Chapter One: Changes
Earth, Tokyo - Present
Rose Apartments
2B
Darien woke up shivering in bed, the last dredges of
his dreams seeping away even as the cold, morning light
filtered through the open window near his bed. The tall,
handsome man stood up, staring out at the city, wondering
how different his dreams were from the nightmare his life
had slowly become. Sighing, he walked to the bathroom and
splashed his face with the frigid water running from the
taps. He stared at himself in the mirror, wandering what it
was that drew so many women to him, made so many girls sigh
over him and protest their undying love. All he saw was
dark blue eyes in a haggard face - signs of the nightmare he
was living - the sleepless nights and days that had become
as real as only the gray light of an overcast morning, could
bring.
*But then, Serena never saw you as handsome - you'd still be
'public enemy #1' if it wasn't for Tuxedo Mask and Prince
Endymion.* he reminded himself bitterly, as he sat on the
bed, cloth dangling uselessly from his fingers.
He was exhausted - more so than he ever remembered being.
Darien had always prided himself on facing his fears, being
able to stand up to all his bullies and fight his own
battles. At least - he HAD prided himself on that one
virtue, but now he knew it wasn't true, because the truth
that kept him from closing his eyes and sleeping were the
fear of the dreams that came every time he fell asleep.
*Imagine that, a grown man afraid of his dreams.* It would
have been amusing, if it hadn't been so frighteningly true.
Every time he closed his eyes, he could see the fight he and
Serena had. He couldn't even remember what the fight had
been about, only that at the end, he'd dumped Serena and
she'd run away crying, heart broken. That was the last time
he'd seen her.
*Oh, Serena.* Darien thought achingly, *I love you so
much. But how can you ever forgive me after I broke your
heart - again?* Darien wondered. He closed his eyes,
trying - and failing - to stop the vision from appearing
before his eyelids. This time it was of Serena shouting
back at him that this wasn't the first time he'd betrayed
her, and the fact that he'd fought against her in the last
days of Queen Beryl's reign didn't go unnoticed to him
either. *But you fought for me back then. You fought for
me, and my spirit answered - or at least the Moonlight
Knight appeared. Why can't I keep a good thing when I have
it?* he asked his reflection in the window. *I love you so
much Serena. But I don't even know how to get you back.
Don't know how to start making you trust me.*
Darien shook his head, wincing slightly as the world
spun slightly, then settled. A sure reminder that he should
have forced himself to eat something last night - but
constant nightmares weren't good aperitif for an appetite -
he felt more like throwing up then eating lately. He
glanced down at his watch and realized he would miss his
first class at the University if he didn't move. Tiredly,
he pulled on a faded pair of jeans and a shirt. *I haven't
even seen you lately. Are you avoiding me? Maybe Ami, Rei,
Lita or Mina can help.* He decided finally, and started to
plan a trip to Rei's temple.
28, Cherry Blossom Avenue
The house was eerily silent, which, strangely enough,
was what brought Luna's head up from where it had been
underneath her paws. The wailing and sobbing had stopped.
Slowly, Luna poked her head out from underneath the pile of
clothes she'd been hiding under, and stared. Serena sat
cross-legged on her bed, face red and puffy from crying, but
composed and calm.
*Something isn't right.* Luna thought as she quickly
climbed up next to Serena's still form, her eyes worried.
"Are you alright, Serena?" she asked - Serena had been
crying ever since Darien broke up with her.
The guardian cat wondered whether silence was going to be
the next stage of Serena's withdrawal from being dumped.
*Well, at least it'll give my ears a rest.*
"Serena? Are you alright?" Luna repeated the question.
Serena turned to Luna, staring at her blankly, as if she
didn't recognize her for a second, "I'm tired of crying,
Luna." She said finally, "Tired of being a whining,
whinging, crying little baby who can't do anything but sob."
She sounded angry.
In one smooth motion (words Luna hadn't ever thought to
describe ANYTHING Serena ever did) she stood up and walked
towards where a floor length mirror hung on the door of her
wardrobe, "I'm tired of whinging, and whining and feeling
sorry for myself. And most of all, I'm tired of being hurt
by Darien." She added, "I love him. I'll always love him,
but I don't think he loves me. He's betrayed the Sailor
Scouts, teased me relentlessly, and if he thinks he can
treat my like dirt, he's got another thing coming! I'm glad
we've broken up." She added fiercely, staring at her
reflection in the mirror.
Luna stared at Serena in amazement - there was something
different in the young girl. *Can she be growing up?* Luna
wondered, that's what the entire speech sounded like.
