Second Chances
by Fiona Lim
flim@hotmail.com
This is the last part of the trilogy Second Chances. Wow -
after a year and a half of trying to rewrite and correct
everything - I've finally made it. The final part has been
completed! I hope you've enjoyed this story as much as I
enjoyed writing it (well, most of it) and please write to me
with any flames, comments - anything at all. PLEASE!!!
Remember, if you hate it, tell me so I can stop writing -
that way I don't take up space on the internet when somebody
better could be writing stories. If you like it - TELL ME -
so I can keep writing more stories (and more importantly,
the rest of the series, Second Chances is part of) and if
you just want to ask questions, TELL ME so I can answer them
and I can answer the questions for everyone else in the
stories to come!
Note: 'Princess Serenity' is a formal title, the Queen of
the Moon Kingdom is called Queen Serenity, and the heir
princess is addressed as Princess Serenity.
Disclaimer: For all those who think that I'm really smart
and created all this characters by myself, just a note: I
didn't. The idea of Sailor Moon is credited to some other
genius :) , 'Second Chances' is my idea though.:)
'Without You' is the seventh song on the second disc from
the musical 'RENT' and was not written by me. I have used
it in 'Second Chances', but I do not claim, in any way, the
genius and imagination that went into creating the song or
the story 'RENT'.
Now that all the legalities are over with, ENJOY!
Chapter Seven: On a Hot Night
It was night: a cloudy, moonless, starless night. The
air was heavy with humidity. A curtain hung listlessly in
an open window; the heat was incredible. In her room,
Serena tossed and turned in bed, sweat pouring from her
forehead as nightmare images tormented her. Her jaw was
gritted shut as she refused - even in her dreams - to scream
out for help. Silent on the cushion next to the bed, Luna
watched, one paw on Serena's pillow, as if she was torn
between two choices: save her Princess the torment, and wake
her, or allow her to wake herself up. And Luna saw
something that had escaped her in the light of day. *When
did I loose Serena and find the Princess?* she wondered,
*Serena Tsukino is slowly sipping away. . . I see more
and more of Princess Serenity in her, and that use to be a
good thing, but is it really? In this day and age, IS there
a need for a Princess Serenity? Queen Serenity did not wish
for her daughter to become Queen, she wanted Serenity to be
HAPPY. . .* and at one time, Luna had thought that to
bring the Princess to her destiny - and ultimately happiness
- was to bring her to the throne, as the winds of fate had
meant her to be. *But now?* Luna sighed and walked over to
the window sill, her thoughts troubled.
A man stared up at the curtains - the golden sickle
moons that had been sewn onto the flimsy material, glistened
every now and then. The beam from a street-light made his
dark black hair gleam, before he crossed the road and
continued walking. In the silence of the night, his
footsteps seemed to echo like a door slamming after an
argument.
Darien fumbled in the dark corridor before he found his
key and managed to open his door. The digital clock on the
microwave read 4:00 am, but he didn't really feel tired. At
least not tired enough to go to sleep and battle the
nightmares - again.
Actually, he didn't really mind the nightmares, it was
the *other* dreams. Dream memories about a life he'd ceased
to hope his life might one day mirror. A life which only
reminded him what could not be. Dream memories of the Moon
Kingdom and how much Prince Endymion and Princess Serenity
had been in love. *This is crazy, I'm becoming jealous of a
past life!* Darien thought, rubbing his eyes tiredly.
"Darien?"
Darien dropped to a fighting crouch almost automatically,
"Who's there?" he demanded, staring around the darkened
room, he backed against the wall till he hit the light
switch and illumination flooded the room. A girl stood in
the middle of the room, her long black hair was tied back in
a braid that ended at her waist. Darien rubbed his eyes
again, "Who are you?" he asked, something niggled at the
back of his head, "Do I *know* you?"
The girl stepped forward, and Darien frowned as he saw
something on her forehead. Like the marks that were on the
Star Guardians, only this was a full moon encircling a star:
with the left side as a black crescent moon, making the
symbol look like an eclipse.
