Missed Opportunities

Part 6

By Charma (neomoonies@hotmail.com)


        The stars twinkled and winked at the lone girl sitting
unobtrusively on a roof during the dead of the night.  She gazed with
quiet trust at the gentle radiance and splendour of the moon.
        For the past few days, Serena had developed a habit of waking up
in the middle of the night to sit on her roof, alone and in the dark,
for some serious contemplation.  Although she let her friends believe
that she was taking her newly discovered post as the Moon Princess in
stride, her secret inner self was still confused and in wonder over the
past's unfoldings.  *Rei's right.  How can I, a clutz and a wimp,
possibly be the flawless Moon Princess?* she doubted herself time and
again.
        And then her thoughts would turn to Ethan.  Her dear, sweet,
caring Ethan who truly loved her, and who she thought she might learn to
love in time.  But now Lord Arcadia threatened their relationship.  What
scared and shocked her though, was that she could not decide between her
thousand-year-old devotion to Arcadia, or her present-day affection for
Ethan.  Serena spent many nights staring at the sky, wondering how she
could possibly care for two people at once.
        Perhaps what frightened her the most, though, were her dreams.
Every night, the man who called himself Tuxedo Mask haunted her secret
dreams at night.  She couldn't fall asleep without seeing him.  She had
already memorized his strong chin, his soft lips, the curve of his
cheek... but never, never his eyes.  In her dreams, she chases after him
but he never lets her catch him.  She calls for him but he never
answers.  *Why can't I stop dreaming about him?  I don't even know him!*
Serena cried silently.  She kept her dreams of Tuxedo Mask a secret she
vowed to tell no one.



        "Serena?  Ethan's on the phone for you!"
        Serena sucked in her breath and slowly walked down the steps to
the living room.  "Thanks, Mom," she said, taking the phone from her.
She closed her eyes briefly before saying carefully, "Hi Ethan, how are
you?"
        "Serena, how about we cut the formalities for a second, okay?  The
reason I called you is because I want to know why you've been avoiding
me."
        Serena stared at the phone.  *Jeez, he gets right to the point.*
"Uh, well, I don't know what-"
        "You do know what I'm talking about, so don't try to tell me
otherwise because I won't buy it.  It's been practically two weeks since
I've seen or talked to you!"  Ethan paused and then continued, his voice
softened.  "I miss you, that's all.  Sere, what's wrong?  You can talk
to me, you know that."
        "I know that and I've missed you too," Serena said sincerely.
"It's just that I've been really... busy and a lot of things have been on
my mind lately.  I don't have much time for anything, so don't take it
personally."
        Ethan sighed and silence descended on their phone conversation.
"Does this have anything to do with my-"
        "No!  It's not you, Ethan.  It's nothing!  Listen, I have to go.
It's just about dinner time!  Yum yum!" Serena announced, faking a
cheery voice.
        "Well, if you have time to fit me in your schedule, you know my
number," Ethan said in a painfully casual tone.
        "Okay."
        "See you around then.  I love you."
        Serena flinched.  "Bye."  She set down the receiver breathlessly,
as though she had just run a marathon.  It hurt her not to be able to
return Ethan's love, as much as it hurt her when she avoided him, but
she didn't know what else she could do.  She needed space.  And time to
think.


        "What is with Serena these days?" Lita asked in concern one
morning as she walked down the Tokyo streets with Ami and Luna.
        Luna frowned.  "She's been affected by this whole Moon Princess
thing more than we thought she'd be."
        "And she's probably upset about having to chose between Ethan and
Arcadia, huh?" Ami mused.
        "Yes, that too.  She hasn't talked to Ethan in days and if we ever
see him around the city, she pretends not to see him and makes sure that
they don't bump into each other," Luna said solemnly.
        "It doesn't help that we haven't seen Arcadia since that last
battle," Ami commented.
        "Yeah.  As much as I'll probably regret saying this, I wish we
could have a Negaverse attack or something so we could find Arcadia and
confront him with all this," Lita admitted.
        Ami laughed.  "Me too."

        "Hi Darien, it's Rei!  I was just wondering if you wanted to go do
something today.  It's beautiful out!  We could go to the park or go
rowing or... well, call me when you get in.  Bye!"
A head slowly emerged from the mass of sheets to glance at the
clock.  12:00!  Darien stumbled out of the bed and clumsily made
his way to his coffee machine.  *I can't believe I slept in so late!
But I guess I shouldn't be very surprised...*
A mental image of Sailor Moon entered his mind's eye.  Darien
hadn't been able to sleep for nights because the second he closed his
eyes, he would dream of Sailor Moon and his futile longing for her.  His
dreams would always end with a voice whispering that he could never have
her.  Darien's logical self wondered constantly over this.  Why was he
always chasing after Sailor Moon in his dreams?  He didn't know her-he
only saw her once-and yet she tormented his sleep.
*And now here I am, waking up at 12 noon!*  Darien attempted to
casually dismiss his unconscious obsession with Sailor Moon.   *Maybe
I'm just temporarily delusional.*

