Darien's POV.
Six. Six nights since I had decided to reveal my identity to her. Six nights since I'd last seen her. Maybe that was a sign, maybe I had made a mistake.
I still wasn't quite sure what had compelled me to do so. I was being honest when I said that I trusted her, but I wasn't sure when I come to trust her so explicitly. Wasn't I in violation of some sort of Hero Code of Conduct? I half-expected authorities to bang down my door and strip me of my powers.
I had definitely wanted her to do the same. Many a night I had lain awake trying to piece together who the elusive heroine of Tokyo was by day. Yeah, I had wanted her to put an end to the mystery, did I think she would? No way in hell.
Nevertheless, it had felt like the right thing to do at the time. Which was, honestly, completely crazy. My judgement had been slightly clouded due to the fact that my mind had still been reeling from her confession.
She wasn't from this world.
Maybe it shouldn't have come as such a surprise to me. Her title was Sailor Moon after all. I had never given it much thought. She looked human, she felt human, she acted human; how was I to know she wasn't? I felt my admiration of her had been reinforced that night. She had put her life on the line countless times trying to save Earth, and she wasn't even an earthling.
I could feel a massive migraine coming on from all the thoughts that were currently whirling around in my head. The fact that sunlight was pouring into my room certainly didn't help. I figured it must have been around seven in the morning. I glanced to my clock; seven-fifteen.
As per my usual, I got out of bed, took a shower, and got dressed; green jacket and all. Making sure everything in my apartment was turned off and back in place (I was a bit of a clean freak, so sue me), I grabbed my car keys and headed out towards the arcade. I did this every morning before class.
Speeding down 4th Street, a familiar niggling voice at the back of my mind decided to, once again, make itself be heard, 'She won't be there you know.'
Of course I knew, but what else could I do? This girl had been even harder to get a hold of than Sailor Moon. I hadn't seen Serena in over a month.
It was as if she had dropped off the face of the Earth. She never came to the arcade anymore, and neither did her friends. I sometimes had to wonder if she even still lived in the Jubaan area. Would she have moved without saying goodbye? A while ago, I would have sworn up and down that she wouldn't do such a thing, but now, it seemed as if everyone in my life had undergone some sort of personality transplant.
I thought back to the last time I saw Serena, a memory that always made me feel quite uneasy. Nothing stood out as being particularly strange, but the entire feeling throughout the encounter had been one of tension.
I grunted as I felt the familiar weight crash into my side. Along with it came the all too familiar thrill that shot up my spine. Being so close to her, even in these brief, and, I'll admit it, sometimes painful, moments, always - did things to me.
"Watch it Meatball Head!" I shouted at her while rubbing the sore spot on the arm she had just collided into.
Instead of the wailing and yelling I had grown accustomed to, I came face to face with tear-filled eyes and a sad smile.
All feelings of annoyance were instantly washed away and replaced with the deepest of concern. Just as I was about to ask her what was wrong, I noticed her four closest friends run up behind her.
"Come on Serena, we need to hurry!" the blue haired one, the one I had come to know as being the incredibly intelligent Amy, urged Serena.
"Yeah Serena, this isn't the time to be making goo-goo eyes at Darien." Reye, who was obviously still quite possessive of me, added.
Serena nodded, acknowledging the fact that she did indeed have to rush off somewhere. The other four ran off, and Serena started to follow.
Before she got very far, she turned back towards me. She looked me up and down, almost as if she was trying to memorize every single part of me.
"Later, Darien!" she called out as she turned away from me once more and broke into a sprint.
The scene had felt a tad peculiar, but I had just been under the impression that they were late to a party or something else that sixteen year old girls did on the weekend. Yes, Serena had been crying. But, when wasn't she? Reye could have just insulted her or something. I cursed myself for being to oblivious.
Now I knew that it had been goodbye.
I parked my car outside the arcade, and stepped through the sliding glass doors. The arcade was empty; it usually was around eight in the morning. Andrew had probably just unlocked the doors.
"Morning, Darien." Andrew, who had been my best friend for the past forever, greeted me with the easy grin he was famous for.
I took a seat on my usual stool at the counter, the one directly in front of the coffee-maker. Andrew was already getting my mug ready for me.
From behind me, I could hear the whooshing of the arcade doors sliding open. I was caught off-guard by the giggling of teenage girls. I whirled around to face them so quickly that I nearly fell off my stool. This earned me a few confused glances and arched eyebrows from the trio of brunettes who had just walked in.
Once again, I was faced with the disappointment I subconsciously knew I would be greeted with. None of these girls were Serena. I felt foolish for even turning around to check. She hadn't been around in so long, why would she come in now?
Andrew, who had obviously witnessed my little display, handed me my coffee and said, "I miss her too, you know. This place seems dead without her and her friends around." His gaze swept the arcade, landing on the Sailor V game the fivesome had always coveted.
"Yeah" I grunted, "Anyway, I need to get to Physics." I downed the contents of my mug, effectively burning my throat, and threw some money on the table.
Andrew raised his eyebrows, "But your class doesn't start until ten."
I stuttered, trying to come up with a plausible excuse, "Yeah, but, well, I have a meeting with a student I'm tutoring."
He still didn't seem totally convinced, but I dashed out of the arcade before he had a chance to say anything else.
I had to get out of there. I just didn't want to have any conversations with Serena as their main subject.
