Chapter Three
The attack had been on a delegate from England. She kept muttering about eyes, but it seemed that her spirit was broken. Raye automatically began issuing orders to search the area where the representative had been found. Amy was the only one that pointed out that since Serena was back, she should be the one to give orders. But Serena shook her head and followed Raye's orders without question.
They searched the area until dawn and then split up, the Scouts went back to the palace to sleep, while Serena went to the hospital to ask Darien questions about his attack. The reporters had found out that Serena was back, and the moment Serena had stepped inside the Lounge they demanded interviews, but she ignored them. She went straight back to Darien's room without a word to anyone.
He was asleep when she got to his room. Silently, she sat on the small couch in the room, grabbed a magazine and began to read the various stories about people who had normal lives and what they did to maintain their jobs, get promotions or raises, how to raise their kids and maintain the chores, and food recipes that Serena wanted to try to cook when she had the chance.
She didn't realize that after she had been there for about an hour, Darien had woken up and taken to watching her, a look of surprise on his face.
Darien couldn't believe the difference in Serena. She had changed from the awkward young woman who had tried so hard to get the approval of him and the other Scouts. She had even dropped the meatballs that he had been so fond of, and let her hair hang freely over her shoulders and back. She had a quiet confidence and look that said that she had worked hard for the last two years to make a life for herself. She had grown stronger in spirit and will, but was holding it in check around him and the others.
He realized with even more surprise that she was waiting for the moment that they would all start in on her, and would let them. He knew that she felt she deserved it. But she had also obviously accomplished so much in the time she had been gone. Enough to make her proud of herself.
She had entered his hospital room with a grace that she hadn't had before. Her demeanor had almost completely changed from the time she had been gone. She had been able to enter the room without having one klutzy moment, and apparently entered the room while he slept without accidentally waking him.
In a way, he felt proud of her. Even though she had been gone, and had made them all worried, she had come back the moment there was trouble. She had changed and grown enough to realize that she had a job to do, even if she was still a bit grudging about it.
She smiled silently at the magazine in her hand, and Darien realized with a pang that the only things he had ever seen her read before she vanished, were manga. He wondered if she had grown to books yet, and silently went through some of the books in the Crystal Palace that he thought she might be interested in.
Suddenly, her eyes flicked above the edge of the magazine and she sat bolt upright. In her haste to sit up, she rocked the small couch and an end table that sat up against the chair fell over, taking with it a plant and several other magazines. He frowned, and saw her face fall.
"It's alright, the maid that comes in later will pick it up." He said calmly. She apparently took it the wrong way, her face flashed momentarily with anger, but whatever retort she was about to make, she bit down on. Instead, she stood up.
"I can get it, I made the mess, I can pick it up." She said softly. She left the room, with the grace that he had seen the first time she had entered it. While she was gone the Scouts, Luna, and Artemis entered the room and glanced at the mess on the floor.
Instantly, Darien felt his hackles raise. "She's gone to get some stuff to clean it up." He told them, defensively. Their faces showed a flash of surprise. Raye bit her lip then moved to stand beside his bed.
"She's changed." Raye said, her eyes filled with an emotion that Darien didn't recognize on her.
"She followed Raye's orders." Lita added, still looking at the mess on the floor.
"She wouldn't take charge, when I said that it was her job." Amy stated.
Darien stared at them in shock. Serena had changed more than he had earlier realized.
"She might still leave." Mina stated.
"Somehow, I think that she changed enough to know what her responsibility is." Raye said softly. "I don't think she will leave us. But we need to earn her trust as much as she needs to earn ours."
The door opened again and Serena stepped into the room. She paused, looking at the Scouts, then, almost defiantly, walked over to the mess and began to pick things up. Darien watched her as she worked. Darien knew that even though he should feel nothing more than resentment, anger, and mistrust, he couldn't stop loving her. It hurt when he realized that she was truly gone, he had almost given up hope that she would ever be back.
She grabbed the broom she had leaned against the wall and started sweeping the dirt off the floor. He couldn't deny that she looked more beautiful than he had thought possible. He stood up, and went over to her. She glanced up at him, almost fearfully, as he bent to help her.
"Serena, you don't have to do this." He said gently.
"I made the mess, I'll pick it up." She replied, as she spilled the dust pan she had just picked up. She stared at it, for a moment, confused. Then close to tears, she tried to sweep it back into the dustpan and instead of sweeping it into the neat pile in the pan that she had before, when everyone was away from her, she sprayed it across the room, nailing Darien in the process.
