Once again a Big thank you to Sailor Saiyan007 for being an awesome beta and making this so much better to read.
Well go on enjoy…..
I do own Sailor Moon and a Sports car and a castle with servants, a speed boat and so much money… in my dreams loll
In a dark throne room a woman sat staring into a small crystal ball. "Malachite, report," she commanded with authority.
"Yes, my queen?" Malachite said, bowing as he appeared in the room.
"Did you find the source of the energy that destroyed Nephrite?" Queen Beryl asked, something akin to lust shining in her eyes.
"Forgive me, but I did not. The energy signature was too low when I got there. My queen, it has to be one of those pesky scouts," he answered, keeping his head bowed.
"No; I know that energy. Find the source and bring him to me Malachite," she hissed before the general nodded and disappeared.
"Soon Zoisite will find the Rainbow Crystals and my warriors, and I will finally have what was always meant to be mine: the earth and its prince!" She cackled.
Serena smiled happily as she walked to the arcade to meet the girls. A shopping trip and spending some quality time with her scouts were on her mind.
"Hey, what's going on here? Why is the arcade so packed?" Serena asked, trying to see over the gazillion heads.
"Oh, hey Serena! Crane Machine Joe is here; everyone has come to watch him. I hear he donates all the toys to the local orphanage," Lita sighed wistfully.
Serena grinned happily before excusing herself and moving through the horde of people till she finally reached the crane machine. "Wow Joe, big load today?" she said, causing the young man to look up and grin.
"Hey Serena! Yeah, I haven't had chance to visit in a couple of weeks, so I'm making up for lost time. Where's Darien? I might need a hand with this lot," he asked as the last toy dropped into one of his bags.
"He has an exam this afternoon, so he is probably still at school cramming," Serena sighed.
"Oh, bummer. I guess that's what he gets for wanting to be a doctor. I don't suppose you have any free time to help?" Joe asked with a pleading smile.
"Sure! Well, I'm supposed to be meeting a few friends here, but I'm sure they won't mind helping too." She grinned happily before bouncing off with one of Joe's bags.
She finally reached Lita to see Amy and Raye had joined her. Raye seemed to be looking for something. "You're late, idiot!" Raye started, but Lita cut her off.
"Actually Raye, Serena was here before you. She went to talk to Crane Machine Joe. Serena, I can't believe you know him!" Lita said excitedly, border lining on a squeal.
"Yeah, he comes here a lot. Darien usually helps him take his winnings to the orphanage, but as Darien isn't here, I was hoping you guys wouldn't mind lending a hand?" Serena asked.
"No problem, it's for a good cause and all," Lita smiled. Amy agreed, nodding her head.
"Um, hello, we're supposed to be having a scout meeting," Raye huffed.
"Oh come on Raye, the kids love Joe's visits and there is no way he can handle this load by himself! Plleeeeeeaaaaaasssse!" Serena asked. Raye huffed again before walking over to Joe and picking up one of the bags.
"Hey, thanks dudettes," Joe said as they all started walking towards the orphanage.
Amy gasped as she saw a flash come from Serena's bag. Serena quickly got beside her. "It's the Moon Wand. Joe must have a Rainbow Crystal; I noticed it when we got out of the crowd. I figured with all of us here he is well protected and we can get the crystal straight after the orphanage," Serena explained.
"Good idea, but one of us should inform Luna," Amy said.
Serena thought for a second before smiling.
"Lita, come here a sec," she called over to the tall girl, who was walking slightly ahead of them nearer to Joe. She paused for a second to let the other two catch up to her and met their strides as they carried along.
"Lita, Joe is a crystal carrier. Can you need to break away from the group and call Luna? You should transform, but stay close. If the Negaverse shows up you have to best chance of distracting them while we get away to transform," Serena said.
Lita's features hardened angrily before she gave Serena her bag to carry. "Right," she said quietly before making up some excuse about being late for dinner and rushing off; she didn't get very far before she transformed.
"What in the world was that about?" Raye asked. Amy quickly joined her to explain what was happening as they entered the park, Serena running a bit to catch up and talk to Joe.
"Stop right there, Rainbow Crystal carrier," a shrill voice came out of nowhere before appearing in front of them. Sailor Jupiter jumped in front of them before they got chance to see the general and quickly looked back, yelling at the group to run.
Amy, Raye and Serena looked at each other before making a show of screaming and running. They didn't notice Joe was rooted to the spot or that a black crystal was pointing directly at him.
