The Moon had been covered once more so no light penetrated the darkness of his room. She dare not form her magic orb once more, afraid of how his subconscious may recognize her. She did, however, draw fire from the ashes of the candelabras on the walls, lighting the room sufficiently enough for her to see.

She took a deep breath after spotting Darien's sleeping form beneath the blankets. She crept to his bedside, standing far enough away not to receive the burning pain in her skin. He looked so fragile there, his eyelashes falling against his cheeks and his lips parted slightly as if he might speak. That stubborn strand of hair fell across the bridge of his nose, just like it had always done before. She blinked away tears and fought the heartache that came with missing him.

She pulled a chair up and sat watching, thinking, missing him. Sometimes the pain would flare, and she would have to throw her thoughts away to avoid it. The rain began to pick up, pounding against his windows. Thunder rolled, and she shivered. Her hair stood on end, the electricity in the air causing it to rise. She gazed out the window, wondering how much more the storm might worsen.

"Serena."

She gasped and smothered the candles, throwing the room into darkness. She held her breath, waiting. No more whispers came and she let out a sigh of relief. Lightening flashed, paling Darien's face and revealing his eyes to be open.

Staring at her.

She stood, knocking back the chair. She sprinted to the door, Darien's steps just behind hers. She threw the door open and ran down the hallway, the guards still snoring behind her.

"Serena!" he yelled. She ran harder, her breath coming in short gasps. Tears stung at her eyes as his voice became more desperate.

She stopped, turning around to face him though the pain was unbearable. She threw herself into his mind, willing his feet to stop and slowing his steps to a halt. Her skin stopped burning as he lost the will to touch her.

"I am not Serena," she said, forcing him to believe it. She was so connected to him he did not even realize her presence there. She pulled away from his mind and looked at the floor.

"I'm sorry," he said, rubbing his head. "I was dreaming. I apologize if I frightened you. But what were you doing in my room?"

"I had forgotten to put more logs in your fire," she covered quickly. "I'm sorry if I caused you any distress."

"No, no, it's fine," he said. "Good night."

"Good night, Majesty," she said, bowing, then putting her back to him. She walked away from him with teardrops on her cheeks. She felt like screaming all of her frustrations into the night then falling into a sobbing wreck. The storm raged on outside the castle walls while her own storm wore her will to deceive him away. She missed her Court, she missed her life, and she wanted to go home.

Her punishment for being caught sitting in the hall the day before was to clean every meticulous piece of china in the dining room, a job she dreaded for she would be cast out of the castle if she broke a single dish. She unlocked the large cabinet and removed every piece of china from the bottom shelf. She dusted it out, then began to shine the silverware.

Minutes stretched on as she moved from piece to piece, placing them in their right spaces as she finished bringing them to their rightful shine. She nearly dropped a dish as she sensed Darien entering the hall and reporting for breakfast. She focused on the china as he and his Generals took their seats and were served.

They were silent at first, and Serena directed a dish so she could catch Darien's reflection. He looked awful, having been haunted by her the night before. The Generals could not keep silent about his appearance.

"You had another dream, didn't you?" Malachite asked, setting down his fork to stare at Darien, who nodded silently.

"It was worse this time," he said. "I thought she was sitting at my bedside watching me, and I chased her down the hall."

"You what?" his four friends said together.

"My memory of her is stalking me," he said in explanation. "And there's nothing I can do to stop it."

"Maybe," Jadeite said tentatively, "you should forget about the princess and move on. She apparently has forgotten you."

Serena was thankful Darien did not mention the maid at his bedside, but she was also angry with Jadeite. How could he suggest that she would ever forget Darien?

"She has not forgotten me!" Darien argued. "She ran because of the curse that damn hag cast upon her!"

She smiled, a rare occurrence, at how he stood up for her even in her absence.

"But is she ever going to come back to you?"

Darien was silent.

"We must be getting to a meeting, Darien," Nephrite said, he and his three companions rising to their feet.

"You go ahead. I'll meet you there." The generals exchanged glances and left without another word.

Serena cleared her throat, daring to speak to Darien without mind control for the first time in a year.

"I believe she'll come back," she said quietly while still cleaning the good dishes. Her hands shook and her heart quivered in nervousness.

"What makes you believe so?" Darien asked, slouched in his chair. His chin rested on his hand as he scrutinized her and her words. His eyes were sharp with judgment. He apparently did not recognize her from the night before, as she preferred it.

"I know of love and I know of the Princess, and I do not think she could ever forget you."

"If only you knew everything," he said, standing to leave. "Sometimes I wonder if she has left me for good."

