Title: Look for me at midnight (chapter one) 
Author: Henra
Email: HenraM@tuxedomask.com 
Rated: G

	*sigh* 
Okay, so I’m pretty excited about this story. See, it’s a princess/prince fic, 
and…to tell the truth, I have been craving to do it…only now I found the 
time. Please…email me as soon as you finished the chapter…I wanna know how 
I did. 
Note: I have absolutely no idea what are the names of “Prince” Darien’s 
parents. Don't send flames to me saying how their names suck, okay? ^^

Chapter one 

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

		“Get out of here, Darien!” Queen Mara yelled to her son, while 
blocking her face with her hands. She couldn’t stand it anymore…she didn’t 
even want to think about her nineteen years old son. 
		Dust was flying everywhere…the whole air was covered with its darkness, 
and it was freezing cold. The wind blew harshly around, sending light objects 
flying around, aimlessly hitting the walls of the palace. The place itself was 
breaking down, and it looked like it could collapse to the ground any second. 
		“No! I can’t, mother…” Darien replied, dragging himself toward 
her, while narrowing his eyes at the pain the dust was sending to them. 
He screamed when something heavy hit his back, and immediately fell to the ground. 
		“Darien!” Mara shouted, running toward her son, the opposite 
direction the wind and dust were coming from. She kneeled beside him, taking 
his head in her hands. “Darien…oh, god…my son…” 
		Tears dropped onto Darien’s hair as she rocked him back and forth 
in her arms. She looked around, helplessly trying to find his father…but no 
one was in sight. She looked down at the young man in her arms, fresh tears 
streaming down her face.
		Suddenly, the wind and the dust were gone. It was still dark, but 
the sky was lighting up. Queen Mara looked around suspiciously, then looked 
down when she heard her son’s voice. 
		“Mother…” Darien whispered. He slowly sat up, and touched his back 
with his right hand, and winced. “There’s a bruise of some sort,” then, seeing 
his mother’s expression, quickly added, “but it’s not that bad.” 
		“Get out of here……” Mara told him, softly yet firmly. She put a hand 
to his cheek, “please, Darien…you need to. Escape to some place safe, okay? It 
doesn’t matter if the whole place is ruined, you are the future of Earth…nothing 
can ever happen to you.” 
		Darien began to shake his head, but Mara stopped him. 
		“Please…you’ve got to listen to me,” Mara took off her golden 
necklace and handed it to Darien. “Take this, and it will transport you to some 
place safe…”
		“What about you? I can’t leave you, or father here,” Darien argued. 
He looked at his mother, “I would kill myself if anything happens to you two 
while I’m gone.” 
		Mara smiled. “If you are okay…and the necklace is okay…then we’re okay. 
Now go.” She stood, pulling Darien up with her. 
		Darien looked hesitantly at the necklace in his hands, then looked away. 
“I can’t, mother…I can’t.” 
		“Darien…this is your mother speaking. You are not to disobey me, and 
I command you to go. To leave here…right now.” Mara told him, a disapproval look 
on her face. She knew she had to do this--Darien couldn’t stay here. He was the 
prince of Earth, he was everything--in the present and in the future. She seriously 
doubted that he would be perfectly okay if he stayed. 
		“Mother…”
		“I’m commanding you, Darien. Please.” Her voice seemed to crack at 
the last word. Mara wiped away a falling tear with her right hand, and looked 
away as she spoke again, “LEAVE.” 
		Darien hesitated for a moment, thinking what he should do. 
Then he nodded. “Just promise me you will take care of yourself…and father.” 
He gripped the necklace inside his hands. 
		Mara nodded, afraid that if she spoke, tears would choke her. 
		“Then…I’m going to go, mother,” Darien said softly, and tossed one 
last look at Mara. He reached out and gave her a kiss on the cheek, before turning 
and walking away. 



