* 2021-12-16
Alright, so I've gotten to rewriting half on the story and I must say I'm happy with the changes in their characters and story development. Serena is more in-tuned to her desires even if she's confused by them. I know I've painted Serena as confident in the first chapters, but I was hoping to show that even as a heroine, she's a girl turning into a woman and going through issues she needs to deal with and uncertainties that plagued her. I hope this came out properly this time around.
Darien isn't as predatory and pushy as before. It was fun getting in his head but I'm still not sure if it was enough to show the strain, he'd been through growing up and how that shaped his personality.
Please take note my stories are PG18+++, as in, there is graphic violence, coarse language, sexual situations and triggers as my stories deal with characters who deal with past emotional, physical or mental traumas.
Late Night Escape
Chapter 6
Serena was sprawled on her back on Lita's bed, her head dangling over the edge, reading a new Manga. Her mouth was occupied chewing happily on the brunette's delicious homemade cookies. Not letting her eyes drift away from the story, her hand felt back to the floor reaching for another treat. Instead of snatching a cookie, her fingers got caught in her friend's unruly locks, as she lay on the floor.
Lita laughed at the blonde's antics. 'God, it feels good to relax after training,' she mused. Her body was still a little sore from the whole day of drills that they had pulled. The girls had planned on a sleepover but only the Senshi leader had managed to come over due to the finals.
"Are you up for the club tonight?" Green eyes slid slyly towards the bed, a wide smirk twisting her lips.
"Not a chance! I can't feel my right leg… I think you might have dislocated my hip with that last kick." Serena smirked back, shoving another cookie into her mouth. How the petit blond could eat upside down, Lita could not figure out.
"You sure it's the hip, and not a certain dark, handsome, brooding man?"
"You're one to talk Lita!" Serena spun back onto her stomach and glared down. "You realize that you haven't been that enthusiastic about going out of late either. And don't try to deny it! I know you're forcing yourself to go because of me!"
"Really!? I love dancing! It's the safest way for me to let out steam without hurting anyone…"
"Except you do… Ken. You realize his eyes follow you wherever you go. Whoever you go with."
"Serena, drop it," Lita said pleadingly burying her head in the crook of her arm.
"No! You brought up Darien. It's only fair I talk about Ken!" The blond felt remorseful but if Lita wanted her to be honest, she needed to be too.
"I know I hurt him each time," Lita's muffled voice came after a couple minutes of silence. The amazon rarely wanted to vent her frustrations verbally, preferring to deal with them either through cooking or fighting. "The guilt is making me sick. But what other choice do I have!?"
"Lita…"
"No Serena, even if I wanted to fall in love with him and I know he already returns the feelings, I can't put him in that danger again!" Lita's fists were clenched so tight, her knuckles white. Her face a mask of naked anguish, looking up pleadingly. "I watched him get gutted right in front of my eyes! If anything, ever, happened to him, I don't know how…" A sob tried to break past the athletic girl's lips but she swallowed it back. "I've lost my parents; I'm not going to lose the closest thing to family."
"I'm sorry, it was stupid of me. I should have known better…" Serena bit her lip, wishing she could have taken back that whole conversation. "Maybe one day, it will be safe for you to start a relationship with him."
"I don't want him to wait. It would be too unfair and needlessly painful." The brunette rested her hand on the blonde's shoulder, rubbing it soothingly. "It's alright Rena, it felt good to let it out. I've been letting it fester too long without making a decision."
The tall girl sat up, and pulled her legs to her chest looking suddenly seriously at Serena. She chewed on her lips thoughtfully debating if she should broach the subject or not. Her friend always exploded when conversation about Darien started.
"Serena, please hear me out? Would it really be so bad if you actually gave Darien a chance? I know you've been thinking of hooking up with someone. Think about it clearly. He's drop-dead gorgeous. You guys have crazy chemistry."
"We might but he wants me as a fuck friend. And while some girls are ok with that. I don't know how I feel about that. Especially since it's Darien. I thought he was better than that."
Lita shook her head confused. "But that's what hooking up means. It means no strings attached. No deep feelings, just good old physical attraction. It means he won't get attached and start asking questions you can't answer."
"I know what it means. It's just no matter how much we fight; I don't want to be just another notch on his belt."
"You don't want to be just another faceless fuck to him?"
"We've known each other since I was 14, there's string already."
"You didn't answer my question?"