Darien gritted his teeth. They were 5 minutes into the paper in his class, but he had felt Serena transform and he hated the fact he couldn't go to her.
Sailor Jupiter sent her attack to Zoisite, but it was too late. Joe had already transformed, allowing Zoisite to grab the crystal within him.
Sailor Moon, Mars and Mercury all watched as Jupiter lifted the monster above her head, trying to slow it down.
"Ha ha ha ha ha!" Zoisite let out a shrieking cackle. "So these are the pathetic sailor scouts I've heard so much about! I am Zoisite, the second highest ranking of Queen Beryl's generals," Zoisite boasted with another shrill laugh as they all turned towards her.
Sailor Moon studied her as if sizing up her enemy, and Zoisite waited for the fear to enter the young girl's eyes. She was not expecting what happened next. Sailor Moon burst out laughing full force, rolling on the ground and holding her stomach in a fit of laughter.
Zoisite gritted her teeth before sending a blast of rose petals at Sailor Moon, who simply rolled away and laughed harder.
"Moon, get your head out of the clouds! What's wrong with you? This is serious!" Mars screeched.
"I think she's lost it," Jupiter said cautiously, turning to Amy.
"I'm fine, sorry, it's just," Sailor Moon stood, walking slowly towards Zoisite and pointing at the general. "SHE'S A GIRL!" Sailor Moon shouted before breaking into fits of laughter again and muttering something about rose petals.
"Sailor Moon, get in together. This is not the time to be laughing! You need to heal Joe and get the Rainbow Crystal," Luna shouted, seemingly appearing out of nowhere.
Sailor Moon sobered up as the girls sent their attacks out, weakening Joe. She pulled out the Moon Wand, pointing it towards the monster and shouted, "Moon Healing Activation!" The monster froze and slowly fazed back into Joe, who was unconscious.
Zoisite glared at them, teeth bared, before disappearing in a flurry of petals.
The scouts jumped away and returned as normal to help Joe. "Whoa, must have bumped my head," Joe said upon waking, seeing the girls surround him worriedly.
"Oh good, you're okay! That was quite a fall you took Joe. Do you think you will be okay to manage the rest of the trip?" Serena asked.
Joe smiled before getting up and taking the bags. "Yeah, I'm great! I can take it from here, thanks a lot guys," he answered before walking off with six bags full of toys.
"I can't believe you let Zoisite get away with Joe's crystal," Raye turned to Serena as soon as they were out of hearing range.
"I let her get away? What exactly were you doing while I was healing Joe?" Serena shot back at her.
"Making sure you didn't klutz out and botch it like you do everything else! God it's a wonder you do anything right," Raye said with a smirk.
"I do not botch everything," Serena screeched, making Amy and Lita grab their ears.
"Humm let's see, school work, homework, walking 2 feet, having an intelligent conversation, eating, drinking, being on time, oh and not letting the bad guys get the rainbow crystals, YOU BOTCH EVERYTHING!" Raye ranted, her face turning red in anger.
"For your information Darien has been helping me study and I got 80 on my last pop quiz! And so I'm a little clumsy; I have come to accept gravity does not like me. I tell you what, next time you heal the monster and I will kick Zoisite's ass as all you can do is stand and watch me instead of getting the crystal yourself!" With that rant, Serena stormed off, not bothering to say goodbye to any of them.
"Well that was rather rude," Lita said, watching the direction Serena had stormed off.
"By my calculations we would not have had the time to power up our attacks, considering we had just finished weakening Joe's shadow form. Sailor Moon did have the chance to attack Zoisite while we were attacking Joe, but my calculations do also show her healing attack does use 40 percent more energy than our attacks. Maybe she needed that time to power up. Did you know we all use a certain amount of energy while attacking and transforming? It gives limitless possibilities to how strong our attacks could be." Amy rambled, not quite sure what to say.
"So, in English, you're saying Serena should have attacked Zoisite while we were weakening Joe? And that our attacks are going to get stronger?" Lita asked, scratching her head.
"I knew she botched it! If she actually had a living brain cell under all that hair, she would have thought of that. Maybe if she spent less time laughing at the enemy…" Raye grumbled.
"Well, I can't be positive, but I am quite certain the amount of energy needed for the Moon Wand is greater than the energy we have to use for our attacks. I am also unsure on the amount of control Serena has over that power. Luna told us the Moon Wand would belong to the princess and the only reason Serena was able to use it was because of her healing capabilities. So, there are two ways of looking at it: Serena would have been able to attack Zoisite if she had complete control over the wand, or she needed that time to charge the Moon Wand," Amy said with a nod.