            Serena picked up her skirt and hurried upstairs to her mother’s chamber. 
She wondered what was it that her mother had to tell her…that couldn’t wait until 
she finished picking the flowers from her own special garden. She smiled when she 
remembered the white lily buds that were now blossoming into beautiful flowers. 
		“How are you doing, princess?” a servant asked as Serena went by. 
		“I’m fine, thank you,” Serena answered while giving her a small smile. 
She reached the chamber, and knocked softly on the door. 
		There was no answer. Serena knocked again, then slowly pushed open the 
door. She saw her mother standing in front of the big, open windows, a thoughtful 
look covering her face. Serena frowned slightly, and walked up to her. “Mother?” 
		Queen Serenity turned her gaze away from the view outside, and focused 
on her daughter. She smiled faintly. “Serena…my girl…” she murmured while stroking 
a strand of Serena’s golden hair. 
		“Mother, what is it you need to tell me?” Serena asked, stepping closer. 
She looked at her mother’s sad face, and felt a strange depression filling up her body. 
		“The Earth…was invaded by evil.” 
		The words were so softly spoken, yet Serena shuddered with a chill. 
She hated the word “evil,” she had always hated it. Serena lowered her eyes, then 
slowly looked back up at her mother again. “What happened?”
		“I don’t know…I just received the news,” Serenity paused, “and it says 
that the prince is missing, too.” 
		Serena couldn’t hold back a gasp. “The prince? Missing? How?” 
		“I don’t know, daughter…the news is all over Earth now, and almost 
everyone is panicking there.”
		Serena looked at the floor. She let out a blow of air while a twisted 
look came on her face. “You know what’s funny, though, mother? I never met the 
prince before…” she trailed off, stopping herself from saying “and I may never 
meet him.” 
		Queen Serenity sighed. “This is a great evil, Serena…something we 
don’t want to toy with.”
		Serena nodded sincerely. She smiled at her mother, hoping to bring a 
smile to her face also. “Is this what you wanted to tell me?”
		“This…and…to tell you to be careful, Serena,” Serenity told her 
daughter seriously, “Be careful.” 
		The words struck her…be careful. Serena knew this was serious--her 
mother never told her to be careful unless something was really wrong. Serena 
gulped and nodded. She reached up and gave her mother a comforting hug. “I will, 
mother.”
		“I wish I can go to Earth and see how’s the Queen and King doing…but 
I can’t.” Serenity sighed, letting go of Serena. She turned toward the windows 
once again. Serena could barely make out the shape of Earth…it looked dark, almost 
as if black clouds were blocking it. 
		“Where do you think the prince is, anyway?” Serena asked. 
		Serenity shrugged, a sigh escaping her mouth. “I don’t know…but I 
wish I knew.” She smiled weakly. 