"Yes. No. I don't know what to think Lita," exasperation forcing a long sigh out of her lungs. "He says he's liked me for a long time but all he's ever done was fight with me. And suddenly, he saw me at the club and wants to hook up. What the fuck am I suppose to believe?"
Her hormones driving her up the walls, her emotions on a roller coaster ride, all the expectations and demands on her shoulders, what did she want? "It's stupide that I'm hesitating because he's throwing himself literally at me. But I'm not sure if I really want to take that next step or am I hesitating because I'm still hoping against hope that I'll meet Mr. Right, get married and have a bunch of babies."
"Just because you go out, date or sleep with someone, doesn't mean you won't ever meet Mr. Right Serena. I get we have Senshi business and the end of the world looming over our shoulders. But someday, we'll beat them. And then you'll get your happy ending. Until then, it's ok for you to enjoy yourself, try things, live at your pace. Only you know what step you're ready to take." She shrugged mischievously, an evil twinkle in her eyes. "AND if you do take the risk with him and he gets caught by the enemy, you can throw a I Got Rid of Darien party!"
Serena's first reaction was to get defensive but Lita's crack made her burst out laughing until she clutched her stomach in pain. She could picture it already, the arcade full of balloons, confetti, screamers as she danced around with cheerleading pompoms. But then her vision turned to her friends' and Andrew's horror filled faces. They would miss Darien.
Damn sobering thought. She would miss their fights. She would miss his taunting. She would miss running into him. And now that he'd held her a couple of times, she would definitely miss the feel of him.
"No… I ca… I can't. I won't put a civilian in danger," she whispered avoiding her friend's questioning gaze. "Even if I feel the physical attractions, I can't put him in any more danger than you can Ken." She finally looked up, her melancholy melting when she added, "no matter how much he BEGS for it!"
They both laughed and returned to reading their mangas. Silence filled the room for a long time until Lita threw her book down. "Well, there is one guy that's safe to date!" Serena lifted an eyebrow questionably.
"Tuxedo Mask, duh!?" Lita drawled dramatically, then muttered: "If only he didn't have eyes only set on the Moon Senshi," sticking her tongue teasingly at Sailor Moon.
"As if. I had dreamed about it the first years! But he never made a move which speaks volumes about his interest!" She heaved another long sigh, dropping her new book. "Are we hopeless or what!?," she fumed. But Lita would not be brought down as she suddenly rummaged through her DVD collection.
"Nothing that a great chick flick kicking ass can't cure!"
"Amen to that sister!" The blond agreed whole heartedly shoving another cookie in her mouth.
Sailor Moon's full weight scraped the brick wall as she slid down onto her butt on the dirty floor, forcing her lungs to draw in breaths. How grateful she was that Tuxedo Mask had left right after the fight so she didn't have to force herself to look fine. Sailor Mercury rushed to her side, her visor already in place, computer in hand. The blue haired genius scanned her body, missing nothing.
"Moon, you have two bruised ribs. You're really lucky they aren't broken! Your forearm is severally bruised as well. You can't do much about the ribs but to take it easy and let it heal by itself. Your arm should be bound so to prevent further movement."
"How am I going to hide this from my parents and everyone now that it's summer!? It's too hot to wear long sleeves. Damn it!" Serena gritted her teeth as Amy took out her med supplies from her sub-pocket.
"Well, going by my data, you should be practically back to normal within a week thanks to our Senshi healing powers. In the mean time, you could say you're staying at my place or Lita's with the excuse you can't afford distractions for the finals and need the extra help studying," the blue Scout suggested, putting away her med supplies after bounding her arm.
Mars and Venus kneeled on either side of their leader, helping her up slowly, concern twisting their features. With their support, they managed to sneak Sailor Moon through the sleeping city to Lita's apartment.
As Sailor Moon de-transformed, the pain shot through the roof. Serena all but collapsed on her friend's bed.
Rei cursed; her brows furrowed in anger. Stiffly pacing the room, looking like a walking time bomb ready to explode. Lita only hoped that the explosion would leave her place unscathed by the priestess's flames.
"The attacks are getting lethal. Our injuries, not to mention those of the civilians attacked, are getting life-threatening. The generals are attacking at the same time as the youmas. It reeks of desperation and cowardice! I should just fireball their asses for this! No one hurts Serena but ME!" Steam was actually coming off the dark-haired woman as she gritted her teeth.