"Well, there's no way she has complete control over the Moon Wand, so I guess it makes sense," Lita said, nodding along with Amy.
"Still, the way she spoke to us! You would think we have earned a little more respect, having to save her ass all the time," Raye said, grasping for something to fuel the fire within her.
Serena wandered aimlessly till she reached the arcade. Andrew, seeing her sit down, skipped over to her a huge smile on his face. "What's up?" he asked seeing her sombre face.
She smiled at him and sighed. Andrew was always her go to guy, Darien's too. He was a great listener, not to mention the fact he provided her with her daily chocolate.
"I wanted to spend some time with my friends this afternoon, get to know them better, but something happened and they think I was supposed to do something I think they should have and we had a bit of a fight," she said looking down.
Andrew nodded sympathetically, pushing a sundae in front of her.
"Well, it sounds like you all just had a bit of a misunderstanding. I've known you for a long time Serena, and I know for a fact no one can stay mad at you for long," Andrew replied with an encouraging smile.
"I hope you're right Andrew. I really do," she replied with a smile and proceeded to dig into her much deserved ice cream.
Darien frowned. He hadn't been able to be there, but he had felt what had happened through Serena. He had never felt her so outraged before, and although she had calmed down now, it made focusing on his exam hard.
Serena sensed his worry and quickly reassured him she was okay through their link. She was so immersed in doing so she did not notice Lita and Amy sit in front of her.
"Yoo hoo, Serena," Lita said, waving a hand in front of her face.
After a few seconds, Serena sat to attention with a bright smile on her face, turning into a bit of a grimace when she saw who was trying to get her attention.
"Before you start, we came to apologize," Lita said holding her hands up.
"We were all upset over losing the crystal. We never factored in the energy expanded for you to heal the innocent and they must come first," Amy continued.
Serena was a little shocked. "What energy?" she asked, confused.
"Well I compared the energy all of our attacks use to try and maximize their potential. I have since discovered that our attacks have the ability to grow once we can channel the amount of energy we need. I'm getting off track, anyway, the energy you expand using the Moon Wand is about 20 to 40 percent more than our individual attacks be they offensive or defensive," Amy explained.
"You mean you haven't noticed?" Lita asked.
"I just assumed it was the same for us all, I guess. I'm sorry too, for going off like that. Thank you Amy, that explains why I feel drained," Serena answered quickly.
"Hey, I have an idea. How about we spend the rest of the afternoon just hanging out do a bit of shopping?" Serena asked, her sunny demeanour suddenly back.
"I suppose it would be nice to actually spend some time together," Lita said.
Amy nodded her head with a smile.
"Great, we should go and ask Raye too," Serena said happily, but both girls grimaced.
"Raye is being a bit of a hot head at the moment Serena. You know what she's like; besides, she has karate this afternoon," Lita explained carefully.
"Still, we should at least go and invite her," Serena said pleadingly. She had really wanted to spend time with them all.
"What about Darien?" Lita asked, a bit sceptical. She still didn't like him, no matter how many times he had saved them in battle. The three stood up to leave and Andrew waved at them with a happy smile.
"Darien has exams all afternoon, and for the next couple of weeks. Besides, I think this should be a girl's only thing. We are supposed to be a team, but we hardly see one another out of school and battles," Serena explained happily.
Lita brightened up immediately and linked arms with both the shorter girls just before they reached the mammoth steps of the shrine.
"Hey Raye," Serena said happily as they reached the top. Raye turned around, confused at her appearance before Amy and Lita showed up next to her.
"Listen I'm sorry about going off on you like that earlier. The girls explained everything to me. We were wondering if you wanted to spend some girl time with us this afternoon," Serena said with a pleading smile.
Raye smiled at her exuberance, it was at times like these she saw what Darien saw in Serena. Her sunny, cheerful attitude seemed to light up the whole place. If it wasn't for the fact she was sure Darien could never belong with a ditz like Serena, she was sure she would have found her refreshing.
Still, she knew that one day soon Darien would either see sense and come running into her waiting arms, or she would force it. Either way, it was her destiny.
"It's okay, I'm over it anyway. Sorry, I'm going to have to pass on shopping. Darien said he would pick me up for karate soon," she said with a smug smirk in Serena's direction.
Serena looked very confused which Raye took to mean upset, not really knowing her that well yet. "You didn't know? That's strange, it's not like Darien to keep secrets from you, unless of course he didn't tell you because he didn't want you knowing he was spending alone time with me," Raye said, placing a hand on Serena's shoulder and trying her hardest to keep the giant grin that was threatening to explode off her face.
