Title: Secrets Rated: PG13 By: Azurite/Andromida/Meriellen5 Email: sailor_andromida@yahoo.com Site: www.geocities.com/sailor_andromida/ Disclaimer: Bishoujo Senshi Seramuun (Sailormoon) iie watashi no mono. {Pretty Soldier Sailormoon is not mine} Blabberings: Greets out to my onee-chan, JLaLa, and of course, my bestest buds, Sailor Peace, Elysia, Usagi Chiba, RedLady, and all the greats (must I list them *all* ?) out there; you know who you are. Season/Version: SailormoonR, American Notes: Not based on any episode, but in this, some OLD secrets are revealed... hehehe... ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* It was a cold winter night in Tokyo, and hardly any one was out at this time of the morning. That early time when even time seems to freeze, and the sky is darker than blackness. Save one. It was a strange sight to see, if you had been able to. A young girl, sixteen at the most, with hair of spun sunshine, was walking slowly in a rather small skirt and overcoat. Why would someone such as her, and angel from the heavens above, be outside on a gloomy, dark and cold morning such as this? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Darien hated these recurring nightmares. They plagued him, even after he had, what he felt, committed the ultimate sin, and lied to and broken up with his true love, Serena. He had seen her some days ago, and for him, even that was hard. But her face, no longer bright and cheery, was pale and washed-out, her eyes attaining that dullness that Darien thought was his alone. 'I don't want her to end up like me, all cold and alone. But that's what she's become. She'd only be happy if she was with someone, and that someone can't be me.' He wanted to get away from it all, leave, and maybe the nightmares would stop. But then, she would be in twice as much danger, what with the Black Moon always attacking, and she would still be in danger even if he did leave. In addition, both their feelings for each other would remain the same. And his leaving would hurt them both. He decided NOT to go to sleep that night, and stayed up late, as usual. When he finally began feeling tired, he had cocoa, then some strong coffee. Cup after cup of coffee seared his tongue, until finally he decided some air. Cold, bitter air, like what he felt was raging in his heart... 'Keep those emotions in check, Darien. Or you might find yourself running over to Serena and kissing the daylights out of her... and then what'll happen? Her death.' He took his blazer and left the darkness of his apartment for the darkness of the night. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Serena knew where she was going, knew how to get there by heart, but didn't WANT to be going there. She wasn't being told to, or forced in any manner, but her heart wasn't in for it. 'But I have to. I have to do this.' Serena sorted through her complicated emotions and reached her destination. Ichinohashi Cemetary. She walked the aisles of the carefully plotted park, knowing where she was going. She fingered the cold roses in her hand- a pale white color, with a hint of blue on their petals from the bitter cold. She paused before two gravestones, sat on her knees and laid one rose on each of the graves. "Mama... Papa..." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Darien had no clue why he decided to go to the cemetary. He didn't know whether HIS parents were buried there, and that had been the first, logical reason for heading this way. So if that wasn't it, then why? There was that small pull at the back of his mind, telling his which way to go. It wasn't strong, so it wasn't Serena calling out for him... so then why? Or more likely, who, if it WASN'T Serena? He finally reached the Cemetary, and was surprised that it was so peaceful at this time of night. Unlike the parks or the rose garden, it brought no painful memories. Strange, seeing as he had lost so much, and one would think a cemetary would ressurect those feelings. But as he couldn't remember his parents, and he had to push Serena away, this place felt nice... "Mama... Papa..." He heard someone whisper. He looked behind the tree where he was leaning and saw a shock of golden hair... fashioned into two BUNS?! It couldn't be... why would *SHE* be *HERE* so late at night?! "I'm so sorry I haven't lived up to become the Queen you all knew I was supposed to be... how can I, when you are always on my mind? This week has been the toughest, since it was the week Opal attacked thirteen years ago. But I found the books, and I've practiced my magick, so now I'm ready. She'll be back tonight." 