        Serena wandered around Tokyo, unhappily nibbling an ice cream
cone.  *No one's around today.  Molly's out of town, Lita and Ami are
not around, and Rei's probably out with her boyfriend...  I suppose I
could call Ethan...  No, I can't.  I can't face him yet.*
        She lifted her eyes from the ground at the faint sound of
screaming coming from a park.
        Right on cue, Serena's communicator went off and Rei's face
appeared.  "Hey guys!  There's some Negaverse stuff happening down at
the park.  I need your help!"
        "Right!" Three voices answered through the communicator.
        Serena glanced around furtively to transform when a slight
movement near a telephone booth caught her eye.  Her eyes widened as she
recognized Ethan standing next to the booth.  She quickly ran behind a
large bush, hoping he hadn't caught sight of her.  *Great.  Now what do
I do?*
        Serena stealthily looked around the side of the bush to see if
Ethan had left, but the sight she saw shocked the very marrow of her
being.
        "ARCADIA TRANSFIGURE!"
        Where Ethan had once been, Arcadia now stood.
        Serena shook her head and blinked several times before believing
what she saw.  *Oh my god!  Ethan is Arcadia!  Arcadia is Ethan!*  She
felt like crying tears of joy.  Now she didn't have to chose between
them.
        Serena watched Arcadia run towards the park and when he was out of
sight, she began to dance.  She felt light and happy for the first time
in a long while.  *Ethan is Arcadia, Ethan is Arcadia...* The words ran
through her head as she left her hiding spot in a daze.
        *As soon as we defeat this youma, I am going to have a talk with
Ethan... a very nice, long talk!*  "MOON PRISM POWER!"
        Sailor Moon began to set off towards the park when she heard
ominous laughter fill the air.  "Sailor Moon!  So nice to bump into
you."
        "Huh?  What?" Sailor Moon glanced around nervously.
        "I've come to get rid of you.  You've been too much of a nuisance
for too long."  A tall man with long white hair materialized before
Sailor Moon and not a split second passed before he knocked her
unconscious with a bolt of dark energy.  "That was too easy."

        "So, Darien, have you cleared things up with Rei yet?"
        "No Andrew."  Darien chewed on the straw of the milk shake he was
drinking at the arcade.  He'd gone to see Andrew to complain about
waking up so late that day, but it seemed like Andrew wanted to play
therapist.
        "Maybe you should, instead of leading her on."
        "Yes Dad."
        Andrew rolled his eyes.  "I'd just hate to see one of Serena's
friends get hurt.  Rei cares about you, and you shouldn't play with her
feelings like you do."
        Suddenly inspired, Darien admitted, "Well, maybe it's not such a
bad thing that Rei, like you said, cares for me."
        "Huh?"  Andrew frowned at Darien's abrupt change in attitude.
        "I mean, she's very pretty, intelligent, and a Shinto priestess to
top it off!"
        "What are you saying?" Andrew queried warily.
        "What I'm saying is this: what's not to like about Rei?  Maybe
I've been doing the wrong thing by blowing her off."
        "I don't know, Dare.  I just can't see you together.  She's not
your type.  At least, that's what you've always been saying until about
two seconds ago.  Why the sudden change of heart?"
        Before he could answer, an internal alarm went off in Darien's
head.  *Sailor Moon's in trouble?*  "Rei's a nice girl, that's all,"
Darien replied in haste.  "I'll talk to you later Andrew.  I forgot I
have to be somewhere."
        Andrew watched Darien rush out of the arcade with a bemused look
on his face.  *I have the strangest friends...*

        Darien walked quickly into a deserted alley and transformed into
Tuxedo Mask.  He stood in the darkness of the alley for a moment,
adjusting his mask and worrying about Sailor Moon.  *I've never had such
an intense warning in my head before.  I hope she's not hurt.*
        He moved to run out of the alley, but Zoicite materialized in
front of him, blocking his path.  "Zoicite!"
        She quickly threw a blast of dark energy towards him, but Tuxedo
Mask dodged it.  Making a sound of frustration, Zoicite shot long vines
towards him and tied his arms and legs together.  "Now if you would just
hold still this won't take very long at all," she told the struggling
Tuxedo Mask.
        With a smug smile on her face, Zoicite shot more dark energy at
him and continued attacking him until he finally collapsed.  Thrilled
with her success, she lifted her hand and teleported herself and Tuxedo
Mask to the Negaverse.

        "JUPITER THUNDER CRASH!  Grrr... I wish the stupid things would stop
dodging our attacks!"  Jupiter moaned in frustration.
        Mars' face was slowly turning a bright shade of scarlet.  "If only
that lame-brained excuse for Sailor Moon would show up on time for
once!" she exclaimed.
        "I guess that means that you need her and depend on her, huh
Mars?" Mercury asked, lifting an eyebrow mischievously.
        If it were possible, Mars' face turned an even darker shade of red
and you could practically see steam coming out of her ears.
        "I need her," a man intervened quietly.
        "Huh?"  The three scouts surveyed the man in the tree for a
nanosecond and then simultaneously shouted, "Arcadia!"
        "We need to talk to you," Mercury said seriously, her eyes telling
him that they would not take no for an answer.
        "Wait a second guys..." Jupiter began.  "How about we take care of
the yoma-hey!  Where'd it go??"
        The others snapped their attention back to the yoma, but, as
Jupiter observed, it had disappeared.
        Mercury whipped out her mini-computer and immediately began
scanning the area for any trace of the yoma.  "Whoa... my readings are
telling me that that yoma was just an illusion!"
        "Are you telling us that the thing wasn't real?" Mars asked
dubiously.  "But why-"
        "I'll tell you why, you Sailor bimbos."  Zoicite appeared before
them.  "Ever heard of the word 'decoy?'  Well, you fools fell for it,
hook, line, and sinker.  Thanks to you, now we have what we want and
you, well, don't!"  She managed to get in a shriek of evil laughter
before teleporting away.
        "What is she talking about?  What did she take?" Jupiter
questioned darkly, suspicious as to what Zoicite might have done.
        Mars' eyes suddenly widened in realization and Arcadia spoke what
she feared to be true.  "Sailor Moon."  The words were a whisper on his
tongue.
        "They took her!" Mars shouted furiously.

To be continued...