Hi All,

Hope this chapter is interesting enough for you all.

And if this story all goes to plan, I hope you are in for the long haul, I have plans for this story to go for a very long time, that way I can get the story across that I want to tell.

Please enjoy!

Luv PP

Chapter 16

Back in Raye's room the inner court were raging, how could their Princess side with the Sailor Scout of destruction, Sailor Saturn was going to destroy them all!

"Do you think they have brain washed her?" Raye said with fury, her hand hitting the table rather hard.

"Raye, they have never brain washed her, use your brain," Ami said calmly watching the scene from Rayes bed, a science book sitting in her lap. "Remember that we were supposed to be one court for her on the moon, but because of this disagreement, we were forced to separate."

"I still don't believe it, how long have they been around?" She raged on at Lita

Lita spoke up, "Raye, don't shoot the messenger, I was going over there to talk to Serena, and when I saw them leaving and Darien and her being all cosy, I ducked behind the bushes,"

"That doesn't mean that they haven't been conspiring with her since the beginning. Luna, did you wake them as well?" Raye continued her rage now consuming her, there was really now stopping her from ranting.

Luna looked up from cleaning herself, "No Raye, I didn't even know they were reborn on earth, I guessed they were, but I couldn't confirm it, I didn't have much to do with them on the moon."

Quietly from her perch at the end of the table, Mina quietly spoke, "Raye, it is time for you to settle down." But Raye didn't hear her, she continued to rage on about this matter, after a couple of more times of trying to get her attention, Mina gracefully walked out of Raye's room, and came back with one of the temple's gong's, sitting back in her spot she placed the gong on the table, the other three not even noticing that she had left the room, or that she had returned. Mina politely cleared her throat, and attempted to get Raye's attention, and with a mischievous glint flashing across her eyes for a second, she hit the miniature gong.

*DONG*

Not expecting such a loud noise to be made in the room, Raye and the other girls jumped so high they almost hit the ceiling and finally looked at the Scout of Venus.

"So now that I have gotten your attention." Mina said, a flicker of a smile crossing over her lips.

When the other girls finally regained their wits, they looked at their new blond haired Leader. Mina looked at the girls, "Raye, you need to settle down, you ranting and raving will not change the fact that they are building this relationship with Serena, plus you are giving me a headache. What we need to do now is figure out if we can fix our relationship with the Princess"

Raye looked at her, "and if we can't?" hands on her hips.

"Then we have to complete the pledging ritual, to assure her of our dedication to protecting her, and instead of being her friends we will just be her guardians." Mina said simply, "and I seriously hope it doesn't come to the latter."

Lita turned to Raye who was bristling to fight back on Mina's ideas, she whispered to the priestess. "Raye, I think it is time for you to let it go, and start filling us all in,"

Mina heard what was being whispered and interjected, "If there is something I need to know Raye, you need to tell us know. You may not remember but I have the ability to force it from you, I even have the skills to suppress your powers. I know I have only been here for a couple of weeks now, but I think it is time we start acting as a team, we start talking to each other, you, Mars, need to start sharing what you see, voluntarily. This goes for everyone now, I didn't want to be this person, being the new girl, but being the appointed leader by the Queen I have been forced to get us back on track and doing our job, and Sailor Moon should not have been hazed as she was part of our team." Ami, and Lita nodded at the blonde girl, Mina turned to Raye, "Now I believe you were going to tell us what the fires of Mars have foretold."

Raye sat down, she knew she was defeated, but she had a sliver pride left and she wasn't going to let Mina force it out of her. She sighed heavily, and looked up under her fringe, "I have foreseen that if we do not pledge our allegiance with the new power we will die, and our princess will murdered before us. The New power is going to win, and there is nothing any of us can do."

"So your justification for hazing Sailor Moon was?" Mina said, trying to get the answers that she wasn't there to see.

"She didn't have a tombstone, there was a possibility that she was going to betray us, I know differently now." Raye said shifting her gaze to her hands.