		“What do you mean by that?” Serena asked, confused. She bent down to 
smell a red rose that was sticking out on the ground by itself.
		Raye sighed dreamily. “What do I mean by that? I mean, the new guy is 
cute! Come on, Serena, like you haven’t seen him!” She gave Serena a little 
mysterious push. 
		Serena sighed in return, but in exasperation. She stood up, and pushed 
her hair back. “Raye, I already told you…I didn’t see the guy…whatever guy you are 
talking about.” 
		“Fine, fine, fine. Hey, I heard the news about the Earth prince missing…” 
		That caught Serena’s interest. “And?”
		“And…nothing. I just heard about it, that’s all. I wonder where he 
is…what he’s doing…too bad we never met him before.” Raye said after some hesitation. 
She walked over to some green grass area, and sat down, her satin dress spreading 
around her. 
		Serena walked over and kneeled down. She picked at some grass, putting 
them in a big pile. “It’s weird, though…I feel as if something…something’s going 
to happen pretty soon…something major.” She became silent as she piled up more grass. 
		Raye eyed her carefully. “What do you mean by that?”
		“I don’t know…it’s just this feeling…look, I don’t want to talk about 
it. Let’s talk about something else, please?” Serena urged. Her “grass” mountain 
was now as high as halfway to her knees. 
		“Sure--” Raye began, but was interrupted by a new voice.
		“Sorry, princesses, but,” the old servant bowed respectfully, “it’s 
time for dinner.” 
		Raye looked at Serena, and then both stood up at the same time. Serena 
picked up her long skirt and walked across the grass back toward the palace. Raye 
silently followed suit. 
		“Dinner looks lovely,” Serena said as she sat down by her mother at 
the long table. Chandeliers shone upon them, and everything looked elegant and 
beautiful. She smiled at Amy, Mina, and Lita, who just joined them with their 
fathers and mothers. 
		Serena loved this day of every month. Her four close friends and their 
parents would be with her and her mother on the Moon for a whole day, talking and 
playing together…she was the one who had suggested it. She had also wanted the 
princesses of Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto to come, but they all were too 
involved in their own things. Serena smiled as the last guest, who was the king 
of Jupiter, joined them. 
		Dinner began.
		Quiet chats took place, sometimes two people were involved, sometimes 
three or more, and sometimes everyone joined in a big conversation. Serena kept a 
smile on her face all throughout dinner. She hated to admit it, but she did not 
like all these formal talks. Serena sighed. Sometimes those kings and queens just
didn’t know how to relax. 
		Suddenly, Serena raised an eyebrow when she caught Raye’s eyes bugging 
out across the table. She wondered what had gotten into her friend…
		“Would you like some more wine, princess?” 
		Serena carelessly nodded her head, still deep in thoughts. Then, she 
snapped out of it…that was a man’s voice, wasn’t the usual girl voice that she 
heard during dinner. A hand reached out and took her glass. Serena let her eyes 
slowly travel from the hand to the elbow, to the shoulder…and finally, to the owner. 
		And she sucked in her breath.
		Those had to be the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen. Serena 
was confused…she never saw this guy before…was he a new servant or something? 
		She watched him as he poured the wine into her glass. 
		“Is there something wrong, princess?” 
		Serena was startled. She stared at the now smiling man, thinking what 
she should say. “No…nothing’s wrong.” 
		The man chuckled, his blue eyes dancing. “I’m sorry, princess…I just 
think it’s weird that you stared at me like that.” He handed back the glass. 
		Serena frowned a little. No servant had ever said something so straight 
like that to her before. She turned away, sipping on her now full glass of wine. 
		He was still standing there. Serena couldn’t help but toss a look at him, 
“Is there anything you need?” she asked in the most annoyed voice she could manage. 
		He watched her, a smirk stretching across his face. “No.” And he walked 
to fill another empty glass. Serena stared after him, feeling totally unlike herself. 
Who in the world was this guy? He was a servant…but he definitely did not act like 
one. 
		“Now here’s a guy I’d like to get to know more,” Serena murmured 
ironically to herself, looking at the wine glass in her hand.
		Queen Serenity unexpectedly stood up, her expression sad as she made 
eye contact with each and every one sitting around the table. “I’m sure we’ve all 
heard about what happened on Earth and to its prince…” 
		Serena suddenly heard a small noise behind her by the big entering 
door. She turned her head slowly, and watched as that blue-eyed servant she just 
had a conversation with putting the emptied glass on the plate he was holding in 
place again. He looked nervously at Queen Serenity, and quickly disappeared behind the 
door. Serena narrowed her eyes in suspicion. 
		“…and I do hope, indeed, that the prince would be found soon…” 
		The door opened again, and Serena ignored it. 



