When Love Comes to Town - Chapter 3 by Athena nikita@sgi.net Two weeks had gone by before Serena and Darien saw each other again. The day after their earth shattering kiss, Serena had called Darien and left a message on his machine saying that she no longer needed any help and that she was really appreciative for all that he had done. That had been o.k. in Darien's book. He himself had been planning to tell her that he could no longer help her and this had just made it easy for him. Unbeknownst to either of them, the other had sworn off ever seeing the other again. Darien's reasons being obvious and Serena's being more linked to her role as Sailor Moon and the Moon Princess. That night when Serena had teleported to the battle late, Venus had been hurt pretty bad before she had gotten there. Serena had been so overcome with grief and guilt that she had decided that a relationship with anyone other than the mysterious prince, whoever he was, was impossible. Her heart had broken that night for something deep within her knew that Darien would be the only one that she ever loved. Now, two weeks later, Serena sat in a corner booth in the arcade, trying to work on her math homework. Things had been going well in math, that is, until they started something totally new and she was at a loss. Finally she gave in and came to the arcade for the first time in two weeks, in the hopes that maybe Andrew could help her. She wouldn't dare ask Darien. She didn't think that she could even manage a hello without bursting into tears, so profound was her loss of him. Andrew was happy to see her and when he came over to the booth to greet her he said, "Hey Serena! Where've you been? It's been a little dull without you around." At the sound of his voice, Serena had jumped a little. But when she looked up at him what he saw, made him sit down next to her and put a comforting arm around her and ask, "Oh Serena, what's wrong? You look awful!" This only made the tears that she had been tring to hold back come. She looked sad and pale. Her eyes, which usually shown with merriment and life were now lifeless and dull. But Serena put on a brave smile and quickly wiped away her tears and said, "Oh, I'm fine, Andrew. I'm just...a little upset that's all." Then she noticed a familiar dark head walk in and head to the counter. She continued to watch as Darien sat down and then looked around, probably for Andrew. He spotted Andrew sitting with Serena and quickly turned away, but not before noticing how Andrew's arm was draped around Serena's shoulders. White hot jealousy swelled up within him and he honestly thought that he was gonna knock his best friend's head off for touching Serena. Andrew had watched where Serena's gaze had landed. He also saw the look that Darien had given him when he finally spotted him sitting here with Serena. So that's what's been bothering both of his good friends these last few weeks. Darien has been so grumpy and miserable, that Andrew was frightened. He hadn't seen Darien eat or drinking anything more than coffee the last two weeks and in class, Darien hadn't even been paying attention. He had tried to ask Darien what was bothering him, but Darien would just blow up and tell him to 'mind his own damn business.' Andrew had never seen Darien display so much emotion before. Even if it was negative emotion, it was still emotion all the same. So now, he also knew why Serena hadn't been in the arcade the last two weeks either. It was becoming painfully obvious that these two really cared about each other, but something had happened to keep them apart. Andrew ignored the glare that Darien was now giving him as he quietly said to Serena, "You know, he's been miserable too." Serena raised hopeful eyes to him and said, "Really?" Andrew just nodded and then took a napkin and began to wipe away Serena's tears and asked, "What happened between you two?" Serena just sighed and said, "Well, he kissed me the last time that I saw him and well....it's complicated Andrew." "What do you mean, 'complicated'? What relationship isn't?" Serena just began to put her stiff back into her bag and said, "Thanks Andrew." Then she waited for him to move. When he did, she stood up and kissed his cheek. As she past Darien, she looked over at him and he quickly looked away. Andrew watched Serena leave and then walked over to stand behind the counter in front of Darien. Darien was intently studying his coffee as Andrew stood there waiting for him to acknowledge him. But Darien was struggling to control the anger and jealousy that had swept over him like some poisonous wave. Finally, he growled out, "If you ever touch her again, I'll kill you." Andrew was shocked and a little frightened too. But then the more he thought about it, the more he realized just how much Darien loved her. So he said in response, "Then why aren't you with her?" Darien looked up at him now, Andrew took an involuntary step back at the black expression on Darien's face. "It's complicated." he said quietly. Andrew snorted and said, "Yeah, that's what she says." Darien's face registered surprise for a moment and then he shrugged. Now Andrew was mad. "I can't believe you, Dare. Here you are, miserable and actually threaten to kill me all because I was trying to comfort her, but yet, you are gonna let such strong emotions for her just go over 'complications'? Give me a break. Listen pal, you are lucky if you find a love