Surely this would cause a major fight between the couple! She would just let Darien know she was around if he ever needed to talk at karate, then he would come to her after the fight.
"I think you might be confused Raye. Are you sure it was Darien you spoke to?" Serena asked. Raye jumped at her question she had been expecting Serena to run away crying.
"It's just that Darien has finals all week. I'm surprised you didn't know; he has been working so hard lately," Serena explained.
"Oh, of course, must have gotten my wires crossed. So, shopping?" Raye said sheepishly, trying to quickly change the subject.
Serena put on a bright smile as if the topic had gone right over her head and nodded vigorously at Raye.
Inside, she sighed deeply, unsure what to think. She knew the girls and Luna had some reservations about Darien. Amy wasn't so bad, but Raye and Lita both seemed to been trying to push them apart. Raye, however, seemed to be the worst. She had constantly been coming out with snide comments about her and Darien, and this was not the first time she had tried to cause an argument between them.
She had to stop her train of thought when they reached to mall as she had been quiet for far too long. She did make a mental note to talk to Darien about Raye.
"Where do you space off to?" Amy asked as they entered the mall, seemingly the only one to have noticed her silence.
"Oh, I was just thinking about dinner," she said with a wistful smile.
"Oh Serena, I should have known your mind wasn't very far away from food," Amy giggled as they huddled.
"Right, where to first?" Lita asked with a grin
"Oh, I almost forgot! I need to pick something up from the jewellers," Serena jumped.
"The jewellers it is then," Lita smiled as they all started heading to the small store.
"Picking up something for your parents?" Raye asked.
"No, Darien's birthday present. I had it inscribed," Serena answered.
"It's his birthday soon?" Raye asked, trying to remember if he had told her.
"Yes, in a couple of days. Don't make a big fuss though; he hates it," Serena warned seriously.
"But everyone likes birthdays," Lita said with a grin.
"Not Darien. Listen guys, it's a real sore spot for him. I can't say why because it's not my place, but please don't make any fuss?" Serena asked earnestly.
"Can we at least get him a gift? Or are we not allowed to do that either?" Raye asked with a slight glare at Serena.
Serena sighed in relief seeing the girls wouldn't push the subject then nodded with a smile. "If you want to get him something that's fine, but just know he won't mind either way. Also, you will probably have to give it to him the day after his birthday, as we tend to disappear for the day," she smiled.
"Disappear? What if there is an attack?" Amy asked worriedly.
"No worries, we won't be far and I will be reachable on the communicator," Serena answered as she dashed into the jewellers, much to the blue haired girl's relief.
"So, let us see what have you got him?" Raye asked hoping she could find something he would like better.
Serena smiled before walking over to the fountain in the middle of the mall and sitting down. Digging into the small paper bag, she pulled out a velvet box.
The girls crowded round her as she lifted the lid to revel a light gold pocket watch. On the cover was a silvery crescent moon with the words 'My Only Love' inscribed.
Serena smiled before opening the lid to reveal the watch face. Its hands and surroundings were again silver, but its face was a picture of the earth surrounded by a golden circle giving the picture a certain glow. There were more words on the inside of the case, but they couldn't read them as Serena's hand was in the way.
"Wow, that must have cost you a small fortune," Lita said in awe.
Serena nodded and sighed. "It wasn't that bad actually. I found the watch at an antique store and the owner gave me a really good deal. In fact, having it restored to working condition and inscribed cost more than the watch itself. I have been saving since Christmas and I have just enough left over to get him an anniversary gift and Sammy a gift," she finished with a bright smile.
"It's coming up to your anniversary too? Why does Sammy get a gift for that?" Raye asked.
"Well, we met the day Sammy was born, so it's our anniversary and Sammy's birthday," Serena answered, putting the watch back into its box and bag.
"So, what's the big deal about his birthday? Surely he likes at least having his friends around. Ooh, I know! How about a surprise party?" Raye said, excited that she had thought of it.
"No, seriously just no. Andrew tried that a couple of years ago, Darien didn't speak to him for months after that," Serena said with a sharp look in Raye's direction.
"But Andrew is his best friend. Was he really that angry?" Lita asked, a little shocked.
Serena nodded with a sad smile. "The weeks that followed that party were hard on the both of them. Darien is just so stubborn sometimes, it was hard on him to push Andrew away so much, and it was hard for Andrew to step back and wait till he was ready to forgive him," she said sadly.