"Don't you recognize me, Darien?" the girl asked, then
sighed, "I guess you wouldn't. Perhaps it runs in your
family," she laughed bitterly, then sighed, shaking her
head, "I was always one to hold grudges." She said, perhaps
slightly sadly, "And this isn't taking us further forwards
in understanding." She stared at him curiously, "You don't
know who I am do you, Darien?" she asked, "I knew your
brother, Caraein - though he probably didn't know me. It
doesn't matter now in any case, after all, it HAS been
centuries." She laughed, though it was a sad sort of laugh.
"I - I don't have a brother." Darien said slowly, "I'm
an orphan. My entire family died while I was young." He
said.
The girl nodded, "I'm sorry." The girl said symphaticly, "I
remember how much you loved your family. It must have been
terrible when you found out your father betrayed Earth to
join the Negaforce." She added.
Darien sat down, not knowing what to do, "You obviously know
I was - am - Prince Darien Endymion." He said finally.
"Of course." She said, looking surprised, "Even without
your armor, you scream of Royal Blood, and anybody with as
much Earth Energy as you HAS to be somebody special." She
sat down onto a chair, "My name is Arien - I use to be the
Lady Arien of the Moon Court." She smiled ruefully, "We
knew each other slightly, I helped you once with advice
about how to talk to Princess Serena." Darien felt
something twist inside him at Serena's name, and he felt the
black mood that had been partially brushed aside by this
weird incident, return.
"Listen - you have to listen." Arien said suddenly,
standing up and starting to pace, "Agein will wonder where I
am soon. I said I was walking. As it is -" she winced and
for an instant, Darien could have sworn that something
flashed around her neck - like a collar? "Damn, he's
starting to worry." Arien said, swallowing slowly, "Look,
the monsters - they come from Agein." She winced again,
"He's very powerful. But he isn't bad, not really." Her
breath was coming more heavily now, as if she was struggling
to breathe, "For some reason, he thinks that if he destroys
you, the princesses and the Sailor Scouts, I'll fall in love
with him."
Darien sat there for a second, not knowing what to say or
do.
"I should have known this was the first place you would
run to!" a male voice roared.
Darien's head jerked up and he saw a man with dark
gold/brown hair and dark brown eyes, taller than him -
easily past six foot - dressed in everyday blue jeans and a
shirt. He looked like a human being, if it wasn't for the
mark on his forehead - identical to Arien's, only this moon
was black and red.
"Agein -" Arien ran forward, "Please -"
"I'm not listening to pleas anymore, Arien." Agein
snapped, and pointed one finger at Darien, "This will
probably show my hand sooner than expected, but no matter, I
can kill him now instead of later." The bolt of red octane
light flew straight into Darien's chest before he could
move.
With a 'thud' Darien was thrown against the wall. Blood
poured out of the hole in his chest as he slid slowly down
the wall, leaving a bloody track behind him.
Faintly, Darien heard Agein speak softly, "Come Arien."
"NO!" Arien sounded like she was crying, "Oh god, he's
dying!" she cried.
"Correction, he is already dead." Agein replied,
"*Octarine Sopanis Collval*." The words were spat out and
then there was silence.
Darien lay there, feeling his life pour out of him.
"Serena." He whispered, *Oh God, Arien said Agein wanted to
kill the princesses and the Sailor Scouts.* he thought,
"Serena." His last failure, the breaking of the oath he'd
kept for centuries. *Well, I guess it's to be expected, I've
failed her in everything else.* he thought, sadly *Maybe
it's best that I die, to atone for making her so miserable.*
not that he had much of a choice about the dying bit -
***
Serena sat up with a start, her pajamas an unnatural
second skin from sweating. A cool breeze made her curtains
flutter slightly - it was about to start raining. Luna
snorted slightly and turned over on the cushion she used as
a bed. Serena sat there for several seconds, not knowing
what woke her, then she remembered. *That man attacking
Darien. He knew who Darien was.* she thought, the
nightmare had interrupted a nice enough dream she was having
about being allowed to eat anything she wanted, and not gain
any weight. Luna turned over, snorted and woke up.