		“Do you guys really have to go?” asked Serena, tugging at Mina’s hair. 
		Her friends all nodded, along with their mothers and Queen Serenity. 
Serena sighed. “Fine, I’ll see you guys…when I visit you.” 
		Raye broke into a smile. “You’d better.” 
		Serena whimpered slightly and hugged Amy, Mina, Raye, and Lita. “See you.” 
		They all smiled and then turned away, waving one last time at Serena. 
Serena waved back, and stood by the palace front door, watching them leave. 
		“Serena, darling, come on inside,” Serenity said softly with a gesture 
of her hand. She led the way, but stopped when she realized Serena wasn’t going 
after her. She turned around again, “Serena?” 
		“I’ll be inside in a minute, mother,” Serena replied, hugging herself. 
		Serenity smiled and stepped in the door. Serena turned slightly to see 
her mother walking back, and then turned her attention to the deep forest by the 
far side of the kingdom. She wished she could go to that mysterious dark place.
		Sighing, she pushed back some strands of loose hair behind her ear, 
and began to walk back. Then suddenly, she saw a figure by the door, and she 
gasped loudly. “Who’s there?” 
		The figure stepped out of the shadow and faced her. “Don’t be afraid, 
princess.” 
		“You--that rude servant…what are you doing out here at this time of night? 
Don’t you know that servants aren’t suppose to be out of the palace unless 
specifically asked?” Serena studied the way he was standing…so casual, not all 
nervous and moving around like with some servants. 
		“I wanted to see the Earth…” he said softly. 
		Serena looked toward the sky and rolled her eyes a bit. “Whatever,” 
and she walked passed him and went inside the palace, feeling his eyes on her 
the whole time. 
		“There’s something weird about him…” Serena murmured as she stopped 
suddenly, and turned around to look at him. But he was out of sight already. 



		“Is there something you need, princess?” Bessy asked when Serena 
called her in. 
		Serena looked up from where she was sitting, and smiled. “Yes, thank you. 
Can you bring me some azaleas from my garden? I would, myself, except--”
		“I’ll bring it, princess,” the woman smiled, “azaleas.” She then walked 
out of the room, closing the door behind her. 
		Serena turned her attention back to decorating her balcony. It looked 
nice enough…she hadn’t even noticed how empty it looked before. Now, after some 
careful consideration, her balcony looked very cozy. Arranged flowers were sitting 
by the corners…a beautiful crystal vase that Lita had given her was displayed by 
the balcony window…she even cleaned up the floor and wall, and because of that, Serena 
was tired. Now, she just needed to put the azaleas in the crystal vase, and would be 
done. 
		She heard her bedchamber door open and close, and knew that Bessy had 
come back with the azaleas. “I’m by the balcony, Bessy.” 
		Serena leaned down on the balcony and observed what was going on underneath. 
She felt Bessy near her, and turned around with a smile. “Thank you so--” 
		It was not Bessy. 
		It was that guy…that blue-eyed guy. 
		“You!” Serena blurted out, “you again! Wha-what are you--I thought 
Bessy was--” 
		“She was,” he answered calmly, “but then Queen Serenity called her, 
and I was just nearby, so she gave me the azaleas and told me to give them to you.” 
He held them to Serena. 
		Serena only took her eyes away from him for a second to look at the 
flowers before staring back at him again. She hesitantly took the azaleas, and slowly 
walked passed him toward the crystal vase. “You know, I never did catch your name.” 
		“Darien. My name is Darien.” 
		She froze. *Isn’t that the name of the prince of Earth?* She then shook 
her head, feeling like kicking herself for being so stupid. *Like the prince of 
Earth would come HERE to be a SERVANT, anyway.* Serena used one hand to hold the 
vase and the other hand put the flowers in. She leaned back to look at it. 
		“Looks nice.” 
		Serena turned her eyes to meet his. “Yeah?” 
		He nodded. “Yeah.” 
		“I’ve been thinking forever on what kind of flower I should put in the 
vase…and finally decided on the azaleas…hmm, it does look nice, huh?” Serena smiled 
at Darien, feeling proud of herself. 
		“It does, indeed.” 
		Serena turned her attention away from the vase, and focused on Darien. 
She took a step closer to him. “Are you new here?”
		The question was so simple, yet Serena couldn’t understand why it 
brought some nervousness to his face. “Um, yeah,” he coughed suddenly; stammering, 
“I…um, am very much new here, a-and…” he coughed again, louder this time. 
		Serena raised a suspicious eyebrow. “You okay?”
		Darien turned his gaze upward and nodded at Serena. “I’m fine.”
		Serena frowned ever so slightly. “You know, you are suppose to add 
‘princess’ after ‘I’m fine.’ That’s like one of the major rules in the palace.”
		“I was? I mean…yeah, I was. I am sorry, princess,” he said, looking 
as uncomfortable as ever. Serena took another step closer to him, trying to search 
for the cause of his sudden discomfort. He stepped back. 
		They looked at each other for a few moments. 
		“Um…Darien? I don’t mean to sound unkind or anything,” Serena paused, 
“but you can go now.”
		Darien turned beet red. He didn’t even talk; he just nodded his head 
and hurriedly walked out of her chamber door. Serena stared after him, feeling 
sort of guilty that she had made him look like he had just done the most 
embarrassing thing in the world. 
		“Why did he look that embarrassed, anyway?” she murmured. 



