A.N. I'm back with another chapter of Moving On. Ain't that spiffy?

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or the characters affiliated with it. They all belong to Naoko

Takeuchi and DiC! Please don't sue me!

Quote: "I sought my soul

But my soul could not see.

I sought my God

But my God eluded me.

I sought my brother

And I found all three." – Unknown

Title: Moving On

Chapter: Six

Author: Icess

After making a quick stop at Dunkin' Donuts for some hot chocolate and very black coffee for Darien, they were well on their way back to Ian and Lacey's home. "Darien, wake up." Serena said softly, looking over to the slumbering figure. An unruly lock of black hair fell over his eyes, making him look like a little boy. His lips were slightly parted and he was drooling the teeniest bit. She shook him lightly, "Darien, wake up sleepy head. We're home." She leaned over in the leather seat a bit and pinched his nose. That woke him up immediately.

"Serena! What the hell? Do you have to be such a pain?" Darien exclaimed on a growl.

"Well, if you would have gotten up, I wouldn't of had to plug your friggin' nose! Get outta the car." She said back with as much attitude as he had given her. "See if I'm your designated driver again." She went around to the other side of the car since it seemed that Darien was having a little trouble finding the door handle. "Still a little tipsy, are we?" She spoke through the open window.

"Shut up." Came his reply. Serena chuckled and opened the door. She helped him out of the low sitting car and then made her way over to the front door with her house key ready. Unlocking the door and waiting for Darien to get inside the house, she stood to the side of the doorway and watched as Darien walked very slowly.

"Would you please hurry up? I'd like to get some sleep at least." She complained. He looked up at her with dazed eyes and realized that he was spacing out. He straightened up and finally got inside the house, immediately after that, Serena stepped behind him and locked the door again. He caught a whiff of her sweet smelling hair… freesia. Her voice intruded upon his thoughts, "Do you need help up to your room?"

"I suppose…" He trailed off and starting walking towards the stairs with Serena in tow. She took his arm and helped him step up since he was still walking awkwardly. "I'm surprised you're being so patient Serena, I know that you don't want to be here. I was a jackass earlier. I'm sorry." That was the second time in a single day that he'd apologized to her. Serena said nothing and helped him into his room.

"Ok, here you are. Sleep tight, hope the bed bugs bite." Serena said playfully, but when she looked into Darien's eyes; she could see that he wasn't even thinking about laughing.

"You think you're funny, don't you?" And before she could respond, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her for the second time that day. She moaned softly and wound her arms around his neck. She didn't protest when he parted her lips gently and explored her mouth. Then, just as soon as it had started, he pushed her away and slammed the door to his room.

"He's been doing that a lot lately." Serena said, still in a daze.

-In Darien's room-

"Idiot, you gotta stop this." Darien scolded himself. Taking his clothes off in a hurry and standing in his boxers, he noticed a note lying on the desk that was standing right next to the balcony doors of his expansive room.

'Darien,

The time has finally come to get down to business. We'll need you in my office tomorrow afternoon. Be prepared, big news. Be there at twelve o'clock.

Sincerely,

Ian'

"Ok…" He said, still kind of out of it. Sighing with the effort of trying to get Serena off of his mind. He couldn't stop thinking about the hurt he had seen in her eyes at the club tonight. He'd been rude, he knew. But, he didn't want her to see him in pain. He still had his pride. The pain was always there, a dull ache most of the time, but at others… it was so bad that he couldn't bear to be around anybody, like tonight. He touched his fingers briefly to the small scar just below his ribs. The memories never faded. He could still see himself running toward the man and he could still see the gun. Still felt the pain of the bullet.

A knock at the door broke him from his reverie. "Darien? Are you awake?" The heavy door muted Serena's voice. He sighed again, 'Doesn't she ever quit?' Then, realizing that he was still standing in his boxers rummaged through the dresser drawers and found a pair of black sweatpants.

"Uh. Be there in a minute Serena." He said, running to the door while still trying to get his legs into the pants. He opened the door in a rush and had the pleasure of seeing Serena's surprised face before she turned it down to a cool gaze. She stepped into the room and waited for him to close the door.

"I won't be long, but I just wanted to know if you got a letter from my uncle at all." She said, looking around. After deciding that she would be in his room for a while, she walked over to the sofa and sat her pajama clad body onto it.

"Actually, yeah, I did. He wants me to meet him in his office tomorrow afternoon, why'd you want to know?" He said, picking the note up from the desk once again to look at it.

"Well, because I got one too. I guess we both have to meet him there. I wonder why…" She trailed off and got her first good look at Darien. He was standing next to the desk in a pair of sweatpants and his upper body wasn't covered. His chest was well muscled and she noticed a tiny scar just below his ribs. "Where'd you get that?" She asked and he looked confused for a moment before following her gaze to his scar.

"Oh… it's uh… nothing. I got hurt when I was a kid. No big deal." He said, turning his face away so she couldn't see the pain in his eyes. "Well, I'm kinda tired, I'll see you tomorrow, ok?" He asked and went to the door to open it for her.

