Ice Princess - Chapter 7
by Athena
nikita@sgi.net


O.k. here it is....the final installment. I really hope you've all enjoyed 
this one, I know that I have even though it has taken me forever to get it
done. I just want to thank everyone who has ever written me about this and
any other of my stories...I can't tell you how much that means to me. Even
my husband is impressed that I get so much mail, so thank you!

O.k. next I am going to try and finish Secrets Revealed and I also have a
hentai in progress as well, but I'm not sure about when either of those 
will be out because I am moving back in with my parents until my house is
done being built, but I am taking my computer with me, so hopefully, I 
won't disappoint anyone for long.

As always, a huge thanks to Alicia Blade. She is so supportive of all of
my works and I don't know what I would do without her. She's such a great
friend!!!!! Please read her works...you won't be disappointed.

O.k. I think that's everything. AS always, the usual disclaimers apply:
Sailor Moon isn't mine and I don't in anyway, shape or form claim her to
be.  (Although, there are days when I wish that I was her!)

Love and Peace

Athena

***************************************************************************

Slowly Serena, slid to a stop on the ice. It was well past eleven at night
so the rink had long since been deserted for the night. But Serena was happy
for the solitude. She came to the rink about an hour ago to think and relax.
Skating was the one place on earth that she found total happiness. But now,
as the minutes slowly ticked away and the time to meet Diamond drew closer,
she could not seem to find the inner peace that skating usually gave her.
Now at a complete stop, she looked around at the ice, not really seeing it
as her mind once again drifted to the impending battle.

It was going to be a tough battle...the toughest any of them have ever 
fought in their lives. Truth was, she was abolutely terrified. She didn't
want anyone to die, especially herself. Not now, not after she had finally
put her life back together and had found people that loved her and that she
loved in return. But she couldn't help to be frightened. It wasn't going 
to be a fair fight. But then again, it never was when the Negaverse was
involved. But that's not what scared her. No, what scared her was the power
force that lay behind Diamond. She was fairly certain that she could defeat
Diamond, but her gut instinct told her that there was more to Diamond and
his powers than just what appeared on the surface. It was the unknown that
was the deadliest. It was the unknown that frightened her to death.

Serena looked down at her watch. Eleven forty-five. She had better get 
herself on over to the Park. They were all just going to meet at the entrance
and then go on in and wait for Diamond. She sighed as she took one last look
at the ice in front of her and then she raised her fingers to her lips,
kissed them and then gestured farewell to her first love for what she 
figured would be the last time. Then she turned and disappeared into the 
silence.

***************************************************************************

Tuxedo Mask was worriedly pacing in front of the entrance to the park while
the others stood there watching him. They were waiting on Sailor Moon and
there was still no sign of her. Finally, unable to watch Tuxedo Mask continue
his pace, Sailor Mars said,

"Enough already, Darien. You're making me sick." Darien just glared at her,
but did stop his pacing. He huffed again as he looked at his watch, just
where was she anyway? Then, there was a sudden sparkle of silver light and
Sailor Moon materialized in front of them looking grim. Darien was so 
relieved to see her that he growled,

"Just where the hell have you been?" Sailor Moon didn't bother to look at
him as she responded,

"I was at the rink." But she said no more. Her senses were already attuned
to a large amount of dark energy materializing in the park. She knew
that Darien was in the middle of reading her the riot act, but she merely
held up a hand and he stopped his tirade as she said,

"He's here." Then without another word she started to walk into the park.
No one said a word as they followed their leader into the park. It seemed
as if no one dared to breathe because the air was eerily silent and still.

When they reached the clearing next to the lake, Sailor Moon stopped. She
stood still for a moment and then she gasped as she was hit with an invisible
wave of negative energy.

"Sailor Moon? What's wrong?" Tuxedo Mask asked, his concern evident. But she
didn't have to answer because suddenly, Diamond appeared before them, floating
high above them. He looked down on his prey and made a tsking noise as he
addressed Sailor Moon.

"Sailor Moon," he drawled out, "I'm disappointed in you. I thought that this
was to be a challenge between the two of us. What's the matter, are you 
afraid that you can't beat me without your friends?"

Sailor Moon growled with frustration and then forced herself to calm down.
She couldn't let her emotions get out of control now, she needed to focus
on him. So it was with strained sweetness that she said,

"Of course not, they are just here to ensure a fair battle. After all, I 
don't want to be double crossed and have one of you lackies show up to
help you win."

Behind her though, Tuxedo Mask grabbed her and turned her around to face
him. Then he fairly yelled at her when he said,

"If you think that I am gonna let you face him alone, you're crazy!" The 
others nodded their agreement. But Sailor Moon just smiled at him and said,

"Just watch my back." And then she disappeared. The others called out her
name and she instantly reappeared only feet in front of Diamond, now hovering
in the air as well.

