By: Cosmos star
Rated: PG13
Title: Mixed Time
Disclaimers: I DON'T OWN Sailor Moon... IF YOU DON'T KNOW THAT THEN YOU SHOULDN'T BE READING THIS. Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi... I give full credits to her! Please don't sue me. All the other characters are made on the top of my head.
Yay! Its finally here! The chapter I've been desperately waiting for! Yay! I may have wanted to read it more than you guys have! Lol… As for the sequel, Well, I want to read that too! (this weird author wants to read her own stories) lol. Things changes as I type it up. Anyways, enjoy reading it!
In the thick mist, glimpses of a male and a female can be seen. The woman with green hair, who is holding a staff in front of a glorious door, has a concern look on her face. The man with black hair, who wears a black armor with a silver sword hanging on his side, seems to be filled with hope of getting back something he lost a while back. The woman seems to be explaining something to the man. The man with the black hair nods in understanding then the woman opens the door and let him pass as she follows right behind him.
Serenity's Apartment
"Luna, it feels different today," she looks at the night sky.
"Well, you look exactly like the way you were one thousand years ago," Luna looks at her. She was properly dressed like she was going to the most important ball of the year.
"Thanks, Luna. But you know, Endy seems somewhat different. I guess your soul changes when you get reborn. Luna, am I any different than the way I was a thousand years ago? Did something change and become another person?" She looks down on her hands.
"Of course not, you are my only mistress. Even if you did change, I will still be by your side," Luna smiles warmly.
"Thank you, Luna," Serenity hugs Luna as if tonight was the last time she was going to see her. 'I must be too nervous. I wonder why…'
"Luna, but Endy feels so different. It's like he was meant for someone else in this lifetime. Someone who is not…" 'me' she couldn't say the last word out loud for it would hurt too much for her heart.
The bell rings as a sign of a visitor. She put Luna down gently and went to get the door. Darien appears on the other side of the door.
"You look great tonight," he embraces warmly her, "Not that you don't everyday," he whispered to her ear with a sly grin on his face.
Serenity blushes in response. Although it was very clear that something does feel different. In the past, when Endymion approaches her, she would know right away it was him. He had a warm glow that made her felt so… special, a sense of belonging, warm and safe. It was like her soul was one with Endymion. With Darien, she doesn't feel that at all. She feels like there was someone else that was Darien's other half.
She brightens up as soon as she smells the familiar aroma. Out of nowhere, he hands her a dozen of crimson roses.
"Thank you! They are beautiful! I'll water these and we can go," she smiles and goes to the kitchen as she smells the roses.
"Where is Luna? She won't be seeing us off today?" Darien looks around the empty apartment.
"Umm, yea, Luna said have fun! Let's go," she made up something quickly. She forgot to turn Luna into her human form. She hurriedly went to the door, hoping Darien won't ask anymore questions on that subject.
"Wait, Serenity," he gently stops her.
"Hmm, what is it?" she looks at him nervously.
"There is something I have to give you," he takes out a long velvet box out of his pocket.
Serenity, eager to know what's inside, carefully takes the box into her hand. "Can I open them?"
"Of course, it's yours," he grins boyishly as he looks at her happy face.
"It's so pretty!" she squeals in delight.
It was a silver chained necklace. It had a crescent moon surrounded with diamonds. It glows silvery as the light shone on it. 'Serenity' was embedded on the back of the crescent moon.
"Let me put it on you," he takes the necklace. She turned around and lifts her hair so he can put the necklace on. She giggles lightly as the feeling of his touch on her neck.
Serenity was used to be presented with these elegant gifts. She is THE moon princess after all. The most powerful and the most beautiful princess in the universe was sure to have the most gifts from all over the universe. (AN: okay, so I'm a little bit exaggerating…)
"It's so beautiful!" she admires its beauty. The perfect place for the necklace was around her neck.
"Let's go to dinner. I'm sure you are already starving," he takes her hand and kissed it. Serenity reddens as she follows him out the door.
Dinner
The drive to the restaurant was quite long. They chatted about school stuff on the way in a warm atmosphere. When they got there, Darien, being a gentleman, opens the door for her. She smiles, 'this is the part of him that hasn't changed at all.'
Serenity looks at her surrounding. She was in a deserted sushi shop. The shop looked pretty old and traditional. Paintings of samurais were hanged on the walls. There was also a display case of swords.
"Welcome! Long time no see, Darien. I was surprised to get your call to reserve the restaurant whole night! No wonder, you found a pretty lady. Come, sit. Order as much as you want!" the old man on the counter happily grins.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Serenity," she curtsied formally.
