You Belong To Me
Chapter 10 – Find Her!
"Son, go after her. Make things right, undo the wrong you have done before it is too little too late. And when you find her and she doesn't want to come back to you, let her go. Don't make the same mistake I made. Loving someone is very difficult however if your love is true, then no matter how hard it is to let go of someone, if its what the person wants you will find the strength to let her go OK? Go and find her." The king said, his eyes earnestly begging Darien to take a chance at a love he had once had and destroyed because of his obsession.
"Yes Your Maj….yes father." Darien said softly and the king's eyes light up in happiness to finally hear his child called him father. He had never been a father or a tree father to the rest of his children, it was time he became one.
"And remember one thing. When you let go of her and she comes back to you willingly, then you will know that she is back to stay. So go, take as many doctors as you can manage with you and save the poor town." The king had said and two days later, Darien along with his brothers, friends and doctors were on their way to Dialand. Their arrival at the small town was greeted with hopeful acceptance and the doctors were immediately put to work. Darien and his crew were then taken into the one house in the whole town that was decent look, there they waited for mayor.
The door to the shabby little living room they were all cramped at opened to reveal a familiar face to Darien and Amara but a stranger to all else.
"Oh Darien and Amara. Welcome back!" the aqua haired goddess said as she came forward and hugged the two of them.
"Hello Michelle, how are you. It's been a long time."
"Yes it has and I am doing great. At least considering that I have not yet been infected by the disease." She answered while Amara went tongue tied, unable to talk though her eyes could not leave Michelle. Trista and Lita noticed this and they snickered. Knowing the snickering was at her expense; the blond blushed and turned to scowl at her two friends. They all sat down.
"Michelle may I introduce you to my family. The males are my brothers…."
"Princes of the UK. I know all their names. Though I only know Amara among the girls." Michelle interrupted.
"Oh, that makes it easier. This is Lita, Trista and Hotaru. The girl who followed the doctors to the health room is Princess Amy; she is rather good with medical things so she will be joining the doctors. Everyone, this is the Lady Michelle and as you can all see she is very beautiful." Darien said.
"You are a tease Darien but thank you. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintances."
"The pleasure is all ours." Diamond said, taking her hand and kissing the back of it. Amara scowled in displeasure.
"So what exactly is going on? Where did the disease suddenly come from?" Lita asked.
"Well it actually started about a year or so ago. The snow that fell was odd, the color was cream and it was missed with hail. It was a rather odd Christmas and I remember Serena standing by the window…."
Flashback
The night had fallen early like all winter nights but the clouds were darker than normal. The residence of the small town of Dialand had all retreated for the night, entertaining themselves inside their own homes. Normally on Christmas day, they would walk around the small town singing merry songs and dancing, giving gifts and playing in the snow. The kids would have a snow ball fight, the women would walk around passing out cups of hot chocolate and the men would be passing around jackets to all those without one. And in the evening they would all gather at the church where they would hold worship, and afterward feast and sing and dance until 12. That was the typical Christmas day in Dialand and everyone looked forward to it with intense excitement.
But that year, the snow came down in heavy doses missed with huge hails that hurt people. The darkness had fallen early and the clouds looked menacing. Serena, concern for the people had suggested that Christmas celebration for them be postponed. Understanding her reasons, they had all retired to their homes early in disappointment and sadness. Inside their lonely little huts, they did their best to entertain themselves. Some families had gathered in twos or threes, others had wanted to take this chance to have their own personal family Christmas.
As for Michelle and Serena with no family, the two girls spent it indoors as well with several orphaned kids. Michelle had prepared a very special Christmas meal while Serena had wrapped presents for the orphan kids and decorated the house, wanting them to at least be in the mood of Christmas. She hoped postponing the Christmas feast would not anger Jesus since it was his birthday.