"Shall we?" she asked, her large staff raised in a battle stance. 

Diamond just grinned, but he didn't even raise a hand. Instead, the dark
moon on his forehead turned into a third eye and he said,

"You are a fool, Sailor Moon.  I'll defeat you simply by using my powers of
persuasion on you. Afterall, it is me that you love. You want to be my
Queen." 

Sailor Moon couldn't move. She felt the icy fingers of his black powers 
reach her and envelope her. Her mind screamed agaist the intrusion. Somewhere,
she thought that she heard the others screaming her name, but she couldn't
be sure. She felt heavy. Vaguely she heard Diamond laughing in the far off
distance and something about a double cross being yelled, but she couldn't
be sure. Part of her mind knew that she had to resist him, but the other
part wondered what to resist.  Serena began to feel herself give into his
power when suddenly, Sapphire appeared and held out his hand to her. She
was so surprised that she smiled.

"Sapphire?" she asked in wonder. The vision of Sapphire smiled at her and
then said,

"You must fight him, darling. You're are strong enough. Take my hand and 
trust me." 

Serena stared at him for another moment and then reached out to him. The 
moment her hand made contact with his, Diamond's hold on her vanished and
Serena's head cleared immediately. Diamond screamed with frustration.

"No! This can't be! You were under my control."

But Sailor Moon merely smiled a deadly smile at him and said,

"No, you can't control me. There's no love there and love is the only force
that can conquer me!" With that said, she swung her glaive around and called
out,

"Moon Distortion Strike!"

Diamond, still shocked that his control had been broken, screamed as the
distortion waves rocked him. He raised his hands and sent out a blast of 
energy at her. She stood still and held her glaive out in front of her,
silently whispering the words that would cause her glaive to absorb the 
dark energy and then redirect it back at him. Diamond screamed as he was
hit by his own black energy. Sailor Moon raised her glaive to call out 
a final attack, but was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a hooded
figure. 

"You are a useless fool, Diamond." Diamond and Sailor Moon both gasped at 
the dark figure and Diamond raised his hand in a pleading gesture and said,

"Please Wiseman, I can win this battle. Please give me a chance."

"No Diamond! I've had it with you and all of  your failures! You couldn't
hurt a fly. No begone!!!!" Wiseman sent a dark blast of energy from his 
crystal ball and Diamond screamed as the black energy destroyed him. With
his last breath Diamond looked over at Sailor Moon and said,

"I did love you." Then he closed his eyes and fell to the earth below. A
moment later, his body disappeared in a sparkle of white light. 

Sailor Moon continued to float where she had been, stunned again as she
stared at where Diamond had been. He loved her? she thought. Was it possible
for someone as evil as Diamond to love? But her thoughts were interrupted
by someone calling out her name. She looked down and saw that the others
were currently engaged in a huge battle with demons that had to have been
sent by the Wiseman. Sailor Moon blinked and then reality came crashing
back as she was hit by a blast from the Wiseman. She screamed and fell to 
the earth below and landed with a thud. The Wiseman's evil laughter drowned
out Tuxedo Mask's call to her. Now as she laid on the ground, the Wiseman
came to hover above her and said,

"You too are a fool, Sailor Moon.  Now I will beat you and then destroy 
this miserable planet and then silence shall remain!!!"

He raised his crystal ball to deliver the death blow, but what he failed to
notice was the small crescent moon that was already blazing on Sailor Moon's
forehead. And before he could release the energy, Sailor Moon lept to her 
feet and said,

"I don't think so......COSMIC MOON POWER!!!!!!" 

The crescent moon pulsed on her forehead and then the blinding light burst 
forth from it as the power from the crystal was released and arced towards 
the Wiseman. But he only laughed as he released his own dark attack on her.
The two forms of good and evil clashed and caused a great rumble. The others
had just finished off the last of the demons and were now watching the two
warriors do battle for the ultimate victory. Meanwhile, Sailor Moon felt
her energy rapidly draining. The dark energy of the Wiseman was strong,
stronger than she thought possible. She realized that this had been her 
fear.....not enough power to defeat the pure form of evil that she had known
that was lurking in the background. Her mind flew rapidly, searching for
suggestions as she willed more of her own life force into the power of the
crystal. Then it came to her.....the other scouts had power of their own and
combined with hers, it would be invincible. Quickly she called out to the 
scouts telepathically,

"Sailor Scouts.....HELP ME! I need your power."

The girls stood stunned for a moment, just staring at Sailor Moon and watching
as the dark energy was getting dangerously closer to her. Meanwhile, Tuxedo
Mask was half out of his mind with frustration, grief and worry. Then
he turned with a frantic look at the others and said,

"WE have to do something! She's not strong enough." 