"Serena? Why are you awake?" she asked sleepily.
Serena stared at Luna for a second, not sure whether she was
awake or still asleep really. She was about to fall back
onto her bed and try to return to sleep when the thought
came. Clear, and definitely not from her...
*Oh God, Arien said Agein wanted to kill the princesses and
the Sailor Scouts.*
She knew then that the dream was startling, clearly real.
"Move Luna. Darien's in trouble." Serena said, standing
up in bed and hurriedly dressing herself, then, rethinking,
she transformed and leaped out the window - it wouldn't do
if her parents found her slipping out of the house, they'd
spend hour after hour lecturing her, demanding, shouting and
so on, and time was important. . .
*Very important.*
Sailor Moon leaned against the gate of the house,
pressing a hand to her head. It was throbbing - but not a
headache, an urgency, something pushing her, telling her
that soon it would be too late...
"Sailor Moon? What's wrong?" Luna asked, jumping onto
the gate.
Sailor Moon shook her head, "Darien is in a lot of trouble."
She said, vaulting over the fence and taking off at a run.
"First she doesn't want to be Sailor Moon, so I have to
drag her everywhere. Then she does, and she has to do it in
the middle of the night." Luna grumbled to herself as she
followed.
Darien knew exactly why he was still straining with all
that remained of his will, to stay alive - clinging to the
last strands of life. In the slim hope that he would be
found, at least long enough for him to gasp out the
knowledge of who the enemy of the Scouts was. He knew he
was going to die. Each beat of his heart pumped out his
blood, and there had been A LOT of heartbeats. He was
dying. *Maybe it's better this way. I can't live without
Serena, and this way, she doesn't have to see me around and
remember how much I hurt her.* he thought, and felt his
grip on life slipping. He was so tired... *I wonder whether
I'll see my life flash past before my eyes.* he wondered as
his eyes drooped. It was so cold.
Sailor Moon didn't even bother to knock on the door,
she blew it off its hinges and ran in. The urgency in her
head was becoming a major migraine, *Even when I'm not
seeing him, I hurt.* she thought sarcastically, *Will I
EVER get him out from under my skin?* She walked cautiously
into Darien's living room - expecting the worst.
Everything was normal, several windows were open, and
the curtains blew inwards as the cool breeze foretold the
rain. The room lights were on, and everything was as neat
as Serena remembered it from the last time she'd been here.
Except for one thing. There hadn't been blood trailing off
the walls, and Darien certainly hadn't been leaning against
one wall, blood blending into his black shirt and covering
his hand in tendrils where it was clutched against a wound
over his chest. His eyes were shut, and his chest rose
slowly. The smell of energy drainage was strong enough to
sink a knife into, even Sailor Moon could feel it; she knew
Sailor Mars would have felt it a block away.
"Sailor Moon -!" Luna ran into the building and froze.
"Luna, use the Sailor Scout Communicator and get Ami and
Rei here." Sailor Moon snapped, dropping her pink, credit
card sized communicator near Luna.
"But he's dying -" for the first time in all of Serena's
knowledge of Luna, the guardian was speechless.
"The damage is amazing, I'm not sure whether I have
enough energy to hold him back." Serena whispered, taking
the broach in the middle of her ribbon off.
She changed back into her street clothes as she opened the
broach. The Silver Imperium Crystal glowed as she
concentrated, "Luna - call Ami and Rei. I need Ami to run a
scan, and there's a spell that isn't Negaforce based at work
here." Serena urged the cat as she concentrated fiercely -
*Please let me have the energy. I don't know how much I can
give before I drain myself totally.* she thought, and said
the key words: "MOON HEALING POWER!"
Serena fell to her knees: this wasn't the gentle healing
power that she'd used to heal the four Sisters, or the
healing power that had cured the human carriers of the Seven
Crystals. This was a blast of pure healing power, it was
the fastest, surest - *only* - way to keep Darien away from
death. Except Serena didn't have enough energy to keep the
blast going forever. She wouldn't have the energy to heal
him completely. Darkness surrounded her on all sides, and
she let herself fall into the darkness, her entire world
narrowed to the energy pouring from her. . .
