I Need You
by Phantasy Star
--------------------

Chapter Seven


Serena closed her eyes but tears still slipped out. Darien put a hand on her
shoulder silently.

"I wish the girls could come and say goodbye," she whispered.

Darien stared at the open casket and beautiful flowers in the funeral home.

"That's not what she wants," Darien reminded her gently, "And I think she's
right. The girls aren't ready for this."

Serena nodded, then opened her eyes and smiled a little bit. "Look at how many
people are here."

"She was an amazing person," Darien said. "Come on, it's our turn to say
goodbye."

The two of them walked up to the casket and bowed respectfully.

As they returned to their seats, a black suited man came up to them.

"Are you Darien?" he asked quietly.

"Yes."

"Mrs. Muriel left this letter for you."

Serena and Darien glanced at each other, then Darien nodded thanks and took it,
opening the envelop carefully.

"Dear Darien and Serena..." he read to himself.

- - -

... I'm terribly sorry to leave you at a time like this.
I've thought often of how I may leave one day and where
the girls should go, and I thank the Heavens that you two
came into my life when I needed it the most.

As I've said before, please don't tell the girls right
now about my passing away. Wait until Mina's sixth
birthday. By then, they should have stopped thinking of
me very often. I have a sister in France I sometimes
visited. Tell them that that's where I've gone.

I hope you will continue to take care of the girls in my
place. They mean the world to me. Thank you, and all
my love and blessings to both of you.

Love,
Mrs. Muriel

- - -

Serena and Darien drove silently in the car home.

"Hey, you okay?" Darien asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Serena said with a small smile, "That... that was a
beautiful funeral. The people at the hospital told me she was smiling when
she went."

"I'm glad," Darien said.

"It's just... I'm worried about the girls. I don't know if I can lie to them."

"I could tell them, if you want."

"Thanks Darien," Serena said, "And... I... I want to say... Sorry for walking
out on you yesterday. I shouldn't have lost my temper."

"It's all right," Darien said, "You were right. I wasn't being fair with Raye.
It's just that... I really want her to grow up properly. The last thing I want
to do is to mess up with her."

"I know you want what's best for them," Serena said.

"I do. So we're okay?"

Serena nodded, "Of course. Just make sure you fix things with Raye."

- - -

Raye stared out the window, resting her head on her arms.

"Hey."

Raye turned around and saw Darien in the doorway.

"Hi Dar Dar," she said softly.

"How are you doing?" he said as he sat down next to her.

"Okay, I guess..." she said, her eyes on her desk, "Dar Dar, are you still mad
at me?"

Darien looked back at her guiltily, "No, of course not. Raye, I want to say
sorry to you."

Raye looked up at him, surprised, "Say sorry? But Dar Dar, you're an adult and
I'm just a kid."

"Well," Darien chuckled, "If Dar Dar made a mistake, he has to apologize too,
just like everybody else."

Raye giggled lightly.

"The fact is," Darien said, "I wasn't being reasonable. You already apologized
to me, and I should have accepted it and not lose my temper."

Raye smiled, "Thanks, Dar Dar."

Darien smiled back at her and ruffled her hair playfully, "So you'll forgive
me?"

"Of course," Raye said and let him envelop her in a hug.

- - -

A week later...

"Hmm, 89..." Darien said as he peered over Serena's shoulder.

Serena shrieked, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM?"

"Nothing, relax!" Darien exclaimed, "Since when did you start getting 89's on
your English assignments?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but when you tell the girls to go do their
homework, I can't exactly be reading my comic books, now can I?"

Darien laughed, "I guess not. Anyway, I just wanted to ask you if you'd be
home all day tomorrow."

Serena thought for a moment, "Yeah, I guess so."

"Great," Darien said, "I'll be out from around six to eleven."

Serena looked at the floor uncomfortably.

"Um, what are you doing?" she asked hesitantly.

"Nothing. Dinner. Movie."

"Elisa?" Serena asked.

"Yeah," Darien nodded, "What's wrong?"

Serena bit her lip.

"I completely forgot to... to tell you this, with Mrs. Muriel and everything
last week."

"Forgot to tell me what?" Darien said curiously.

Serena took a deep breath.

"I... saw Elisa one night. With... another guy."

"What?" Darien whispered.

"I don't know," Serena said, "Maybe I'm wrong. But I'm pretty sure it was
her, and... and they were..."

"I don't want to hear it," Darien said angrily, "I don't... I need..."

"Darien, calm do-"

"I can't believe she'd do this again!" he exploded, his fists clenched.