"Serena, you're making it worse." Luna started, her tone the same as when she had reprimanded Serena, almost constantly, two years earlier. Darien sent her a quelling look, he thought he was starting to understand why Serena was klutzy. But the damage had been done. Serena stood ramrod straight and left the room, head held high, and tears rolling down her cheeks.
Darien turned on Luna. "Wonderful!" He snapped, she looked taken aback. "Why didn't you just tell her how klutzy she was when she was here two years ago? Are you trying to get her to leave again? Cause if you are, you are doing the best job I have seen yet." He went back to his bed and laid down. "Leave. Get out!" Luna, looking offended, left, followed shortly by Artemis and Mina who looked as if they were going to go calm her down.
"I don't think that Luna realized that she was-" Amy started. Darien frowned at her.
"I lost Serena once, I will NOT lose her again." He told the remaining Scouts.
Raye was the only one that seemed to agree, which was saying something.
Serena waited until everyone had left Darien's room before she ventured back. Once inside, she noticed that he was asleep and quickly cleaned up the mess that she had made, then sat on the couch and picked up another magazine. Then she put it down and looked around. The room at nothing in it besides the couch, the end table, a few pictures, the bed that Darien was sleeping on, and a night-stand. She frowned.
She made her way quickly to the gift shop, and bought a couple of rather expensive pictures, a teddy bear, some roses and a vase and a cute flashing bouncy ball then carried the load back to his room and began decorating it. After a while, she was broke, and the room looked almost like her apartment, minus the wall of mangas. Though she had bought herself a couple to read while she waited for Darien to wake up. She need not have bothered.
As she finished hanging up the last picture, a soft voice spoke from directly behind her, "You did a wonderful job." Serena almost fell off the couch in alarm.
"D-Darien." She gasped. "You scared me!"
He gave her one of his best smiles, and she felt like she melted. She grinned feebly back at him.
"You like it?" She asked glancing around to make sure she had put everything up.
"I like that one picture of a man in a Tuxedo staring at a lake." Darien said. Serena laughed.
"I thought you would notice that one first." She confided in him. "I think I want it hung in my room, when you get out of the hospital." She looked at him and clamped her mouth shut. His look showed interest that had nothing to do with he painting. She quickly went over what she had said in her mind.
"I needed to talk to you." She said quickly, realizing what she had said, and deciding for a change of topic. "Do you remember anything about what happened when you were attacked?"
Darien frowned, and shook his head. "All I remember is a pair of eyes." He stated. Serena sighed.
"That's what the delegate said. You are the only one to have woken up, you know." She looked out the window. "You don't remember anything else at all? A smell, where you were when it happened?"
He thought for a moment. "I was with Raye in the gardens of the Crystal Palace." He shrugged. Serena felt her face grow hot and kept her face averted from him.
"Did you guys hear or see anything?" Serena asked, trying to keep her tone neutral as jealousy flared.
"I didn't. I am not sure. Raye was asking about one of the delegates, a person from the Asian continent, she mentioned having bad vibes from him, and," He chuckled, "he kept hitting on her."
"What continent is the rep from?" Serena asked interested in spite of herself.
"Romania." Darien replied. "You got an idea or something?"
Serena shook her head, "no, just curious. Do you think it's the Negaverse?"
"I'm not sure. It could be someone against world peace."
"Well, maybe I could try to continue the talks and lure it after me." Serena said, her mind grabbing at the possibility.
"You don't know anything about what we have done so far as far as that peace talks." Darien stated. "We can wait until I get out of here, they said that I should be released tomorrow."
"I don't want to use you as a target, Darien. I think being attacked once is enough." She turned and stared at him. "You are just going to have to fill me in." Then she added, at the look on his face, "I'm not taking no for an answer, sorry."
Darien sighed, his face showed a mixture of disbelief, fear, and determination, but finally he shrugged. "Alright, you need a pen and some paper."
Serena felt light, Darien trusted her enough to let her try. She bolted from the room, knocking over a nurse that was about to enter and tore down the hallways to the gift shop where she managed to con some paper and a pen off of the lady that she had bought everything else from, then she raced back to Darien's room.
They spent the next several hours discussing the negotiations and where they were now. Darien explained who was from where, what they looked like, their favorite foods, and what they did when they were upset and happy.
Serena surprised herself by having some good ideas to suggest, which made Darien stare at her as if he had never seen her.
Just after three in the afternoon, she was ready.