By four, all the presents were wrapped, the house decorated and the delicious smell of roast beef and crispy fried chickens perfumed the house, watering the mouth of all in the house. Serena stood by the window, looking passively through the window into the sky where dark foreshadowing clouds merged as if flesh trying to mold together. The way of the clouds, the hail and snow that had fallen and the disastrous mood it had all created on such a joyous occasion had set Serena's nerves on alert. She feared something bad might happen by the time winter was over.
From behind, Michelle came up to her and hanged a jacket around her cold shoulders.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Michelle asked quietly and worriedly. She had noticed several times how Serena would stare up at the clouds with a worried frown on her face.
"I feel something bad will happen. I don't know but these clouds really make me feel edgy." Serena confessed. Michelle wrapped her hands warmly around her shoulders from behind, her chin resting on Serena's shoulders.
"It's ok. Everything will be fine so don't' worry so much. You are making the kids nervous."
"I'm sorry."
"That's ok." Serena turned around to face the older woman.
"Is there anything I can do? I finished the decoration, tree wrapping and the gift wrapping."
"I could always use a hand in the kitchen."
"You want me at your kitchen?!" Serena asked in shock. Everyone one knows she could cook but did not want hr in the kitchen because by the time the foods would finish cooking and serve, half of it would already be gone. Michelle laughed.
"Don't worry, there is plenty of food and I will keep you in line."
"Well don't say I didn't warn you." Serena said, the two laughing before entering the kitchen.
End of Flashback
"After that day, the snow fell heavily for a full week, locking us in and making us a prisoner in our own homes. Finally it cleared and though the snow had frozen our doors, those on the warmer part of the town got out and helped broke the ice for those trap to come outside. The whole town was an ice rink, our drinking water which is a little stream at the back of the town was completely frozen. For a month, we shared the supplies we had, water, fish and so on until the snow finally cleared. The first to fetch waters were the ones close to the stream. Those of us over at this end decided that we would wait a bit before going to fetch water since we still had a little more we could share. However the next day when we went to the other side to fetch the water, a lot of them were really sick. Serena did not go fetch water with us; she was at the church helping the men fix anything that was broken. When we came back I explained to her the strange new sickness. She became alert and went to investigate, drawing the conclusion that the disease had to have come from the water. The people didn't believe her because the water had always quenched our thirst, why would it turn on us now? She warned everyone to boil their water before drinking but none of us had refrigerators to cool boil waters and people didn't want to wait for hours for their waters to cool. I did what Serena wanted us to do so the people within my care have not become infected with the disease. But almost everyone else was soon suffering from it. First they had severe headaches; it then turns into fever, then little red spots cover their bodies like rashes and finally their stomach ball up as if they were pregnant. At this point little black worms would come out of their nose and mouth." She sighed here, noticing the disgust on her listeners faces in regards to the worms.
"There were a few of us who were not infected so we spent day and night caring for the sick but many died. Finally deciding that we needed real doctors, Serena left our town with a promise to marry someone rich who would help provide the doctors. However all the rich people she came across did not feel like being charitable to a bunch of nobodies. Then she heard of you, remembered you from her past and all at once everything fell in place. She hoped that you would marry her and provide the doctors but there was a little more excitement in her. She would not be marrying a complete stranger but someone she knew and already loved. So she came to you." Michelle finished her story, staring emotionless at Darien who lowered his head in shame.
"And I blew it."
"Where is Serena now?" Lita asked. Michelle sighed.
"She is not here. She sent several Doctors here and knowing they wouldn't be enough, she stayed back wherever she is now to find a job and work to have enough money to send more doctors and to pay for them. I don't know when she is returning but I hope she does soon." Michelle said worriedly, looking outside through the four paneled window.
"Well with more doctors here, shouldn't we tell her to come back?" Amara asked.
"Well she has to pay the doctors she sent here."
"We will take care of all the financial aspect of it. Just sent her a letter to come back please." Darien said.
"The thing is, I don't know where she is." Michelle admitted.
"What do you mean?" Lita asked with wide eyes.
