Ok so now I'm back from my week long cruise to Bermuda n let me just say...it was so amazingly incredible. I mean I have never seen such a beautiful place before and I have never met so many amazing people or had such a wonderful time. Let's just say it did the soul well to relax and recooperate a lil. Well I had originally started writing about half of this chapter before I left and at the time I kept playing You and Me by Lifehouse over and over as inspiration for it. Once I came home and sat down to write the rest, I somehow started to have Bedshaped by Keane playin so I guess it came out as a mixture of both. And also, because I'm so lucky, I've had the flu pretty bad for the last three days. Don't cha just love older brothers and their sick germs lol. Well, I guess here is our next installment and as a further note for near the end...NO! They don't do anything bad or r rated. It's just some harmless laying down and I didn't intend for anything serious to go on between them at all in that manner. So get your minds outta the gutter lol. So here we go and on with the show. Luv yas!

I don't own Sailor Moon.

Collides With Beauty

By: Rini

Chapter 11: You and Me

' Are you still there?'

' I've never left you.'

Slowly, something soft caressed his lips and he responded to the touch. It was warm and timid at first, but it quickly became a possessive claim. Something grasped his face on both sides and traced every contour and line. Tender fingertips traced down to his chin and tipped his lips closer to their own.

Struggling to open closed eyelids, waves of gold surrounded him. He reached up hands to run through the boundless color and waves. His hands cupped her face and he ran his thumbs under her eyes to stop the two lone tears forming on her face. Those all too familiar sky blue eyes. How they haunted his thoughts. Every moment was spent to gaze into endless blue.

He finally felt her weight above him. He was laying down somewhere, but it didn't matter to him where he was. All that mattered was that he was here with her and they had forever together to look forward to. Nothing could disturb this dream and everything was going to be perfect once more.

Her face was mere inches away from his and her hair cascaded around them like a curtain. She reached down to kiss him, his eyes closing instinctively, but she stopped a mere breath from his lips.

' Never let me go.'

' Never.'

' Promise. You and Me. Forever.'

He reached up and claimed her lips in a heated kiss as he poured every ounce of love he held into it. It was long moments before they finally parted and she rested her head next to his cheek, by his ear.

' Remember me.'

" Please wake up. I need you. Remember. You and Me."

Darien felt the weightlessness dissipate until he crashed back into reality. His chest burned and his whole body ached. His arms felt like weights were attached to them and his legs refused to move. His back felt like it was cracked all over and his stomach was in knots. He struggled to open his eyelids, but it was pointless. In his condition, he couldn't even lift his pinky.

His condition?

Darien fought through the pain and unease to figure out where he was. What was the last thing he had done? What was he supposed to do? Who was with him now? What did he mean by his condition and what exactly happened to him?

" Please. Wake up."

It was a soft voice, almost lost to his ears. It was pleading and begging. Who was it? Why did they want so much for him to wake up? Were they even talking to him?

' Remember me.'

It was a whisper in the back of his mind. As soon as the sympathetic voice called out to him with such sadness and compassion, it was as though all the pieces started to fall into place. The picture in his mind started to come together and the image of his true love with tears streaking down her cheeks took the very breath from his lungs.

' Diamond. The Scouts. The battle. The sword. Serenity. My Serena.'

Darien tried to force his eyes to open, but he winced as the more he remembered the more he realized just how hurt he was. He tried to move his lips to whisper her name just to know she was still there, but it seemed even his lips ached. There was so much pain and so much remorse in his heart.

' None of this should have happened. I wish I could make it go away. For her.'

Darien plunged deeper into his unconscious state and drifted further along with visions of gold and blue keeping his faith alive.

Rain splattered hard against the windowpanes. The glass was blurry as a river of rain fell down the sides of the building and blurred the picture of the city just beyond her grasp. She placed a warm hand against the cold clear glass and tried to make out the city lights. The sky was darker than it had been hours before when it had drowned out the sun before. Now, it was late into the night and even the moon was swallowed up. Not a star or light could be seen through the thick obsidian clouds.

