A/N: Sailor Moon and all of her friends do not belong to me, they belong to Mrs. Maoko Takeuchi. The plot however...belongs to me. Please enjoy!

March 19, 2005

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Hotaru closed her eyes and drew in a long deep breath to calm herself. She was rapidly getting sick of listening to the Sailor Scouts fight. It was like this everytime there was a meeting. She hated fighting. The topic this time was the same as the last eighteen hundred times. Serena. Serena being a liability when they were fighting. The need to keep Serena safe at all costs. Serena disagreeing with the girls.

It was silly really, Hotaru couldn't understand why the other girls see what she did. The scouts alone could never have the power that Serena alone possesed, with or without the Silver Imperium Crystal. Even combined they would never have that kind of power. Serena had always been the one to actually end a fight, the one to kill a youma with her powers, the others could only weaken it. Well, techniquily speaking, Hotaru could kill one...at the expense of her own life... and she really didn't feel like giving up her life unless she absolutely had to.

She did agree with the scouts a little bit, Serena really was a bit of a clutz, and more often than not it got her into trouble, it got her and her teamates in trouble when they tried to save her.

"Serena you are just so god damned stubborn!" Rai shouted, standing up from her chair, her fists on the large round table that held all the Scouts, both the Inner and Outer.

Hotaru rolled her eyes and made another attempt at ignoring the fighting and failed miserably.

"Why are you such a bitch!" Serena shouted back standing up, her face red and embarassed with trying to defend herself against all of her friends. The room when silent and Rai's eyes widened in shock and rage. Rini's eyes widened and her face paled. "I've had enough. If you all want to fight on your own, so be it. I'm done. There's only so many insults I am willing to take from you guys. But don't come crawling back to me if you get in a bind." Serena snarled and she stormed out of Command Central, a.k.a the Crown Arcade's basement.

Hotaru shook her head and slowly stood up, "I hope you all are happy. Now you may see for yourselves why Serena fights with you. I will watch over her." she spoke softly, controlled. She left the room at a more sedate, civilized pace as the girls inside started fighting once again.

They would learn, Hotaru thought to herself, they would learn fast and the hard way, and someone would be hurt before the girls realized their mistakes. No matter what it took, they would learn.

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Serena ran out of the Arcade and burst out into the crowed street. She needed to get out of this place, out of this city, away from everyone and everything. She couldn't take it anymore. She would show them, she would show them all what she could do. She vowed she would become a better fighter, she would become as graceful as a Princess was supposed to be. She would do it, or she would die trying.

Serena ran home, holding back the tears that threatened to spill out at any moment. She burst through the front doors and ran up the stairs to her room. She quietly shut her bedroom door behind her and, determined to be in complete control her her mind and body, clamped down the best she could on her emotions as she grabbed a suitcase and started to pack up her clothes.

Tear after tear fell down her pale cheeks, but she didn't make one noise, not one wimper. By the time she finished packing her second suitcase, she had stopped crying and her eyes had turned hard, determined. She walked over to her bed, and grabbed her favorite teddy bear, a great big floppy white bunny she had gotten from her Mom and Dad for her fourteenth birthday, practically right after she had found out she was Saiior Moon.

She sat down on her bed and held her precious bunny close to her chest, silently praying. She prayed she was making the right decision. With one last squeeze, Serena pulled off the left ear on her precious bunny and reached her hand inside. Then she started pulling out money.

It was supposed to be for emergancies, something she had decided upon herself. If something were to ever happen to anyone of her friends or to her family, then she would have something to rely upon untill she got on her own two feet. She had gotten her first part time job when she got into grade ten. And she had saved over eighty percent of everything she made and placed it into her bunny. Added up over the years, she had quite a large sum of money.

Serena counted it all and placed it in her purse. At just under six grand, it would have to do her untill she figured out what she was going to do.

Serena glanced up at the picture that sat in the center of her desk. Her best friends, all of the Scouts. They were the most important people in her life. She would do anything for them, give anything for them, die for them. She would become better for them. Over to the left of the picture was her family. Her father, Kenji, with his arm drapped over her mom, Ikuko. Her little brother, Sammy holding up two fingers behind his sisters head, grinning goofily. She would have to tell them what she was up to, tell them not to worry about her.

Finally right beside her bed, on her nightstand, was a picture of her man. Darien. She needed to see him. She couldn't leave without saying goodbye.

Resigned, she stood up and grabbed her bags. With one last look at her room she shut the door behind her and walked downstairs. Her mom and dad were in the living room, watching the news on t.v. Sammy was apparently not home, probably out at a friends house, Serena thought. She dropped her bags off by the front door, then walked into the living room.

"Hi Serena, I didn't know you were home, " Kenji spoke somewhat distractedly, glancing up at his daughter for a minute then back down to the t.v.

Ikuko looked up, sensing something wrong with her daughter and motioned for Serena to sit next to her on the couch. "Whats wrong, Bunny?" she asked, her voice soft and comforting.

Serena, determined to be an adult about this whole situation dropped down across from her mom and dad, in her favorite chair. "I have something I want to talk to you two about."

Ikuko jabbed her husband in the side and waited for him to turn off the t.v. "Alright Bunny, we're listening."

Serena was now nineteen years old and finsihed High School, but she was still Ikuko's baby girl, her little 'Bunny'. She hoped everything was alright, even though she could sense some sort of pain from her daughter.