***
There was no up or down. No inside or outside. There
was only the crystal, the bitter sweet pull of energy. An
unsteady *thump, thump, thump*. Vaguely, she labeled that
sound as heart beats. There was something else, a leaking,
something not right. She concentrated, energy. More
energy, she had to stop the leaking. She had to steady the
beating... The pull of energy became stronger, and she gasped
in pain. The world was fading for her, she knew without a
doubt, that the one on the other end of all she was giving
needed more energy, needed so much more to be healed. To
stay alive. She knew that she couldn't stop now, not yet.
She must go on, or the person *He - Darien* - would die.
Something nudged at the back of her neck, a thought?
Somebody trying to tell her to stop? She felt her own heart
falter, and she knew it was time to stop, or she herself
would die, but HIS - *Darien* - heartbeats were faltering as
well, the leaking was taking it's toll. She couldn't stop,
not if he would die. If he died, her life would be. . .
*Empty.*
***
Jason sat up in bed, knowing that Verena was dying. He
didn't bother to correct the name, Serena and Verena - one,
like they had once been two Princesses. It answered the
question of those vague memories he kept having about two
princesses. Jason felt Verena's soul cry out again, and
came fully awake. *Dying. Energy - she's dying!* he
thought incoherently, transforming almost instantly into
Guardian as he followed the cry - to Darien's apartment.
Without bothering to think, he ran out of his apartment, and
straight past the open door.
Serena was kneeling on the floor, blue eyes closed, face
serene even as her life-force was drained by the Silver
Imperium Crystal clasped in her hands. Darien was suspended
half a meter in the air, light flaring through him, till
Guardian could only see his outline. Guardian didn't bother
to think, he kneeled next to Serena and grasped the Blue
Sapphire pendant where it hung on the Moon Necklace.
*Verena, my beloved. Never forget me.* he thought sadly -
using the power of a Royal Stone would kill him like it had
so many others, but to save the life of another, that was
the greatest sacrifice, the purest way to end.
His world collapsed as he poured all his concentration
to keep Verena and Serena from dying. And in that dream
like state, he could have sworn he felt Verena's head press
against his chest and her arms around him, like the last
time they'd met before he'd been turned to the Negaforce.
*My one love. My love.* he thought, *At least I meet you
one last time before I died.*
*No, Jadeite.* he felt her ghostlike hands lift his
face, *Using the Blue Sapphire if you are truly in love,
will not kill. It cannot kill those who are in love.* blue
eyes looking at him solemnly with that buried hurt that he
wanted to take away so she would never be unhappy, *Are you
in love, Jadeite? Do you truly love me.* she stood at the
other side of a chasm now, a chasm that was so wide, and so
deep that he knew if he fell in, he would never come out
again. *Jadeite -* she held out her hand, *Come to me.*
he saw her eyes, and her hand outstretched, *If you love me,
take my hand.* He ran forward, reaching for her hand, all
the while knowing that the chasm was too wide. He would
fall, but he didn't care. He would fall, but she would
know, now, that he had loved her. Falling... Falling...
Falling...
Hardness under him. *That is floor.* Breeze blowing.
*Feeling.* Girls talking. *Sound.* Jason opened his eyes
slowly, and found that he wasn't dead. He was half sprawled
on Darien's floor. Other than feeling like he'd just run a
thousand miles than climbed Mount Everest, killed several
Negaverse monsters, than cleaned out his wardrobe, he felt
alright.
"What's - what's going on?" he mumbled, pulling himself
up - he was in his civilian clothes, but Serena already knew
the secret of who he was, so it didn't matter.
Michiru, Haruka, Ami, Rei, Mina and Lita were in the
room - mentally he translated: Sailor Neptune, Uranus,
Mercury, Mars, Venus and Jupiter - as was Darien. Darien's
clothes were bloodstained, and he looked as bad as Jason
felt.
Michiru turned when he spoke, her face looked strained, "The
ambulance is on the way. They'll want to take you with
Darien when they come for Serena." She said shortly.
