Standard Disclaimers apply. (See Prologue for more information)
CHAPTER 1 - IT'S NOT GOODBYE
Present Day Tokyo
Two young men stood in their running outfits on a bridge overlooking the river that wisped through the centre of the city. The older of the two brushed his short black hair out of his eyes before leaning into the edge of the bridge and resting his elbows against it. The younger had short blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, he wasn't as big as Darien was and a lot skinnier, Travis watched his blood brother carefully lost in thought as he used the edge of his shirt to wipe away his sweat.
"I don't know how to tell her Travis," Darien admitted softly looking straight down at the water gazing into his reflection. "She's scarred from what happened with Reenie before," he trailed off thinking about the situation they had just overcome with the Dead Moon Circus. "I don't want to hurt her."
"She'll be happy for you Darien," Travis answered with a small smile, "she'll relax after a while and go back to her usual self. We just need to let her have this control for a bit."
"What if everything doesn't stay peaceful?" Darien asked, "What if you get attacked again?"
"Between the outer court and two silver crystals I think we have things covered. Besides, if things got severely out of hand you could fly back," Travis suggested before his expression turned seriously. "This is an amazing opportunity; if Crystal came to me with your offer I would put her on the plane myself."
Darien chuckled to himself, "I bet she would love that."
It was no secret that Travis' girlfriend Crystal was a feisty one, more so than Raye. That was probably how she fit into the group of friends so well despite not knowing their secret.
"Come on, Serena and Reenie are at the arcade studying we should join them," Travis suggested, "We'll have a scout meeting tomorrow so you can tell the girls. That is going to be no easy task there in itself, I hope you are prepared."
Darien didn't say anything instead pulling himself away from the railing and moving into a jog before breaking out into a run in the direction of the arcade.
Serena and Reenie were sitting in a booth at the arcade while Reenie did her homework, every now and then the blonde would run her hands through the hair of her daughter. It had been two weeks since the final battle with Nehelenia where Serena watched her future daughter fade into non-existence. In the weeks since the battle they had received a letter from her future self-requesting that Reenie stay in the past to continue her training a bit more. Serena was dedicated to making sure her daughter was well trained and educated, she didn't want this girl to have a life leading to nothing but non-existence before her tenth birthday.
Reenie closed her book and smiled up at the teenager, their relationship had been strong since the initial discovery back when she first visited the past in search of the silver crystal. But it grew the more she spent time in the past. "Can we get milkshakes now?"
"Absolutely," Serena quickly signalled Andrew at the counter who just gave a thumbs up to his friend before going back to his job.
"You know I'm okay right Serena?" Reenie asked, she understood why her young mother was behaving the way she was but it didn't mean she had to like it.
"I was so scared Reenie," Serena admitted honestly, "I've never been so scared in my life." Tears began to fall down the side of her face making Reenie hug the girl tightly.
"Mommy, please don't cry," Reenie begged trying not to hide the tears that were beginning to form.
"I don't want to lose you," Serena confessed. "How could I live knowing that I would have an amazing daughter like you when I know you'll come into the past and end up dying?"
"I always have faith in you, you are the strongest person I know," Reenie smiled up at her as she pulled back. "Even when you didn't know who I was, you protected me with everything you had. I want to be just like you when I grow up."
"What's with all the tears?" Travis interrupted reaching the table with Darien. "Reenie, let's go get an ice cream?"
Reenie nodded in disagreement, "I've got a milkshake coming."
"I'll get you another one," Travis gazed at his niece cocking his head; she stared at him blankly for a bit before she caught on to what he was hinting at. Reenie climbed over Serena before giving Darien a quick hug and telling Serena she would meet her at home.
"What do you mean Darien's going away?" Reenie asked putting a scoop of ice cream in her mouth, if there was one thing about her it was that she took after her father in a lot of ways. Her maturity was one of those moments.
"He got an amazing opportunity to study in America," Travis explained, "he would be stupid to turn it down."
Reenie looked thoughtful for a moment as if remembering something. "Daddy has lot of things on his wall from America."
Travis smiled knowing his blood brother's thirst for knowledge, "I guess as future king he really wants to make sure he is well educated."
"Do you think it's important for a princess to be well educated?" She put another scoop of ice cream in her mouth.
"In a way, I think it's important for a princess to be aware of her world and understand the good and the bad that comes with it," Travis smiled at her, "but we fight in the hopes that you won't have too, but just in case it's always better to be prepared."
"Uncle Tranq?" Reenie whispered, "Can I tell you something?"
"You can tell me anything rabbit, you know that."
"Can you promise not to tell anyone?" Travis nodded; she started to play with her ice cream. "I lied to Serena earlier."
"What do you mean?" Travis looked genuinely shocked considering he didn't know exactly what conversation he had walked into earlier, "Does this have to do with Nehelenia and Pegasus?"