She sighed and turned around to rest her back against the glass. Lightning struck the air and flashed the bleary gray to the world. She didn't have the strength to turn on any of the lights in the apartment, so she let the lightning occasionally light up the room instead. She knew her heart would find so solace in a bright room, only the darkness was her companion now.

She watched him lay there as she clutched at the blanket wrapped around her shoulders. His expressive sapphire eyes were closed and she longed to see them again. The red staining his clothes was gone and only the pristine white of his dress shirt remained. His normally perfectly styled hair was tousled and it made her smile. His arms where over his stomach and she cringed as she remembered just how deeply he had been cut.

' It was my doing. I have done this. I keep hurting all the people I love.'

She sighed as another crack of lightning lit up the room. She sighed and laid her head back to rest against the glass. She blankly gazed up at the ceiling as more lightning struck.

" Please. Come back."

His finger twitched. His eyelids fluttered open. His vision was blurry and white and it took several moments until he could make out anything in the room. He moved his arm and reached up to run his fingers through his hair. He blinked rapidly a few times to make the stinging in his body dull. He tilted his head to the side and gasped.

Darien pushed the blanket off of his torso and partially sat up. He laid to his side and used his elbows to prop himself up. He gazed at her lithe form basked in the rain falling around her and the lightning that showed all the sharp angles and shadows of her body. Her head was tilted back and her eyes were closed, hiding those all too perfect eyes. Her silver hair fell around her face and shoulders and he couldn't contain himself any longer.

Slowly, he pushed one leg after another over the side of the couch and stood up. He wavered a little and finally summoned the courage to take a step. He winced as the pain and stiffness in his joints made moving difficult. He watched as her eyes snapped open and she took a fierce stance. Her cold blue eyes softened to their normal pastel blue as she gazed at Darien, the object of her tortured thoughts, standing awake before her.

Serena shook slightly and let her arms drop from her rigid stance. She refused to blink in fear that all of this was some cruel illusion. Darien took another step forward and Serena lost all convictions. She ran to his arms as the blanket draped over her shoulders fell from the sharp movement. She tackled him in a hug, her arms encircling his waist and her head tucked just under his chin.

Darien had to smile and chuckle at his love. His arms automatically wrapped around her smaller frame and he buried her close to his body. He rested his chin on top of hers and he once more noticed how perfectly together they fit, as though they were molded strictly for one another.

" I missed you so much," Serena cried against his chest.

" I missed you too. I heard you calling me. I couldn't have let you go."

" Oh Darien," Serena sighed.

Serena gazed up into his eyes and more tears started to gather in her own. His eyes didn't hold any of the anger or betrayal she thought they would hold, but she always knew that he would forgive her for anything. She believed she truly didn't deserve such pleasure and love in her life.

Serena shook her head and backed out of his arms.

" Serena? Please? What's wrong?"

" Darien. You shouldn't be near me," Serena said as she hung her head and her face became shielded by her hair.

" You can't mean that."

" Darien!" Serena shouted," Look at what I did to you! Look at what I had done to the girls! You can't change the fact that I nearly killed you."

" But you didn't. I knew you couldn't do it. That's why I didn't care. I knew that no one was ever going to trap you for long. You are strong Serena and I believed in that."

" But that doesn't change the fact that I tried to kill all of you and I would have succeeded too."

Darien wrapped his arms around the frantic girl," Silly girl."

Serena's eyes widened and a small gasp escaped her lips.

" Nothing you could ever do would keep us away from you. We all have faith in you Serena. You are the one who holds us all together. If we believed in nothing at all, we would still believe in you."

" Darien."

" I love you Serena. I am willing to sacrifice myself for you a thousand times over. I would have no regrets about it either. I love you more than I know how to say. I know that no matter what things come between us, no matter what obstacles we face, we will always find a way back to each other."

" But."

Darien kissed her lips softly," Serena. We all make mistakes. Even the Moon Princess isn't perfect. No one can always be perfect light unless they realize their own inner darkness."

Serena rested her head against his chest," Thank you. Everything you said before. I could hear it, but I couldn't understand. I love you Darien. We need each other. I need you like I need air to breathe. I'm so sorry that I forgot that, even if it was for just a moment."

