Mystery Girl Chapter 18: Could You Ever Love Me?, a sailor moon fanfic

38 reviews wow! You're all wonderful! Thank you so much! Well… this is chapter 18.. only 2 more chapters to go and Mystery Girl will be over..awww.. but as one story comes to an end, another begins. If you cant wait for the next chapter of Mystery Girl, then why not check out my new story "Ski Bunny Blues".

Thanks to: CharmedSerenity3, Red-Rose18, Kay (thanks a lot!), Ashlee shields:D, jokersgirl, keishaq, SulliMike23, palikani (Good question, I know what it's like to be cheated on & I know what unrequited love feels like too. so I guess it's a reflection of past experiences), Hiei's Ice Maiden, Illusion Glades (wow.. happy sweet 16th when your b'day comes along. I hope you have a wonderful day and I'm sure your bf will be a good Darien... I mean... a good boy.), Usagi-Tsukino-uf06 (I'll make sure Lucas gets hurt for you hehe), anonymous (personally, I agree with you. But it's all a part of her character and mannerisms.. some people are just like that.), xfilesoc, Princess Of The Shadow Land, ffgirlmoonie, Selphie108, Tenshi Bunny, Forever Tranquility, sailorceb, MizzDL, SailorButtons, Ishq, Rose Zen, tireen, ReneeCP (haha, I didn't realize that they had switched personalities until you mentioned that!), Sirenic Griffin, Chelsea, crystalblue, rabbit, Chibi Tsuki, ladykagome1230, blue bunny, winter, jellysnakes, Cherry-Dmv and Pyro-Girl

Lyrics to "Everything You Want" by Vertical Horizon in BOLD ITALICS

Darien's Point of View

Title: Mystery Girl
Author: Crystal Saturn
Rated: PG 13
Chapter: 18- Could You Ever Love Me?

Somewhere there's speaking
It's already coming in
Oh and it's rising at the back of your mind
You never could get it
Unless you were fed it
Now you're here and you don't know why

The following afternoon, I decided to call Serena, just to see how she was doing. I had work all morning. Obviously they didn't buy my testicular and breast cancer story and so they've cut my shifts to one every fortnight. That's the price I pay for trying to make the one I love happy at any cost. Pretty sad really, but I guess it was partly my fault for not putting in the effort to try to come up with a mildly believable story as to why I couldn't make it 10 minutes before my shift started. A car accident, death in the family, severed finger… anything! But no, I chose cancer. And to top it off, while Serena was running away, she just had to run in front of the juice bar. Lovely. Can you just imagine the expression my face when I realized? Hi Mr. Manager… can I borrow a couple of those nice juicy oranges over there to shove down my pants and pretend I have cancer of the testicles? No? How about I just stick my hand in the blender so I have real reason to not be at work. I promise I'll squeeze the oranges when my hand heals and provide outstanding service to the unfortunate customer who happens to request a nice refreshing glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.

By golly gosh I hate my life.

But under skinned knees and the skid marks
Past the places where you used to learn
You howl and listen
Listen and wait for the
Echoes of angels who won't return

I called Serena's numbers, both her personal and her mobile but alas, she didn't pick up. After the 24th call and the 8th message, I decided to walk over to her house and check if she was ok

Ding Dong

Quite a typical door bell actually.

"Hello Mrs. Tsukino…"

"Hello Darien! How are you?"

"I'm good, and you?"

"Yes I'm well too. If you're looking for Serena, she's not here at the moment."

"Oh…" I guess the disappointment was rather obvious in my face.

"She's gone to the beach." Her gentle smile was then replaced with a slight frown. "Darien, she is very upset about what happened with Lucas. I know she's not happy with you either, but you're her best friend Darien, and I know you care about her. She's very close with you isn't she? Would you please talk to her?"

"Sure thing Mrs Tsukino. Thank you very much." I smiled gratefully and ran towards the beach, hoping to catch Serena.

