A/N- So here's the next chapter. Sorry it's taken me so long, but I've had practice and I've had to clean the house to pay back my parents… Anyways, I hope you like it and I'm guessing you guys are going to hate me at the end of the chapter and I'm saying sorry in advance! But I still hope you like it!
cosmos serenity- in this case, it's good to be jealous. ;p
ffgirlmoonie- hope the wait wasn't too bad and too long!
AmberJupiter- that's the great thing about being an author! There won't be a lot of other stuff added, but if I do I'll let you know in the author's note.
raye85- It should only keep getting more interesting as the story evolves.
eliza-morgan22- There's going to be a lot more Sere/Dare stuff coming, but I'm not sure how fast. This chapter will start it, but I never know what happens when I write.
Kris Black- Thank you! I figured Mina was part of it, but didn't know who the other scout was. At least you saw those episodes, that's more than me. (This is a great part for everyone to read) Well, there might be some changes because I think I might need to make Taiki like Rei just to keep the story going. Sorry, but that's how I'm going with it.
peaceful blossom- you never know… you never know… don't worry about Darien, he's strong enough to get through anything.
Gr33nJ3w3lRain- he tries, but who knows if it will work… all will be revealed in this chapter…
Moon Titan- He won't have to miss her much soon. I'm guessing you have an idea about what's going to happen and you might be right or you might be wrong. Just read to find out!
sailorceb- thank you!
VcChick- he is on her trail so it won't be too long… well actually, you don't have to wait any longer, you just have to read.
Dertupio- Serenity isn't in the mood to leave right now so we don't have to worry about her escaping. Anyways, Seiya wouldn't let her out of his clutches yet and our favorite knight in shinning armor is on his way!
"Rei! Hurry up! We need to leave!" Jadeite yelled into their room. "You look good enough for me and you don't have to dress up for anyone else!"
"Hold on Jed! I just need to find my necklace." Rei yelled back. "Ah! Here it is!" Rei ran out of their room and met everyone at the front. "So, where are they?"
"Coming down the road right now. They'll be here in a minute." Mina said pointing to the road that led to the house.
"We're going to be riding right next to you guys." Malachite said.
"Oh, so we get an escort?" Mina cooed.
"If that is what you want to think. Then yes I am your escort." Malachite said as he grabbed Mina around the waist and pulled her into him. He nuzzled her neck and she fell into a fit of giggles.
"Alright, stop it you two." Nephrite said.
"You guys, we need to keep the love down a notch right now. At least till we find Serenity." Amy said. Everyone nodded and looked at Darien who was brushing his black stallion down near the corner of the porch.
"Let's hope we find her fast. I hate seeing him like this." Zoicite said. Everyone nodded again.
"Maladies." A footman said as he bowed towards the group. During their discussion the carriage had pulled in front of the house and the footman already had the door open. The women parted with their men as they allowed the footman to help them into the carriage.
The guys got on their horses and waited for the driver to start the carriage. When they finally did start Malachite and Nephrite rode next to the carriage as Zoicite and Jadeite rode behind it. Darien rode slightly behind Zoi and Jed.
They passed a couple large mansions, which Darien remembered where they were so he could go back and question the inhabitants of their knowledge of Serenity. Soon they pulled into a large driveway which led to an extremely large house.
"Damn." Zoicite said as they walked in.
"Welcome!" Yaten laughed as he stood on the top step next to the door.
All the girls smiled as they got out of the carriage. The guys gave the horses to the stable hands. "Yaten" Malachite acknowledged as he looped an arm around Mina's waist. Yaten hid his frown as he saw the close contact between Mina and Malachite.
"Please, do come in. Seiya and Taiki are in the study currently." Yaten said with a fake smile he had plastered on after glaring at Malachite.
"By all means, lead the way." Jadeite said. Yaten nodded before heading down the hall with the group following him. When he got to two double doors he opened them and allowed his guests to enter before himself.
"Hello everyone." Taiki said with a smile.
"Hello." They all said.
"Taiki said Seiya was in here as well." Mina said sitting down.
"He's just gone up to see Usagi to tell her you were here." Taiki said. "How are you doing Rei?"
"I'm fine. Now tell us about this new girl."
"She'll be down in a minute." Seiya said as he entered. "So you can make your own opinions on your own."
"So who are your new friends? We know the pirates." Yaten said, spitting out the last word.
"This is Amy and Lita. They are some friends of ours that have decided to come for a visit." Mina said.
"Where do you two live?" Seiya asked.
"At the castle Ceinlys. My father works with the King and Lita has been a friend of mine since she moved there." Amy said.
"What is your father's name?" Seiya asked.
"Lord Alec." Serenity said as she walked into the room.
"Ah, Usagi, how nice of you to join us." Seiya said as he got up and led Serenity in front of everyone. "Usagi this is-" Seiya started.
"Serenity!" Darien nearly yelled.
"Darien…" Usagi put her hands to her mouth as her eyes doubled in size.
"I'm sorry Darien, but her name is Usagi, not Serenity." Seiya said with a smile. Darien simply walked past the group and looked at Serenity.
"Why did you have to run?" He asked. "Why did you have to leave?"
"You wouldn't understand." Serenity said.
"I've been worried about you this whole time and you won't tell me why? You said I wouldn't understand! Did you know we've been looking for you since we found out you left? Did you know we got caught in the storm looking for you? Did you know we spent most of today looking for you?" Darien asked grabbing Serenity's arms. Serena winced at the contact and turned away.