"When I get my hands on those jerks, I Will Break Every Single Bone in Their Bodies." Lita promised vehemently.
"I'd tie them up then whip them black and blue till they begged for mercy." Mina laughed crazily.
The girls froze and raised eyebrows at the laughing hysterically blond.
"Why does it sound like a S&M scene instead of a revenge plan when it comes out of your mouth?" Rei teased.
"Well, I'm the physical manifestation of the Goddess of Love, so it can't be helped," she winked and blew a kiss to Rei flirtatiously.
"More importantly girls, what are we going to tell her parents. It's a school night and we only have a couple days left of finals." As always, leave it to Amy to bring the attention back to the real problem at hand.
"Pass me the phone, I have an idea," Lita proceeded to do 50 push-ups. Then she dialed Serena's number. "Hi Mrs. Tsukino, it's Lita. How are you doing this evening."
"I'm worried because Serena is late. But my, you sound exhausted. Is everything alright? Did something happen to Serena?" Ikuko sounded worried suddenly.
"Yes, something did, Amy practically killed us this evening!" Lita answered exhaustedly.
"WHAT!?"
"Yea. Mina, Serena and I were so worried about the next two days of exams that we begged Amy to tutor us. She made us study till both Mina and Serena passed out on my table. You should see them, it's quite a funny scene! Amy is planning on letting them sleep a little longer then drilling them some more. I realised it was getting late, so I decided to call you to let you know Serena is doing ok."
"Serena is seriously studying to that point!?"
"Yes, Mrs. Tsukino. Serena is taking these finals and the entrance exams very seriously. Do you mind if she sleeps over so she's not going home by herself late at night? I'd be very worried letting her do that and anyways, she has a change of uniform in her bag.
"Oh yes, of course! It is much safer that way. Tell her good luck from us and please have her call me tomorrow morning before she goes to school." You could almost hear the happy tears running down Serena's mom face.
"Of course. Thank you again. Goodnight!" Lita let out a long sigh then winked victoriously.
"And I'm suppose to be the actress here!" Mina whined then got serious, taking charge. "Well, we'll head back to our places for tonight. Let her rest then call us when you guys get up so we know how she's doing. Once we know her condition, we'll go from there."
Serena woke up with a groan. The pain shooting through her ribs made it hard to take a full breath. Moving her swollen arm, it felt stiff but at least she could move her hand and wrist. 'Thank God I'll be able to finish my exams. That was too close...'
Breaking into a grin at her friend's antics as Lita arms was draped over her bed, while the rest was sprawled half way on a futon on the floor next to her. Their usual morning trainings triggering her to wake before the break of dawn. Who would have believed Serena was capable of getting up before her alarm. Looking at the red lights on the side table clock, five am. And to top it off, it looked like they were headed for a gloomy, possibly rainy day.
Resting her good arm over her face, Serena focused on yesterday's battle. Things needed to change. She needed to get stronger. Needed to beat the Negaverse once and for all!
The fights were getting dangerous. Fatal.
There was no way she could let her friends die. If anything happened to her or any of them, who would protect this world?
If it hadn't been for Tuxedo Mask fast intervention, she would have had more than just bruised ribs. It would have been pierced ribs…
The mask hero had pierced the youma's eye with his rose, succeeding in pulling her out of its grasp. The feel of his arms snaked around her chest as he jumped out of danger with her was gnawing at the back of her mind. His arms felt so familiar. But that was because of all the times he had saved her. 'Right?' How often had she been pressed against that mysterious man as he had scooped her out of dangers way?
But to get excited in the middle of a fight, even through the scorching pain!?
'It's all Darien's fault!' she thought vehemently.
Since they had touched intimately, her head's been in the gutter. She couldn't keep a lid on her hormones. Not to mention imagination… Her right arm shifted to rub her face but never made it as pain shot from the bruised ribs.
'I bet Darien's sinful hands could ease this pain…' Her eyes popped wide open. 'What the fuck!?' Since when did she indulge in that kind of thinking? Here she was worried about the Negaverse, then thinking of thanking Tuxedo Mask, only to start fantasizing about Darien…
Things were really getting out of hand. Wasn't the last week of high school and waiting on acceptance notices from colleges enough stress for a girl? Seriously? What is it with the universe that when one problem appeared, a tone of others piled up on it? It wasn't freaking fair, if you asked her! 'This sucks!'
But then the memory of Darien holding her to in the park flashed through her mind. 'Sometimes…'