"Oh, no!" she insisted. "You mustn't believe so!"

He met her eyes, his deep gaze striking a chord of sadness within her. "I mustn't believe it," he said, "but I do."

He exited, leaving her to the innumerable amounts of china pieces and the memory of his hopeless speech.

The next morning Serena awoke to a familiar voice inside her head.

"Serena!" her mother sent to her mind. Serena shot up in bed, holding her temples in her palms.

She panicked, pulling all of her magic into a tight ball and tucking it away. Her green eyes and dark hair melted away to reveal her true self. She began throwing up all defenses in her mind, protecting herself in record time.

She acted as if she never noticed her mother's voice until she was secure from all intrusions. Queen Selenity must be in the castle to sense her daughter's presence. Serena had so many magical defenses it was impossible for even the most sensitive mage to feel her unless they were very near, and even then they had to be purposely trying to find her.

Serena got out of bed and locked her door. She would not leave her room today, or any day that Queen Selenity was visiting. She turned slowly and caught sight of herself in the bathroom mirror.

"Oh, God," she whispered, walking forward to touch the reflection. Her blue eyes and her silver hair were back, bringing with them a thousand memories. She sobbed into her hands, touching the crescent moon on her forehead. This is who she had been before that horrible day.

A hard knock rapped at the door.

"What's going on in there?"

"I am ill!" she said, truly believing it as her stomach took a dive. "I cannot work today unless you want vomit all over the drapes!"

There was grumbling, but the older maid went on to the next door, pouring Serena's chores on someone else.

Serena started a bath, and took the mirror from the wall, putting it in her closet with the reflective side facing away from her. She stopped the running water and slipped in, laying her head against the rim. As much as she missed her silver hair, the grief it brought made her regret ever wanting to be herself again. But her magic was useless with her mother around, and she could keep her disguise on no longer.

Nor could she fight off the memories anymore.

The knights carried Darien up to his room, while she ran ahead, her mind lost in chaos. She didn't know how much time she had before Darien awoke from his slumber, but she did not plan to be around when he did. She escaped to her room, locking the door behind her. The curse was fresh on her skin, the cold causing her to tremble every few seconds.

She changed into the simplest dress she had on the Earth, an old tan straight-cut thing that would blend perfectly into her new life. She sought out a pen and paper, and began scripting her explanation.

Darien,

I am sorry to be writing this, and I am sorry that I am leaving you. But it simply must be done for my sake and your own. You do understand, don't you?

I hope that one day you will find something better. Someone better.

Remember me.

Serena

Her doorknob shook as someone twisted it, then her door jolted as a fist met it.

"Serena!" Darien yelled. "Please, Serena!"

She walked to the door, placing her hand against it. "I will always love you," she whispered.

Then the door busted open and Darien stepped into an empty room.

She spent her first night in a mountain temple on the Moon, sheltered by the priests who had sworn to hide her. She sat in a prayer room, kneeling on the wooden floor and facing in towards a cackling fire. She placed her hands together and leant forward, praying to the goddess, her own relation, for protection and guidance.

At the end of her prayer, an elder priest, Ryule, sat beside her, crossing his legs beneath him. She copied his form and placed open palms on her knees.

"Help me hide from their magic," she said. He nodded.

"You must learn to pull your magic into the smallest amount possible and fold it deep within you. Meditate," he instructed, "and tug your magic deep within." He did as he had just said and she could no longer sense his magic at all.

She closed her eyes, regulating her breath. In, out. In, out.

Soon the outer world melted away from her, and she could see her magic, silver and spread out. She did not lack control on her magic, it merely was so great it was often easier to let it flow through her in currents rather than only calling it when needed. She began gripping it, folding it smaller and smaller until she saw a ball that would fit in her palm. Her brow wrinkled as she began shrinking her magic until it was no bigger than a distant star in the night sky.

She opened her eyes to find the priest smiling.

"Good," he said. "Now do it quicker."

She spent the entire night restraining her magic and releasing it until she could hide her powers in an instant. She did not need to learn any other defense, for her mother had shown her so much already.

The sun glimmered golden on the horizon when she stepped from the temple. She bowed to the priests. "Thank you for helping me so."

Ryule smiled. "Our doors are always open for you."

Serena waved good-bye and stepped into the morning fog, disappearing into the air like a fading rainbow.

She spent her next day on Earth, hidden away in a secret cove by the sea. She knew Darien had left for the Moon,, no doubt scouring it over with her mother and her Court. She took the time to regain her energy, and form a plan.

