Chapter 7

Hours later, Darien sat on his bed, debating whether or not to pick up the phone and apologize to Serena. He decided to phone her. Grabbing the receiver, he punched in Serena's numbers. One ring. Two. Three. Four. Five. "Come on, Serena," Darien grumbled. "Pick up." Six. Seven. Eig... On the eighth ring, somebody picked up the receiver.

"Hello?" someone asked, annoyed.

"Sammy?" Darien asked.

"Hi, Darien. Serena isn't here."

Darien was surprised. "She isn't?"

"No," Sammy replied. "She left three hours ago. We phoned Amy and the others. Even Terence. No one's seen her. We're really worried."

"I'll go look for her, Sam," Darien said, now worried himself. He told Sammy not to worry and Serena, and that he was going to look for her, before hanging up and saying good-bye. He placed the receiver back into it's cradle and lay on his back. "Damn," he growled. "Why isn't Serena home? If the Negamoon has something to do with this, I swear... I'll kill them." Darien sat up and dialed Amy's number.

Amy answered on the third ring. "Hello?"

"Amy? This is Darien. Do you know where Serena went?"

"Sorry. She seemed really depressed after what you did and everything, though. Lita was saying that it was enough for her to have a nervous breakdown."

Darien sighed. He knew that Serena was sensitive. That was one of the things that he had, and still did, love about her. "Do you have any idea where she is?"

"No. I don't."

"Thanks anyways," Darien sighed and hung up. He tried all of Serena's other friend's, except for the one that he had just met: Terence. Darien got off his bed. Thanks to Lita, he remembered that Terence lived up the hill from Serena's house. He grabbed his green sports jacket and headed out of the apartment, locking the door behind him.

The doorbell rang. Terence decided to let his uncle get it. "Terence!" his uncle's voice called. "Visitor!"

Terence was surprised at his uncle's announcement. He didn't know anyone from school. The only person who knew where he lived was Serena. Unless, of course, Serena had told all of her friends where he lived. Terence got off his bed and ran downstairs. When he reached the door, he was surprised to see Darien. "Hi," Terence said, not understanding why Darien would come see him. "What's up?"

"Serena. She's not home. No one knows where she is. Do you?"

"I'm leaving for a while, Uncle Chris!" Terence yelled, once Darien had finished.

"Don't be back too late!" was the reply back.

Terence motioned for Darien to go outside. Darien opened the door, and stepped outside. Terence followed. "Why?" was the first thing that came out of Terence's mouth once they were outside.

Darien shrugged. "You're her twin brother, right?" Darien asked.

Terence nodded, slowly. What did that have to do with anything? "Yeah. So?"

"I was wondering," Darien said. "If you and Serena have those twin-connections that some twins have."
"I guess," Terence said. "I don't really know what you mean. But if you think Serena's in pain, she is. Not physically, but emotionally."
"Do you have any idea where she might have gone?" Darien asked, repeating the same question that he had asked the others.

Terence shook his head, then suddenly remembering something he nodded. "We were born in America," Terence informed him. "I'm not sure what kind of help that that might be. That's the only place I think that she might go. To America."

Darien nodded.

"Serena ran away, huh?"

"Yeah," Darien replied. "She did."

Raye sat in the Fire Room waiting for the others to get there. After Darien had called her, she had summoned the others to a Sailor Scout meeting. They needed to discuss the absence of their leader and why she left. Raye was trying to hold back tears when Amy walked in. Raye turned to face her friend, making sure that all signs of tears were gone.

Amy's eyes were puffy and red from crying.

"Hello, Amy," Raye said, evenly.

"Raye," Amy said, obviously trying hard to keep herself composed. "Do you think Serena's okay?"

"Definitely not," a voice from the entrance way said.

Raye saw Lita standing in the doorway. "Hello, Lita," Raye said, in the same cool tone that she had welcomed Amy.

Lita was angered by Raye's tone, but for once, she decided to hold back what she thought.

"Why do you say that?" Amy asked.

"Why would she run away if everything was okay?" Lita asked.

"She's Serena, that's why," Raye said, knowing that what she was saying was not true. Even she knew that Serena would never run away from home without a good reason. Then again, Raye thought. For Serena, a break-up with Darien is pretty serious.

Lita was ready to punch Raye. Why was she acting like this? If she didn't care about Serena, why did she summon everyone here? "Raye, stop your all-mighty attitude, okay?" Lita said, angry with her fellow Scout. "It really stinks."

"Have any news about Serena?" Mina asked, walking inside.

The other three shook their heads. "Not yet," Amy said.

"If Serena ran away, it must be because she didn't want to be near other people," Raye said. "Don't worry about her."

Mina's face hardened. So did Amy's. They were sick of Raye's attitude.

"Raye, you summoned us here," Lita said. "What do you want?"

"I know what I want," Raye said. "I already got it answered."

Amy and Mina walked out of the building. They were mad at Raye. There was no doubt about that. Lita turned to follow her friends but before she walked out she turned to look at Raye. "What the hell is up with you?" Lita growled. "One of your best friends is missing and you don't even give a damn." Leaving Raye alone, Lita walked out of the room, and out of the building.

Once she was sure that Lita was out of sight, Raye didn't bother to try and hold back her tears any longer. She let them flow freely. She sat there crying for a few moments longer then she wiped her eyes, and faced the Great Fire. "Oh, Great Fire," Raye began, "Where has Serena gone to?" The fire flickered and then an image appeared in the flames. Serena was standing in the airport. Raye had seen enough in the picture to know what was going to happen. Serena was leaving Tokyo. Raye had to stop her before she did. She got up and walked out of the room towards a telephone. She picked up the receiver and dialed an old number.

Darien was talking with Terence. Sherisa was just a few feet away from them, lying down. "So what do you thin-?" Darien began but was interrupted by his cell phone. He picked it up and sighed. It had been a present from a friend long ago. He answered it. "Hello?" he said, wondering if it was Sammy with some good news.

"Darien?" It was Raye. "I have some news for you. Come by my house. Pick up Terence, too. If we hurry we may be able to stop Serena."

At the mention of Serena's name, Darien and Terence froze. Was it possible? Could it be? Raye had information about Serena? Darien looked at Terence. They walked towards Darien's motorcycle. Darien handed Terence a helmet and drove as fast as possible to Raye's.