Serena stared at him with astonishment but got up from the couch anyway and walked to the door as well. "Sure, I'll… uh… see you tomorrow then. Bye Darien." She said and could feel his eyes boring into her back as she was out the door and walking back to her room. Then, the door finally clicked shut.

The following afternoon, Serena found herself to be the last person in the office. Ian was waiting impatiently at his desk. Lacey was next to him, wringing her hands while Darien was standing in the corner gloomily. She saw a man that she didn't know occupying one of the soft leather chairs in front of Ian's desk and then saw her brother Sammy. 'Sammy! What's he doing here!' "Sammy! Oh my gosh, I've missed you so much!" She sang happily and ran into his arms. He hugged her tightly and then turned to introduce her to the man in the chair.

"Serena, this is mom and dad's attorney, Michael E. Smith. He's here to read their will." Sammy said. The man stood up and shook hands with Serena, his presence emanated authority.

"Hello, Serena, it's nice to meet you. I'm sorry about your loss. Your parents were wonderful people." He said, his voice full of emotion. He took a survey of the people in the room and nodded. "Okay, everyone is here now. Let's get the reading of the wills over and done with. The only reason why this is being done so late is because I didn't know of the Olson's death until a few days ago. That is when Mr. McPherson called and told me that the funeral would be in Washington-" He was cut off by Darien's cool voice.

"Now wait a minute here, if this is the reading of the wills, then why am I here?"

"Very good question Mr. Stenson, and I'll get to you in a minute." Smith explained. "The Olson's and the Stenson's were very good friends, you see. Serena, your parents wished to have you taken care of when they were gone… so the two families came to a little agreement."

"First of all Mr. Smith, I can take care of myself quite well. Second of all, if our parents knew each other, then why didn't all of us meet earlier on?" Serena asked, not being able to piece the puzzle together. Darien nodded his head in agreement although he had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Almost as if the next thing that Smith was going to say would change everything.

This is when Lacey cut in; "They didn't want you kids meeting until the right time."

"Oh, so now is? When our parents are dead?" Sammy said loudly.

"Where are my parents? Shouldn't they be here too?" Darien asked.

"Settle down everyone, please! Let me explain." Smith said, looking to each person for his or her okay. When he was satisfied, he continued. "As I said before Serena, your parents wished for you to be taken care of financially and emotionally, when they were gone. This is where the Stenson's come in." Smith directed his attention to Darien now. "Darien, your parents offered to help the Olson's. Mr. and Mrs. Olson saw it fit that Serena and Darien be wed. The Stenson's agreed to this because they wanted their son to be happy, just as the Olson's wanted Serena to be happy."

"Hold on a minute! Darien and I are betrothed? Why didn't anyone ever tell me about this? Sammy, did you know?" He shook his head 'no.' "Well, I can tell you where to stick your will! You can…"

"Serena!" Ian yelled,speaking for the first time since the meeting started.

"I don't care anymore. I don't like it when other people run my life! I refuse to marry Darien! I won't!" Serena screamed.

"Serena, if you refuse, then I'm afraid that there will be some consequences." Smith said.

"Like what? I can't believe that I'm being forced into this." She said angrily.

"There has to be something else, Mr. Smith. I can't marry Serena…" Darien said, then trailed off and shut his mouth. He didn't want to reveal too much to anybody, especially with Serena's brother there.

"Like I just said, there will be consequences if you two fail to marry. Olson Inc. will be sold to a fairly large electronics company called Columbia. Whereas, if you two wed, Serena would inherit the company and would merge together with Stenson Industries." Smith explained.

Serena gasped, 'I can't believe they've blackmailed me into this! They knew how much I value being part of Olson Inc.!'

"Serena! Please, I know that I may not be entering the same field as you but you can't let to company to be sold. Mom and Dad worked so hard to get the company to where it is today. Don't let Columbia take it!" Sammy pleaded. Serena looked into his eyes and then into Darien's sapphire blues. She saw understanding for he knew what she wanted.

"Fine, but this is only for the sake of your parents company Serena." Darien said, hating this idea even more by the minute. Ian and Lacey sighed with relief.

"Great!" Smith smiled for the first time. "The wedding with commence next Thursday at St. Mary's Church at one in the afternoon." He said, packing up his papers.

"So soon? But, when do we have time to plan all this?" Serena panicked.

"It's already taken care of. I told you Serena. Your parents wanted you to be looked after. As for the rest of the will, we will finish after the wedding." Smith said and walked out of the suddenly too small office.

Darien looked grim and walked out of the office also, never looking back. He didn't want anyone to see the anger in his eyes. Once he was a safe distance from the house, he put his head in his hands and tried to think.

A.N. Well there goes that chapter! YAY! And the story is just getting good! Hope you enjoyed reading!

Written On: October 7, 2002

Revamped On: March 29, 2006