The next day she had applied for and received the job of a maid in the Earthen castle. She adopted her wavy red hair and tilted green eyes. She dusted a thousand shelves, mopped a dozen floors, and started her new life as Sabriel, lowly maid and quiet woman.

Queen Selenity could not rid herself of the butterflies in her stomach. She knew the magic she had felt was Serena's, it flowed in the same smooth, peaceful currents, and had disappeared too quickly to be anyone else. Serena resided within Darien's own castle, the one place they'd failed to search.

Selenity got through her first meeting with the Earth's council relatively well, only falling into thought twice and having to ask them to repeat their questions. But when they took a break for the midday meal, she took Darien aside. He looked pitiful, the poor thing, and he could barely glance at her without being reminded of his lost love.

"Darien have you had any strange occurrences in the castle lately?" she asked, prying for the information that could verify her suspicions.

"No, nothing out of the ordinary," he answered.

"You haven't had any dreams or felt anything odd?"

He looked up, remembering something. "Yes," he said very quietly. "A maid was in my room two nights ago, watching me sleep. I mistook her for Serena and chased her down the hall."

"And then?"

"Then she stopped, told me she was not Serena, and I apologized. She looked nothing like Serena, anyway."

He was unnerved by the glimmer in the Queen's eye.

"I know where she is," Queen Selenity said. She didn't realize at the time that she might chase her daughter away, she thought only of gaining her back. She thought only of Serena's laugh, only of the conversations they had, and all the things she missed. She never realized she could hurt her daughter by showing Darien where she was.

Darien's heart pounded so hard he could hear it in his ears. "Where?"

"She's here!"

Serena sat on her bed, hugging her knees to her chest. She gazed out her window, watching clouds roll over the blue sky. She'd made peace with her memories now, and only waited for her mother to leave so she could take up her life and disguise once more.

A quick rap on her door made her jump. Without her magic she had not sensed anyone coming.

"Sabriel? Can I come in, dear? I brought you some soup."

"No," she said meekly, though her stomach yearned for food. "I am very sick and I don't want you to become sick, too."

A key jangled in her lock, causing Serena to spring to her feet. The door flew open just as she reached the window ledge.

"Serena!"

She could not breathe as she saw her mother and Darien step into her room. She released her magic from it's hold and it flowed through her once more. Pain burnt in her skin and showed in her eyes, and she knew Darien was thinking of reaching out for her.

"Do not come near me, Darien," she commanded, and he was frozen in place. Serena found she could not move either.

Her mother was glowing silver, using her magic to hold Serena where she stood. "I'm not letting you leave, Serena," she said.

"Don't make me do this, Mother," Serena warned, her magic making her glow brighter than her mother's.

"I'm afraid you'll have to."

Serena took a deep breath, wishing she never had to use her magic against the Queen. But she did, drawing flares of power to throw against her mother's defenses. It broke through, striking hard, and causing Selenity to faint.

Serena, becoming free, stepped onto the window sill, readying herself to jump.

"Don't leave me," Darien said forlornly. "Not again."

"I have to, Darien," she whispered. "Please understand."

"I can't Serena! I can't understand why you are doing this to me!"

"So you can live," she said. "We would never just talk Darien. At some point I'd reach out to hold your hand, or clear that strand of hair from your face. I can't chance killing you."

"We could try," he pleaded.

She shook her head. "I take back my words. Forget about me Darien. Leave me in the past." She looked back at the blue sky with all it's promises, hoping one day it would keep them. "Find a new love."

She released Darien from his constraints and jumped from the window. He ran to it, and watched as she fell, turning into a silver mist that melted away into thin air.

Gone again.

Her world shifted beneath her and instead of falling into the brush beneath her window, she fell onto the sand inside her cove. The ocean flooded in around her feet, kissing her ankles and trying to comfort her. She leaned back against the inside of the cove, her forehead braced against the heel of her hand. The sound of the waves numbed her, and she promised herself she wouldn't cry.

"How could you be so careless?" she asked herself aloud. Living in the same shelter as Darien? How could she have even dreamed that she wouldn't be found out? The only way she could ever touch Darien again was for him to stop loving her, and if she was always there, reminding him of what they had, then he'd never forget her, never even try to move on.

She'd wasted an entire year on her own selfishness.

She could never go back to the castle now. She needed someplace new to hide.

Or maybe she needed an old place.

Author's Note: Sorry it's been so long. And just to make something clear, the first chapter is a separate story, the old version of this story. It should not be read connected to the second chapter because the second chapter starts a new story, which this chapter continues, okay? I know the first chapter sucks, I just left it there so you could compare it to the remake, which starts with the second chapter. All clear?

Until the next time,

Ai No Senshi