Disclaimer: I don't own sailor moon.

Chapter Twelve

Kunzite sat at the kitchen table and stared down at the pile of Minas belongings on his desk. There was nothing very significant in the small pile, just a few personal things that must have been very special to her for her to have brought them all the way from the orphanage. He reached over to pick up a small coin that was lying on the top of the pile and examined it. To him it didn't mean anything, it was just like a hundred other coins he'd seen like it throughout his liftime. He wondered how simple Mina's life had been and felt his grief welling up inside him. To prevent it from taking hold, he shoved away from the table and stalked outside into the Mill's garden, moving restlessly to his favourite place. He sat down and put his head in his hands. In the peacefullness of the garden, he let the tears he'd held in check for so long flow down his cheeks. He mourned for a girls life, where she would have never known love, where there'd been little happiness and a whole load of betrayal, he mourned for Mina and her unhappy childhood.

Serena lay in the dark and contemplated the ceiling, her thoughts swirling about in her head. She thought about her visit from Darien mostly, a nagging feeling that all wasn't as it seemed with him making her analys every minute with him. She held Minas necklace tightly in her fist and tried to concentrate on what was making her so uneasy about his visit, but was having trouble. She threw her pillow at the roof in frustration. She longed to have Mina beside her, helping her to think this problem out, but knew she would never be able to do that again. Mina would have known straight away whether the man she had met that night could have been trusted, she always knew the sort of people stranger would be. Serena absently scratched an itchy spot on her wrist and rolled over to face the windows. An hour later she gave up all hope of pinpointing exactly what it was about him and decided she would just stay as far away and as distant as possible.

For the first time since she had been brought there, Serena heard a knock on her door and sat up on the bed. She looked expectantly towards the door, waiting for who ever it was to come barging through the door straight away, without waiting for a come in. She was surprised when that didn't happen. She waited a few minutes longer until she heard another knock and called out for them to come in.

She was surprised to see a girl slightly younger than herself walk in and stand just inside the door, followed by the man she'd met a couple of nights ago. He smiled at her and prodded the girl forward.

"Good morning Serena." He said, coming to stand at the end of the bed and watching her swing her legs over the edge.

Serena nodded at him and stared at the girl who'd accompanied him. The girl smiled warmly and held out her hand.

"I'm Rini." She said quietly.

Serena looked at the outstretched hand warily, refusing to accept it. She nodded her head in acknowledgement and watched as Rini dropped her hand.

"Come now Serena, that's not like you. Rini bites occasionally, but that's usually only the suitors that she doesn't like." Darien said jokingly.

Serena lowered her gaze to her hands and refused to look in his direction, or in Rinis direction.

"Rini wants only to be your friend." Lord Darien said.

"I know I can't take Mina's place, but I would like to be someone you could talk to, like you could talk to her. You must get lonely up here by yourself." Rini said quietly.

"I don't need another friend, one is enough."

"You don't know that. You've only ever had Mina. There are other people in the world who would like to be your friend too. Just like Mina did." Lord Darien said.

"I don't need another friend.I already have one." Serena repeated.

"Then what do you need? Mina's gone, you can't claim to have her as your friend any more. She WAS your friend, she's gone and that means you don't have one any more. Accept Rini's friendship. You need a friend in THIS world, not someone who's not around any more." Lord Darien said firmly.

"I've found that more than one friend can help make a lot of things bearabl." Rini put in helpfully.

"I don't care. I...had Mina and that's all I need." Serena said, rubbing at her wrist.

"You'll find that's a mistake." Lord Darien said.

"My life is a mistake." Serena said absently.

Lord Darien walked over to his desk and slamned his hands on the top swearing viciously. He hated when one of his plans didn't go the way he wanted them to. Rini would have made the perfect path to Serena's mind. By being her friend she would have eventually had her trust and then through that trust, the information he needed. With the other Lords breathing down his neck for answers he needed the knowledge Serena had. And it didn't look like he was going to get it anytime soon. Unless he resorted to violence.