl that was standing next to Cap-boy. She had silver looking hair. She looked a lot like Sailor Moon's civil self but she didn't. She titled her head to the side observing her more closely; she noticed how she looked uncomfortable with the intense look she was giving her. Zoisite looked at the others and saw that they were distracted; she smirked a little and started to form a sharp crystal behind Darien. With a swift movement of her hand the crystal went through Darien's shoulder piercing his skin.

          Darien's eyes widened as he cried out in pain. Serena whirled around just in time to see the pained look in his eyes as he fell to the ground. "Darien!" she cried as she kneeled next to him brushing his hair away from his hair.

          Darien winced in pain as the crystal went deeper. Blood started to lick from his shoulder, the puddle socking her cloth. Tears started to fall down her eyes as she looked at him. "You'll be okay, you'll see, I'll take care of you, and you will fell much better and then we will live together for ever and ever." She whispered to him trying to reassure him as much as herself.

          Darien coughed a little as he lifted his hand to brush her tears away from her face. "I'm sorry I failed to protect you. I would have done anything just for you to live." He coughed again and took a deep breath, "I'm sorry" he whispered as his breath became shorter as his eyes started to close. "I'm sorry Serena." Serena eyes widened as cried harder.

          "You can't leave me now. I need you, I love you!" she cried as she shook him trying to wake him up.

          With his last breath, Darien smiled a pained smile, as he whispered his last word, "I love you…"

          "NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" Serena screamed as she berried her face in his shirt.

          Sorry I took so long to update, but I had to study for my exams and I couldn't write all story at once. I hope you like this chapter. My last chapter will be updated soon.

Love ya 3