"She sent a letter to me with the doctors who came but there was no return address on it and the head doctor said she had come to his home so he doesn't exactly know where she lives though she is in Romania." Michelle explained.
"OK, you write the letter, I will have someone find her." Darien said.
"Very well. Please hold on a minute." She left them in the living room and returned 10 minutes later with a short letter sealed in and envelope. She gave it to Darien.
"I will fly back to Romania, hopefully when I return I will be coming back with her." Darien said an they nodded.
"So in the mean time what can we do to help the situation here?" Diamond asked.
"Well the doctors said that the environment is dirty but from caring for the sick and with the few also now infected with the disease, none of us had had time to clean up the place. I started cleaning two days ago when the doctors arrived but it will take a lot more people to get it done. Think you can give me a hand?" she asked.
"No problem. But what about food? I mean what have you been doing about the whole water issue?" Lita asked.
"I cook every morning to share with everyone and when you heat the water, everything is ok. Though the doctors said that they will test it and see if it can be cleaned. If not we will have to move to a different place." Michelle sighed.
"Well while you clean, I will be preparing meals. We brought bags of food. Trista and Hotaru will help me with cooking, the rest do what Michelle tells you." Lita commanded.
"And where do you get off telling us what to do?" Jadeite asked.
"Jay, do it if you want to be able to show your face to a girl while hitting on her." Lita teased and they laughed as Jadeite scowled. Yup, they were back to how childish they used to be.
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"Bring her back safely." Michelle said, standing with everyone and watching Darien walking up the jet stairs.
"I will." He answered, entered the jet and flying away. They had cleaned until 6 pm when Darien decided it was time to go. Now with him gone, they returned back to the homes provided to them to rest and eat from working so hard.
On the plain, Darien thought about the first time he had met Serena. Sleeping on his bed, her lovely figure not really exposed but all the same alluring. He had thought she was an angel and he was right, from inside to her outside, she was a beautiful person. To put the needs of others before her own. He had always run away from accepting the role as king of the UK with excuses like "I hate my father" or " Because of the injustice done to my mother why should I care for them?" but if it was Serena, what would she have done? Would she have put her feelings of betrayal above everyone else's? No, Serena never ran away. She had always faced her fate with an honest heart and a willing acceptance to make the best of any situation. She wasn't like him; her hands were as clean as a new born baby's. While his was soak in bloodshed, drugs and so much shame that he knew if her mother was still alive, she would have wept. He was a billionaire but had anyone really looked into how he became so filthy rich? On the outside he was the most respectable gentleman to have ever been born. But he hadn't become this rich by working at McDonalds. He had killed, dealt with drug importations, lived among the wrong crowds and taken so much that after he became as rich as he was, he began giving out to charities and more in hopes to make up for the crimes he had committed and the blood that still stained his nightmares.
Would Serena forgive him for all he had done? For the many people he had put out of business through robbery and foul play? For the many families he had nearly torn apart through blackmail? For the many tears of heartbreak ladies had shared on his behalf? For the wives of men he had slept with for money? Would she forgive the fact that he had been a male prostitute? A host? Those were the things he was most ashamed off but he always put it behind him, trying to escape from it all. Amara and Lita are the only ones who know of his horrid past and sometimes in their eyes he saw judgment, distrust and fear.
What kind of man was he if his own friends, if his own family feared him? Had he gone past the boundary? Was it impossible to be forgiven? He had never sought an answer to all this question because aside from the people there who witness him do all of this, he had never once shared it with another soul. Was he brave enough to bare his soul out to Serena? Would she accept him after that or throw him away in disgust? An image of such a scene pushed it way clearly to the fore front of his mind and it scared and wounded him. His heart leapt to his throat in fear. No, he could never tell Serena. She saw him as the innocent boy he had been before his mother died, why would he want to ruin the pure image she had of him? No, for as long as they both shall live, Serena would never know his dirty past. Even living in a lie, he would paint for her an illusion of a reality of peace and serenity with his past buried and forgotten.