"No need for that stuff. I'm Tachibana Shou. I'll be your chef tonight!" the old man grins happily.
Darien pulls out a chair for Serenity. She gracefully sits as her eyes glides over the menu. Darien seated himself on the chair next to her.
"Hmm, let me have my usual," Darien said. He wasn't so much interested in the menu as Serenity.
"Okay, your usual coming up!" the old man started to work. First he peeled a cucumber. Next he took out a sheet of seaweed. Then he opened the rice cooker and placed the rice. (AN: Okay, so I don't know how to make sushi… I'm just going to skip the process)
Serenity was staring at him. She was so amazed that he was making something that looked very delicious in front of her eyes!
"Your usual order! One special Tachibana's house sushi!" the man proudly presented the sushi to Darien.
Serenity stared at Darien's sushi. It looked so delicious. She never saw an actual sushi in her life before. She has seen it on TV for several of times, but she never imagines that she would actually get to eat one! It was kind of different from the ones in TV. This one looked more, interesting. They didn't call it the special house sushi for nothing!
Darien took the chopstick and started eating. Before he took the first bite, he notices Serenity was staring at the sushi.
"You want to try some of mine first?" he offers.
Serenity looked at the sushi again. She never ate this sort of thing before. She looked away from it, trying to hide her embarrassment. Darien puts his sushi down on the plate again.
'So, she does want it,' he thought.
"Old man, I want another one," Darien says. The old chef started to make another sushi happily.
Darien picks up the sushi with his chopstick again. Then an idea just hit him!
"Serenity, look over here," Darien said casually. Serenity turned her head to face him.
'1… 2… 3…'
"Wha-" Serenity's sentence was cut off by the sushi in her mouth.
Serenity started chewing the unexpected object in her mouth. The taste wasn't what she expected! It tasted much better than just looks!
"Is it good?" Darien asks, hoping that she wouldn't get mad at him.
"Darien! That is so rude! You can't just stuff a sushi in her mouth!" the old man scolds him.
Serenity nods as she gives a smile.
"This is sooooo delicious!" she exclaims after she finished chewing.
"Thank you," Tachibana was glad that she liked it.
Serenity takes her chopstick and picked the sushi out of Darien's plate. It dropped as soon as she lifted her chopsticks. She tries again, but there was no success.
Darien chuckles at her attempts of picking up the sushi.
"Here," Darien puts another sushi in her mouth.
Serenity reddens. She never been spoon fed by Darien before.
"You know, you can eat sushi with your hands," Darien comments after she tries and fails.
"Yes, that is a true fact! Here is the second order!" The old man seems to be unusually more optimistic than all the men his age.
Serenity stared at the sushi. 'I've never eaten with bare hands on the dinner table… Well, I've always wanted to try it… Luna is not here to scold me anyways!'
Serenity smiled vibrantly. She took the sushi with her bare hands and puts it in her mouth. 'This is so much enjoyable than dinner manners!'
"Darien, where are you going tonight anyways? You can't be dressed up just to eat at my shop," Tachibana asks him.
"We are going to a dance at that one hotel," Darien replied without much thought.
"When does it start?"
"It starts at 7:30," Darien was more interested on watching Serenity eat rather than a conversation with anybody.
"Isn't that half an hour ago?" Tachibana looks at the clock that was hanging on the wall behind him.
"Oh, really?" Darien paid no attention neither to time or the old man. All that matters right now to him was the woman who is before him that is eating sushi happily.
"You really have no problem at all of being late," the man muttered under his breath.
"Late?" Darien raised one his eyebrow. Then he glances at his watch.
"Oh, the dance already started. Serenity, you don't mind being late to the dance, do you?" he smiles. He didn't mean to bother the happy eater.
Dance
They entered through the doors that led them to the dance floor. There were crystal chandeliers hanging above their head. There were crimson roses on every table. They have a live band playing on the stage and the DJ plays requested songs by the students when the band is taking a break. The place was quite elegant and it was definitely better than those cheap gym dances.
"Its pretty," Serenity whispered above the music. Although the Moon Palace's ballroom was way more elegant than this, it gave off a same feeling.
Darien saw Andrew and Rika over on the side, drinking punch.
"Hey, did you guys already danced?" Darien asks Andrew as they approach.
"Yea, we got here over an hour ago. Where have you guys been?" Andrew looks at Darien in a weird way. Andrew did not think it was even possible that Darien would be late to anything.