"You know, Luna? I think I've outgrown this hair style."
Serena said, holding the long ponytails suspended at the top
of her head in two meatballs.
The teenager unbound her hair from the meatballs, letting
her long blonde hair fall to the ground. She walked
decisively into the bathroom and came out seconds later, her
hair tied back in a single long, plaited braid, "What do you
think, Luna?" she asked, then absently - sounding like the
'old Serena' for a second - she murmured, "I wonder what
Darien would think of it?" A hardening appeared in her
usually dreamy blue eyes, and the new Serena returned, "He
probably wouldn't care." She shrugged and sat down on her
bed, digging around in her school bag, and took out her
Japanese textbook - she'd accidentally brought home instead
of a comic book last week - before what Luna was beginning
to refer to as 'The Day'.
Luna moved cautiously towards the bed - the last time
Serena had taken out a schoolbook in the last four days,
it'd been to throw at something (mainly Luna). The guardian
froze in surprise as Serena opened the book to a page and
started reading.
"Serena, what are you doing?" Luna asked, jumping onto
the bed.
"Studying. There's a Japanese test in three days."
Serena replied, turning a page.
Serena? Studying? For a test in *three* days? Luna could
remember times when she'd tried to get Serena to study for a
test in a *day* without any luck. Maybe it was a comic
book: no, it was definitely her Japanese textbook.
Luna shook her head in confusion - *This is not happening.*
she thought, *I MUST be dreaming.* she thought as she sat
there, staring at Serena. *Or maybe it's something in the
water.*
Well, whatever it was, this new Serena wouldn't last.
***
Outside, the sound of laughter could be heard as the
teenagers at Junior Crossroads School broke for lunch. In
Class 2B, Ms Haruna lifted the first of a pile of tests
sitting next to her elbow. She groaned inwardly as she saw
the name scrawled at the top, then rubbed her eyes as she
scanned down the answers. She stared one more time at the
name scrawled on the top. There was no mistaking it, nor
the author's handwriting, and she *knew* that Serena
couldn't have copied anybody or had cheat notes. The test
had been popped a day early. *A hundred percent perfect.
The day Serena got a hundred percent on a test that wasn't
about the latest heart throbs in the movies, I thought I'd
see a turtle fly.* She thought, taking a sip from the
bottle of coke, *Even Melvin didn't get an A on this test.*
And her new hair style as well, those weird meatballs
perched on her head had been replaced by a simple braid, but
she hadn't thought anything of it, she'd just been glad to
see Serena after a week's absence - rumor had it that she
was still getting over being dumped by the college boyfriend
of her's - for the eight or ninth time this year or so Molly
had proclaimed rather loudly three days ago. *Maybe this is
just a temporary thing then, without that boyfriend of her's
to distract her. . .* Ms Haruna paused, a scary thought
occurring to her, *Does that mean Serena is finally be
taking school work seriously?*
***
"Serena? Rei and Mina just called." Elizabeth poked her
head into Serena's room.
Serena looked up from the book she was reading - 'Elementary
English for Year Nines' - "What did they want, Mum?" she
asked.
"Invited you to meet them at the mall at lunch today for
a shopping trip." Elizabeth replied, staring at her
daughter's room in amazement.
Gone were the posters of the 'hunky' male actors in the
movies, the Sailor V posters, and the piles of clothes
everywhere. The desk that had been covered in comics was
clean, with schoolwork piled neatly on top, obviously
completed. The comics weren't anywhere she could see.
There wasn't any decoration in the room, not even the
picture of Darien that Elizabeth had grown accustomed to
seeing at her daughter's table, even through the times when
she and Darien had been fighting. *Breaking up with Darien
might have broken Serena's heart, but whatever happened, it
certainly showed her the path to growing up. I haven't seen
her take such an interest in studying before.*
"Why don't you go shopping with your friends, Serena?"
Elizabeth suggested gently, "You've been studying all week,
and your grades have gone up, you deserved a little treat.
I'll even give you an advance on your pocket money." With
the Serena of several weeks ago, she wouldn't have said
that, but giving an advance to the new Serena didn't seem as
dangerous.
Her hand slipped to her pocket for her purse, expecting to
get pounced on by a joyful teenage daughter. Elizabeth
nearly fell over when Serena looked up calmly and shook her
head.
"No thanks, Mum. There's an English test next week, and I
want to try and set a B average in English."
"Um - right." Elizabeth walked numbly out of the room,
stunned.
*Serena* trying to set a B average in English? Serena
*wanting* to give up shopping so she could study. Life was
getting stranger by the minute.