The plane arrived at 5 am at his mansion and he went inside. The first place he checked was the bedroom he had slept by her side and found all of her things gone. Seeing the emptiness in the closet and feeling the loneliness in the room, he knew she had not left a single trace of herself.
He wanted to cry.
He took of his book, sleeping at the side she had slept trying to find solace in the fact that she had slept in that very same place.
His hand went under the pillow and touched something rough.
He pulled out the paper which was neatly folded and seeing how it was addressed to him, he opened it.
Dear Darien,
I am sorry if I gave you the impression that I was only after you for your money. It was part of it Darien but that was not all. It doesn't really matter now anyways does it? I have sold all the clothes and shoes and accessories you bought for me and emptied out the bank account you gave me in hopes that the sum of it all will be enough to send doctors to the town of Dialand to heal those who are sick. I will eventually pay back all that I owe you so I beg of you, give me time to work and every penny I will return with interest. My short stay with you was the very best, I had never felt so comfortable, so secure and safe like I did with you but I guess I was setting myself up for a reality that really did not exist. Thank you for all that you have done for me, may God help you find what your heart desire and may we meet again with smiles and handshakes of friendship. You're a great guy Darien, one of the very best I have come to know.
I wish for you the best of luck and the happiest of life.
Thank you once again for your generous hospitality.
May the moonlight guide your way always.
Sincerely,
Serena
He read the letter twice, hoping to find any clues to her whereabouts but nothing gave way. The hopelessness within the letter hit him hard but before he could allow himself to succumb to the pain, he picked up his phone and dialed a very familiar number.
"Darien?" a surprised male voice said from the other end.
"Hey Andrew."
"Man you sound like Sh**!"
"Thanks, its good to have honest friends." Darien replied sarcastically, listening to Andrew snicker from the other end.
"Ok what can I do for you Mr. I am about to get married and didn't even bother to tell my friend?"
"Cut the bull. My bride seemed to have run away, help me look for her." for a few minutes there was absolute silence. Then suddenly Andrew burst into hysterical laughter. Darien Scowled. "It isn't funny!"
"It sure as hell is! You, Romania's number one lady killer has lost your bride!? Gosh, if even you can then what hope do the lesser of us have in keeping our brides?" Andrew said, another fit of laughter taking a hold of him.
"It seems you are not serious so I will go find another person more capable of doing the job." Darien said with a roll of his eyes.
"Wait wait! Are you seriously serious?" Andrew asked.
"Duh!"
"Ok, so why has she ran away?" he asked.
"Because I made an ass of myself?"
"I will want the full story later. For now just give me her description, when she run away, age, name and any other piece of information that will help us identify." Andrew was a police man and a private detective.
"Drop dead gorgeous, sparkling azure eyes, lips too kissable, hair the color of honey or golden sunset, her body to die for, her voice like an angel with a refreshing personality, the world most beautiful lady." Another minute of silence passed.
"Darien, are you serious?" Andrew asked in bemusement.
"Yup, oh did I forget to mention that she is breathtaking with the manners of a Lady and a very sharp tongue?"
Andrew spent thirty minutes trying to get Darien to just plainly describe the girl talking in normal English instead of Shakespearean.
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After the conversation with Andrew, Darien slept until noon when the ringing of the phone finally woke him up. He looked at the number and recognized it as Andrews.
"Whatzup de-tec-tive?" he drawled sleepily.
"Rise and shine prince charming, Cinderella has been found!" Darien bolted awake and sat straight up.
"Where!?" he demanded.
"She works at Grace nursing home and lives there too."
"Andrew you are the best!"
"Well I do try."
"I will see you later. Right now I've got to freshen up!" He hanged up and Andrew chuckled at his enthusiasm.
Hurriedly, he showered and dressed, forgot to comb his hair and was out on the drive way with his sports car, a nervous wreck!
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