Destiny Series by -Angel- Episode Ten "Scott" Scott paced his Imperium apartment. He checked his watch again, but it had only passed a minute. Why does time go so slowly nowadays? he thought to himself. He was really waiting for a letter from the Imperium command. He had written them as soon as he had left Tanya, letting them know that he was no longer in command of the training squad. When he and Tanya had decided to get married, they had both become the heads of the training school for the Imperium's army. However, he decided that Tanya should take complete control of it. He had no further business with the Imperium of Darkness. What Scott wanted to do was make himself a life on Earth. Having been born half-human (his mother had been an Imperium ambassador from Earth), he had never felt totally at home in the Imperium. Tanya had felt excluded because she wasn't of noble birth. Yet when the Negaforce had emmerged, all support had gone to Queen Beryl and her warriors, Zoysite being one of them. Therefore, Tanya had reclaimed her spot in the Imperium. Scott sighed. He wanted to get Tanya out of his mind. It was over between them. Yes, he would always love her, but it was more than love that made a marriage. It was trust, devotion, and compromise. Marriage between him and Tanya never would've survived a month. A knock at the dor signaled that Scott's waiting period was over. He ran and opened the door. He quickly took the letter and opened it. He read it aloud, "Dear sir, we regret that you are resigning from the Imperium and hope you will reconsider. However, if you do not, we grant you leave provided you undergo a memory fading and return all from your previous life." Scott paused. A memory fading would mean he wouldn't remember anything of the Imperium. He wouldn't know about their secret weapons or plans. He would live a normal life, but he wouldn't be able to prevent an attack by the Imperium. And he wouldn't remember Tanya. He continued reading, "You will be allowed to select an identity. With this identity, certain knowledge and talents will be given. You will easily acquire a job, make a living, and be able to adjust. We would like you to know that we consider you a valuable source and will be severely lacking when you leave. You have been a tremendous aid to the Imperium and we shall never forget all that you have helped accomplish." Scott said. Well, it was nice to be appreciated, even if it was a little late. Nobody knew how much time and effort he had put into aiding Alan and Ann during the days when they were on Earth. He still kept in touch with them, they were now in another galaxy, joyfully living on an Earth-like planet. They were living what Scott had hoped he and Tanya would do one day. He sighed and finished the letter. "Should you wish to return to the Imperium at any time, a pendant has been provided for you. Your unconscoius mind will know if you want to return, and the pendant will appear. We are always indebted to you." Scott read. He glanced at the seal of the Imperium and noticed Marcus Ammilius had written the letter. He smiled. Marcus had told Scott that he would never amount to anything during his training days. Scott smiled. It wasn't everyday that the president of the military forces of the Imperium put his foot in his mouth. Scott packed up that morning. He would get his memory fading at noon and be transported to Earth in the afternoon. Within 24 hours, Scott's life would dramatically change. Raye coughed. Serena and Darien looked at her concerned. Raye barely had the strength to stand, let alone walk half a mile home. Darien hadn't thought to bring his car, so they had to walk home. Serena was extremely silent. Besides the fact that she had been in this twenty year old body for over an hour, she felt extremely guilty. She had lied to Darien. She couldn't bring herself to look him in the eye, let alone hold his hand. "Serena," Lita said, "You shouldn't feel guilty. Lying was necesscary for Raye. At least she isn't trying to fight her memory faze right now. She simply doesn't have the strength." Serena nodded. Raye was too distraught to hear Lita and Serena's conversation. She had thought Chad loved her. She had thought he was the one. But he wasn't. Raye stared at her toes. She was going to die in the next few hours and there wasn?t going to be anyone who would miss her. Well, she thought, that?s not true. Serena would miss her. She would miss Serena. But Serena had Darien. She knew Darien loved her. He would do anything within his power for her. Raye didn?t have anyone like that. "You?re only fourteen, Raye." Mina said in response to her thoughts. "Rarely do people meet ?the one? at fourteen." "I?m also going to die. Without anyone to love." Raye answered back. Mina sighed and was quiet for a moment. "Things will work out. You?ll see." She finally said. Raye sighed in frustration. She kept walking and crashed right into a large body. "Oh!" she said, and lost her balance. But strong arms kept her from falling. Great, I?m as clumsy as Serena, she thought. "Hey, are you okay?" a deep voice said. Raye looked up. A pair of large brown eyes stared at her. They