It was then that Jason realized there was a slim, thin,
blond headed girl lying on the floor, her hands in the
classic corpse position, "No." he murmured as he went to
her, "Is she -?"
"She isn't dead." Ami said in a dead voice that only
came from so much exhaustion that she could no longer bring
up the strength for emotions, "It took all of your energy
and almost all of ours, but she isn't dead."
Jason kneeled down next to her, taking her hand, "A coma?"
Haruka nodded, "We - Rei, Haruka, Lita, Michiru, Mina and I
that is - would like to thank you. We almost got here too
late. Would have. She - Serena - was draining herself to
nothing trying to keep Darien alive. If you - I mean
Guardian - hadn't given her your energy, she'd have died
long before we came. As it was, she didn't take half of
your energy, she kept channeling it to healing Darien."
Ami's voice had a sort of wonder in it, "She knew what she
was doing too, when she did it. Luna said that Serena would
have known the whole time that she was draining her life-
force in healing Darien. That Serena told her to call us
because she didn't have enough to heal, only to keep him
from dying long enough for us to help."
Jason was too tired to take the information at anything but
face value. It didn't surprise him that the Sailor Scouts
took him being Guardian at face value as well, if they were
as tired as he was, thinking was too much effort. The tall
warrior kept his hold on the cold, small hand in his hands,
willing it to cling onto life.
"You love her very much, don't you?" a quiet voice
asked.
Jason looked up across to where Darien was sitting, his hand
almost touching Serena's, but not quite.
"With all my life." Jason replied, and opened his mouth
to say more, but the medics were thundering up the stairs,
and into the room. The first, a youngish man with dark
brown, wavy hair and soft brown eyes, looked at the blood on
the wall, then the three of them - Serena, Darien and Jason.
"What happened here?"
Mina answered for them, "It was those weird monsters, sir."
She said, acting the part of a confused, unhappy, bewildered
teenager, "We were going to visit Darien when we heard this
noises, and when we went in, the monster had already shot
him, and he was bleeding. Serena tried to stop the monster,
and she got drained, like in the Sailor V comics." Five
more medics came in, and Jason allowed one to help him onto
a stretcher, "The Sailor Scouts appeared, and the monster
took off with them in pursuit."
Jason didn't hear the rest of the conversation, the world
was swimming, and he didn't have the will power to stay
awake any longer...
***
She didn't want to leave the safety, the painlessness
of the darkness. But she knew she couldn't stay there, not
forever, not for long. She had to rise from the darkness of
unconsciousness and sleep.
For several minutes, she didn't know where she was, but
the smell of disinfectant was too hard to miss, and she knew
almost immediately that she was in a hospital bed, in a
room. A machine was beeping, and a dull ache in her temples
that throbbed to the beeping told her that she had a
headache. She opened her eyes slowly, they felt like they
had lead weights suspended on the eyelashes. She was in a
room filled with machines. A nurse ran into the room just
as she struggled to a sitting position.
"She's awake!" the nurse smiled brightly at Serena, "We
thought we'd loose you during some of those days, Ms
Tsukino." She confided, "Your family and friends have been
waiting outside for hours now since the doctor said that you
might wake up today. Do you feel up to seeing some of
them?"
Serena nodded speechlessly. The memories were flooding
back, mostly of thinking that Darien was going to die. *Not
that I'd care or anything.* she told herself firmly,
ignoring the voice in the back of her mind that whispered:
*Never that. Oh God, never that.*
"Serena?" her parents - Tenji and Elizabeth Tsukino -
rushed into the room, closely followed by Sammy, "Oh Serena,
we thought we'd loose you!" Elizabeth said, hugging Serena.
"Why were you at *that* boy's apartment at such a late
hour anyway?" her father demanded almost immediately,
showing how much he cared in worry and anger; he hugged her
as well, and Sammy clutched her hand.
"You had us all going there, sis." Sammy murmured.
Serena nodded, letting their talk wash over her, "Is - is
Darien alright?" she asked finally, "And Jason?"
