Several days later, Serena stood at the gate to her parents' house and stared at it. Heavy metal thudded from one of the upstairs rooms. But otherwise, it was silent.
She had quit her job, grabbed her cat, her clothes and her favorite possessions, gave her apartment to Lily and came back to New Tokyo. Lily didn't know that Serena wasn't going to be back, she thought she was apartment sitting while Serena took a week vacation. She would figure it out though.
Even though Serena had hated her previous life, she loved Darien more than anything. That realization had gotten her to Japan and into a cab to her parents home.
But Serena couldn't get herself to call out to have someone let her in, she knew that her family would have a wonderful time bashing her for her lack of grace two years previously. She was a coward, and she knew it. She had disrespected her family, her friends, and her betrothed, and caused them needless worry. But she couldn't seem to face it. She didn't want them to scream at her as they had done in her past. She couldn't deal with it any more at that moment, than she did in the past.
So, Serena stood at the gate staring at her old house for what seemed like hours.
It was getting dark when the front door opened. Before Serena could dodge behind the brick wall that surrounded the house, Amy, Lita, Mina, and Raye filed slowly from the house, talking loudly. All of them bore evidence of fights, bandages, half healed scrapes, and purplish bruises littered their bodies. Lita's arm was in a cast that was neon green.
As soon as they saw her, they froze. Serena felt like a rabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck and couldn't seem to jump out of the way before it hit her. The five of them stood staring at each other, almost unbelievingly.
Then Serena's mother, Ikuko appeared in the doorway and with a slight scream, fainted dead on the spot. Serena rushed through the gate to her mother's prone form.
"Mom!" She cried dropping to her knees next to her mother. "Mom, are you ok?" She asked loudly as she patted her mother's cheeks. A loud noise in the house caused Serena to look up into her father's white face. "Hi, Dad." She said shakily, trying to stop herself from breaking into tears.
"Serena?" He gasped, staring at her. He took his glasses off and rubbed them vigorously.
Amy bent down beside Serena and touched her arm tentatively, as if checking to make sure that Serena being there wasn't an illusion. Serena gave Amy a small glance but kept her attention on her father. This wasn't how she had wanted to meet the Scouts, and she defiantly hadn't envisioned her mother collapsing when she talked to her parents.
A plaintive meow came from the carrier at the gates, and Serena stood. "I'm really sorry." She said to everyone in general, then turned walked silently to the gate, blinking back tears. She picked up the cat carrier and grabbed her luggage.
Halfway down the street, Raye came running after her. "That's it?" She asked, icily, when she caught up. "You cause your mother to faint, then walk away, again?"
"No, Raye. That's not it." Serena said, without looking at her.
"What happened to you? We were all worried? Where were you?" Raye's voice rose with every word until she was shouting. Serena didn't say anything, but kept walking, her head held high. Raye stopped. Serena could feel her brown eyes boring into her back. "Wait, Serena." She called after a moment.
Serena stopped, but didn't put her stuff down. She glanced over her shoulder at Raye and frowned.
"Come back. We really need you. We thought we could handle it. But we were wrong." Raye said so quietly that Serena almost didn't hear it. Serena stared at Raye in complete shock.
"What?" She asked, her disbelief evident. But Raye was back to her old self.
"You heard me. Now your mom should be awake now, lets go see her." She turned and marched back to the gate of the Tsukino house and disappeared inside. Serena stared after her feeling vaguely confused. This was defiantly not the way she had pictured her homecoming. Most of it had to do with condemning her to hell, but the shock of what Raye had said got her to go back to the gate and carry her stuff up to the front porch, where her mother was sitting, looking like she had seen a ghost.
"Serena?" Her mom asked, as her father turned and looked at her from where he kneeled next to where Ikuko was sitting. Serena nodded. "What did you do to your hair?" She asked, a plaintive note in her voice. Serena smiled slowly, wondering whether she was going to be yelled at.
Her father turned away from her and whispered something to her mother before he stood and went into the house, slamming the door behind him. Serena flinched, and looked around. Mina looked like she had been hit in the stomach, Lita looked like she was a statue, staring blankly at Serena, Amy looked confused, like she didn't know what she was going to do, and Raye impatiently tapped her foot. They all looked different, they had grown over the last two years.
All of them had shadows under their eyes. All of them looked like they had been through their final growth spurt. Lita was still the tallest and looked to be about six foot. Raye was right behind her standing around five feet ten inches. Mina was the same height as Serena. And Amy was the shortest, standing just over five feet tall. That was a change, since Serena had always been the shortest. They all had matured in the face and body as well. While they all had the curves that came with womanhood, Raye was the only one with an Hourglass figure.
Serena caught herself eyeing Raye speculatively, wondering if Darien had turned to her while Serena was gone. She couldn't blame him if he had, but she couldn't stop the snake of jealousy twisting itself in her stomach. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to come back after all, Serena thought bitterly, imagining Raye leaning over Darien's hospital bed, quietly crying and whispering his name.