Darien claimed her lips possessively, like he had in his dreams over and over. She moaned and had to force herself to use him as her balance. Darien groaned when she grabbed his shoulder too tightly and Serena was quick to let him go.

Darien laughed," I guess I'm not completely healed yet."

Serena rolled her eyes and helped to sit him down on the couch. She wrapped the blanket around him and picked up a box of matches and set off to light the many various candles around the room.

" Serena? How did I exactly get here? I thought I was gone already."

Serena cupped her hand around the match and lit the wick of a small candle," Faith. That's how you got here."

" I don't understand. Where are the other girls and what ever happened to Diamond?"

Serena sat down across from Darien in a large comfortable armchair," Well. Once your words opened up my eyes to see the truth, I knew I had precious little time left to do something or else I would lose everyone. I had little strength left in me after I had changed back to normal and Diamond made it perfectly clear I had to make a choice. Sure I could have sacrificed my life to destroy him, but even I knew that I didn't have that much power left in me. So I knew my only choice left was to save everyone, even though I knew to bring all of you back I would have to use my own life."

" You mean you died?" Darien asked, horrified that she may have left him once again.

" That's where the story drifts. I was fully intending to give up my life to save yours and the girls and to banish Diamond. But when I tapped into the Silver Crystal's power something else happened. Serenity helped to guide me into calling on the full powers of the crystal, but then it was like we were both blocked out. I made my wish to save your lives and stop Diamond. My crystal came to life and traveled to each of you, but there was another light."

" Another light? Like another Silver Crystal?"

" I can't explain it really. It felt warm and pure, like the feeling I get when I use the crystal, but it wasn't coming from me. This light struck Diamond and then it traveled to each of you. It was like it was trying to lift my burden to keep me alive. Next thing I know, I'm here in your apartment dressed as Princess Serenity still and I'm in your arms. So I moved you up onto the couch and I waited for you to wake up."

Darien laid back and closed his eyes," Two lights. Are you sure it wasn't the power of the Silver Crystal?"

" It may have been, but it wasn't from my crystal."

Darien jerked up," Are you saying there is more than one Silver Crystal?"

Serena lounged back and closed her eyes," All I'm saying is that there was definitely something there that helped me. It was desperate to keep us all alive and it helped to bring you back to me. As far as I'm concerned, it could have been anything."

There was a long silence then. Darien remained laying down on the couch and stole secret glances at the beauty in the chair not far from him. Her face remained stoic and uncaring and he was forced to wonder if that's how he often looked. He swore to himself and couldn't help but pray that she wouldn't always be like this. He loved his bright Serena. His life was already dark and cold and he relied on her warmth to get him through the days. He needed the light she gave off to brighten up his empty days.

But more than that, one thing bothered him the most.

" Why? Why did you leave?"

Serena knew that question was going to raised sooner or later. She could feel his tension pulse like waves against her and she realized it was foolish of her to believe that everything would just fall back together like she had dreamed.

" Because for once in a very long time, I felt like someone needed me as I was and not for what I could be."

" But we loved you just as you were."

" You can't love without trust Darien."

" But we did trust you."

" Stop it!"

Serena stood up and threw the blanket off her lap. Her eyes were burning with unrestrained passion and anger she kept hidden for so long.

" You don't understand. You have no idea how hard it is to keep getting up once you've been knocked down for so long. Nobody had faith that I could do anything. I have to constantly hear that I'm not good enough, that I'm not smart enough, that I'm not fast enough, and that I can never be the leader they need. Then to make matters worse I have to hear from the one person I relied on that I wasn't good enough for even him. You have no idea how much it hurt to die alone."

Darien got up and looked at her confused.

" I made a promise and I made a choice. I made the choice to change my own Destiny and to change Fate. I was tired of being pushed around and not being good enough. I made the choice to be what I am and I won't regret it for a moment. Even as I am now, I wasn't good enough. None of you trusted me or had enough faith in me to believe that I could do something. I was doing all of this for all of you. I was going to make the world better for you!"

" Serena," Darien whispered.

" The burden I must carry is mine alone as the Moon Princess and the Light of Hope. You have no idea how much it hurt to see the only ones I trusted turn their backs on me. Not even you believed in me anymore. So I left to come here and talk to you myself. But instead of finding you, I found him. I was weak and listened to all of his lies, but he gave me something no one else had. He gave me security.