"They weren't as badly attacked as you were by that
Negaverse monster." Tenji said, "The doctors were really
puzzled with that Darien though. It looked like he'd lost
enough blood to be dead, and he only had several broken ribs
and a sprained ankle." Serena nodded. "And who is this
Jason to you?" Tenji demanded in his next breath, "He's
older than that Darien is!"
Her parents finally left, and the nurse poked her head
back in briefly to check on her before allowing Lita, Ami,
Mina, Rei, Michiru and Haruka in. Her friends came bearing
comic books, food, flowers and - in the case of Ami -
textbooks and the homework Serena had missed. Serena had to
smile at that.
"Have you got any readings from the fire?" Serena asked
the moment the nurse had left.
Rei looked slightly guilty, "I talked to Darien for this
information, Serena." She admitted, "The people who
attacked Darien I mean. Their names are Agein and Arien.
Darien said that both of them originate from before the Last
Battle." No need to ask what the 'Last Battle' was, "And
the Holy Fire confirmed that, and also, from what we can
tell, they're centuries old. Old enough that they were
there when the Moon Kingdom ended and Queen Serenity didn't
send them forward in time like she did our souls. From what
Darien said and what I could gather, Arien was a lady who
was saved by Agein - who is some sort of Mage. He was at
the Moon Court during the last days as an emissary from
another Kingdom - I think. The Fire wasn't very accurate
about most of this. The only thing I know for sure is that
he's at least as strong as Queen Beryl was. Arien use to
love Prince Endymion's older brother: Caraein, and Agein's
in love with Arien." Rei shrugged, "I think that Agein
thinks if he can destroy all the last remnants of the people
Arien associates with Prince Caraein, she'll fall in love
with him."
"And by last associates, he means us." Lita added
needlessly.
Serena sighed, "There's no chance I'll ever have a peaceful,
normal life, is there?" she whined.
"There's more." Luna poked her head out from Ami's back-
pack, "The first Scout meeting after the battle, the Star
Guardians turned up and introduced themselves formally as
their alter egos: Jason - Guardian - Nathan - Red - Maren -
Comet - and Zella who is Star."
"Not only that - " Mina put in excitedly, "You WON'T
believe who the Star Guardians ALSO are!" she went on
before Serena could say a word, "Maren is Malachite, Zella,
is Zoisite, Nathan is Nephrite and not only is Jason SINGLE
but he's also -"
"Jadeite. Yeah I know." Serena finished.
They all face faulted.
"How did you know?" Lita finally asked.
Serena sighed, and settled back, "This is going to be a long
story." She said, and told them, starting with the dream-
that-wasn't-a-dream where she met Verena.
It was almost after visiting hours by the time she
finished. The six other sailor scouts all sat there,
stunned, Michiru was the first to speak.
"So you are saying that Princess Verena is the heir of
the Moon Kingdom, and that you and her have been in the same
body because there was a mistake made by the Imperium
Crystal."
Serena nodded, "Our minds were so alike, none of us would
know anything, except something happened that Verena and I
would have reacted differently with. And since then, our
minds have been parting. There's a way - Jadeite knows how
- for Verena to be brought out. And it has to happen
quickly, from what I could gather, it's becoming dangerous
for us to stay together."
"Two minds cannot stay in one place." Ami agreed.
Mina sighed, "So Jason was Verena's true-love. And they
were going to be married." A strange, sad look came into
her eyes before she went on, "This is all so amazing. All
those dreams we had, all those memories we remembered. I
always thought we saw *you*, Princess Serena, but it was
Princess Verena we protected, *she* was the Princess
Serenity."
Artemis was curled up in her lap and he looked up as he
spoke, "This is as much a surprise to you girls as it was to
me and Luna." He said, stumbling and making grammatical
errors - something which showed exactly HOW much he didn't
know how to say what he was saying, "The most we got before
this was several - at least, *I* got several confusing
dreams with two princesses in them. Too vague to take
anything from them." He looked up guiltily, "I'm afraid
that you girls are right. Luna and I seem to have our
dreams *after* they're needed."
Serena ran a hand down Artemis's back soothingly, "Don't
feel guilty, you two." She said, "It's not your fault.
*None* of us knew about this. Not even I did."
