Ch. 13

Serena glanced at her watch, '3:00, good, I'll have enough time to pick up Terra and the boys.' Serena jumped into her metallic silver BMW and sped toward the hotel that they were staying at. In her head, she went over a mental checklist of what needed to be done. She knew it would hurt to see the scouts and Darien again but she had four years to prepare for this day.

"Cool, calm, and collected," she muttered to herself over and over again in the car.

Finally, she arrived at the hotel and ran upstairs to get Terra and the guardians. This time they all piled into Jediate's black Expedition. It was a tight squeeze but they managed it. Serena drove since she knew where she was going. The car ride was silent; everybody was too tense with the knowledge of the upcoming events to speak.

As Serena pulled into Darien's apartment parking lot, she turned to her comrades and said, "Remember, let me do the talking and do not bow until I introduce you! Don't forget that we need to get out quickly." After the quick pep talk, everybody headed in the building.

When Darien answered the knock at his door, Serena promptly pushed him aside and strode in with a dangerous gleam in her eye. That's what she wanted him to see. Not the tense, nervous little girl she felt like. She wanted him to know that she was not the same little school girl a mere four years ago.

Darien, bewildered, began to protest against the five deadly but oddly familiar people marching into his apartment but was to flabbergasted to speak any word other than "Serena…..?"

"Nice to see you again too," came her cold sneer, "I have some people you might be interested in meeting." His questioning gaze shifted from person to person.

Serena introduced each guardian and as each name was pronounced, they gave a bow if cold and impersonal. When she had introduced the last of the guardians, she presented Terra as Darien's sister. This was all too much for Darien to handle. He sat down with his head in his hands as the memories of the past returned. Suddenly, he popped up and looked at Serena as if she were a ghost. He grabbed her hard and kissed her. She pulled back disgusted. This was not the Darien Chiba she had known. This was a sentimental blob that had gotten soft over the years. She had hardened her heart toward people other than Terra and her new guardians. As a result, relationships, such as with Sieya, failed to work out. After being rejected, Darien crumpled back unto the couch.

Serena cleared her throat and regained her composition. When all eyes were on her again, she addressed Darien, "We've come here to Tokyo because we need to talk to you and the other scouts about the new enemy. In America, we became a modified version of the "Sailor Scouts" but we were better at hiding ourselves. She stopped to gaze at Darien's confused face. "What is it?" she asked.

"What new enemy? What are you talking about? After Pharoah 10, we haven't had any problems" He was obviously confused and was even more so when she started swearing. He had never heard Serena utter one of those foul four letter words. It scared him.

Terra and the boys stood indifferent to her swearing. They knew her better than Darien, they knew she was putting up a façade. Terra actually thought it was quiet funny and had to suppress a tiny smile.

At the end of her swearing tirade, she added "I'll explain later. We need to get everyone together. You call everybody and we'll meet you at the shrine in an hour," then Serena began to leave when Darien stopped her. "Do you mind if Terra stays with me for awhile. I need to talk to her." Serena glanced at Terra, who gave a slight nod of the head, and told Darien that Terra could stay if he brought her to the shrine with him when he came. After that, they headed out, leaving behind a very emotionally attacked Darien and his beautiful, dark sister.