I know I'm foolish for listening to his lies, but he said what I wanted to hear. He made my wish come true. I wanted the world to disappear and he gave me that. If I could go back and change it, I doubt I would. Because before that, I forgot what it was I was fighting for. Now I know, more than ever, what it is I must do.

So if you want to know why I left, here's why. I had nothing else left to lose."

Darien stood tall and looked into her eyes. They weren't as passive as they used to be. He used to gaze into them and every time they would surrender to him all the thoughts racing behind them. Now, now it felt so different. They forced him to look beyond what his mind saw and made it so only his heart knew what was behind them. He reached out for her with the bond he knew could never be broken. He could feel her tugging on it to keep him away.

He looked at her and shot her a pleading glance. Her eyes stayed steady, but soon they softened and she gave a slight nod. Darien closed his eyes and reached out once more, pulling along the invisible cord that linked them both together throughout time.

He could feel it. Untapped. Unrestrained. There was a fierce power and determination inside her. It flowed so unchecked through her that the force of it made Darien take a step back. There was an undying hope and will to push on, to survive. There was an unshakable faith that no matter what happens that she would face it dead on and do whatever it took to succeed. There was an overwhelming sense of pride and duty that made her continue down this long road that she had chosen for herself. What shown the most was everlasting love. Love that she held so closely for her friends, for her family, for Rini, for her guardians, and for him.

Darien smiled and opened his eyes. He looked up at her and saw her face take on the regal look of his beloved from so many years ago. She wasn't the young child he thought she was still deep down. She wasn't careless or petty. She wasn't klutzy anymore. She was poised. She was controlled. She didn't whine or pout. She was growing up in front of him and he had been so blind as to never notice.

Darien replayed all the moments he had spent with her before. All the times she would drag him all over in search of candy or shopping. All the failed test grades she threw at him in aggravation. All the times she would get angry whenever he looked at any other girl for any reason. The young Serena who he remembered spending his days with before. The young girl he was afraid was not going to be ready for such a commitment with someone who was older.

' You never cease to amaze do you.'

He walked over to her and grabbed her hands and entwined his fingers through hers. He looked down at her and was surprised that she held such an adult look of understanding instead of fear like he thought he might find. She smiled at him with such fondness he was afraid he was going to melt and drift away. He bent his head down to her and nuzzled his nose against her own and elicited a soft giggle from her.

Serena felt her lips tug into a wide grin and couldn't believe just how close she came to losing him. This made her lips suddenly drop from their playful position and she nestled her head against his neck and brushed feather soft kisses along his collarbone. Darien let his hands drop from her and clutched her around her waist and drew her as close as possible to his body. He shivered from her contact with his skin and he once again couldn't believe how much she had changed before his very eyes.

Darien put his hand under her chin and tilted her face up towards his own. Her eyes were half closed and a deep rich blue. She reached up to lightly tug on his bottom lip with her teeth before claiming his lips fully in a heated kiss of desperation and love. Darien groaned and found his own mind clouding over.

Finally, after breathless moments, the lovers parted and panted as their foreheads touched. Serena traced her hand across his chest and rested her palm over his heart.

" You should rest. You aren't fully healed yet."

" I'll be ok."

Serena smirked at him as she pushed slightly against his chest and made him wince. Knowing he was caught, Darien laughed and picked her up in his arms and carried her into his bedroom and pushed the covers aside. He tucked her in next to him and let her rest her head on his shoulder, like they had so many times once before.

Serena pushed herself up and held herself over his form. Her hair fell around them like a curtain and Darien silently wished it was the warm gold he loved so much.

" You and Me."

" Forever," Darien whispered.

Serena rested again on Darien's shoulder and clung to him lightly.

' I'm not ready yet to make that kind of commitment to him. Time just isn't ready yet, but one day, one day I'll give you all I have Darien. But until that time, know that you already have what he can never. All of my heart and soul.'

The candles in the bedroom flickered as the two torn lovers kissed and made a promise to each other alone. Time may not be pushed back, but at least for two people, it could heal old wounds.