I Need You
by Phantasy Star
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Interlude: It's Fate

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Serena sat at the side of her bed and hugged her knees.

'I love him,' she realized, 'Everything about him... his fatherly character,
his strong and loving personality, his kind heart...'

She pulled her blanket tighter around herself.

'But Harvard... It's the opportunity of a lifetime. And I'd be able to see my
parents again. Oh they would be so proud of me...'

She looked at the picture of her family on her desk.

'If I leave for America, I would have everything. To be with my parents again,
to study in one of the top schools in the world, to finally not worry my
parents about my future...'

She closed her eyes.

'But I'd be giving up...'

She sighed.

'... Darien.'

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"Coach, was it in or out?" the little boy asked.

"It was in!" the girl holding the bat argued, "Wasn't it, coach?"

"Coach Douglas!" another child hollered.

Rick snapped out of his thoughts.

"Huh?" he said, staring at the baseball field in front of him and the
expectant children's faces. "Er, sorry, I didn't see it. Let's do a replay."

As the children started the game again, Rick sighed and his face turned blank
again, returning to his deep thoughts.

'Why won't you give me a chance, Serena?' he thought, discouraged, 'What does
Darien have that I don't?'

Absent-mindedlessly, he picked up baseball mitt and stared at it.

'Don't you have any idea how crazy I am about you?' he wondered, 'Serena, we
could be so happy together... I could give you everything...'

The thought of Serena and Darien together bore a hole in his heart.

'If only you'd let me try...'

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Elisa picked up her pen and tried to start studying again.

She sighed, her mind elsewhere.

'Darien...' she thought longingly, 'Are you going to come back to me one day?'

She pushed her books away and stood up, walking to the window for some fresh
air.

'How could I be so stupid... I can't believe I lost Darien because I loved him
too much. Why did I have to get scared of my feelings?'

Her eyes watered.

'Why did I have to go out with Michael when Darien's the guy I'm in love with?
The guy I'll always be in love with...'

She closed the window again, leaning against it and sliding down to sit on the
floor as the tears began to fall.

'I love you, Darien,' she thought sadly, 'Come back to me... Please...'

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"Honey, are you finished packing?" Andrew said.

"Yes," Rita said quietly as she came into the room.

He put his arms around her, "It's going to be okay..."

"I knew that there was almost no chance they'd let us have them back..." Rita
said softly, "But in the back of my mind, a part of me really thought they'd
say yes."

"Me too," Andrew admitted, "But it's time to forget. We have a new life to
begin..."

"I don't think I can do it," Rita said, "I can't be away from our children."

"We don't have a choice," Andrew said, hugging her closely.

"Maybe there'll be a miracle..." his wife said, "Maybe somehow it would all
work out..."

"Hmm, I hope so..." Andrew said, "I hope so..."

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Darien lay on the couch, staring up at the ceiling in the dark living room.

He suddenly felt very alone. Just a few days ago he seemed to have everything.
Serena, the kids. People to return to when he got home everyday. People he
could depend on, people who depended on him.

He finally had the family he wanted.

And in one day it would all be taken away from him. Everything was falling
apart. It felt like when he was six again, when his parents left him.

'Why does everyone I love always have to be taken away from me?' he thought
bitterly, 'Why can't I be happy for once?'

If he kept the girls here then Serena wouldn't go. But he couldn't keep them
from Andrew and Rita.

'Can't I be the bad guy just this time?' he thought to himself, 'Can I not be
the one who ends up being hurt again?'

He closed his eyes.

'Serena, if you knew how much I care about you then maybe you wouldn't leave
me... But how can I ask you to stay...?'