were so mysterious, yet had a certain warmth to them. They were the sort of eyes a guard dog would have; warm and soft for its owner, but mean and cold for an intruder. "Yeah, I?m fine," she said. She regained her balance and stepped out of his embrace. "I?m sorry, I guess I wasn?t paying attention." "I noticed." he chuckled. He stared at the beautiful girl before him. Who was she? he thought to himself. "I?m sorry," Raye said and blushed. She didn?t notice Darien and Serena take a few steps away from her in order not to eavesdrop. "It?s okay. You looked deep in thought. Almost sad." he commented, then stopped. "Or maybe I shouldn?t intrude." he added. "Oh, that?s okay. I just received some bad news, that?s all." Raye said. "Mind if I ask what about? Or would you rather not say?" his calm voice reassured her. "Well..." Raye was not in habit of telling perfect strangers her problems. But this guy seemed caring enough. And besides, what was the harm? It?s not like she?d ever see him again. "I just confessed to a guy I loved him and he didn?t feel the same." she blurted out. This caught him off guard. "Oh, I didn?t realize it was so personal. I?m sorry I didn?t mean to intrude or anything." "No, it?s okay! Really!" Raye answered quickly. She put her hand on his arm. "I was itching to tell someone anyway." The guy smiled and held out his hand. "My name?s Scott." he said. Raye smiled. "Raye," she responded and shook his hand. Serena watched from a distance. "Oh, he is a hunkmeister!" she said aloud. She noticed Darien glaring at her and blushed. "Not as cute as you are, Muffin." she quickly added. Darien smiled and wrapped his arms around Serena. He drew her close so she could feel his hot breath on her face. "I know," he grinned devilishly and kissed her. She giggled. Tanya sat in her apartment totally confused. There was nothing wrong with the computer book, nothing wrong with the censors, nor the matrix. So why had the computer said Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars were at the temple. All she saw was Darien and his girlfriend, Serene. There had to be a reason, she thought. She paced the apartment, attempting to put the pieces in order. Sailor Moon?s human identity was Serena. Her DNA patterns would not change whether she was Sailor Moon or Serena. But Serena hadn?t been there either. Tanya still didn?t know Mars?s human form. She had researched all of the Negaforce documents in hopes of finding a hidden clue, but there was nothing! All she knew was Mars and Sailor Moon didn?t get along, Mars had dated Tuxedo Mask (whose DNA pattern she didn?t even have), and Mars was going to die in a few hours. If she could have just one more clue Why were Darien and his girlfriend at the temple? she asked herself. To worship, she thought logically. Serene was fourteen, but definitely didn?t LOOK fourteen, she thought suspiciously. There were a lot of people who looked older than they were. Besides, Darien could be seeing someone else. What wasn?t right? Tanya thought over their conversation. He had introduced Serene, siad something about the three of them heading to the temple . Wait! The THREE of them?! She had only seen two, Darien and Serene. Where had the other been. She opened her computer book, set it on voice mode and began talking. "Computer, I need access to your visual database." Tanya said. "The visual database contains too much information. Please specify." the computer repsonded. "Show me a visual list for the last three hours." Tanya corrected herself. In seconds, a list of visuals came onto the screen. Thank god for optical cameras, she thought. Occasionally, the optical camera that was placed in her eye stored a visual of the information. Hopefully, it had gotten a visual of the moment she was at the temple. Tanya scanned the list and saw a visual that was marked 2:36 pm. About the time she was at the temple. She opened it. "Jackpot!" she said and looked carefully at the visual. "Computer, show a heat sensor of the visual." she commanded. The computer obeyed and showed a heat scan. Any bodies of life would be shown in red. She saw three. "Computer, close heat scan and magnify to area 34." Tanya was becoming more and more excited. The visual showed a teenager pressed to the wall. She had long brown hair and a worried expression. "Computer, can you identify this individual?" Tanya asked. "Yes. This individual is Sailor Mars." the computer responded. Tanya almost jumped in the air with glee, but then asked one more question. "What is your basis for identifying this person?" Tanya asked. "DNA patterns." the computer answered. Tanya let out a big shout of joy. Finally, a clue! It was a big step forward. That was why the computer had read her patterns as Sailor Mars. The girl looked vaguely familiar. Tanya knew it would come to her. Now Tanya zeroed in on Darien?s girlfriend. "Computer, magnify area 76. Identify individual." Tanya commanded. The computer took a second to respond, then answered, "The individual is Sailor Moon, also know as Serena." Tanya froze. That was Sailor Moon. In disguise. It made so much sense. The only thing left was Darien. He had said she