"I'm leaving. Just for a while, " she clarified when she saw her mothers face grow pale, "I just need some time to myself, to find out somethings." she explained in what she thought was a mature manner.

Serena expected her father to rage out and tell her she was never going to leave, she expected her mother to lock her up in her room, she expected some sort of a fight from her parents, and she was shocked she she didn't get it.

Kenji took a deep breath and with a loving pat on his wife's knee he slowly got up and walked those couple steps to Serena's chair. He knelt down in front of his daughter and took her face in his hands. "I understand, Bunny." he said, his voice uncharacteristly soft and gentle, sad. In that moment Serena realized that her dad wasn't as young as he used to be. Wrinkles lined around his eyes and lips, worry lines creased his forehead, and his soft brown eyes were filled with an almost all knowing wisdom. "I want you to know that I love you, you're still my baby girl, no matter how big or old you are. Bunny, you have my blessing to go where ever the road takes you, and you are always welcome back here, to your home. If you ever need anything, give me a call,and I'll take care of you." he promised.

Serena broke down and wailed, "Daddy I love you! I'm sorry!" she cried, throwing her arms around his broad, strong shoulders and hugged him close to her, tears flowing freely down her face.

Kenji grinned and glanced back towards his wife, who had a small little grin on her face. She knew that if Serena wailed like that, she was going to be okay, no matter what she was going through. "I love you too sweetie."

After she had calmed down, she said her last goodbyes to her parents and was walking out the door in less than fifteen minutes.

Next stop, Serena thought sadly, was Darien's apartment.

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Serena left her bags downstairs, with the doorman when she went up the three flights of stairs to Darien's spacious apartment. She stood at his door for what seemed like a half hour, but was really five minutes trying to figure out what she was going to say to him.

Darien was the most important man in her life. He was her other half. He too, however, thought she was clumsy and was a liability to the group.

Deciding she was just freaking herself out just waiting outside his door, she raised a hand to his door and knocked three times. The door opened after a minute.

Her heart melted when she saw him, as it did everytime she saw him. It looked like he had just gotten out of the shower, his ebony hair still carried water droplets that dropped down on Darien's gorgeous face. He was dressed in a casual pair of blue jean and a white unbuttoned dress shirt. Water droplets were sill on his smooth bare chest. There was stubble on his face, as if he hadn't shaved in a couple days...he looked so yummy. When his eyes rested on her, a slow, easy smile came to his lips.

"Hi gorgeous." he spoke as he pulled her in his arms and shut the door behind them. "Long time no see."

Serena rolled her eyes and smiled, all the worlds tensions faded away in Darien's presence, "As if, you just saw me last night."

His piercing dark blue eyes caught her own blue eyes, four times lighter and brighter than his own. Innocent eyes. He grinned as he lowered his lips to just a breath above Serena's, "It feels like forever," he wispeared and dropped his lips to hers, giving her a gentle kiss, one a Princess like her deserved.

Serena smiled against his lips, joy filling her soul. She was complete, she was whole here, in this mans arms. "You are such a sweet talker."

Darien grinned rakishly and winked. "I mean every word," he said softly, dropping a soft kiss to her neck. "My life is yours, and every moment you aren't in it," he dropped another to her cheek as he raised his soulful eyes to hers, "I am not truely alive."

Serena felt her heart tug and she desperatly wanted to get that lost, lonely look out of Darien's eyes. It very nearly broke her heart everytime she saw it. She was only going to make it worse.

Darien caught a flash of something...some kind of emotion that put him instantly on guard. He pulled back a little and cocked his head slightly to the side. "What is it? Whats wrong?" he asked.

Serena sighed and frowned, trying to find the words to explain to him. In the end, the simplest way was the straightforward, most honest way. "I have to leave for a while. I have to go away, I have to find some answers." she blurted out.

Darien went still and stiff, she watched as his eyes hardened and she could practically hear his thoughts. He was trying to think of someway to keep her with him, of someway for her to let him come with her, wherever she was going.

"No, you can't come. I'm sorry my love, but this is something I need to do. Everyone will be the better for it. I promise." she added when she saw the quick flash of despair in his eyes before he firmly shut his emotions off.

"Serena, please, I just want to be with you." he pleaded softly, pulling her tightly against him, as if she would disapear in his very arms. "I didn't fight this hard to be with you, only to lose you again."

Serena wrapped her arms around his neck and ran her fingertips through the ends of his hair in an attempt to sooth him, "You arn't going to lose me, Darien. I love you. I belong to you forever and always, in this life and the next. But this is something that I need to do on my own. I don't know how long I'll be, but I promise I will come back to you." she vowed, pressing her lips against his in a desperate move to make him understand.

Darien sighed, knowing he wouldn't win. Serena had to be the most stubborn person he knew. "Very well, but be careful, what ever you do. And if you need me, all you have to do is call my name." he told her firmly, and he pressed one large hand against her chest, over her heart, "My heart is yours, if you need me I'll know." he promised.

Serena nodded and with one last glance into Darien's sad, soulful eyes, she turned around and walked back out of his apartment. She wiped angrily as a single tear ran down her cheek. She grabbed her bags from the doorman and headed towards the bus stop.

She would prove herself to everyone.

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A/N: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! Tell me what I'm doing wrong, tell me what I'm doing right. Just say something.