The palace looked the same as it had before Serena had left. She walked into the main entrance hall and stared around in surprise as she noticed small differences in the décor but most of her original designs were still there. She couldn't help herself from investigating every room she passed on the way to her rooms.
She finally made it to her door and took a deep breath. Do I really want to step back into the role I had tried my best to get out of? She wondered, staring at the white door as if it was her worst enemy.
Lita appeared beside her, causing her to jump. "Everything is the same as when you left it." She told Serena. "Want some company?"
Serena gratefully grabbed at the first sign of friendship Lita had shown since Serena had returned. "Sure." She grabbed the doorknob and opened the door. Her room looked the same way as it had when she had packed the few items that she felt she would need in the outside world.
A gauzy pink four-poster bed sat along the far wall, the bed a splattering of pink and pastel blue comforters and sheets. Clothing littered the floor in front of her dresser, where she had thrown them looking for specific less used clothing she stored at the bottom of the drawers. The wardrobe looked the same. Everything, from stuffed animals to her pile of mangas, was the way she had left it, except for a thin layer of dust that coated everything.
"Like I said, everything was left the way you left it. Darien sealed the room off completely." Lita stated, as she glanced around the room. Serena nodded, remembering when she had helped to build the Palace, and the gossip sessions she had had with the Scouts before plans of the Peace Talks had begun.
"I doubt that I can fit into any of the clothes that I used to have." Serena mumbled trying to think about the plans for that evening.
"Actually, Mina and you are about the same size. She just bought some gowns a couple weeks ago that she wasn't able to use due to the attacks, maybe she'll let you borrow a couple." Lita suggested. Serena nodded.
"Sounds good." She lead the way out of her room and down the hall to the door that she knew lead to Mina's room. Tapping on the door gently, Serena waited for Mina to open up.
"Coming, hold on." Mina shouted through the door, shortly before opening it. "Hi, Serena. I thought you might come by. Darien called and told us what you planned on doing, so I set out some of the new dresses I got." She smiled waving a hand at her pastel orange bed. "You can try them all on. I tried to find ones that would match you." She led the way inside. Gossiping as if Serena had never left. Serena relaxed under the constant flow and joined in adding the thoughts she had made to Darien concerning what had been done so far with the discussions.
Two hours later found Serena in a white gossamer gown, which shimmered as she walked. Luna had appeared during the outfitting and started reminding Serena about the way a Princess should act, which took most of the second hour. The Scouts had gathered what was left of the council in the entrance hall.
Serena made her grand entrance, this time with one hand firmly on the barrister, the other holding up her skirt so that she wouldn't step on it, without any mishap. She even managed to get each of the delegates into a conversation without getting nervous and stammering over her own words. As she approached the last ambassador, the Romanian, dinner was announced, and she was paired off with the Australian diplomat.
She passed through dinner without causing food to fly, or dribble down her front, or trip one of the servers, which surprised even herself. And finally, was able to retire to appropriate rooms for coffee, tea, brandy and whatever else there was to be had. She got Raye to sing, Mina to act out a solo, and Amy to trump around on a small upright piano for entertainment while she made rounds, and apparently, good progress toward peace.
At the end of the night, Serena bade her farewells, and glided up the main stairs toward her room alone, as Darien had told her to, since he was not there to escort her. Though when she reached her room, she leaned against the door with a sigh of relief. It had been a long dinner, and she felt exhausted, but she knew that the second part of the plan was coming up.
She entered her room, dressed in her casual jeans and t-shirt and met the Scouts in the dining room where they would take a leisurely stroll outside and talk about the congregation.
As they walked and talked, Serena and the others kept their eyes and ears open for anything unusual. Nothing seemed to happen at all.
"Serena, you look really tired." Lita said. Serena froze mid-yawn and smiled at her.
"That's like the fifth time you've yawned in ten minutes." Mina added.
"I am kinda tired. Guess I oughta go to bed?" Serena asked. The others nodded. "What are you guys going to do now?"
"We check the grounds then go to bed ourselves." Raye said, as she, too, yawned. Serena smiled.
"Well, goodnight, then. See you tomorrow. I want to go talk to Darien and let him know how it went, so I'll be up early." Serena told them. She turned and headed back for the Dining room patio.
"Hello, Princess Serena." A voice said softly from the darkness. Serena jumped and turned around. She quickly scanned the shadows, but she didn't need to. A man was standing on the trail behind her. He grinned callously as Serena recognized who he was.
The ambassador from Romania.