"We went to that restaurant… the one that looked like a museum. Remember? There is that old man that makes good sushi. We used to go there a lot in junior high. The food was so good there! So, I just had to take Serenity there," Darien shrugs as he explains.
"Serenity, you look so beautiful. It's a gorgeous dress! Where did you buy it?" Rika was excited to see her here. They haven't exactly been the best of friends, but then again, they haven't talked that much before, if they talked at all.
"Darien bought it for me, even though I said it wasn't necessary," Serenity mumbled while blushing. Then she changed the subject, "You look so beautiful too!"
"Thanks! You are so lucky that Darien would buy something like that for you! Andrew here wouldn't even buy me a simple dress!" she exclaims.
Serenity giggles. Darien was indeed rich and has more than enough capabilities of doing this without breaking a sweat!
The song comes to an end. A soft song of piano, violin, and guitar is now playing.
"Oh! I love this song! Its one of my favorite classic songs! I'm going to dance with Andrew. See you later," Rika winks at Serenity. Then she went to Andrew and drags him to the dance floor.
Serenity looked around. Everybody seems to be having so much fun dancing. Her mother had perfectly taught her that the man should ask the lady to dance. It would be very unnatural for a princess to ask a man to dance. Tears gathered in the corner of her eyes, as she remembers all the happy times at balls where she would spend all night dancing with her prince. She felt a slight tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Darien, smiling. He took her hand and kissed it.
"May I have this dance, princess?"
Serenity couldn't be happier! She nodded as all signs of tears disappeared. Darien led her to the middle of the dance floor, passing carefully not to disturb other couples.
Serenity's Apartment
"Ding Dong," the bell chimes in as a sign of a visitor.
Luna glanced at the door. It was unusual for a visitor to come.
'It will go away,' she thought.
The bell rang again. Luna ignores it as she looked at the delicious meal Serenity left her. A slip of paper falls to the mail box even though Luna did not notice.
Suddenly, Luna felt a power change in the air. According to her complete memory, it felt exactly like a time distortion. Next, fog started to appear out of no where. After the fog filled the apartment, Luna could see a door forming slowly in the middle of the living room. Two figures appeared after the door was opened. Luna felt confused and afraid.
"Luna, guardian of the Princess of the Moon, are you there?" a voice rang through the apartment.
"Yes… you are…" Luna gasps as she recognized the voice.
"Where is the princess?" the woman asks straight to the point.
"She went to the school ball with the Prince," Luna knew better to answer earnestly to the time guardian.
"A ball? The prince?" a deep voice questions.
Luna was startled by the voice. It sounded so familiar, yet deeper.
"You better hurry. You can find her easily right? It is your home planet." The woman said sarcastically.
"Of course," he chuckles with confidence. He touches the floor and closed his eyes to help him concentrate. He searches for a young girl that possessed the great power of the White Moon. He smiles as he found her. "Well, I found her. I'm going first," he disappears as soon as he said those words. Although he looked composed, Luna can tell from his voice that he has been lonely and broken hearted. He was torn in the inside, living his life without her was unbearable.
"Luna, I need you to close your eyes. I'm going to make you remember your original duty. You did a good job guarding the princess," the guardian of time praised her for the work.
Luna closes her eyes obediently. Another flash of white light came, within Luna's mind, she could remember the Queen of the Moon ordering her the last commands.
The Man with Black Hair
He reappears in a dark place. He looked around. It was definitely not a ballroom. He recognized the place as a small room. He sensed her power towards the direction of the bed. His gaze landed on a young girl. She was sleeping peacefully with a smile on her face. She looked young, younger than he expected. This brings great confusion dawn upon him. He certainly did NOT expect her to be in this form. Although she looked stunningly beautiful bathe in the moonlight.
'I thought Luna said she would be at the ball. Why am I in this tiny bedroom? She certainly without a doubt in my heart is Serenity, but she is way too young! Serenity is not twelve years old anymore! Did time mess up her growth rate? It can't be! I'm finally here… All these time, I've been lonely without you.' He strokes her hair. He plants a kiss on her forehead. It felt a little bit different. 'Oh, duh! I'm in the future! This must be Serenity, her future self anyways. Why didn't I think of that sooner!'
"Have a nice dream. I'll be waiting for you, Serenity… Serenity…" He whispers her name.