"I guess so," Reenie confessed, "Puu isn't going to be happy with me, but I just-"
"Just?" Travis urged her to continue.
"Something doesn't feel right in my head," Reenie frowned quickly battling an inner monologue of the speech she would get from Pluto. "It's like all these new memories are forming and none of it makes sense."
"You might need to give it time, the battle with Nehelenia would have disrupted everything when you -" Travis coughed, he didn't want to even think about the fact she had actually died – sentenced to a life of temporary non-existence. "You know what?"
"What?" Reenie asked putting her spoon into her now empty bowl of ice cream.
"I think we need to get the girls and go see a movie what do you say?"
"Can we invite Crystal?" Reenie asked excitedly about his girlfriend, Travis agreed with a laugh and the two left their empty bowls to get their friends.
"That was such a great movie," Mina said lovingly looking up at the moon in the sky as the group walked Reenie home. Crystal and Travis were behind the others in their own world as Lita held Reenie on her back. Crystal was a fraction shorter than Travis and had long blonde hair twisted into a plait on her left shoulder.
"Did you even watch much of it," Raye teased, "Or were you too busy planning your wedding in your head to Christopher Hemsworth?"
"He is a hunk," Lita added causing the group of girls to laugh. "Thor anyone?"
"I wonder what Serena is doing?" Amy asked quietly from her spot beside Raye, "I'm surprised we hadn't heard from her at all."
Travis interest in the conversation picked up at this point and he joined the girls grabbing Crystal and moving forward. "She's with Darien," he spoke gently.
"What else is new?" Raye said, her voice laced with what sounded like jealousy.
"Darien's going to America!" Reenie raised her voice from Lita's back .
"What?!" The girls asked quickly stopping their steps and turning to meet Reenie's face on their friends back.
"Darien's been given an amazing opportunity to study in America at one of the top Universities in the country," Travis told them.
"How long for?"
"Twelve months to start with but it could go longer," Travis turned to Crystal quickly pulling her close as he felt her shiver. "Let's get you home, I need to get the rabbit home before Serena kills me."
The girls laughed but chatter went down completely as they all pondered what Darien going to America meant for them and the team. Each of the girls said goodbye to Crystal when they reached her parents place, Reenie climbed off Lita's back giving the girl a hug before leaving Travis to say his own private goodbyes.
"This is big news for the scouts," Raye said fiercely, "is it really viable for the team for him to go?"
"This is a huge opportunity Raye," Amy cut in defensively, "there is such a stringent process to get accepted internationally, we should be supportive of our future King."
"Amy's right," Travis cut in joining the girls, "let's discuss it tomorrow at a scout meeting, Darien's going to officially tell you then."
Serena raced up the steps of the temple as quickly as she could, mentally lecturing herself for sleeping in that morning. A feat that was no longer common every day for the blonde who had turned into an early riser with the help of her twin brother. But she'd been up all night thinking about her conversation with Darien.
Reaching the top of the stairs she found her friends including Amara, Michelle, and Hotaru sitting on the steps. Reenie sat on Darien's lap looking like she wasn't going to let him go, but when she saw her the pink haired girl climbed off the man and raced to her grabbing her hand and pulling her back to sit with him. Serena assumed it was the thought of him leaving them that made her want this little extra 'family' time. Serena sat down next to Darien and Reenie wedged herself between them while Luna, Artemis and Diana were curled up on the lowest step.
"Well now that everyone is here," Travis said commandingly, "Darien has an announcement."
The group turned to look at him and the college man took a deep breath. "I've been accepted to study over in America."
"That's wonderful Darien," Michelle said genuinely happy, "What an amazing opportunity."
"What about the team?" Raye asked what everyone was avoiding, "What about Serena and Reenie?"
"They'll be fine, they both understand why I'm doing this and support me. Reenie probably won't be here much longer anyway and Serena knows how big this is," Darien tightened his grip on the woman beside him as Reenie sank in between the two further with a big smile on her face.
"Raye, there's more to this life than the team," Amara cut in slightly irritated, "He's our king and we need to support him in what he wants to do."
"Thank you Amara," Darien smiled thankfully at the woman who was otherwise always first with the cold shoulder.
"I'm sure Setsuna would give you her best if she was here as well," Hotaru explained politely with a small courtesy to the main.
"When do you leave?" Amy asked.
"Tomorrow," Darien revealed as everyone except Serena and Travis looked at him in shock. "I've known for a few weeks now, but with everything going on it wasn't even on my mind about going until we defeated the Dead Moon Circus."
"Alright," Mina got to her feet quickly, "Let's go make Darien's last day with us a great one! No more debating, we are free from Nehelenia, we are strong and we've got amazing things that are going to happen."