"Let her go." Seiya growled pulling Darien back. "You have her mistaken with someone else! Her name is Usagi not Serenity!"
"You have no clue what you're talking about." Darien growled back.
"What do you know? I found her huddled underneath a tree!" Seiya yelled.
"Do you pick everyone up that you find on the side of the road?"
"Do you harass innocent girls that look alike someone who left you?"
"Do you really know who that is?"
"Both of you stop!" Serenity yelled. She looked from between Darien and Seiya. "Just stop the yelling." Serenity's tears were already welling up in her eyes.
"Serenity, don't cry." Darien whispered as he tried to pull her into him.
"Don't… just don't." She said backing away. Before anyone could do anything else Serenity flung the doors open and ran down the hall.
"Usagi!" Seiya said trying to go towards her. He was stopped by Darien's body blocking the door way.
"I will be going to go get her." Darien growled.
"Obviously she doesn't want to see you!" Seiya said.
"She doesn't want to see you either, but we have some things to work out." Darien said keeping his temper down for once.
"Seiya, he's right." Rei said standing up.
"What are you talking about?" Seiya said turning to Rei.
"Her real name is Serenity." Rei said.
"There's only one person in the entire country named…" Yaten said as realization hit him.
"You mean she's the princess everyone has been looking for?" Taiki said.
"Yes, this is Lady Amy and Lita was one of Serenity's handmaidens and they became friends." Mina explained.
"From what rumor says, she was engaged to Prince Diamond, but they were never on good terms. She was able to escape along with two female companions during a pirate attack on one of the local towns." Taiki said.
"Don't tell us you guys were the pirates." Yaten said.
"We were. We have a past with Diamond and decided to go see him." Malachite said.
"And what were you going to do with Serenity?" Seiya asked.
"We didn't know actually." Jadeite said. "She wasn't why we were there."
"Where did she go?" Darien asked.
"I'm not going to tell you." Seiya hissed.
"I'm pretty sure she went to the gardens." Mina said. "You'll find two glass doors down the hall. Amy, what was Serenity's favorite flower?"
"Red roses." Amy answered.
"So then, you go find the roses and Serenity will probably be there." Mina finished with a smile.
"Thanks Mina." Darien answered. He quickly left the door leaving a scowled Seiya, two stunned men, and a group of smug friends."
"Dinner is ready." A butler said walking in, oblivious to the fight that had previously ensued.
"Shall we eat?" Mina asked with a smile. The group of guests all nodded and got up waiting for their hosts. Yaten and Taiki had snapped out of their stunned silence and were joining the group and Seiya brooded, but eventually followed as well.
oOoOoOo
In the gardens…
Sure enough Darien had found the two glass doors and was soon enough in the gardens. Instead of being surrounded by roses he found himself surrounded by Lilies. "Great." Darien murmured. As he looked around Darien noticed a young maid walking through one of the paths.
"Excuse me, miss!" Darien said as he walked up to the maid.
"How may I help you sir?" The maid asked.
"How do I get to the roses?" Darien asked.
"Follow the path you are on and you'll come upon a large Oak tree. Turn right there. Walk along that path and I believe you'll find what you are looking for." The maid said with a smile.
"Thank you." Darien said with a slight bow of his head.
"When you do find what you are looking for be careful. You don't want to get hurt and you don't want to hurt it." The maid said with a smile that held more mysteries than friendliness.
"Um, thank you." Darien said before continuing down the path. Sure enough there was a large oak tree sitting at the corner of two pathways. Darien turned right like the maid had said and walked down the path. Soon enough the lilies and other flowers were soon changing into different colored roses.
"You deserve more than these roses." Darien said as he came upon Serenity. She was huddled up on a bench with her knees held up against her chest. Her cheeks had fresh trails of tears running down them and her eyes were swollen red and puffy.
"What do you want Darien?" Serenity asked.
"I want to talk to you. I want to know why you ran."
"I told you… you wouldn't understand." Serenity said.
"But I want to understand Serenity. I really do. I don't want to have to repeat this in the future. I don't want to go through the pain again."
"What pain did you have to go through? What pain could I have caused, a princess who has seemed to cause nothing but problems for you?"
"The pain of my heart being torn from my body without my control and not being able to find it. The pain of losing the one thing I actually had true feelings for. The pain of not knowing when I'd be whole again."
"What are you saying Darien? That you have feelings for me?" Serenity asked looking Darien straight in the eyes.
"So much more than that. Serenity, I know we haven't known each other for long, but… but… it feels like I've known you before. With these feelings and the ones I've, hopefully we've discovered I know I love you." Darien said. He had kept eye contact with Serenity the whole time, but when she gasped and her eyes went wide he bowed his head.
"Darien… I… I… I don't know what to say." Serenity said. Darien's heart stopped and he felt his newly required heart tear in two. "But what I do know is that I have some feelings toward you. But I promised… I promised to wait for someone." Serenity said.
"Who, who did you promise yourself to?" Darien asked through clenched teeth.
"A prince who left one day and never came back…"
A/N- Sorry this chapter is shorter than the rest! The next chapter though has all or at least most of the answers for your questions! I'm evil I know… I didn't want to leave a cliffy, but I promise the next chapter will be coming out tomorrow or the day after so the wait won't be that long. Sorry!