		“Is there any more news about the missing prince, mother?” Serena asked, 
looking at what Queen Serenity was doing.
		Queen Serenity moved away from her the quilt she was making, and looked 
at Serena. “Unfortunately, no.” 
		Serena nodded slowly. “Mother--are you conscious of a new servant in our 
palace?” she chewed on her lower lip. 
		“A new servant?” Serenity frowned, a thoughtful look spreading across 
her face, “not that I’m aware of.” 
		“That’s weird…for any kind of new servant to work in the palace, that 
person does need to have us--I mean, the royal family, meet him or her, right?” 
		Serenity nodded with a small smile. “Of course. What’s wrong?” 
		“Oh-uh, no-nothing.” 
		“Is there a new servant in the palace that we don’t know?” Serenity 
walked closer to her daughter, frowning.
		Serena forced a smile. “He probably isn’t new…maybe I just never saw 
him around before.” 
		“Maybe.”
		“Mother…you didn’t ask for more servants for the palace recently, right?” 
Serena asked, trying her best to look careless.  
		“No…we don’t need anymore, right?” 
		“No, no, mother…we don’t,” Serena answered. She looked at Queen 
Serenity, and flashed her a small smile. “Anyway, mother, I’ve got to go,” Serena 
began to turn toward the door, “I’ll see you at mealtime.” And she quickly walked 
out of the room.
		
		“Any of you seen Darien?” Serena asked a bunch of servants who were 
cleaning the floor of a long hallway. 
		“Darien?” they repeated. 
		“Yeah…a blue-eyed, black-haired servant?” Serena said again, but narrowed 
her eyes when she saw a figure passing by behind them. “Excuse me.” She walked 
hurriedly toward the end of the hallway to another long corridor. “Darien!” 
		Darien stopped abruptly. He turned around, a slight confused look on his 
face. “Princess Serena?” 
		Serena stopped several steps away from him, and took a deep breath. “Where 
in the world did you come from?”
		He seemed so surprised Serena thought about rephrasing what she just 
said, but decided against it.
		“Wh-where I came from?” Darien repeated, that shocked look still on his 
face. 
		Serena nodded and inched closer. 
		Darien automatically took a step back, and Serena could see him swallow. 
“It doesn’t matter where I came from…”
		“Darien…forgive me for saying this, but I practically know every single 
servant in the whole palace…and I’ve never, ever seen you around until yesterday 
at dinner. And that’s why I’m sort of curious to find out why you just suddenly 
seemed to appear out of thin air.” Serena had meant to make her tone light, but 
looking at his jittery expression, she realized she hadn’t done exactly a great 
job on it. 
		“Well…can we not talk about things on this topic for now?” Darien asked. 
He let out a small sigh. “It’s sort of a…touchy subject to me.” 
		“Sure, sure…” Serena answered a bit hesitantly. She had more time to 
know how he got here. She looked at his obviously I-don’t-want-to-talk-about-this 
face, “if you want to be that secretive about your past, then I won’t ask you any 
more questions.” She winked at him, and smiled. 
		“It’s not that secretive…” he murmured. 
		Serena threw a look outside the window nearby her, and her smile widened. 
“Why don’t you take a walk with me outside?” she asked, “None of my friends are 
here…and I’m hoping for some company.” 
		“Oh, the great princess actually wants the company of a servant?” A 
smirk stretched across Darien’s face, much to Serena’s surprise. It was like, in 
a flash, his whole face changed from uncomfortable to smug. 
		“It’s alright if you can’t go, though…after all,” Serena answered with 
a smirk of her own, “I can go ask another…SERVANT.”
		Darien almost winced when he heard that. 
		“So, what’s it going to be?” Serena asked, crossing her arms in front 
of her chest. 
		Darien straightened up, and nodded firmly. “Let’s go.” 
		Serena raised an eyebrow and led the way downstairs. 