Serena shook herself mentally, and sighed.
"You're father was worried about you, dear." Ikuko said softly, "you shouldn't let him bother you, he'll get over it." She had mistaken Serena's sigh to mean she was worried about her father, instead of trying not to be jealous of Raye. Serena nodded, however, and smiled softly.
"I really am sorry, mom. I wish I hadn't left. But I couldn't deal." Serena told Ikuko, and was surprised when no one said anything. She felt everyone's eyes on her and looked down at the ground. "I'm not the perfect Princess. I don't want to be a Princess. I just wish everyone would accept that."
"Are you going to leave again?" Serena's mom asked in a quavering voice. Serena couldn't look at her, but decided to tell the truth.
"I don't know."
"Then what was the point of coming back, if you are just going to leave us again?" Lita asked, resentment deep in her voice. Serena knew that they couldn't and probably wouldn't trust her again, not after she had vanished for so long, but hearing the cold anger in one of her best friend's voice shocked her.
"I came to help." Serena stated, forcing her voice to stay neutral. "What I do afterwards is my business." She added. She knew that they were disappointed again, but couldn't help feeling that it was their fault in the first place. If they had all just accepted her as she was, she would have never left. What they wanted, she didn't think she could ever be. She was a flaky weak spirited leader, and she doubted that would ever change.
Suddenly, she was enveloped in her mother's arms. "I love you, honey." Ikuko mumbled into Serena's hair. "I want you to know that." Serena couldn't help it when her arms snaked around her mothers back. All the feelings of longing and sadness poured out and she began to cry.
No one said anything. But Serena felt other arms wrap around her and her mother. Other people were talking, but she didn't hear what they said.
"You should see Prince Darien." Ikuko finally said, when they had broken apart and Serena had stopped crying. Serena nodded.
"Can I leave Cammie here?" Serena asked, waving her hand at the cat carrier, where her cat cried feebly in its depths. Ikuko picked up the cage and looked inside. Her eyes widened and she looked at Serena.
"Of course, she's probably starving."
"Yeah, I forgot to feed her when we got off the plane." Serena said absently. Her mother's eyebrows went into her hairline. Realizing what she had said, she felt that she had given too much information and quickly added, "can you give her something to eat? I will be back as soon as possible."
Ikuko nodded, looked into the cage, and opened the door.
"I wonder what Luna will do when she finds out you got another cat, Serena." Mina said, staring at the furry shape that Ikuko pulled out of the cage. Serena cringed inwardly. That was something else she hadn't thought about when she had approached her mother's house.
Guess I'll deal with that when the time comes. Serena thought.
Serena had to deal with Luna sooner than she had expected.
At the hospital, the reporters that hovered around waiting for news of Prince Darien ignored Serena, though they attacked the Scouts with questions. The media launched to their feet, cameras flashed and there was a loud chattering, before Serena and the others had all filed into the main lounge.
"What is the news?"
"Is the possibility of Prince Darien's death going to affect the peace talks?"
"How do you feel about your Prince lying unconscious on his bed?"
"Will this affect the search for the Princess Serena?"
At that moment, a black cat torpedoed into the room, announcing, "He's awake! He's Awake! Darien is AWAKE!" Immediately, there was a shuffling as reporters turned to the cat advisor and began asking more questions. But she was no longer paying any attention to any of them. Her eyes were solely on Serena. She had frozen in mid-stride and slid about three feet.
Raye grabbed Serena's arm, as Amy grabbed Luna, and they were pulled from the Lounge toward the halls that Luna had arrived from. The journalists, sensing a story, tried to follow, but the security guards that the Scouts had hired stepped in the way and stopped them.
After they were out of earshot, and eyesight, Amy dropped Luna, and Raye let go of Serena's arm. Then, the Scouts, realizing that Luna and Serena needed to be alone, filed down the hall and into a room.
Serena gazed at Luna trying to figure out what to expect. Luna took a tentative step toward her and frowned. "You look like Serena."
"Yeah, given the coverage, I have seen a lot of 'Serenas'." Serena replied.
"Where did you go?" Luna asked.
"Away. It doesn't matter."
"Are you going to actually stay?" Serena had a feeling that these questions were rehearsed, and sighed.
"I don't know yet. I'm just here for Darien, and to find out what the Negaverse sent us this time." She walked past Luna toward where the other girls had disappeared.
"What's you daughters name?" Luna asked, cantering up beside Serena. Serena glanced down at Luna.
"I'm me, Luna. I don't want to be here, but I am here. I couldn't stay away when the others were in trouble. I guess your training taught me that." Serena said.
"What is your daughters name?"
