Chapter 7

The large group gathered together at the arcade to celebrate all three good things that had just happened, the graduation, the engagement, and meeting the guys again.

"So please, tell me what happened," Darien asked.

"Well, we're not sure exactly why, but we were all awakened at the same time randomly one day," Zoisite claimed. He was wearing a sweater and scarf underneath a black blazer and on top of khakis.

"What day was this exactly?" Amy asked, trying to piece together the mystery.

"A week ago."

"That was when the accident happened," Serena shuttered at the memory.

"What accident?" Nephrite wondered. He had long, perm-curly brown hair that was as wild as he was. He wore white slacks and a dark grey button up with an expensive looking watch.

Serena shook her head.

"Darien was hit by a car that kept driving," Leita sighed.

"A week ago? You look okay."

Darien looked at the love of his life and she blushed. "She saved me," he said without looking away.

"Darien was unconscious, and when Serena cried for him, something happened," Amy shared.

"You guys all remembered your past."

They nodded in response.

"Serena was able to call upon her mother's powers and heal Darien and regain all of our memories."

"Doing so must've caused our memories to trigger too," Kunzite agreed.

"What happened when you guys found out?"

"Well much like you guys, we've been friends for quite a while. We actually were all together when it happened, so it was very strange for us to realize we all had a past together."

"Yes, it was for us too."

"But it's good," Serena stated, "we can all be together again now, just like we're supposed to, right?"

"Right," the men agreed, holding the hands of their ladies.

Serena leaned into Darien and sipped her shake. Andrew walked in with his girlfriend then, Serena only upset for half a second, not knowing he had a girlfriend, but then suddenly okay with it, because she had the best boyfriend in the world and was completely content. Andrew and his girlfriend joined the group in celebration and before the night was over they practically turned the arcade into a club.

On the girls' last day of school for the year, they all wore the schools' traditional Senior Crowns, these paper crowns that were given to juniors on their last day because they would soon be the top dogs. For the girls it made them feel more like themselves, as they were used to wearing crowns before. After the final bell, Darien met Serena outside the school so he could take her somewhere to celebrate HER last day. They went to the park and sat on a bench near the fountain.

"This is nice," Darien smiled.

Serena nodded, "I couldn't be happier."

"What do you think life will give us next?"

"Hopefully our good streak won't end anytime soon."

Darien shrugged, "even if it does, I know that together we can get through anything, right?"

"Right."

Darien wrapped his arms around Serena and kissed her. It was a long kiss, one that may have involved a bit of tongue, but it was cut off abruptly when something hit Serena in the head. She was knocked off the bench and her spot was taken by a small child with pink pigtails.

"Hey," Serena grumbled, rubbing a tender spot on her head, "kid, I don't know where you came from but it's very impolite to…fall from the sky?"

"How did you-" Darien began to ask. The girl couldn't have been more than five, and was holding a black ball with cat ears. She looked up from her fallen-position and her eyes grew wide. Suddenly she dropped the ball and jumped into Darien's arms.

"Daddy!" She squealed.

Serena stood up, both her and Darien's faces turning bright red.

"Daddy?" Serena asked.

"Babe, I don't know what she's talking about, I swear!"

He gently pushed the child off of him which caused her to turn and see the woman she landed on. She jumped off the bench and hugged Serena's leg, "Momma!"

Serena looked as confused as she felt. "Are you lost? And how come you have my hairstyle?"

The girl looked up, her hair was, of course, much shorter and a different color than Serena's, but the still had little pointed buns and released shoulder-length curls on either side.

"I need your help."

"My help?"

"All of you! Call the scouts!"

"But," she turned to Darien, wondering how this little girl knew so much. Darien shrugged in response. Luna appeared out of nowhere then.

"Serena, who's this?" She asked.

The little girl turned to the cat and picked her up and hugged her, "Luna!"

"Hey," Darien said to her, trying to get her to focus, "who are you?"

She put Luna down and curtseyed, "My name is Princess Rini."

"May I call you Rini?" Darien asked, struggling to get her attention.

"Of course daddy-kins."

"Why do you keep calling me that?"

"I'm sorry, its habit."

"What do you mean? Where did you come from?"

Rini looked around and stood on her toes, whispering that she was from the future. Serena and Darien were baffled, how could they believe a story like that?

Luna knew that that was exactly what they were thinking and put things into perspective.

"Serena, Darien, I know it may sound crazy, but look who's talking to you. Not only that but you guys just learned that Serena and her friends weren't originally born on this planet! What is so farfetched about the future?"

"I can't tell you too much," Rini cringed, "Pluto said that if you knew too much that it could change the future in a bad way."

"Serena, you'd better call everyone, let's talk at the shrine."

Serena nodded, "Rini," she said, getting down on her knees so that she was eye level with the little girl, "would you be willing to talk to my friends? They can help us."

"The sailor scouts?"

"how did you know that my friends were the sailor scouts?"

"Because my daddy and mommy told me."

"Where are your parents?" Darien asked her.

"They're in trouble. I need help."

They waited until they got to the shrine to talk further, and once they were there the whole gang sat down to hear the story.

"Okay, Rini, we've caught them all up, can you please continue what we were talking about?" Darien asked.

"Yeah Rini, what happened?" Mina asked.

"I need help."

"I understand that," Darien said calmly, "Rini, can you tell me why you called me dad?"

The group was dead silent waiting for her response.

"Because. I know my Daddy anywhere, even if he's not old."

A few of the boys snickered but the girls shushed them and leaned in towards Rini.

"Rini, what do you mean?"

She pointed to Serena and Darien, "I know you're names are Serena and Darien, but to me it's Mommy and Daddy, because I am your future daughter."

Serena and Darien's faces went bright red and Rei's jaw dropped.

"Kid, I think you have the wrong Serena and Darien, I can't be a parent."

"Not yet. Um… well if I wasn't your kid how would I know that he used to call you meatball head, and that every night you write about him in your diary?"

Serena blushed once again, waving downwards with one hand, the other hand on the back of her neck nervously, "what are you talking about? No I don't!"

This time it was the girls' turn to snicker.

"Show me your diary then!"

"Okay okay maybe I do, is that such a crime?" Serena laughed anxiously.

Darien just shook his head, "If that's really true, why are you here?"

"Because my mommy and daddy…your future selves, are in trouble. We need your help." Rini started tearing up thinking about it.

"What happened to them?"

"We were attacked…my momma was able to save everyone by putting them to sleep, but I was the only one that didn't go to sleep, and I can't wake them up!"

"How did you know to come here? How can we help you?" Amy asked.

"My mommy and daddy used to tell me about the sailor scouts and the four princes all the time. I stole the time key and traveled here to find you."

"Rini," Serena said, putting a hand on her shoulder. She looked into the little girl's unique red eyes and the longer she looked, the more love she felt. It was almost as if her maternal instincts kicked in among their touch and Serena knew that this was truly her future daughter. She knew she wasn't ready to have a kid at that point in time, but she was now aware that there will be a point in time where her and her husband (Darien!) would eventually feel that it is the right time to start a family together, and even though something bad happened, Serena was happy. She knew what a complete life looked like. She quickly hugged her daughter and her daughter hugged her back, starting to cry.

"Momma, I'm so scared, I can't wake you up!"

Serena looked and Rini and stroked the top of her head, "it going to be okay. I don't know how, but together we will fix this."

Watching Serena and Rini together had the same effect on Darien, and he reached out and hugged the both of them. He couldn't imagine a better family. He knew that from that day forward, he would do everything to keep their future safe.