Chapter 12

Over the next few days, Valentino taught us all he could about methods to beat Bellevue's next warrior. He taught us physical methods of deflecting each vampire's attacks and methods of hand-to-hand combat that Bellevue had taught each of them in their rigorous training. It was certainly unlike anything we were used to, with the exception of Darien who had taken a number of karate classes over the years. He held his own against Valentino time after time, much to Valentino's satisfaction. After the end of our last schedule training session, I was glad to take a break. We had been practicing at Raye's family's temple since it provided the best space to practice, certainly much better than Darien's apartment, especially after Lita broke a coffee table when she pushed Valentino harder than he anticipated. I was glad for the break and found a spot of grass to lay in. "I never was very good at PE in school, you know," I panted.

"At least you'll be in shape for your wedding!" Mina joked.

I grimaced and turned towards Darien. "Yeah," I sighed.

Mina's face fell, "What's wrong?" She frantically looked back and forth between Darien and I, "Does the goddess of love and beauty need to intervene?"

"No," Darien said, also a bit sullen. "Serena and I have decided to postpone the wedding until this enemy is defeated. Protecting the Earth is our duty, even if we must put our personal lives on hold." Darien then looked at me apologetically. I tried to return the gaze, but instead rolled over in order to stand up. By the time I had made it to my feet, Darien announced, "I'm taking a walk. I'll be back in a few."

My heart sank. I hated seeing him upset, especially since I knew that the decision, in the end was mutual. Darien had brought up the issue a few nights prior after our first training session.

"You know, it's already mid-May," he said as he untied his sneakers on the side of the bed.

"Yeah, the time has flown over the past couple of weeks," I agreed as I put my earrings in my jewelry box. I thought of the date, May fifteenth. "51 more days," I said, unthinking of what Darien had been hinting at.

"Right," he said, cautiously, "And how long have did we fight with just Valentino?"

I thought, adding up the days in my head, "A little over 30," I responded, still unsure of what he was getting at.

"Do you think that we'll be prepared for a wedding in 51 days if we are consumed with defeating the rest of the enemy?"

My heart jumped. The thought hadn't occurred to me. My stomach lurched and my eyes teared up. I choked out, "Oh, I see."

Darien sighed quite loudly, tossing his shoes to the side of the room. "Serena, I'm not saying anything in order to be mean." He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me, but I pushed him off of me and turned to face him.

I swallowed hard and searched for words to say, "I know. I don't mean to be so emotional. I know we've sworn our lives to this duty, but sometimes I just wish one of our plans would fall into place."

"As do I, believe me, Serena. I've been looking forward to the day of our marriage for years."

"Yeah," I sighed, "You're right, Darien. We'll have to just push it off, I suppose." I rubbed my temples, not wanting to think about reorganizing the wedding. We had delayed much of the work involved as is, though, and it was likely to be rushed and not to my liking anyhow.

"It's our duty, Serena," Darien said, more sternly than I expected. With that, he went into the bathroom to finish preparing for bed. I quickly changed into my PJs and then got into the bed. Darien joined me shortly thereafter. He leaned over to kiss me first and said, "I don't mean to come off as angry, you know. It is as hard for me as it is for you to put this wedding off any more, but our duty comes first. I love you, Serena, now and forever."

I told the girls a summary of the conversation and they listened intently, Raye being the first to speak, "I know it's every girl's dream to have the perfect wedding, but Darien has a point. We've sworn ourselves to be warriors of justice."

Amy took a softer approach and said, "What does it matter if you get married now or later any how? The date you had chose was arbitrary anyway, wasn't it?"

I nodded to both of them, "I know. I reacted childishly and now I can't take it back. I feel awful, but this has been so draining on both of us. I know we can make it through, I just wish it wasn't so hard."

Valentino cleared his throat, "I don't mean to be nosey, Serena, but if you want to avoid losing Darien at all costs, I think you need to be open with how you feel. Don't hold it in and try to be strong just to prove a point. Your greater strength will show if you are honest."

His response caught me off guard. He looked at his feet and blushed, "I'm sure it's hard to take the word of a guy who ran away from his home and let his first love perish at her own hands, but I don't want you to suffer an equal fate. You're the kindest person I have met and I don't think that you deserve a fate that sad."

"Thank you," I said, feeling my heart swell after hearing his words. How did I ever want to kill this man? Sure, he had done a lot wrong, but his true intentions were pure and good. "I'll be back, everyone, I'm going to go find Darien."

I turned on my heel and jogged in the direction that Darien had walked off in. He had left nearly 20 minutes before me, but I had a good idea of where he was headed. I rounded corners with ease and made my way smoothly past other pedestrians. Looks like Valentino's training has paid off, I thought as I reached my destination. Sure enough, I could see Darien ahead of me, his gaze focused on the tombstone ahead of him. I carefully approached him, trying not to startle him. I stood next to him and read the tombstone that bared the names of Darien's parents, their birthdates, and date of death. I heard Darien give a slight sniffle next to me. "I know you're there, Serena," he said quietly, before turning his face towards mine, which was already faced up towards him. "How did you know I'd be here?"