was his girlfriend. That meant... "Oh my god, Darien?s Tuxedo Mask!" she gasped. Raye focused on Scott. He was sitting across from her, smiling. There was something about him that made her weant to hold him and never let go. Scott felt that feeling, too. Raye could immediately interest him in anything she was talking about. He had felt compelled to take her for a sundae. Scott had been looking for a job as an architect. He had filled out at least three applications this morning, and hoped to have a job in two weeks. He didn?t find this goal very hard to attain, considering he had a masters from the technical institution and had four years outside experience. Raye brushed her long brown hair over her shoulder. Scott smiled. She was so breathtakingly gorgeous. Her deep brown eyes could reveal so much to him, sadness, happiness, pain, anger, anything. His eyes drifted down to her button nose. How cute! It was small, angled just right, and perfect (normally, Scott never even looked at a girl?s nose, but Raye?s was so perfect he couldn?t help noticing it). Scott glanced at her mouth and briefly wondered what it would be like to kiss her. "Well, you want to become an architect, you moved here two days ago, and you don?t know anyone." Raye summarized what Scott had told her about himself. "What about your family?" she asked. Scott shook his head. "My parents died a couple years ago. I was born very late in their marriage, but they were very happy. My older sister, Chelsea, got married a year ago and lives somewhere in England." Scott blushed and added, "I?m afraid I haven?t kept in touch with her." Raye smiled. She couldn?t believe she had told a perfect stranger about her life and he had told her about his. He had to be at least ten years older than her. Dating him would be impossible, not just because of the age difference, but simply the fact that she wasn?t going to live that long. Still she had to ask, "Do you have a girlfriend?" Scott grinned. "No, I don?t. I haven?t had a girlfriend since high school. I?m in career mode right now. When I find someone, I want to dedicate my full life to her." Raye nodded with understanding. She briefly wished he wasn?t in career mode, but shook her head. She couldn?t date him now. "What about you? Any other guy you have your eye on? I mean, besides the scum that broke your heart." Scott said. Raye shook her head. There hadn?t been anyone other than Chad. Well, there had been Darien, but he didn?t count. Scott sighed. "That guy was crazy. No one in his right mind would deny a beautiful, gorgeous.." Scott couldn?t stop his hand from grazing her cheek as he said this, "...wonderful woman like you. I?m sorry he broke your heart." he said genuinely. Raye blushed. No one had ever called her beautiful. Not even Darien when the probes had brought them together. "Thank you," she said quietly. He took his hand away, and she wanted it back. Raye coughed. Scott saw her with concern and noticed she had been coughing a lot. "Are you coming down with a cold?" he asked her. Raye shook her head. She couldn?t tell him she was dying, but she wouldn?t lie to him either. She changed the subject, "Tell me, do you think we all have a fate?" Scott was thrown offguard with this question. He thought a bit and answered, "Yes, I do. I think we sometimes wonder off the path to our destiny, but we will always find ourselves on it." Raye smiled. How ironic, she thought bitterly. I wonder how I can regain my destiny NOW. "Raye, everything will work out." Mina answered. Raye almost wanted to tell her to shut up, but then she?d look like a looney. Scott noticed Raye?s look of anguish. He quickly payed the waitress and took her hand. "Come on, let me show you something." he said and the left the restaurant. Tanya walked the streets. She was looking for Darien, Serena, or the girl from the visual. She smiled, thinking she would finally obtain her goal. The scouts would all be dead. She walked past the ice cream parlor. She heard a familiar voice say, "Let?s go, Raye." Tanya knew that voice. That voice had awaken her every morning and lulled her to sleep every evening. That voice had told her of his love for her and yelled at her when their opinions had conflicted. And that voice had said, "I will always love the girl living in the past." "Scott!" she whispered and turned. Out came her love holding a girl?s hand. She stared intently at him. He hadn?t changed at all. He still had those loving brown eyes, the wavy sandy blonde hair, and those broad shoulders. She looked at the girl. It was her! It was the girl from the computer?s visual! Tanya froze. And she was holding Scott?s hand. Looking lovingly into his eyes. Following him willingly. Tanya burned with anger. As fast as Scott had appeared, he disappeared in to the crowd. But Tanya didn?t bother to look for him. She knew what she needed. The girl?s name was Raye. Raye was Sailor Mars. Raye was going to die in a few hours. That was all she needed to know. "I call upon the powers of the Imperium of Darkness!" Tanya called out. Instantly she was transformed. It was time to do battle with these Sailor Scouts and defeat them once and for all!