"Yes, now you know differently. You will have to apologize for that, but what of this new power?" Mina asked.

"I don't know Mina, it could be the negaverse, it could be someone else completely, I do not know." Raye said.

Lita let her breath, and then asked "do we think it could be the outer court, Sailor Saturn? We did have concern of them in the past."

"I think we are going to have to wait and see, but from what I remember they were supposed to be the Princess's protected as well, and we used to be close." Ami said, breaking her silence.

Mina nodded, "That is what we are going to do, and in this order as well. First off, we are going to make sure that relationship with the Princess is repaired, I doubt our conversation the other day was suffice to have her trust us. Second, we are going to befriend the outer court, we will get closer to them and observe, that way we can figure out what is going on, on that side of the fence. And through all of this, no more secrets between us, we are going to be open and honest within ourselves, and you will leave telling the Princess about the visions up to me. Raye you will have too much work in front of you with getting her forgiveness."

The other three nodded, they knew they couldn't argue with Mina, they had to accept this now that she had decreed what their plan was.

Raye stood up from her space at her study table, "I think that draws this meeting to a close, go enjoy the rest of the day, meet up at the Parlour in a couple of hours? I have chores to catch up on." She waved the girls from her temple and walked back into her room. She sighed heavily, she knew Mina was right, but why does all of this have to come at the price of her pride, she wasn't even sure that Serena would forgive her, she said she did, but then she had to teleport away from them at her house. That is how unsafe the girl felt around them. How was she going to fix this, the other girls were going to have it easy, it was her words that hurt Serena, and pushed her away. Raye sank down on her bed head in her hands and rolled to her side. "What am I going to do?" she whispered.

Serena had packed a bag and grabbed the required documentation from her father's filing cabinet. Darien had cleaned out the kitchen, all the perishables in the bin on the curb for rubbish collection. As they left her house he was chivalrous and carried her bag, they had come to the unspoken agreement that she was going to stay with him.

He drove them both back to his apartment building, not a word had been spoken between them, and as they made their way up to his apartment Serena was still quiet. She was thinking about the conversation she had had with her court. Once inside his apartment, they placed her stuff in the lounge room, and Serena went and sat on the chair on the balcony, still lost in thought. Darien kind of lost not knowing what to do with having someone else at his apartment, he didn't want to disrupt her thought process, but it was eating at him, that he didn't know what she was thinking, he didn't want her to be overcome with her emotions that she would teleport again with meaning to. His concern getting the best of him, he went out to his balcony to join her, he brought the chocolate biscuits that he kept as an emergency for his monumental study sessions out with him.

He slid the door open and sat down next to her, and waved the cookies in front of her, and asked, "Cookie for your thoughts?"

A small smile passed Serena's lips, "Don't have any pennies?"

Darien laughed, "I thought cookies would work better for you, what are you thinking about?"

Serena sighed grabbing a cookie, "This whole princess thing, how do I embrace this?"

"One day at a time?" Darien grabbed a cookie and took a bite.

"That doesn't help, Darien, the princess was going to be my replacement, and I was going to lead a normal life again."

"I don't have an answer for that, but I can tell you that I will be here to support you, and while you are with me, we will lead a normal life, that is what I can promise you." Darien said grabbing her shoulder gently.

Serena looked at him, "So we can't have a fully normal life can we?"

Darien shook his head, "But when we will try to have the most normal life we can have being the Prince and the Princess, and as much as they say that Serenity and Serena are the same person, we will keep it at Serena."

Serena nodded at Darien then laughed, "Darien, did you know that I am Serenity, technically. My birth certificate say Serenity, so everything you have all said is true; Serenity and Serena are the same person."

Darien just smiled at her, no point him arguing the point. "Well, Serenity, let us get some burgers, I don't have any food here." He said teasingly and stood up holding out his hand for her to take and join him.