"Again?" Serena echoed.

"I don't want to talk about it," Darien said gruffly as he walked out of her
room.

Serena stared after him, confused, then squeezed her eyes shut when she heard
the front door shut with a loud bang.

- - -

"Hey there, hot thing!"

"Over here, baby!"

Serena backed away slightly in horror, "Uh, no thanks."

In all her life she had never stepped into a bar. Sure, she'd seen it in
movies and even certain animes, but never had she faced the noise and sights of
such a loud and confusing place up close.

She finally managed to make her way through the crowd and get to the stools.

Sure enough, Darien was sitting in one of the seats, two glasses of beers in
front of him.

"Hey," she said softly as she took a seat beside him.

Darien turned to her slowly.

"Serena?" he said in disbelief, "What're you doing here? It's not safe for a
girl like you. You're not even legal age!"

"That's never stopped me before," Serena joked.

Darien ignored her comment. "Serena, you've got to get out of here."

"Then come with me," she said.

"No, I just... I want to drink..." Darien said, "I don't want to think. Not
about Elisa. Not tonight."

"Darien, come on," she pleaded, "This is obviously not-"

A large man came up to Serena and put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't waste
time to talking to that dude. Haven't you been with a REAL man?"

"Back off, pal!" Darien growled.

The other man scoffed, "Hey, you're not even interested in-"

"First time, I ask with words," Darien said, his eyes flashing dangerously.

"Whatever man," the other guy said, putting his hands up in defeat, "Boy you're
uptight."

Darien didn't answer and took another large swig of his drink.

Serena watched as the unattractive man made his way back into the crowd,
checking to see if he was really gone. She turned back to Darien and put her
hand over his larger one.

"You want to talk about it?"

Darien stared at her hand for a second, then sighed.

"I... I don't know..."

"It'll make you feel better," Serena said.

He sighed.

"Elisa and I..." he began, "we were together for half a year. One night, I
found out about her... cheating on me. She was also seeing this other guy.
So I asked her which one of us she liked more. She said she liked us both, and
I told her that wasn't good enough for me. So... I broke up with her."

Darien took another drink of his beer and went on, "And then that night she
showed up at our house... I went with her and she said she'd broken it off with
the other guy, that I was the only one now. Guess I shouldn't have believed
her."

"I'm... I'm sorry..." Serena said softly.

"Damn it!" Darien suddenly shouted, making Serena jump a little, "What the heck
is the MATTER with me? Why doesn't anyone like me?"

"What are you talking about?" Serena said.

"Look at Elisa. Obviously, I'm not good enough for her. I just can't make
anybody happy."

"That's ridiculous!" Serena exclaimed, "This is HER problem! Darien, you are
way, way too good for somebody like her."

"Yeah right," Darien said, "You wouldn't say that if you weren't feeling sorry
for me."

"No, I'm telling the truth, " Serena insisted, "I've always thought you were a
great guy. Fine, we've had our... many differences, but that doesn't change
the fact that you're kind... you're caring... you're great with the kids..."

Darien turned to her and stared at her for a moment.

"It's true..." Serena said softly.

"I..." Darien finally said quietly, "I appreciate that... Meatball Head."

Serena smiled and put her hand on his arm comfortingly, "I'm sure you'll find
the right girl one day."

Darien stared at her hand and nodded slowly, "The right girl..."

"Anyway, we should probably be getting back..." Serena said.

Darien turned to her with his eyes wide.

"The girls!" Darien said urgently, "You left them home by themselves!?"

"Of course not," Serena said, "I got Rick to come over and watch them."

Darien sighed in relief, then turned to her with a half smile.

"You really like that guy, don't you?"

"Like him?" Serena said, blushing, "I barely know him. I mean, he seems like
a great guy, but... I'm not really looking for anything right now..."

Darien nodded and stood up with a sigh, "All right, let's get outta here."

He stood up and staggered a little.

"Whoa, how much did you have to drink?" Serena demanded.

- - -

That night...

"Good night Raye," Serena whispered.

Mina was already asleep before the story ended.

Serena shut the door quietly behind her and went downstairs to her own room.

"Hey," Darien said as he stepped into the living room.

"Hey," Serena said, "They're all tucked in for the night."

"Good."

"Yep," she said, "Well, I'm wired. The whole bar scene is just not for me...
I'll see you tomorrow, Darien."

She turned to head to her room when Darien called after her.

"Wait," he said, "Serena, I... I have something I want to tell you."