A/N: Great news! Both of my brother's won their first rounds at Toughman and went to the next day. My one brother was scared and siked himself out to lose though, so he looked awful. My other brother, Trevor, almost won. He and Tyler gave the crowd a go for their money and Trev had an amazing uppercut that almost stopped the boy. When Tyler got up, Trev threw wasteful punches and ended up losing. It was an incredible time though. The one guy said he had been involved for thirty-two years and it was the most exciting and intense fight he's ever seen :-]

Disclaimer: I own nothing Sailor Moon

Sorry guys, my uploader would not work! Grr!

Even Angel's Cry

Chapter Two

"What brings a young girl like you to my office?" The woman, Dr. Cline, asked with an eyebrow raise. She frowned, her face concerned. "You look like you're only as old as my daughter, Amy." She looked over the papers I had previously filled out. "In fact, you are only as old as my daughter. According to your psychologist it's a love thing?"

"Dr. Cline, with all due respect, this wasn't your average love-lust-broken-up high school fling. I really was in love with this boy. I don't know how it happened and I don't exactly know when it happened but it did. I can't get over him, I'm so attached to him it isn't even funny." I sighed, trying to hold back the tears. "He understood me, he really did."

"So what exactly happened with this boy?" She asked politely as she put her clipboard down. My guess was that she had only looked over the first part and nailed me as a depressive young girl who was hung up over an old boyfriend.

"He died." The tear I tried to hold back started spilling out and her face was completely shocked. My body went weak and I hit the ground, on my knees. "He had nobody to write to so he asked me and then he stopped writing to me and I got the news that he was dead."

She didn't say anything, just got down on the floor beside me and hugged me tight. I didn't know her, not until five minutes ago, but she reminded me of better days and nicer things. I felt the sympathy radiate off of her body. Suddenly, sympathy didn't seem so bad… I didn't care that she pitied me. Right now, it was exactly what the doctor had ordered.

An hour later, my swollen eyes had gone down and I was walking into Wal-Mart to hand in my prescription. I felt like everybody was looking at me. All eyes on the pale girl who looks half dead even though she used to be the happiest thing in the world with her soldier. Long live the zombie chick! I didn't care what people saw or thought; I was still going through a lot. I thought back to what Dr. Cline had told me after I finished crying…. With determination in my heart, I called Andrew.

I couldn't stay in California and wait for a hopeless dream to return. I couldn't sit around and wait for a miracle to happen. Darien was gone and I had to face that fact. I had to get close to Andrew and get over my teenage dream. I had to move on from false hopes and wishes that I spent every 11:11 on, for the past two years.

Who was to say that I was the type of girl Andrew wanted to be with though? Would he really want me after he knew I was deathly in love with his best friend? Had he even known about all the times I attempted suicide or stayed up crying my eyes out. Did he know I prayed for his best friend to return to me, every night? Did he know that when we hugged I wish it was Darien hugging me instead of him? Would I ever be able to feel anything other than friendship towards Andrew, or would my love for Darien and guiltiness get the best of me?

Darien

"You're fine, Dare…" I whispered to myself, trying to boost my ego, though my legs were weak. I had lost a lot of muscle and I wanted to build it back up, as soon as possible. I was strong, but I wasn't that strong. It was obvious that somebody had moved around parts of my body to keep my muscles slightly toned. They had supplied me with good nutrition and, for the most part, my built figure was about the same.

The sun was beating down on me. Apparently, the war was taken back to the desert again and out of the dense jungle. The orders had been sent out: Nobody was supposed to harm me or they would be killed. Apparently saving a child's life over your own was a big deal here. Back home we called it common hospitality. Who wouldn't try to save a kid's life? I couldn't fathom it.

My boots left prints into the hot orange sand. I was sweating and it was becoming even harder to push myself the distance. I knew that my footprints wouldn't last – with the next sand storm or dry wind they'd be pushed away – but it was the idea that they had been there. If only for a moment I had left my mark on the barren land. If only in memory, I had been somewhat a hero to my enemies. Yet, for a moment, I felt more broken that any of my bones had even been. I was hurt and destroyed. It seemed like somebody had thrown my heart in a blender. The chances of ever seeing Serena again was next to none.

Andrew might have been able to hear about where she went but I was doubtful that I could stop anything she was in. I didn't want to stop her from anything she was doing. It was her life to make decisions and I didn't want to walk back in and ruin it. This whole time I had planned to go back to California. This entire length of my life had been spent on thinking about a girl who I needed to let go. It wouldn't benefit her for me to come back to her, and it wouldn't benefit me either. We'd both be heartbroken.