"So, what happened? Was the party that bad?" Lita asked.
Serena laughed a bit. "It was at the arcade. Andrew closed early and called Darien and I to ask for a lift, saying his car wouldn't start. The problem was when we got there, I was pushed out of the way and about 10 girls from Darien's school crowded him, trying to give him gifts. I learned later that was his fan club," she giggled.
"He has a fan club?" Amy asked sceptical.
Serena nodded with a roll of her eyes then continued with the story. "The president of this Darien Appreciation Society was also his number one stalker, Laden something, I think her name was. She has tried everything to split Darien and I up," Serena giggled slightly as they went to get some food.
Raye suddenly became very interested in the conversation at this point, making Serena smile to herself. "Really? How?" the priestess asked, trying not to sound too eager.
"Well, she showed up on one of our dates once with her group. Her lackeys cornered me in the bathroom, not letting me escape, while she tried to take over the date. According to Darien, she walked into the restaurant, sat down in my seat took his hand and apologized for being late," Serena laughed.
"No way," Lita laughed.
"Has this girl ever had a psych evaluation?" Amy asked.
"You think that's bad? Last year she broke into Darien's apartment while he was at college and cooked him dinner, then got into his bed completely nude. She had one hell of a shock when Andrew walked in instead of Darien. Needless to say, the whole apartment was deep cleaned and a new bed was bought" Serena said.
"Where was Darien?" Raye asked.
"Oh, it was our anniversary. He had taken me to the hot springs in the mountain for the weekend straight after dinner with my parents for Sammy's birthday. Andrew was there to water the plants," Serena explained.
"Has she ever tried anything against you?" Lita asked worriedly.
Serena stopped for a minute, thinking. "Once, she tried cornering me when I was walking back from school. She told me if I didn't end it with Darien, I was going to get hurt. She pinned my arms against the wall, then she started blabbing how Darien and her were meant to be, how they had so much in common and I was just all wrong for him." She smiled at the memory.
"What happened? Did Darien come?" Raye asked, eager this time to hear the answer.
"No, actually, he was in karate class. She made the mistake of trying to intimidate me by getting her face real close to mine, so I head butted her. If you ask me, she should be thanking me for that. I'm sure she had been looking for an excuse to get a nose job," she laughed.
Lita smiled and patted her on the back in a 'good job' gesture.
"I've always wondered about that. I mean as much as I know you and Darien happy together, you don't seem to share many interests?" Amy asked.
Raye sighed in relief. She had wanted to ask the same thing, but would not have articulated it right.
Serena smiled, looking up at the sky and closing her eyes before speaking again. "Darien and I share so much more then interests. He is my other half in every way. When we met, the situation he had been in was terrible. He always says without me, there wouldn't be any light in his world. What he doesn't always understand is he is the one that makes me shine," she said with a small smile.
"I guess the saying about opposites attract applies here," Lita said.
Serena laughed. "Yes, you could say that. Darien brings me down to earth when I get too far into the clouds, and I, well, I guess I make him not so serious all the time," she said, nodding her head.
"Now, where can I find a guy that does all that," Lita said jokingly.
The rest of them laughed and Serena smiled. Her plan to show Raye her quest to break them up would not work was complete and she had managed to get to know them better. She was amazed how much they could be like their old selves when she saw it shining in each one of them.
Raye smiled to herself. She hadn't laughed this much in years. She was glad for all the information Serena had given her, though she now understood that she was going to have to go after Darien in a completely different way: make him come to her instead of breaking to two up. She was now determined to get Darien to fall in love with her. She now understood Darien didn't love Serena, he loved her brightness. The very same brightness Raye could see in the ditz.
Amy also wore a smile; it was at times like this she wished Serena wasn't Sailor Moon. She loved her friend dearly, but logically she knew Serena could not handle both her destiny as Sailor Moon and her attachment to Darien. She almost sighed at the thought that her friend would end up hurt in the end, but when it came down to the basics, Amy chose her friends life over her heart. If they couldn't break them apart soon, Amy was positive with Darien as a distraction Sailor Moon would be quick to fall at the hands of the dark kingdom.
Sorry no Serena and Darien time in this chapter but I hope you all have some more insight on the girls.
To answer a question... Yes Raye is getting a bit obsessive but as I haven't made it clear let's take it up a notch in the next chapter (evil laughter)
Next chapter... humm well lets have another crystal some plotting so much time and so little to do oh wait nope dreaming again
Review pretty please