He's everything you want
He's everything you need
He's everything inside of you
That you wish you could be
He says all the right things
At exactly the right time
But he means nothing to you
And you don't know why

I ran my way down to the sand dunes and stopped at the sight of the ocean. Who ever thought that in merely half a year, so much drama could happen in my life. I knew I didn't. I had no idea. This beach, this spot here was the one spot that held so many memories. It was the first place I went to when I first moved here. It was where I first saw Serena. It was where I fell in love for the very first time. It was probably going to be my downfall.

I looked around the quiet beach for the familiar blonde. She wasn't around so I simply sat my bum down on the fine white sand and cast my gaze towards the horizon. To my amazement, that's where she was. Her long blonde locks contrasting with the pale blue of her board. I watched as she drifted, lying on her back in the water. Her surf board supported her weight as she bopped up and down with the little choppy waves.

She looked more beautiful than anything I had ever seen before.

You're waiting for someone
To put you together
You're waiting for someone to push you away
There's always another wound to discover
There's always something more you wish he'd say

I took off my shoes and any valuables and left them behind a boulder in the sand before walking towards the water. I dipped my feet in the cool ankle deep water and took a few steps forward. Before I knew it I was up to my waist in water, wading towards Serena who was oblivious to my presence. Yes I was still fully clothed. By the time I reached her, I was chest deep in water. She had her eyes closed, looking so peaceful. I cracked a little smile as I flicked my fingers at her face, spaying little droplets of water at her. She cringed and opened her eyes.

"Darien!" She gasped, rather astounded and she shot up, forgetting where she was. Her board rocked unsteadily for a second before dumping her into the water.

"Easy poppit." I smiled and reached to pull her up, back onto the board. Funny, she could barely touch the floor.

"What- what are you doing h- Are you fully clothed!" She looked down at me from her board.

"Well, to tell you a secret… I'm not wearing any undies." I whispered and watched her smile, slowly retracting her feet out of the water. "Only joking." I pouted.

"What are you doing?" She looked at me strangely.

"Oh, you don't know? I thought it was obvious! I'm baking a cake! No, just checking up on you."

"I'm alright, really. I don't need you here… fully clothed… to make sure I don't drown myself. I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself."

"I know you are, Rena. Who said I was here for you? Cant a guy swim fully clothed without being accused of stalking?" I attempted to make her smile again. It made my heart sing when she did.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier." I figured it would just be easier to get it off my chest.

"It's ok. I guess I didn't really put you in a good position either." Serena sighed. She noticed that we were drifting into deeper water and I would soon have to tread water to stay next to her. "Push me to shore?" She asked and I nodded, guiding her board back to the beach.

"Sooo…" I struggled to think of something to say. "What do you think you're going to do now?"

"About Lucas? I don't… I don't know." Serena admitted, dragging her board onto the sand and laying it down. She sat by it and I sat close to her.

"Hmmm…" I was so close to spilling the beans on the guy.

"I mean… I don't know how I feel anymore. I just. Sometimes I wish he wasn't the way he is. Sometimes I just wish he was more like…"

"Like?"

"I don't know… someone else." She sighed and her voice trailed off as she dried herself off and handed me a spare towel

But you'll just sit tight
And watch it unwind
It's only what you're asking for
And you'll be just fine
With all of your time
It's only what you're waiting for

"I still like him. He's still all I think about." She admitted. I have to say. Not the words I wanted to hear. Not the words I expected to hear either. I thought she might've still been quite angry at him. I know I would be, but I guess that's the difference between Serena and I. She had the heart, the compassion to forgive. I wasn't as innocent. No, I'm much more difficult. Although, it took much of my energy to try to not to forgive Serena for all those times she let me down. I wouldn't admit it to her face, but she'd broken my heart these past few months more than she or I could ever imagine. And yet, I still continued to 'allow' myself to fall more and more in love with her. Insane, I know.