Serena stopped. "Renee." She stated. "I suppose she went back to the future to find out why I had vanished, and where I had gone." Then she grinned. "Your daughter's name is Diana. Melvin, a guy in my junior high class had a crush on me, wrote horrible poetry, then started dating Molly. Molly was my best friend before I met the Scouts. You had a Band-Aid on your forehead when I found you. My first battle was when Molly and her mother were attacked in the Jewelry shop. Do I pass the test?"
Luna blinked. "Why did you leave us? Why didn't you come back when we sent word that you were missing? Why now? Why did you come back now?" The words burst from Luna as if she had been trying to hold them back.
"None of you accepted me for who I was, mistakes and all." Serena ticked a finger from her left hand. "I wasn't ready to come back at all." Another finger went down. "I came back because I love Darien and I am still Sailor Moon, I guess." She shook her head. "I'm sorry." She turned and started for the door that the Scouts had disappeared in.
"Serena…" Luna stated from behind her.
"I don't care, Luna." Serena said stopping again. "I really don't."
"You cant just come back here and expect things to be as they were."
"I know that. I don't know about you guys, but I have changed." She looked back at Luna. "I earned a life, I worked hard for it. I have changed, and I know that none of you will accept it. You didn't accept it in the first place, why accept it now." She opened the door and peered inside.
Darien was sitting with a bandage wrapped around his head, while a smaller square one stretched from his neck to his shoulder. He looked tired and weak. Maybe I should wait till he's better. Serena thought.
"Serena." Darien stated from the bed. He didn't even look at her; he stared at the wall across from where he sat. The Scouts were gathered on the far side of his bed, looking at Serena with mixed emotions. Doubt and mistrust were obvious, anger was there too, but the other emotions, Serena didn't recognize. Luna passed her and leapt onto Darien's bed.
"Hi, Darien." Serena said, cautiously stepping into the room and closing the door behind her. She stared at him. Her feelings for him had grown. Absence make the love grow stronger, I guess. She thought as she studied his profile.
He was very handsome. Age really hadn't done much to change him. He still had the beautiful soft black hair she remembered, the pale skin, the piercing dark blue eyes, the athletic build, and the regal air that he seemed to carry everywhere.
He finally turned to look at her, his eyes dark and shuttered. She couldn't tell what he felt seeing her standing at his bedside. She shivered uncomfortably.
"I can come back when you feel better." She told him, almost hoping he would allow her to leave. She hadn't realized how hard it would be to see him again, knowing that in a sense she had betrayed him, then allowed him to be so seriously hurt in the process. She looked at the floor, afraid to meet his eyes.
"Please leave." Darien stated sharply. Serena felt as if her heart was about to break, and she turned toward the door. "Not you." She froze, her heart screaming in pain and her throat constricting to control the flow of tears that threatened to flood again. The Scouts and Luna filed past her, all of them giving her looks that said she had a lot to pay for, and a lot of work to do to get them to trust her again. She realized that she didn't want their trust to return as much as she wanted Darien's trust.
"Come here." It was a command. Serena felt her temper rise, but bit it back, knowing full well that she deserved whatever he had to give her. She moved to where she could see the corner of the bed, still looking at the ground, and froze. Again feeling like a rabbit caught in the headlights of an automobile, paralyzed, knowing she couldn't move before it hit her. She heard the bed shift. Feet drifted into her view and she could feel the heat Darien's body gave off against her arm.
"You shouldn't be out of bed. You have been ill for a while." She said immediately, looking up into his eyes. What she saw there floored her. Pain and fear were dominant, but there was also love. He couldn't deny his feelings for her any more than she could have for him. Her heart jumped into her throat and tears stung her eyes. She blinked furiously.
"Serena." He said again, his voice full of emotion, as if he too were fighting back tears.
"Oh, Darien. I never meant to hurt you." She stated, forgetting to stop the tears from flowing. He reached up and cradled her cheek, brushing a tear away with his thumb. She fell into him, her arms wrapping around his waste. "I am so sorry." She whispered against his chest.
He pushed her back gently. "Serena." He said a third time, but this time his voice was hard. "I can't believe that you would have done it. I can't believe that you abandoned your friends and me, because you made some simple mistakes. We had them corrected during the next day, and the delegates weren't as offended as we had believed. They felt you were refreshing and wondered where you had gone." He paused then, and sat on the bed. "They wanted to know where you went. We all had thought you went to your moms, and we told them that." His voice shook, pain and anger ringing edging it clearly. "Then you mother showed up a couple weeks later and told us all that you hadn't come by to visit her like usual."
Serena shook her head. "I couldn't handle the fact that you guys wouldn't accept me, no matter how hard I tried. It was never good enough." Darien grabbed her hand.
"It was always good enough for me." He stated.
They didn't say anything for a while. Serena stood, while Darien sat, both lost in their own thoughts.
Then the Scouts burst into the room, looking worried.
"There has been another attack."