Chapter 10
Years have now passed. Serena is now twenty-one and her English is no longer as heavily accented as it was when she first arrived in America. Still living on the streets, Serena has become close friends with Jordan.
Serena's friends and Darien have not lost contact with the Tsukino family. In fact, they are now closer together since the disappearance of their daughter. Darien has not given up on looking for her and is still in Japan, searching and waiting for that one day where he may be able to hold Serena in his arms more . . . . . .
Serena and Jordan were walking around the streets of L.A. It was around eleven at night. Serena froze as she heard a cry.
"Let go!"
It was the same cry she had given years before. She looked at Jordan. They weren't that far away from the alley. Quickly, they ran towards it.
Joey was holding the girl by the shoulders, the other guy was looking through her purse. Quietly, Serena and Jordan walked towards Joey, his back turned to them. Serena got ready, then kicked him in the back. Jordan was ready for this. Before Joey could fall to the ground, he grabbed his wrist and twisted Joey's arm behind his back. He made Joey kneel on the ground and not letting go of his arm, put his knee into the boy's back. Serena now had the other guy by the hair. The girl was lying on the cold ground a few feet away from them.
"Now, Joey," Jordan said. "You said you would stop this last time I saw you."
Joey grimaced as Jordan pulled harder on his arm. "I will," Joey said. "I will." Jordan shook his head.
"You should have learned," Serena said, smiling. "You only have one chance." She looked at Jordan and he nodded. "Go and phone the cops," Serena instructed the girl. "Hurry."
Scared, the girl got up and ran away.
Ten minutes later, Serena and Jordan heard police sirens. Jordan lifted one of the guys and put him in a nearby dumpster.
Serena handed the other guy to him and he put him beside the other one.
Looking at Serena, Jordan asked, "Ready?"
Serena nodded.
"Let's go, then."
Serena and Jordan ran to the end of the alley, which was blocked by a chain link fence. "You know the routine," Jordan said.
Serena nodded.
Jordan got his foot ready, and gave her a boost. She grabbed near the top of the fence. Once on the top, she grabbed him by the arm and lifted him over. "This is much easier with two," Jordan said, smiling as they back to their apartment.
Serena nodded. "I can see what you mean," she said. The duo reached their apartment breathless. "We gonna do this tomorrow?" Serena asked, as they walked up the stairs.
Jordan nodded. "You know it," he said. "You know it." They entered the apartment. Serena took a shower first. Then Jordan. She couldn't believe how normal this routine was to her. She had been doing this ever since Jordan had thought she was good enough to help him. He had been robbed when he first had gone onto the streets and wanted it to stop it from happening to others. Serena had been glad to help Jordan, since he had prevented her being robbed a long time ago. Serena had almost forgotten about everything in Tokyo... almost.
In Tokyo, Darien was over at the Tsukino's with Sammy. They were watching the news from America on satellite. A reporter was reporting something from L.A. Darien watched every evening hoping to hear something about Serena. "Another burglary happened tonight," the reporter said. "But that's not the surprising thing. The surprising thing, is that the person being burglarized was saved by a man and woman. We got an interview with the victim earlier tonight."
The television switched to show a picture of a young girl. She was clutching her bag as if it meant everything in the world to her. "These two people came out of nowhere," she said to the reporter, obviously still in shock from her attack. "One was a dark haired man, about the age of twenty-six, or twenty-seven. The other was a woman with short blonde hair. She appeared to be five or six years younger than the man, which would make her twenty-one, I didn't get that good of a look at them."
The person asking her the question said something understanding, then the TV turned back to the reporter. "We have just been told that this is not the first burglary that has been stopped by these two people," the reporter said. "This has been happening for a few years. Every time, the supposed-to-be victim was told to go and phone the police. Each person attacked described the same two people. A dark haired man about 6'5, and a woman with short blonde hair, about 5'6."
Darien switched of the TV. Serena would be twenty-one by now. She had long blonde hair, but she could have cut it. Darien looked at Sammy. It was obvious that they were both thinking the same thing.
"Go tell, Terence," Sammy said. "I won't tell my parents, though. I don't want to give them false hope."
Darien nodded and left the Tsukino household.
Terence jumped as he heard a knock. Now twenty-one, he had inherited his uncle's business. His Uncle Chris had decided to retire and had given Terence his fortune and made him the President and owner of his company. Terence got up off the couch and walked towards the door. He opened it and was not surprised to see Darien. "Hello, Darien," he said,
"Good to see you again."
"Nice to see you, too, Terence," Darien said. "But let's not be formal." Darien smiled. "I think I may have found S..."
"Serena!" Terence exclaimed, not letting Darien finish his sentence. "Great! Where? Let's go!"
"Whoa," Darien said. "I'm not sure. I think I found her. Remember, I'm not sure.
Terence nodded. "It's still a chance," Terence said. "Let's go."
Then, he turned to talk to his uncle. "Uncle Chris," Terence said. "I have to go to America."
"Fine, Terence," Uncle Chris said. "Go ahead."
Terence grabbed his leather jacket, and shut the door behind him and Darien. He took his cell phone out of his pocket. He dialed the number of the jet phone. "Louis?" Terence said. "Get the jet ready. We'll be there soon."
"Fine, Master Terence," the pilot said. "See you soon, sir." Terence hung up and looked at Darien. "Should we get Raye?" Terence asked. "Remember when we first went to America to search for Serena?"
Darien shook his head. "I don't want to," Darien said. "We hardly know Raye anymore. I doubt we'd be able to catch her anyway."
Terence nodded, and he and Darien stepped into the limo that was waiting to drive them to the airport.