Yet I didn't want to go another minute without her. I wasn't sure if I could bear the pain of not seeing her. Even if it wasn't towards me I wanted to see her smile. I might not have been able to put the smile on her face but at least I could enjoy it – indulge in her beauty – if only for a fraction of a minute. I was in love with her and I wanted nothing more than to have her happy.

I had a lot more on my plate right now, like trying to decide how to get home. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, unsure of how I was supposed to balance my life out. I was in a haze of worries and pain and there was nobody to turn to and no direct answer. I could pray to a God, that I wasn't sure I believed in anymore, but I knew that (whether or not I threw my blind faith into him) he would never answer me.

I pushed myself, trying to force myself the energy to keep walking. My weak legs caved on me, unwilling to go another step. I groaned as I braced my palms on the burning hot sand, trying to ignore the pain and get back up. I had miles of barren land to cover yet my body wouldn't move. Alone in the desert, beneath the unforgiving sun, I found myself trapped in a suffering body that wouldn't move. My stomach twisted and I lurched to my knees, holding it, only to puke a couple times and throw my body away from it. I hit the ground and rolled a little, my legs twisting and intertwining.

I squinted my eyes against the sun, feeling a presence. There was a coiled dark object near me. I closed my eyes as a dry wind blew sand towards my face. Once the wind died back down I noticed what the object was, now not as silhouetted by the sun.

I had only heard rumors of the rare creature but I knew it when it was coiled up before me and poised to strike, almost. McMahon's Viper… sandy in color with brown patches, a nose end made for burrowing under the hot sand to cooler temperatures. Of course I get the one damned snake who can't stand to be bothered. Out of all of them, it's the most temperamental! As if the pain, tissue damage, and severe hemorrhaging didn't sound grand enough!

I slowly inched my body away from the creature, who pointed its narrowed, slanted eyes at me and dipped its tongue in the air to judge distance. "That's right buddy, I'm dead if you lounge…" I thought bitterly. What the hell did I have to live for anymore, though? I should have never left the Vietnam hospital. Hell, I should have gone back to the prisoner camp and offered myself again. The snake finally lounged at me.

"Son of a bitch!" I yelled.

Serena

"What's on your mind, Serena?" Andrew asked quietly as he sat down beside me. We were at one of the many college pool parties (no sand on the beach to worry about) and I had recently broken away from the rowdy crowd to seclude myself at the edge of the in-ground pool. I looked up to take in his buff appearance. He towered over me, even though we were sitting down and he was hunched over. His sandy blonde bangs dipped in front of his twinkling green eyes and his tanned skin made his boyish freckles appear darker than before.

"I'm going to move away." I came out and stated my plans. There was no need to deny the fact and he, as my recent boyfriend, had a reason to know this sort of thing. He laughed warmly but I didn't catch his humor. I raised a confused eyebrow at him, surprised at the reaction he was giving me. I expected him to be angry, hate me even, but he was laughing.

"That's a pretty bold statement. Where are you planning on moving to?" His laughter faded to a smile as he observed me. I felt like he was truly looking at me, and not my body or anything else. But his eyes were different than Darien's.

"Florida. It shouldn't be too far away from this California weather, should it? And it's far enough away for me to run away from my problems to. I was thinking about transferring colleges. College ends soon so I was going to check the place out and make a decision for the next school year." I explained, seriously.

"I bet Florida is great this time of year. I always wanted to figure out, though. If you leave, you're going to have to take me with you Serena. We just got together; I'm not going to give you up that easy. I can find another job in Florida and we can get an apartment together. If you need to clear you're mind by moving away, do it, but I'm coming with you so you always have a shoulder to cry on and protection from creeps." Andrew stated bluntly.

"I'm not asking you to pick up you're life, drop it, and leave with me. This isn't some one-day rendezvous and comeback deal. This is serious. I don't want you leaving your life for me, Andrew, it's not right." I argued stubbornly.

"You obviously don't understand how in love I am with you, Serena." Andrew replied, just as quickly as my argument had started. I wasn't sure how Andrew felt, to be honest, but I refused to view him as a lover. He was a best friend to me, a brotherly type. He wasn't the kind of man I could fall head-over-heels with but he didn't seem to notice or take the hint.

What the hell? I needed a friend and a distraction.

"When are you able to leave? Classes end next week for me."