That night, I woke up in a cold sweat around what felt like two in the morning. It had been the same dream I'd been having for months, the one that never failed to keep me awake for the rest of the night.
I reached over to where I had a glass of water sitting and waiting for me. That's when I noticed her silhouette on the balcony, perched atop the railing as if it were nothing unusual.
I jumped out of bed and slid open the patio door. I hoped she wouldn't run away.
"You! You're here!" I stuttered, then felt foolish. Smooth Darien, very smooth.
Sailor Moon nodded, "I come here every night. I watch you sleep."
She turned her head away, looking almost embarrassed by her confession. After a short pause, she spoke again, "You have nightmares."
I shrugged, "Everyone has nightmares."
Sailor Moon bit her bottom lip, I noticed that this was a habit of hers, "Yours are worse."
This wasn't a question, simply a statement of facts.
I couldn't even begin to describe my recurring nightmare to her, it was as touchy a subject as Serena was, "I don't want to talk about them."
Sailor Moon's lips seemed to curve up into a small smile, "That's fair. You've already revealed so much to me. I have no right to invade your privacy more than I already have."
I was going to remind her that I had chosen to let her in on my secret, but chose to stay quiet. It was then that I noticed how much this young woman had matured. The Sailor Moon I had known thus far would have continued to pry until I gave in.
"You've changed." I thought aloud.
"I know."
A silence settled over us. It wasn't uncomfortable, and I felt oddly at peace. Then I felt compelled to break it, "Do your Scouts realize?"
I kept my gaze towards the sleeping city, but I heard her chuckle. It was the first time I had heard anything resembling a laugh escape her lips in a very long time.
"Ignorance is bliss I suppose. If they don't notice that I've changed, then they won't have to deal with it." she chuckled again, "It's simpler this way, I think. I don't particularly want to deal with all the questioning."
I nodded, satisfied by her answer. The silence crept its way back in again, and, once more, it wasn't unpleasant. This time, it was Sailor Moon who chose to interrupt it.
"I've seen them die, you know?" she whispered. If there hadn't been complete silence around us, I would never have heard her.
I was taken aback by her confession. She pressed on, this time, her voice a little louder.
"One by one, they all fell. Each one dying to protect me."
I tried to hide my shock, but I had a feeling she could see right through me. It didn't seem to phase her.
"How did you bring them back?" I asked.
She looked me dead in the eye and smirked, "I'm magic."
I didn't doubt that for a second. From what I'd witnessed, this woman possessed enough power in her pinkie to destroy this entire city. Judging by her somber disposition, I found it mildly surprising that she didn't use her powers for anything but good.
She looked up towards the full moon, its light illuminating her features beautifully. There was no denying that she was a great beauty, no denying it at all. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, and every single part of her seemed to cry out in longing.
"Can I ask you something?" I said.
"Isn't that what you've been doing?" she teased, and for a second I was almost reminded of Serena.
I pressed on, "What happened to you?"
I couldn't bear how empty she had seemed out of late. The contrast between the woman standing in front of me and the Sailor Moon I used to fight alongside of was startling.
Sailor Moon hesitated, almost as if she didn't quite know the reason either, "I don't have an easy life, Darien. But, I guess you could relate, couldn't you? I've had this inconceivable power thrust upon me at such a young age. Not to mention the fact that there are entire kingdoms out there who would like nothing more than to see me dead-"
I cut her off, "But it's never seemed to have affected you in such a way. You always seemed so positive..."
She turned away, her gaze seeming to fix on the Starlight Tower that was shining in the distance, "There are things that even Tuxedo Mask isn't privy to."
"Maybe I could help you." I offered. At the moment, I wanted nothing more than to hear Sailor Moon laugh once again.
She shook her head, "I don't think you could."
"Try me." I didn't know why I was being so persistent. This really wasn't any of my business. The thing was, I suddenly felt overwhelmingly compelled to know what was bothering this person, this person who was pretty much a stranger to me. The again, the only person in my life who wasn't a stranger to me was Andrew.
Sailor Moon seemed to contemplate the situation. She looked straight at me, her eyes slightly narrowed, almost as if she were judging whether or not I'd be able to withstand the shock from what she was about to tell me. I grew a bit nervous.
"I'm the Moon Princess."
That I had not been expecting. My mind was reeling, once again she had managed to completely blow me away.
"I dream of you!" I blurted out, thinking my prayers were answered. All this time I'd been searching for the princess, and she had been right under my nose.
"No, apparently you have nightmares about me. And that's quite fitting, because, so far, none of this has been anything but a nightmare."
I ran a sweaty hand through my hair, "But, I think, I don't know - I think you can tell me who I am."
All I had ever wished for, ever since I could remember, was finding out who I really was. Too much of my past was foggy, too many of my memories were locked away. This woman was supposed to be able to free me from not knowing.
She looked at me, her big eyes filled with sorrow, "I'm sorry, I really don't know."
I felt let down, as if my hopes and dreams had just plummeted to the ground, "But, you're the princess!"
"I know, Darien!" she snapped, "But it's not that simple. I don't even quite know who I am, so how could I possibly help you?"
I rubbed at my temples, "I'm confused. I don't know what you're talking about half the time."
She prepared to take her leave, "Trust me, I'm every bit as confused."
Watching her run off into the night, I didn't think I had ever seen such a melancholy sight.