'Queen?! Magick?! What is she talking about?' "Right as usual, Princess." A new voice, feathery soft, stated. "Opal." Serena breathed. "Glad to see you remember me, Little One." "How could I forget?" Serena asked snidely, still unaware of Darien's presence. "Easy. Thirteen years of denial, even when you knew it all along. A new life, thanks to your little pure heart and that dumb cat." "Oh please." "Please what? Kill you? Be glad to!" Opal sneered, sending a blast at Serena. She was pushed back into a tall gravestone sculpted into the Virgin Mary. "Still as weak as you were thirteen years ago!" "I was three years old, you idiot!" Serena bit out weakly. "NO ONE SPEAKS TO ME LIKE THAT!" Opal readied another charge before she paused. "But no. I won't give you the satisfaction of even TRYING to fight me... yet. I will return, Princess, and then, it will be your gravestone that is visited in the dead of night." With those chilling words, Opal vanished. Serena spat at the disappearing form, her head throbbing painfully. Dark splotches were beginning to obscure her vision, and she knew from the salty taste in her mouth that she was bleeding somewhere. Not anywhere visible, from what she could tell... that was when she felt the back of her head. "Ouch. Guess Opal won't have to...ungh... fight me after all." Serena tried to stand, but her legs gave. She crawled weakly over to her parents' graves, and laid over them, clutching the two roses within her ivory hands. "I'll see you soon, Mama, Papa." Serena let the splotches take over her vision, as her eyes became lead and her breathing didn't hurt *quite* as much. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "SERENA!" Darien screamed, breaking the silence of the night. Everything had happened so fast, he couldn't have comprehended it, seen it coming... all he knew was that she was collapsed against a pair of gravestones and bleeding fast. He ran over to her as fast as he could, and being mere yards away, the only thing stopping him was the lead growing in his feet, due to the heartache he was suffering from. 'No...no... I won't let this happen to her... she's got so much to live for...' He cradled her head in his hands and took her to the nearest hospital, one where he worked as a Med Student part time... Juuban Memorial. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What happened?" "One of those youma attacked her; she hit her head on the statue of the Virgin Mary." "About what time was this?" "Fifteen minutes, max." "Let's get her to the ER. You know her?" "She's my girlfriend." Darien lied. Half-lied. "Were you out with her?" "No, I was taking a walk myself, and I saw what happened." "Let's get her in there, and we'll see what we can do." The nurse pushed the stretcher with Serena on it into the ER, and let the doctors take over. Darien watched in despair, knowing that there was nothing he could do to help; she was out of his hands. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "We got your call, Darien, what happened?" Rei asked, groggily rubbing her eyes. "Yeah, somethin' about Serena?" Mina asked. "Is she all right?" Ami asked. "What's going on here?!" Lita asked angrily, kind of ticked off that she had not only lost sleep, but that everyone was being so genial to the jerk that had broken Serena's heart. "There was some weird fight at the graveyard. Everything happened so fast..." Darien's voice dropped to a sad whisper. "She hit her head badly on a gravestone. I haven't heard anything from the doctors since I called you guys a few hours ago." "We would have been here sooner..." "Had we known." "I know." "What were you-- I mean, what was... well, why a graveyard?" "I was out for a late-night walk. As for Serena..." Darien trailed off. He had a small inkling as to why she had been out that late, but it seemed Serena WANTED it to be a secret. So it would remain that way until she chose to VOLUNTARILY offer the information. "I don't know..." He finished. The girls nodded slowly. "Hey, aren't those Serena's parents, and Rini?" Ami said aloud. A small crowd of three was huddled over by the door to the ER, Rini sound asleep. "They came after the doctors called. I haven't talked to them yet." "They're either too upset or too mad to." Lita said aloud. "Lita!" "I would be too, if I were in their position." "LITA!" "It's okay, Mina, I understand. I'm...I'm really sorry for all the things I've said and done to Serena..." "Then why didn't you say that to her?" Lita spat. "I...I..." "Lita, don't bully him. As long as his reasons were true, and not simply *because she was hurt*, then he's safe from our wraths." Rei said, glaring at Darien. 'Serena...please be okay...' Darien prayed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rini's cinnamon-red colored eyes adjusted to the bright lights of the hospital, and she remembered why she was here. The doctors had called very early, and told Ilene and Ken what had happened. They hadn't explained much to Rini, only that they had to go to the hospital because Serena had been in an accident. Sammy was staying at a friends, and the dismal couple decided not to call his friend's house so late simply to drag him to the hospital. "She must have been out at the Graveyard." "Yes. She always has it tough around this time of year. It's when Otome-san and Apollo-kun passed away." "They were her parents, what do you expect?" Ken asked his wife. "Should... should we have waited until she was older to tell her she was adopted?" "It was better we tell her when we did. And she seemed to survive rather well. She wasn't so secluded anymore; she's made so many friends." "True." Ken pulled the car into the driveway of the hospital and the trio made their way through the blistering cold to the ER waiting room. Ken was rather surprised to see the boy Serena seemed so fond of there. He must really care about her. Serena hadn't told anyone but Rini and the girls that Darien had broken up with her. 