"Read that in a book Mina?" Lita teased.
"Mina read?" Artemis said jokingly, "she barely reads the articles in her fashion magazines."
"Enough!" Mina shouted at her guardian. "You can starve tonight, let's go."
The next morning found Darien woken up early only to hear a lot of chatter in his living room, climbing out of bed he walked into the living room forgetting that he hadn't put a shirt on until he saw Serena sitting at his small coffee table with all their friends along with Reenie and Travis. Everyone stopped talking when he stood in the doorway of his room shirtless.
"That's what he's got under that shirt?" Mina asked blushing.
"No wonder Serena is so crazy about him," Lita added with a laugh.
Serena quickly got to her feet putting her hand on his chest and pushing him back into his room closing the door behind her; she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her kissing him deeply.
"Good Morning," she whispered to him between kisses, he tightened his grip on her and pressed his body against hers, one hand pressed into the door behind him. "I'm sorry; they wanted to see you off before you left."
"I don't mind, really," Darien admitted softly as she looked down at the ground. Her cheeks turned crimson at the thoughts crossing into her mind. "I should probably put on a shirt though."
"That might be a good idea," Serena whispered watching him open up his drawers and pull out a shirt. "What time is your flight?"
"Twelve," Darien ran his hands through his hair before opening the door to his room and the two joined the others greeting them all for the morning.
There was a chorus of morning greetings when Lita and Hotaru exited the kitchen carrying the last four plates filled with food and placed them on the table.
"This looks great Lita," Darien said honestly, "Hotaru, you've outdone yourselves."
"You didn't think we were gonna let you go easily did you?" Luna asked from her spot on the couch, Reenie stared eagerly at the muffins with Diana nestled between the two cones on her head. Serena and Darien joined their friends and soon enough there were empty plates where the food had been.
"You won't need to eat until you get off your plane," Travis teased, Reenie jumped to her feet and followed Amara and Michelle into the kitchen again. "You ate almost as much as Serena."
Reenie raced back in the room excitedly as Amara and Michelle carried a small gift basket, placing it on the table in front of him. Darien couldn't wipe the smile off his face as he looked at the people he had begun thinking of his family.
"It's not much, but we hope you like it," Raye answered sincerely, everyone watched intently as he pulled out some books, pens, and other things to help with his studies before his eyes settled on a large photo frame pulling it out he almost had to fight back tears. Looking up from the frame he smiled at them all as the image staring back at him almost matched the one in his hands.
"Thank you," Darien said genuinely, "Honestly, you have no idea how much this means to me."
"Stop it!" Lita answered, "No mushiness."
The girls each said their goodbyes to Darien leaving him alone with Serena, Reenie and Travis as he finished packing his bags. The trip to the airport was extremely quiet with Reenie being the only one attempting a conversation. Darien pulled his car into the parking lot swiftly getting out of his car and getting his luggage from the boot along with his carryon bag.
He locked his car before handing his keys to Travis who just looked at him confused. "It's yours until I get back, take good care of her."
"Darien," Travis started.
"Only while I'm gone, you don't have to use it or give the keys to Serena when she gets her license. But be careful with her," Darien clarified, "she's almost as important to me as your sister."
"I heard that," Serena interrupted as she stood next to Reenie who was holding her hand. The four of them walked into the airport solemnly barely noticing the abnormally large amount of people congregated outside terminal five. Darien checked in his luggage before joining the others waiting for his flight to be called.
Most of the time was spent like their time in the car and that was in silence with general small talk, even Reenie at this point was quiet clearly not wanting to say goodbye.
"Good Afternoon everyone, Flight SX2764 Tokyo to Los Angeles now boarding, please make your way to boarding gate 7."
"That's me," Darien answered quietly as they got to their feet and moved to the gate. "Thank you for everything man, please take care of them for me."
"Always," Travis told his blood brother, "She means as much to me as she does to you."
He smiled at the man pulling him into a quick hug and whispering a thank you. Putting his bag on the ground he knelt down to his future daughter.
"Daddy," Reenie cried wrapping her tiny arms around his neck, tears streaming down her face. Darien's arms tightened when he stood up tall tapping her chin to get her to look at him. "I know I said I was happy for you, you're a king and a king needs to be well educ-"
"Small Lady," Darien answered, "don't cry; I'm not going forever and you'll be back home soon enough."
"You won't be here when I really have to go home though," she looked at him, her red eyes glassy. "I'll miss you; Mommy and Daddy aren't the same as you and Serena."
"But we all love you the same," Travis interrupted.
"And you know what?" Darien asked his daughter, a small smile pulling on her face. "I have the best daughter in the world, and I can't wait until you are born in this lifetime, I'll love you with everything in my heart."
Reenie giggled when he started to tickle her. "I'll miss you, get good grades."