'So, in the future I am with Serenity? The thought makes my soul soar in the sky. But wait… The future Serenity is here, and Serenity is with… what did Luna say? The prince? Who is the prince? There would only be one prince with Serenity, right? So, that means… The future prince of the earth hasn't met the future Serenity… The future prince of the earth better not mess with her, or else! But it sounds so weird saying something to the future me. Why am I calling him the future me in the first place! Well, whatever happens, Serenity is the main concern here. I don't care who it is, I won't let any body else have Serenity!'
Back to Serenity and Darien
The band that was playing live sounded great. They sang beautiful songs that can't ever be caught on a CD so easily! But as the time goes by, more and more students came. The ballroom seems to get stuffier as they danced.
As a song came to an end, Darien focuses his attention on the girl that is dancing with him.
"You want to take a walk in the gardens?" Darien offers.
"They have a garden here?" she asks honestly. She didn't see any garden on their way inside.
"Well, the students doesn't have access here, but we could go," Darien said with a smug smile on his face.
Serenity gasps. "You own this place too?"
"Something like that. Let's go," Darien gently takes her hand. She nodded. Darien leads her to the lobby and he stopped at the receptionists.
"May I have the key to the Rose Garden?" He asked the man who looked bored, at the counter.
"That is a private garden. Are you from the dance? The school did not get the permission for access to the gardens. I'm sorry sir, I can't give you the key." The man rejects Darien, trying to sound polite.
Darien sighed. There is another receptionist. It was fun sometimes to have new employees, but if they don't recognize the owner, it gets really annoying.
"Chiba-san! Its been a while since you've been here," a woman came his way. She looked quite surprised to find him there. She had blonde and brown hair.
Serenity examined the woman. She was around her twenties, holding a stack of paper in her arms.
"Can you give me the key to my garden?" Darien didn't seem to mind her hands that are clinging to him. Serenity stared at the scene before her blankly. Darien did not let go of Serenity's hand yet and he did not have any reaction to the lady.
"Sure!" she went behind the counter and pluck off a key.
"By the way, who is this lucky lady?" She looks at Serenity with a teasing smile on her face.
"Oh, this is Serenity. Serenity, this is Anita, the manager of the hotel," Darien gave introductions. Serenity curtsied, Anita slightly bow in respect.
"Here is your key. Don't forget to return it after you are done. I', the one who gets in trouble if you lose it," she handed the key to Darien.
"Thank you," he receives the key, "Let's go Serenity," he leads her out to the garden.
Gardens
They stopped in front of an old wooden door. Darien takes out the key out of his pocket and opens the door. On the other side, lies something that Serenity would never imagine would exist in the present. The garden was overflowing with red roses. Every where you look, a crimson rose bush was there. The size of the garden was bigger than the ballroom!
"Its so beautiful. Did you grow all these by your self?" she looks at her surrounding.
"Yea, but sometimes the gardener comes in once in a while to help me out," he blushes at her compliment.
"Darien, I need to talk to you," Serenity spoke softly.
"What is it?" he said slowly to keep his cool.
"I don't feel like we belong together… Its like, there is another person out there, someone that is for you," Serenity had a stream of flowing tears already. She didn't want to do this.
Darien was speechless. He couldn't believe what she was saying. He knew somewhere deep in his heard that her smile belonged to someone else.
"You've changed, it's been a thousand years, I don't feel a change in me, but you've really changed. Even if its just a little bit, your soul is one with someone else. Someone who is not me…" Her voice fades. She couldn't bear it. Either she tells him or not, it's not a win situation on her side. She would feel so guilty if she didn't tell him. This was her only chance, because she feels a change of power in the air, some kind of distortion.
"A thousand years? I changed?" Darien was dumbfounded.
"You probably won't remember it. No body does, except Luna," she whispers.
Darien wipes her tears gently. She slowly takes a peek at his face and look up in his eyes. They were so full of confusion and hurt. She hated doing this. Serenity lowers her gaze to the ground. She can't bear it to look at his face for another moment. She wants to be in his arms and say comforting words that will soothe out his pain. She wanted to say everything was fine. That even if he did change, she still loves him with all her heart.
"Let me have a kiss," he requests in a whisper. Darien lifts her face, Serenity looks at him, and she nodded slowly. Darien slowly bent down to kiss her.
"Don't you DARE move a centimeter more!" a voice suddenly roars. Darien's and Serenity's eyes flew open. Darien could feel a cold sensation behind his neck.
They both recognized the voice. It was Darien's voice, but deeper.
Serenity peeks behind Darien. She saw a man, with an exact image as Darien except he had black armor and was holding a sword, ready to chop off Darien's head. Her eyes widen from surprise.
"Endymion…" she whispers his name. She looks at Darien and back at him again.