The nurse poked her head back into the room, "I'm afraid
that I've got ask you girls to leave. Visiting hours is
over. From now on, only close family are allowed to visit."
She said.
They all trooped out, amid promises to return as soon as
they all could. Serena leaned her head against the pillow,
closing her eyes and letting herself fall back into sleep.
Sometimes it seemed as if the only time she could truly
relax and forget was in her sleep - and even then, the
responsibilities were floating at the back of her head.
The clock said it was 6:00 PM; the hospital ward was
quiet. Visiting hours was over for the day. Darien sat
next to the bed, watching Serena as she breathed. It felt
good to be near her, he'd tried to leave several times, but
every time he thought to leave, he'd stopped and come back.
Visions of her breath faltering, her dying - him not being
there to say goodbye, to beg her forgiveness, to call for
help - seemed to zoom through his brain.
"She's this way because of me." Darien muttered, "She's
here because of me." He closed his eyes, forcing the tears
away, "How can I claim to love her when by saving me, she's
almost dead?" he wished he could hold her hand, but he knew
she wouldn't like that - and he couldn't bring himself to
hurt her more - especially now.
The clock read 1:00 AM when Darien jerked his head up,
realizing he'd fallen asleep. Everything was quiet, and the
only light was from the half moon outside the window.
Darien stared at it for several minutes. It would be the
Chinese Moon Festival soon. Serena's favorite past-time
during the festival had been to go to the town festival and
eat as many moon-cakes as she could get her hands on. He
smiled slightly as he remembered the few festivals they'd
gone to. "Oh Serena." He murmured, staring at her sleeping
form.
She stirred slightly and her eyelids flickered, panic rose
in him as he realized she was waking up. He couldn't bare
to see her turn from him. Not again. He rose to leave.
But something clasped his fingers and wouldn't let go. He
looked down and saw her slender fingers holding tightly.
Darien stood there, frozen in indecision. Her flesh -
so warm against his! But she wouldn't want to see him.
Groaning inwardly, Darien tried to pull his hand away.
"No -" her voice, mumbled, heavy with sleep made him
stop, "Please don't..." she pulled his arm and then curled
around it, holding it tightly, "Don't leave me. Please - so
alone..." there was pain in her voice, and he saw a tear
trickle down her face.
Darien sat down in the chair, knowing that he should leave,
that Serena was dreaming, but he also saw that she was
scared and lonely - if only in her dreams - and he couldn't
leave her. Not now.
Nurse Sarah peeked into the Tsukino room. There had
been a lot of fuss for the little girl in there. Another
Negaverse monster had attacked a group of teenagers and
several adults. The girl in there was one of three
casualties. The Sailor Scouts had managed to save her and
the two men who had also been attacked, but the medics who
had brought her in had said she'd taken the brunt of the
attack to save the other two. Sarah smiled slightly when
she saw Darien Chiba - the dark haired of the two males -
sitting next to her bed, his hand clutched by Serena. She
wondered if the two were dating. It was obvious that Darien
was in love with Serena - though the age difference was at
least six years.
"Mr. Chiba?" Sarah asked, shaking him softly so as not
to wake Serena.
He woke up as soon as her hand touched his shoulder, his
eyes alert straight away, "Is Serena -?" he asked, his
first thought to the girl as his first glance was, to make
sure she was still safe.
"Ms Tsukino is fine, Mr. Chiba. Her recovery is
progressing quite smoothly." Sarah assured in her best
'professional voice', "Which is less than I can say for you,
Mr. Chiba. Your injuries might be less than Ms Tsukino's,
but they will heal much better if you remain in bed." She
added sternly.
Darien nodded and pulled his hand gently away from Serena's
clasp, "Thank you, Nurse. I was just leaving, I only came
in for several minutes." He said, pulling himself up.
He limped out of the room slowly - his recovery was just as
amazing as the girl's. He'd been diagnosed with a broken
ankle and several broken ribs when he'd come in, but that
had been rediagnosed as a sprained ankle and bruised ribs,
both of which were healing far faster than Sarah had ever
seen.