		“You know,” Serena said, “you should feel lucky. I hardly ever bring 
any servant down to my garden.” She glanced sideways at Darien. 
		“I do feel lucky…princess,” He replied. 
		Serena decided to ignore his ironic tone. “Anyway…how do you like all 
my flowers?” she stopped near some tall green grass, and turned to look at him. 
		“You planted them all by yourself?”
		“Of course! It’s MY garden…who do you think takes care of flowers in 
MY garden?” Serena rolled her eyes and traced a finger along the pedals of the 
flowers. “You didn’t answer my question…” 
		“I like them…” he replied as he walked out to some green bushes. 
“How come you don’t have any roses plant here?” 
		Serena laughed. “You just haven’t spotted them yet!” She sat down 
on the green grass and looked up at him. “I love roses…” 
		“Me, too,” Darien told her, as he sat down beside Serena. 
		Serena lowered an eyebrow and pretended to study his position. “Uh…do 
you know that servants aren’t allowed to sit in the same place as a princess? 
They are supposed to stand.” 
		Darien stared at Serena, not understanding for a moment. Then, in an 
instant, he quickly stood up. “Almost forgot…” he murmured under his breath. 
		“Almost forgot what?” 
		“What?” Darien smiled nervously, “no-nothing.” He shifted his weight 
from one foot to another, not looking at Serena. 
		“I was just kidding, you know,” Serena suddenly said, surprising him, 
“you can sit down…” 
		“But you said--”
		“That’s a rule of the palace--it has nothing to do with me. I was
just joking with you,” Serena replied, smiling. She gestured on the place where 
he sat before, “Come on, sit.” 
		Darien slowly sat down, eyeing Serena with each movement he made. 
		Serena stayed silent as she waited for Darien to finally relax on the 
soft grass. “So…tell me about yourself.” 
		As soon as the question was out of her mouth, Serena immediately began 
to feel Darien tensing up beside her. She stared in amazement as his jaw clenched, 
lips set in a straight line, and his eyes…became sad. “What’s--”
		“What’s there to know about me?” Darien asked, interrupting her. He 
looked away, his tone of voice completely different now--almost in a…spiritless way. 
		Serena tried to ignore the change in him. “Well,” she swallowed, “how 
long have you been working in the palace?” 
		“A very short time. For about,” he paused, “five days.” 
		“Five days?!?” Serena exclaimed, shocked. Then, looking at his cold 
face, she quickly calmed herself. “I don’t remember more servants coming in recently.” 
		Darien suddenly jumped up, making Serena gasp. “Look, Serena, I thought 
we came down here to take a walk, not talk.” 
		Serena stood up, too. She looked at him, and said quietly, “You called 
me Serena…” 
		“What?” Darien frowned, then he gasped as his eyes widened. “Oh, I’m 
sorry, princess…I-I forgot.” He cleared his throat, looking very queasy. 
		Serena hid a smile. *Got you now. Now I KNOW for sure that you 
aren’t a normal servant, Darien, because normal servants don’t just FORGET to call 
me princess.* She stared at him. “There is something mysterious about you,” she stated.
		He stared back, not saying anything. 
		His gaze was so burning Serena had to avert her eyes from his. She 
looked at the flowers surrounding them, fully aware of the midnight blue eyes that 
still stayed on her face. 
		“Princess?” 
		Serena focused on Darien. “Yes?” 
		Darien looked around, and paused, as if to think something over. He 
looked down at his feet, and when he looked up again, there was a smile on his face. 
“At midnight…I’ll tell you something about me.” And with that, he 
turned and was walking away. 
		It took her a moment to realize what he just said. “A-at where?” 
		But he was already gone. 

_________________________________________________________________
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