Out in the park, after their meal, Darien and Serena walked around the streets hand in hand, not wanting to spoil the nice evening they had to plan funerals, or what is going to happen with her teams.

Unknown to them, Raye was following them, she was trying to build up the courage to talk to them, to try and get their forgiveness. When she finally built up the courage to get their attention she was too late, a Negaverse monster appeared behind them.

The monster looked like a grizzly bear but it had octopus arms, it was purple and blue in patches, and behind it was one of the Generals, Malachite was standing behind looking imposing.

Malachite commanded the monster to attack the couple, the monster reached out, and grabbed Serena's foot and knocking her to the ground and take her life energy from her, Darien turned and tried to get Serena released from the monster, Malachite chuckling maniacally watching him struggle.

Raye transformed and started to throw her fire attached at the monster, but they weren't having any effect on the monster to release the girl. Sailor Mars, yelled for Darien to transform to offer the assistance that they needed, him as a civilian was too weak to pull Serena to safety; Darien ignored the girl, and continued to hold onto Serena, the monster was not going to drag her away.

Serena finally gained her wits against her, rolled herself over; she raised her hand to the bear-octopus and an immense power was emitted from her hand. The monster taken back by the fact that it's target was fighting back, and defeating it, it went to swing one of its arms to knock her off her feet, but by this time, Serena was levitating, her power, her anger and her frustration causing her to reach into her powers that no one knew that she had. The monster cornered was easily defeated by Serena, and in her rage she turned to Malachite, and set about to destroy him.

Before Malachite could be attacked, he teleported behind her, and before she could turn Malachite whispered menacingly in her ear, "See you soon Princess," He then teleported back to the world of evil.

Angry, frustrated and in no control of her powers as her emotions were so high turned to Sailor Mars.

"What do you think you are doing, Princess Mars?" She threw a little power towards Mars to scare her. She was going to have this out now.

Darien scared of her emotions and what she was going to do, "Serena, calm down you nee—"

From behind him, Sailor Venus interrupted him, "Darien, they need to have this out, do not interfere with the needs of the moon."

Darien stared at the girl in orange, he knew this, but this was not the time for them to have this out. Turning back to the scene in front of them, they watched patiently.

Mars didn't fight back when Serena threw her power at her. "I was coming to apologize; I was going to tell you the truth."

Serena watched the girl, eyes wary, "Apologize for what?"

"For what I did to you, Serena," Mars pleaded.

"For what you did to me Mars, you put me down, you left me behind, you turned people that I cared about against me, all for what? I want the truth, and I want it now." Serena said, finally letting herself land on the ground.

"Princess, I cannot tell you what have led to my actions, but I will work to make it better with you." Raye said, remembering what Mina had said earlier, and that they were not allowed to tell her justification.

"You did this to me on the moon, you all pushed me away for reasons you could not tell, and then you all then pushed the outer court away over misconceptions of a planet, this outer court that has only ever done anything to support us and me. And now you are all doing this again, and you want me to accept your apology? You are all misunderstood, the nice kind Princess is not here anymore, and you all let her leave by your actions, I am not sure anything you all say will be good enough for you pushing me away." Serena said all of this noticing that the other four were now in the clearing, she wiped her face as tears of hurt were falling down her face. "I don't want to be just set up so that you can all hurt me again. I don't know what you can do to fix this, but you following me, and then start begging me to forgive you for years of hurt, for reasons you cannot tell me is not going to fix any of this."

Mina stepped forward, "They are on my orders, Serena, I wish to hold a private meeting with you to discuss."

"Venus, this was happening long before you came here. I don't know if anything can be fixed, and at the moment I do not have the time or the emotional capacity to enter into any of these conversations, let me be in peace at least for the next week, let me give you the time when I am ready to go through this emotional heart break." She said still crying.

Mina bowed, and just quietly said, "As you wish, just let us know when the funeral will be, and we will be there for you."

Serena turned to Darien, who hugged her, and they left for his apartment.