'I don't get it. Serena's adopted?' Rini had never known this... it was rather strange... the Serena that Rini had seen more of lately was exactly as Ilene and Ken had described: silent and secluded, a far cry from the Serena Rini had been around before and told about by the girls. The first thing Rini noticed was Darien. She wanted to run over to him, but there was that... little thing... called... sleep... Rini fell asleep on the cushioned chairs before another thought could interrupt her system. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The girls and Darien watched on as... nothing happened. Finally Mina gathered enough courage to appraoch the distraught family. "Have you heard anything about Serena?" "Hmm? Oh hi, Mina. No, I'm afraid we haven't. One of the doctors wanted us to talk to him in a few minutes, but...well, if anything's wrong, we don't want Rini to be there." Ilene frowned. "Me and the girls will watch her." Mina offered, a smile trying to weave its way on her worried face. "Thank you. Ken, come on." Ilene pulled her pale husband up beside her and they walked to the doctor's office together. "Rini? Hey, little one, wake up." "Huh? Mommy?" "No, Hon, it's Mina. Ilene and Ken went to check on Serena." "Oh..." Rini looked down. "Something wrong?" "I'm worried about Serena." "We all are, we all are." Mina echoed sadly. She picked the small girl up and carried her to their group. Everyone offered their condolences to Rini, who simply nodded, keeping her secret. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Several hours later, Serena awoke and found her family surrounding her. "Mama? Papa?" "Yes, Serena." "Young lady, what have we told you about being out so late at night?" Ken reprimanded. His tone showed not anger, but deep concern. What if that Darien boy had not been there? Right now, Ken was actually grateful to the young man, and not mad as he had been when Serena's affections for him had shown through. "I'm sorry Ken." Serena apologized. She only used her godparent's real names when she was thinking about her REAL, and deceased family. "It's okay Serena. We understand. Otome and Apollo were very important people to all of us, and we know that you miss them." "I wish...I just..." Serena trailed off, just as Mina and the others came in, small smiles decorating their haggard faces. "Hey." Serena greeted weakly. Her secret had ALMOST come out. "Hey, glad to see you're awake." Mina greeted solemnly. "You don't sound it." Serena joked. "Serena." Rei said seriously. "I'm sorry. Must be the drugs." At that the girls DID break out into laughter, and it only ceased when Serena stared blankly at the doorway, where Darien stood. "Um, we should go." Ken started. "Yes, these doctors have us filling out lots of forms. We'll see you later, Serena. Remember what I said." Ilene told her, and followed her husband out. "I think Serena should get some rest." Ami started. "Yeah. We'll be here to pick you up tomorrow morning, okay?" Lita told her. Serena nodded, smiling. Lita would understand. Eventually, her secret would be out, and Lita would be the one she'd tell. The girls filed out, leaving only Darien standing in the door. Serena looked at him briefly before turning on her side and falling resilently into sleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The next morning, promptly at eleven o'clock, the girls marched into Serena's room and were incredibly surprised to find her all dressed and ready to go. She was silently reading a thick book, something they had never seen her do before. "Hiding a comic book in there?" Rei joked as she walked in. "No." Serena answered simply. Curious, Rei peeked over her shoulder, and was startled when a puff of dust came when Serena clapped the ancient-looking cover shut. "Excuuuse ME!" Rei huffed, rubbing her nose. "You're excused. This is my personal business, you know." "Yeah yeah." "Guys, let's just go. We all have a lot of questions, don't we?" Mina said aloud. This prompted a strange glance from Serena. She looked uncomfortable, but soon covered that expression up with a cheery smile. "Yeah, let's go. I want some milkshakes, burgers and sundaes. This hospital food is like garbage!" "How about some of Lita's famous cooking?" Lita suggested. "GREAT!" Serena cried enthusiastically. The five girls got up and watched as Serena stuffed the book into a backpack her parents had left for her and they ran outside. Darien, in the hallway, watched sadly as the girls went away. There was something she wasn't telling, and in was putting her in more danger than he could have imagined. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Why didn't your parents pick you up today, Serena?" Ami asked. "Oh, Dad had work and Mama said that I could hang out with you guys today. I mine as well, if I have to go back to school tomorrow." "I'm surprised they let you out as early as they did with your injury." Ami remarked. "It wasn't... that bad." Serena mumbled. "Are you nuts? Darien told us what happened, and crashing your head into a statue isn't exactly like a pillow fight!" "D-Darien? How... what happened last night, anyway?" "You don't remember?" Mina asked. "No...there was an attack..." "And you didn't call." Rei stated. "It happened too fast." Serena persisted. "That's what Darien said. So go on." "No, you. I'm the one who'll answer questions. Have pity on the girl who was in the hospital *suffering* for an entire night." "Okay. Well, um, Darien said he was taking a walk in the park last night, he saw you fighting this *thing* and it threw you against a gravestone and it disapppeared. He brought you to the hospital. He was there for hours before and after we got there." "He-He was?" "Yup. He didn't leave when we did either." "Oh..." 'If he's the one who brought me to the hospital and saw the attack... then he knows about Opal... oh no... I can't get the scouts involved in this... it's too dangerous. Perhaps I can avoid him and maybe their questions, and no one will get hurt.' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Serena?" "Yeah?" "You're adopted?" It was a question, but it came out as more of a statement. Serena faced the small girl lying on her bed beside her while she read a comic. "Yeah, I am. How'd you know that, munchkin?" "I heard Ilene and Ken talking about it in the car." "Oh." "Can I ask you something?" "Sure. Anything." "What happened?" A simple enough question, but so damned complicated to answer. "Uh..." "Serena." "It's hard to explain." "I can understand a lot for a five-year old." "Okay... but you were warned. My REAL mom and dad were killed by the same bad people who we fight now... only she wasn't in the Black Moon family." "She?" "Her name's Opal. She killed my mom and dad because they were MY parents. I vowed revenge." "And she's come back?" "Yes. She was banished by my mom just before she died, thriteen years ago, and she's finally broken free." "What are you going to do." "Destroy her." Serena said simply. The girl who had compassion for anyone and everything sounded so dark and closed-up now, it was shocking. But Rini knew that if something like that had happened to HER mommy and daddy, she'd do the same thing, if she had the power. She didn't have the power, but then again, that was why she had come to the past- to get help. "But..." "She made my life a nightmare. She deserves no less, even from me. She's a cold-blooded killer, something not even Beryl could be matched to." Serena referred to her past enemy, the cruelest of them all, and made her seem like Ami in comparision to Opal. "Serena?" "Kick her butt. And be careful." Serena looked beside her to the flamingo-haired girl and smiled lovingly. "Thanks. And I will." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was only two nights later when Rini couldn't keep the secret of Serena being in such grave danger anymore. The scouts would no doubt ask Serena if she told them about it, so she decided to tell Darien what she knew. Running to his house in the dead of night, she went undisturbed, a first for her and the minions of the Black Moon family. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Can I talk to you?" Rini asked quietly when Darien opened the door. Darien was startled at first, and more so when he heard her softness. "Yeah, come in. What's wrong?" "I know Serena's been acting weird lately, and you don't know why. I do." "Y-You do?" "Serena was adopted." Rini said simply. She was glad she hadn't promised Serena anything, otherwise she'd feel really guilty now. "What?" "Serena was adopted into the Tsukino family when her family was killed thirteen years ago. She told me that they were killed simply because they were HER parents. Her parents' best friends were her godparents, the Tsukinos. She barely remembers anything from that time, except the bad lady killing them." "'Bad lady'?" "The one who attacked her the other night--Opal. She was banished by Serena's real mom thirteen years ago, and has come back to finish off Serena. Serena simply wants to destroy her because of what she's done." Darien was deadly silent as this information -coming from the mysterious girl that sent him visions of the future and had a magnetic pull for Black Moon attacks- sunk in. Serena was sad lately because she was remembering her REAL parents getting murdered. She wanted to avenge their deaths more than anything, even if it meant risking her own life alone. She had never told anyone until now, until Rini. So Serena had a secret. And now it was coming out. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ --End of Part One Cliffhanger !!!! MUAHHAHAHA ! *crumples to floor* Email... need... email... Email is the sustenance for all fanfic writers. So send away, thoughts, praises, flames(which shall be used in my cookie mixes-ask Sailor Peace about that... I really do bake things while online) and happy, joyous, beggings for continuation. Speaking of such emails, you should read Lilac Summers' " A First Truth" or "First Truths", I don't know which it is properly called, and Alicia Blade's "A Hostage Situation". Both great fics. ACK! What do I do for part two? Action? Romance? None of the above, and trash it!? (Well, hmph!) EMAIL ME!!!!!!!!!!