His statement seemed to snap the scouts out of their stunned state because
they all nodded and Jupiter said,

"RIGHT!!"

Tuxedo Mask and the Guard all gasped in surprise when the remaining scouts
all joined hands in a circle and called out,

"Mercury Star Power!"
"Mars Star Power!"
"Jupiter Star Power!"
"Venus Star Power!"

They watched as the energy from each all joined and then raced towards 
Sailor Moon. Once Sailor Moon felt their energy hit her, smiled and called
out,

"Cosmic Moon Power Unite!"

There was another burst of white energy and the joined powers of all the
scouts now easily drove through the dark power from the Wiseman and enveloped
him in its light. He screamed as the raw power of pure light and goodness
over took him.

"NOOOOO! This can't be!!! I am unstoppable!!!!" 

And then he was gone.

Everything was still for a moment as they all took in the battle. Then the 
spell was broken and they all ran for Sailor Moon for a group hug. Tears
of joy streamed down faces of both man and woman alike.  No one was immune
to the great sense of joy and relief that now swept through them. Tuxedo
Mask swept Sailor Moon up in his arms and swung her around. They both 
laughed gaily, but when Tuxedo Mask set Sailor Moon down, her knees buckled
and her eyes rolled back and she collasped as the strain from using the
crystal.

"Serena!! Serena, answer me!!" Darien screamed as he shook her trying to 
elicit a response from her, but none came.

                     *********************************

She couldn't hear him. The blackness that had claimed her now turned 
as bright as a warm sunny day. Dazed, Serena walked slowly through what
could only be described as clouds, but soon the sounds of children's laughter
reached her. Curious, she hurried along to find the source of the sound.
Suddenly, the clouds cleared and she found herself standing in the middle
of a playground. However, it wasn't any ordinary playground. Everything
around her was white and shimmered a golden color as the sun shone upon
its surface. There were no children playing though. It should have been an
eery sight, but strangely, it wasn't. It felt safe, warm and....like home.
Slowly Serena walked over to an empty swing, sat down on it and unconsciously
began to push herself back and forth as she continued to look around. 

"Hello, Serena."

The sudden male voice startled her and she quickly stood up and whirled
around to confront him. But when she realized who was standing
behind her, she gasped in surprised and then ran directly into his arms.

"Sapphire!" she breathed.

He hugged her back tightly and held her for a moment before kissing the 
top of her head and then releasing her. Serena smiled happily back up at
him and said,

"I can't believe it's you! What are you doing here? I mean, today you
helped me defeat Diamond. How could you do that? I mean, are you still
dead? You're not, right?? You came back!"

Sapphire smiled down at her, but there was sadness in his smile as he said,

"My beautiful Serena.... No, I am not back again. I was able to help you
today because your subconscious called upon my memory to help you fight
off my brother's power. As you said to him, there was no love there between
the two of you, but there was love between you and I and it was that love
that was able to break the spell."

Serena looked confused and asked,

"But...how are you here now? Is...is this a dream?"

Sadly Sapphire shook his head and said,

"No Serena....this isn't a dream."

"But..."

"Serena...you used up all of your power in the battle with the wiseman...."

Serena just stared at him a moment and then she gasped as she brought her
hand to cover her mouth and then the tears started to flow as she said,

"You mean...you mean that I'm...I'm..." but she couldn't finish the sentence.
Sapphire slowly nodded. He let Serena cry for a moment before he said,

"I have come to offer you a choice....either I can escort you to the other
side, where we can be together......Or I can take you back. It's your choice
Serena. It wasn't your time yet, but you have fought a hard battle and....
I miss you."

Serena mind whirled with the information that he had just given her. She
looked up into his blue eyes, eyes that had invaded her dreams every night
since he was killed, that is until she met......Darien. Darien. How could
she have forgotten about him?? He needed her, didn't he?

In response to her inner turmoil, some of the shimmering color of the 
playground melted away and an image from earth was revealled to her. Serena's
heart ached at the sight she saw. She saw Darien craddling her lifeless
body, clutching it to himself as he cried and begged her to return to him.
Tears slowly started to stream down her face again. She saw her friends
crying next to him as well. How could she let all of that go, when she finally
just found it again? 

The image disappeared and Sapphire quietly said,

"He's waiting."

She looked up at him through her tears and said,

"I'm sorry, Sapphire, but....I have to go."

"I know.....Serena, I'll always love you."

"And I'll always love you." 

They enbraced once again and then suddenly the blackness claimed her once
again.
                  *********************************

"Serena....please, Serena...don't leave me..."