I smiled ever so slightly, "I know you better than anyone. When you doubt anything about the two of us, you remind yourself why it is that you fight for me and everything that we have. It's been a while, but you have assured that I am your family now, even though I don't think that I always deserve your love and devotion."

Darien wrapped his arms tightly around me, taking the breath out of me for a brief moment. I returned the favor and rested my head on his chest. "You're right. I'm sorry that I can't always be there and give you what you want," he said.

"What do you mean?" I laughed softly, "You're all I could ask for in a partner."

"You say that, but I know you were upset when I proposed that we push our wedding back. I didn't mean to do that. I don't want to put this duty to defeat Bellevue's clan ahead of you, believe me."

"I know. I didn't mean to react the way I did, either. It was childish of me. I'm still a bit rash and naïve in wanting the perfect wedding, I suppose."

"It's more than just the wedding, though, isn't it?"

"Perhaps," I sighed. "It's hard to tell. Everything happened at once. I've barely had time to think for myself recently."

This time it was Darien who laughed, "Don't I know the feeling." He held me out from him and leaned in to give me a kiss. "Let's focus on this battle and put away the evil in the world and then we'll focus on ourselves, okay?"

I nodded, "As long as I can be beside you, nothing could be better."

"That's the spirit!" Darien said, slightly sarcastically.

I smiled as he leaned in for another kiss. Midway through, I heard a voice call, "A little strange to show such tenderness in a cemetery, isn't it?"

I opened my eyes and turned my head to the source of the voice. Atop one of the gravestones was Marie, the next in line of Bellevue's warriors. Despite being the smallest of the warriors, Marie had a special power that gave her an edge over most vampires. She was less prone to damage by sunlight as she had grown up in the hot African sun. She also had a gift of fire that she could summon from her fingertips. In a flash, Marie descended from the gravestone. She circled around Darien and I, focusing her attention more on Darien than me. "Quite a cutie, isn't he?" she smirked. I felt my blood rush, which then got her attention focused on me. "Oh, someone is perturbed now, aren't they?"

I could really use the others right now, I thought. Valentino made it clear that we were not to transform in front of the vampires for fear that they would track down our civilian identities and attack us when our guard was down. Within seconds of my internal plead, a blast of water shot from behind me and hit Marie directly. Her skin seemed to be melting with the contact of the water, "Who did that? Show yourself!" she snarled.

Sailor Mercury led the pack, "That was me, Sailor Mercury!" she shouted, posed for more action.

Sailor Mars was next, "Marie is it? I hear you have quite the skill when it comes to commanding fire?"

"Who are you?" Marie shouted, now more frustrated. Her temper certainly matched her fire skills.

"Sailor Mars! Ready to fight fire with fire!" Sailor Mars announced.

Sailor Jupiter then caught my eye and nodded. I took the hint, grabbed Darien, and retreated behind a larger structure on the cemetery grounds in order to transform. I heard shouts and an array of attacks being thrown every which way and from the sound of it, Marie was quickly losing.

"Damn it! How do you all know my next move?" Marie shouted in a greater rage.

I ran back to the scene with Tuxedo Mask in tow. "And who are you? How many of you are there?"

I smiled, "For now, just us, why, is that a problem?"

"It shouldn't be!" She growled, "I've been trained to deal with larger numbers than this."

It was at this that Valentino stepped out, "And what good has that done?"

Her eyes widened. "Is that you, Valentino? The traitor?" Marie charged towards Valentino, but not quickly enough as Tuxedo Mask quickly caught her. Sailor Jupiter then pinned her to the ground.

"Surrender, Marie. This is the end," Sailor Jupiter said. "It's time, Sailor Moon."

I nodded. Reaching my hand towards the sky, I summoned my wand. When it reached my hand, I outstretched it in front of me directed towards Marie. "Everlasting Moonlight!" I shouted, the now familiar beams shooting towards Marie. She gave a whimper as the beams entered her body and left her on the ground. In a matter of seconds, her body decomposed to white rose petals leaving nothing behind.

The group of us celebrated our victory and were especially thankful for Valentino's teachings. He smiled and then returned to a solemn state, "Marie was easier to defeat, but the other two will be tougher. They are much more physical than her and are less prone to specific attacks. And, of course, Bellevue will be the toughest."

I turned to Valentino and caught his eyes, "Yeah, but this wouldn't have been at all possible without your knowledge. We could've been chasing her for weeks like we did with you, if we had even caught you yet. Things could be much worse, so thank you."

Valentino nodded. "Thank you. Without you all, I wouldn't have this opportunity at all. I am glad to be of service for good and not evil."

We continued our small celebration over our small victory by visiting our old favorite hangouts, the Crown Arcade and Crown Fruit Parlor.