"I don't know what to do Darien." She looked down at her hands nervously. "I really did like him." Her gaze lifted as she looked straight at me, her tear filled eyes penetrating the depths of my soul and making me quiver. I knew I would never make her feel like this. I could never do it to her. She was just too important to me. Much more. To me, Serena was the reason for my existence. I was placed on this earth to make her happy, and by Ronald McDonald, I will fulfil her every wish and desire. She was my goddess and I, her mere servant. That was the power she had over me. That was the power she had over my heart.

"I… I know that's not who he is. I know he wouldn't willingly hurt me." She struggled and choked back the tears that threatened to spill over onto her delicate face. I reached over and held her hands in mine.

Out of the island
Into the highway
Past the places where you might have turned
You never did notice
But you still hide away
The anger of angels who won't return

"I don't quite understand." I looked at her intently.

"I know Lucas wouldn't hurt me. I know he wouldn't. Maybe it was just an honest mistake. Maybe I can just talk to him about it and we'll sort it all out."

"Serena… don't be naïve." I calmly rationalized.

"But Darien… you believe in true love. I know you do. I've heard you talk about the girl you like. You know what it feels like to be in love. You know how hard it is to let go. I've listened to you talk about this girl and I know that Lucas can love me like you love her. If I just give him another chance to prove himself, I know he won't betray me again. I just know it." She replied, giving herself false hope.

"Serena, please…"

"No Darien! We will make it through this! It's my fault he cheated anyway. It would be… I'm not good enough… it's the clothes I wear and-" I gritted my teeth and listened to her lower herself to be much less than I knew she was.

"Sere! Wake up and smell the coffee! He doesn't love you! What you have is long gone. Lucas is just a piece of scum. He's trash and he doesn't deserve you. He's using you." I sighed and ran a hand through my hair in frustration. Serena looked at me disbelievingly for a moment.

"Oh… and you would know all about coffee wouldn't you… juice boy." She replied bitterly

"Sere, I make juice, not coffee." I corrected.

"I KNOW THAT!" Serena pouted and looked away

"He doesn't love you Serena…" I tried once more to convince her.

"And what would you know about love? You… you spend all your time at the bar, jogging, going to the beach. You watch movies and listen to your loud music and your… your… your expertise is in making juice and… you… like to make a lot of fruit juice." Her argument faltered as she struggled to find something against me. I looked into her eyes. So much misery. I knew I could make her happy. She deserved it more than anyone else I knew. She was such a beautiful person, both inside and out. She had a good heart.

"I know that love is about making someone happy." I paused to stare into her crystal blue eyes. "…Or at least trying to. I know that love is about picking someone up when they're down. Love is how I feel when I look into your eyes. Love is how I feel when I know I've made you smile." She looked straight at me. Her face was expressionless and we sat for a few moments simply staring at each other, searching for things to say. She watched me silently, letting the true impact of the words she had just heard settle in.

I am everything you want
I am everything you need
I am everything inside of you
That you wish you could be
I say all the right things
At exactly the right time
But I mean nothing to you

And I don't know why

"Darien… you're not in love with me." She whispered, not sounding confident at all.

"And how would you know Sere? Do you really believe that what you had with Lucas was love? He was using you! He hurt you." I felt my frustration building up again. How could she be so naïve?

"I love him!" Her tears fell as she defended her relationship.

"You don't know what love is."

"Oh, let me guess. You can show me what true love feels like?" Serena shook her head bitterly.

"I can try…" I whispered, squeezing her hand gently "If you'd just give me a chance."

"I'm Sorry Darien." Serena abruptly pulled her hand away, picked up her gear and walked away, once again, leaving me to pick up the tattered pieces of my heart.

Well.. there's the end of another chapter… Chapter 19 will be out next weekend. In the meantime please Read & Review my NEW story "Ski Bunny Blues" and tell me how it is.

Crystal Saturn