Darien's heart breaking plea filled the air. A small hand reached out to
touch him on the shoulder. Darien looked up into the tear stained face of
Sailor Mercury, but she was looking at him, she was looking at Serena.

"I'm sorry Darien, but...she's...."

"No! I refuse to believe that!" 

Darien exploded at her. Sailor Mercury shrank back and into the comforting 
embrace of Zoicite's arms as she watched Darien hysterically rock Serena's 
lifeless body back and forth. She had to look away...it was just too much
for her. 

Serena had the sudden awareness of being crushed. She felt smothered too.
She was dire need of fresh air. She tried to push against whatever was 
crushing her, but she was so weak that she was barely able to lift her arm
off the ground. She felt sleep threatening to over take her again, but
the need to get whatever was crushing her was greater than her need to sleep.
So she tried to yell for help, but all that came out was an almost inaudible
groan. She prayed that someone would find her soon, but then the crushing
force was lifted and she thought that she heard someone call her name.

Darien stared down at Serena in shock. There was hope in his blue eyes as
he gently shook her and called her name again. He knew that he wasn't
dreaming when he heard her groan.

"Serena?? Can you hear me?" He called silently again.

The others just looked at him as if he had finally lost his mind in his 
grief. Malachite reached out and put a hand on him now and said,

"Darien, she's gone. Let her go."

But Darien just shrugged his hand off and was about to call her name again
when she suddenly flinched. Everyone gasped and held their breath...waiting.
She groaned again this time and tried to raise her hand, but again, it
barely moved from the ground. It was all the proof that they needed. Everyone
started cheering at once and Darien was once again crushing her to him.
Mercury suddenly appeared again by him and forced him to lie her down so 
that she could check her readings again. There were fresh tears in her 
eyes, but a smile on her face when she said,

"Guys...I don't understand it....but she's back!!"

Suddenly, Serena began to cough. It was a bone jarring cough that shook her
whole body and Darien grabbed her to help her sit up. As soon as she was
seated upright, they heard her take a huge gasp of air and saw her eyes fly
open. She looked frantically around and the coughing ceased her again. It
was as if she had just started breathing again after drowning. Finally the
coughing subsided and she looked around at the stunned faces of her friends.
Suddenly, she felt weak as a kitten and fell back into Darien's arms, but
smiled and said,

"Hi guys." 

It came out as a weak whisper, but it was there all the same. Everyone
moved at once to hug her. Serena was too weak to hug them all back, but
she was just happy to be there. Suddenly she remembered everything....
the battle, Sapphire and her choice. She smiled again and looked up at 
Darien and whispered, 

"I just couldn't leave you. I had to come back."

Confusion masked Darien's handsome features as he continued to look at her,
but she had closed her eyes and had fallen asleep. He watched as her mind
finally let go of her transformation and her human form lay craddled in 
his arms. He smiled and kissed her on the forehead as he stood up with 
her in his arms and started out of the park with the others following in
his wake.

		***********************************

Two days later, Serena was in bed, propped up on pillows, waiting for Darien
to return with her dinner. She actually felt fine and was more than ready
to get out of bed, but it made Darien feel better that she was taking one
more day to recouperate. She smiled at him as he walked in with a tray of
food. He placed the tray down on the small night stand next to the bed, but
she stopped him when he tried to feed her.

"Darien, I'm not crippled. As a matter of fact, I'm fine."

"Serena, we've already discussed this and you are going to stay in bed until
tomorrow."

"Fine, but I can feed myself."

He smiled and handed the bowl to her. She gently patted the spot next to her,
indicating for him to sit next to her on the bed, but he gently shook his 
head and said,

"No, I'd rather look at you." she laughed and said,

"Oh good. Just what I want you to see too. Me stuffing my face."

But he just laughed and watched in silence for a few moments. Then he reached
out and gently pushed some stray hair off of her face. His expression was
very somber as he gently stroked her leg through the blanket. Quietly, Serena
turned and put her bowl back down on the night stand and said,

"Darien, what's wrong?" He just shrugged in response.

"Come on....tell me." He sighed heavily and then said,

"I was just thinking that....I...almost lost you...That is, you did..."

She reached out and covered his hand with her own and waited for him to
look at her. When he did, she told him the story of what had happened and
how she was given a choice. When she finished her story, he looked stunned.
Then he quietly said,

"You mean that you actually chose to be with me instead of him?" she smiled
at him and said,

"Of course I did. Darien, I'll always have a special place in my heart for
him...after all, he was my first love.  But Darien, I've loved you for a
lifetime, more than a lifetime......I belong here with you and the others.
Nothing is ever going to keep us apart again....I promise."

"I love you." he quietly said. 

Then he leaned over to kiss her. 

She met him halfway.

Their love was forever.


The End