"I will for you," He placed a kiss on his daughter's cheek turning his head to whisper in her ear. "Make sure Serena smiles; make her laugh every day for me?" He held out his pinkie finger to her and she quickly wrapped hers around it.
"Pinkie promise," Reenie whispered before he put her back on her feet and she took her uncle's hand. "Bye Darien, I love you."
"I love you more Reenie." Travis gave one last smile looking at his sister who had been quiet during the whole exchange but she was at breaking point and he didn't need their bond to tell that. "Have a safe flight."
Travis and Reenie left the two alone as the line at the gate began moving.
"Serena?" Darien asked gently, but that was all it took for her to take a big breath and the tears began falling. "Oh Serena, please don't cry."
"I promised myself I wouldn't cry," Serena admitted, "that I wouldn't get in the way of your dreams or your future."
"You aren't getting in the way of it," his hand moved to her waist and he pulled her close to him whispering sweet things to her. "I'm going to miss you so much Serena, you have no idea."
She pulled away and looked up at him. "I'll write you every day."
"I look forward to reading your letters," Darien smiled looking down at the woman she had become standing in front of him wiping the tears from her face. He reached into his pocket pulling out a small velvet box and handed it to her. "I got you a little something, so you would always know that I was with you." Serena opened the box, a smile spreading across her face as she stared at the ring in the box. It was intricate in the diamond but the band was simple; Darien pulled it out immediately reaching for her right hand. "Know that I, Endymion love you, Serenity, with every ounce of my being, there won't be a moment when I am not thinking of you."
"It's beautiful Darien, thank you." Serena gushed reaching for him and kissing him deeply, Darien pulled back and reached into his pocket pulling out the keys to his apartment.
"Before I forget," he put the keys in her hand and closed it. "You can stay there whenever you want. I've left my computer there and it's all set up for you with all you need to contact me. I've got all the bills covered."
"I could-" Serena started.
"Final boarding call for Flight SX2764 Tokyo to Los Angeles, please make your way to gate 7 now."
"Goodbye Endymion," Serena whispered when they reached the boarding gate, she slowly dropped his hand from hers and stepped back. "Be safe, and call me when you get settled."
"I love you Serenity," Darien whispered back to her before handing his boarding pass to the attendant before stepping through the doors leading to his plane.
Travis watched on as his sister just stood in her spot as they closed the doors of the gate signalling the plane was preparing for take-off. Reenie stood beside her and called her name but she didn't even budge, Travis felt her anxiety through their bond before moving in front of her pulling her into a bone crushing hug with Reenie wrapping her arms around her waist as high as she could.
"Serenity," Travis whispered into her hair as she sobbed into his chest uncontrollably. "It's okay, he's not gone forever." He grabbed her hand that was balled at his side and noticed the ring; his eyes went wide as she stepped back.
"I know he's not gone forever, but it's so hard after everything to let him go," Serena admitted looking down at her feet. "I'm just so scared."
"Stop it!" Reenie shouted stomping her foot on the ground as hard as she could. "Darien will be back before you know it! He has to for me to be here!"
A small smile formed on the woman's face. "You're right let's go to the arcade," Serena looked down at Reenie. "I could go for a milkshake."
"Yum," Reenie shouted in excitement running behind Serena and Travis who walked on ahead, walking briskly through the airport the airport turned into a difficult task when Serena fell to the ground.
Standing in front of her was a tall man, very slim with long black hair pinned back in a low laying ponytail. Reenie didn't hesitate to run up to him with a glare on her face causing him to break out in a smile.
"Who do you think you are mister?" Reenie said agitated, "you should really watch where you are going!"
"Sorry candy hair," the man teased quickly turning from her and holding his hand out to help Serena to her feet, she quickly dusted herself off and Travis pulled Reenie back. "Are you okay meatball head?"
Serena's face contorted into one of agitation. "Don't call me that, you should watch where you are going."
"Sorry man, "Travis cut in front of his sister, "Serena, Reenie lets go."
The three men turned their backs and continued walking holding a suitcase behind each of them as their faces were covered with sunglasses.
"Did you sense that power?" the first the man who bumped into Serena said, his long black hair tied in a low lying ponytail.
"Seiya, we've got our mission and we need to stick to it." The second man had long brown hair in a similar hairstyle.
"Our princess has to be here Taiki," the third man with white hair said; "we don't have time to think of anything else."
"We need to find her as quick as possible," Taiki said with a frown. "Let's get settled in our apartment and we can begin the search again."
Soundtrack: It's not goodbye, it's BRB - We Are The In Crowd
Authors Notes: All your views and the reviews are appreciated, it's always nice to know someone is ready. Please let me know your thoughts and what you think so far. Constructive criticism is also greatly appreciated. Hope you all had a great easter.