The way things were…

Serena walked away from her parents' house with a sad feeling in the pit of her stomach. She hadn't cried in a long time and doing so now hadn't helped her any. Her past was so rough. Even before she had been banished she had had a difficult past. Unfortunately though, all of that paled in comparison to the things she had seen and done after….

Everything hurt. Her muscles, her head, her bones, even her teeth. She had expected this to be hard, but honestly. She was so tired. Tired of her life. Why was she doing this to herself? Did she truly even want to see any of those people ever again? She didn't think so.

She knew Daman could hear her sobs and she hated putting him through her miseries. She couldn't help it, though. This was all she ever did… sit and want to end her life but never get around to doing it. Besides, every time she got up the courage to try Daman came in to interrupt her.

She leaned against the bathroom door. I hate that it's always night here, she thought. I just want to see the sun. Hear kids playing and laughing. How can people stand such constant misery?

The Nega Moon was so torn. Riots happened everyday, people killed their families for fear of betrayal, and their leaders executed anyone who looked weak. She saw a three year old burned just yesterday because he cried in front of a cult leader. The mother took her life only seconds after it happened. Serena had cried outright at the sight and had been attacked by some of the cult's guards. Daman, Arena, Mariana, and herself had to fight off fifty guards just because Serena had shown weakness…

She couldn't do this anymore. She had made up her mind. The scouts thought she was dead so why should she care to prove them wrong. It wasn't worth all the trouble…

"Knock' 'knock' you doing' ok in there?" Daman asked through the door.

"I'm fine, just give me a minute," Serena mumbled through the door. Grinning, Serena stood knowing he had seen through her. He knew what she was thinking. He always could. That man could sense misery a mile away. She knew he would come barging in claiming he needed a toothbrush or saying he had to pee. He always came to the rescue, that one. It's just who he is…

She thought a moment… suddenly realizing how deeply she cared for him. He had been her best friend for almost a year and half now. He had to have saved her life at least a hundred times. She grinned as she opened the door only to have him come stumbling in the room.

"Eavesdrop much?" she inquired.

"Nope," he stated with an innocent grin, "besides, it can't really be eavesdropping if you weren't saying anything…"

Serena smiled, but it was hardly convincing. She looked horrible. Her eyes were dark and puffy; the left one was also sporting quite a shiner. Her hair was still wet from the shower and her clothes were rumpled. She looked so tired, so ready to give up.

"You can't keep doing this to yourself," he took a step toward her.

"Doing what?" she glanced over at him. He raised an eyebrow and took a few more steps toward her. She knew he wanted to comfort her but he didn't know how. Here all people did was fight and fuck. The emotional aspects of life never really occurred to them. How he was such a good person completely escaped Serena.

"I know being here is hard but you have to fight through it. Don't you want to prove to those scout people that you are stronger than them?"

"I don't care about that anymore Daman."

"Bullshit," he snapped, "That's all you talk about. How those people are going to ruin your planet and you can't let that happen."

"What does it matter!?" she suddenly exploded, walking away from him. "They never wanted me there! Why not give them what they want? Why does it matter to you anyway?" She was so sick of people telling her how to deal with things. All the girls ever did was tell her how to act and how to fight and how to behave. Now Daman was doing it too?

Daman's eyes searched her face unsure of what to do or say. Nothing would make it better… He suddenly decided it was time to do something drastic. He strode over to her and threw her over his shoulder.

"Ack!" she screamed as he walked down the hall with her kicking and screaming. Marianna and Arena glanced down the hallway from the living room only to roll their eyes at her behavior. Daman shot them a glance and then maneuvered into his room, throwing her on his bed.. She was immediately on her feet.

"How dare you!? You bastard! How… how… dare you take a situation where I am completely hopeless and try to make it funny? That's not the way you handle things Daman!" She was furious. Tears were streaming down her face as she punched him in the chest. He knew how strong she was and he tried his best to get a good grip on her. Finally, he enveloped her into his arms.

"You just need a good nights sleep, ok? Why don't you just get some rest? I'll stay with you." She finally stopped struggling and let her weight lean against him. Breaking down, she buried her head into his chest. Sighing, he picked her up and laid her on his bed. He then got into bed next to her and held onto her. She cried into his chest until finally the exhaustion was too much. Daman let out a groan as she finally fell asleep. Apparently, this was what it was going to take to get her back to normal. He wished he had known this was what she needed earlier. He sighed again as he let his head rest on top of hers. Why in the hell am I in love with a psychopath, he wondered. He guessed he'd never know.

The next morning Serena was much more comfortable and from then on she shared everything with Daman. It wasn't long until they were involved. Serena never got over her insecurities but Daman helped her disguise them as best she could. They both knew these experiences would be with her forever. The unfortunate truth was neither would ever know the true depths of their troubles. All they could do now was learn and move forward…