"Endymion!" She ran to him joyfully. Darien saw a smile that he had never seen on her face. Her face was full of happiness and love. He understood that moment clearly. The man that was called Endymion was the only one that can make Serenity happy and content.
Once she was in his arms, she can instantly feel his warmth, his presence, and his endless love. Tears of love and happiness flows down her face. Her soul feels complete with her prince embracing her.
A carefree grin appeared on Endymion's face. He couldn't be happier than having Serenity in his arms again.
"Serenity," he smells the fragnance of her hair and kisses her temple.
"Endy…" she whispers his name softly, enjoying his touch,
Endymion lifts her head towards his face and kisses her fully on the lips. Her responses to him with all the passion that build up throughout the times she longs for him.
Darien watched the scene between Serenity and Endymion with a broken heart. He wanted get in there and say that Serenity was his girlfriend, but a small smile appear on his face. He knew fully that the man that tried to kill him a moment ago was perfect with her.
As they pull away from the long awaited kiss, Serenity looks back at Darien. She wasn't so sure what to say to him. The whole week was fun and exciting. 'What am I suppose to say? Thank you for this week, Darien. You are really rich. This is not fair to him…'
"Dar-"
"Thank you," Endymion pulls away from Serenity and bowed slightly to Darien.
"What did I do?" He managed to response.
"You have kept Serenity safe and kept her from loneliness, where I have not been. I, Endymion, the Crown Prince of the Earth, thank you deeply. I know that you will miss Serenity, so I shall make your pain easier. I will erase your memory of her. Of course I won't be able to erase it completely for I have no such power. I'll leave you to search for your own Moon Princess."
"Erase my memory? I don't care the loneliness I will get from missing Serenity. I will never forget her," Darien said without hearing the last part of Endymion's thank you.
"I would never forget about Serenity either. And I don't want my future self to do forget about her. Maybe you didn't hear me last time. But your own Moon Princess does exist in this lifetime," he felt sorry for him, yet he couldn't wait till his future self meets the future Serenity.
"You've met her?" Serenity looks up at her soul mate.
"Yea, on an accident. I'll explain that to you later," Endymion blushes at his mistake.
"Wait, what do you mean by my Moon Princess?" He questions the Crown Prince.
Endymion smiles at his confusion. It appears that Darien was more interested in his own Moon Princess than Serenity now. And that is the way it should be.
Serenity looks up at Endymion as the garden starts to be surrounded with unusual fog. He steps back from Serenity and she moves forward to Darien.
"Endymion… Search for the Silver Imperium Crystal… Set me free," Serenity whispers.
Darien can barely see the outline of her body. He could see her hair flowing and that was all. He could no longer see her as the fog engulfs her.
When the fog clears, there weren't even traces of Serenity and Endymion ever been there…
Serenity and Endymion…
Serenity looks at him. She couldn't understand this whole situation. She thought everybody was dead.
"Endymion?"
"Yes?"
"How is it that you are alive?"
"Hmm, I guess you still have that nightmare. Well, I wasn't dead in the first place. Queen Serenity, your mother, explained to me that you have been having nightmares. It was some kind of battle where everybody dies right? And you wished upon the Silver Imperium Crystal to send everybody to the future. Well, the Silver Imperium Crystal was confused whether or not to grant your wish, because you were not fully conscious. Thus, you alone was sent to the future," he gently strokes her hair.
"Hmm, I see..."
"Were you lonely when I was not there?"
"Is that supposed to be a question?" Serenity says sarcastically.
"I'm sorry," he gives her a short kiss.
"You are all forgiven," she smiles as they broke away.
"I missed you…"
"You've better," she giggles.
Endymion kisses her again.
"Hey, Endy, have you ever eaten a sushi?"
"Sushi? What's that?"
Next Day…
"Hey man! How was your date last night?" Andrew approach Darien with a big grin on his face. He was proud of his friend going on a date.
"Date? With who?" Darien couldn't remember anything from the night before.
"With… that's funny, I don't remember…"
"This morning was kind of strange too. I woke up this morning and there were stuff animals on my living room. Quite a lot too…"
"Woa, what have you doing man?"
Darien shrugged.
"Well, anyways, what do play basket ball? The courts are free," Andrew suggests.
"Sure," Darien accepts his invitation.
The end!
Yay! It finally ends here! I liked working on this piece the story that just one day popped up in my mind with the ending that is extending too long in my head! Lol! Well, I hope you guys liked reading this fan fiction! don't forget to review! Tell me if I should make the sequel or not!