like that once in your life, you don't just throw it away over complications. You make it work!" Darien was quiet for a moment and then was about to answer when suddenly a muffled scream came in with the opening of the arcade door. Darien froze. In his heart, he knew that it was Serena and that she was somehow in trouble. Quickly he ran out the door but that was all the farther he had gotten. Not even a block away, an ugly looking youma was busy draining the energy out of people standing on the streets. Frantically, he scanned the crowd for any sign of Serena. His relief of not finding her soon turned to anguish as he saw he limp form lying among the already drained. Darien wasn't even aware of the tormented scream that had erupted from him as he ran towards Serena. Once there, he lifted up her limp body and quickly took her out of harms way. In a deserted alley, he gently laid Serena down and quickly felt for a pulse. He didn't realize that he too had stopped breathing until he sighed with relief when he found her pulse strong and steady. Slowly he realized that she had just had her energy drained. He knew that he really should go and join the battle as Tuxedo Mask, but he just couldn't leave her alone in this alley. Suddenly, a beeping noise coming from Serena's bag caught his attention. Frowning slightly, he realized that it was her beeper going off. Shifting Serena so that he could get into bag, he took out the stange looking beeper with all of the buttons on it. He began to push each button in an effort to turn the stupid thing off, when all of a sudden, Sailor Mars's face appeared in the right hand corner. She looked absolutely stunned when she realized that it was Darien staring back at her and not Serena. Darien was equally stunned. "Sailor Mars?" he asked. She looked embarrassed as she smiled and then hesitantly said, "Uh, hi, Darien." Darien was once again surprised that she knew who he was. What would a Sailor Scout be calling Serena for? Sailor Mars jolted him out of his thoughts as she yelled his name again. "DARIEN!!!" "Yeah?" "Why do you have that communicator? Where's it's owner?" "You mean Serena?" Sailor Mars blushed and then said, "Look I don't have time for this, just put Serena on." "I can't, she's had her energy drained by that youma." Mars gasped and went white as Darien continued, "Where are you guys anyway? Why isn't Sailor Moon here yet?" Mars was silent for the longest time, tears were in her eyes and it appeared as if she was trying to decided something important and then finally said, "Serena is Sailor Moon." Darien almost dropped the communicator. His jaw fell opened and he said, "No...no that's not possible." "It's true. And I'm not sure that we can beat this without her. Not to mention that Tuxedo Mask isn't here either. We could use his diversion right about now." Darien jumped up and yelled, "I'll be right there!" Then he quickly transformed and ran back out into the battle, leaving the commicator next to Serena with Mars yelling, "What? Darien!!!" As Tuxedo Mask joined the battle, Serena slowly opened her eyes and blinked. Hesitantly, she sat up and looked around her, trying to figure out where she was. She raised her hand to her head and sat still, trying to gather her wits. Then a scream coming from the main street caught her attention. A youma. Shakily she rose to her feet and then quickly transformed. She staggered down the alley and stopped when she came to the main street. She saw that the youma had already taken out Mercury and Tuxedo Mask. Her heart began to ache as she looked at her fallen friends. Then anger came over her, giving her the strength that she needed. Raising her staff above her head and then slamming it into the ground she yelled, "MOON DISTORTION STRIKE!!!" The base of the staff sent out wave after wave that made the air and anything in its path shake violently. The youma screamed as it was hit. Mars and Jupiter turned to see Sailor Moon leaning heavily on her staff. They couldn't help but smile as they ran over to help Mercury and Tuxedo Mask, who were now coming to. Then they heard, "Crescent Moon Glaive Destruction!" The youma was vaporized and the crowd that had been hiding began to cheer. Lost in all of this was Sailor Moon, who had collapsed after sending out the final attack, her energy spent. Tuxedo Mask immediately sensed that something was wrong and lept above the now forming crowd to get to Sailor Moon. When he found her crumpled in a heap at the entrance to the alley, his heart almost fell out of his chest. Gently he gathered her in his arms and she moaned. It was the sweetest sound that he had ever heard. Sailor Mars was at his side and said, "Come with us." he nodded and said, "Her things are still in the alley." Jupiter nodded and disappeared down the alley. With that taken care of, Tuxedo Mask silently followed Sailor Mars. ************************************ Tuxedo Mask was surprised to see that they had arrived at the Cherry Hill Temple. This is where Raye lived, why would they come here? But then it hit him, if Serena was Sailor Moon, then that meant....He watched as the Sailor Scouts detransformed and Raye, Ami and Mina stood before him. They stood just staring at each other for a long moment. Finally, Ami broke the silence by saying, "I guess that we're gonna have to trust you now." The other two girls continued to eye him and then Jupiter appeared. She took in the situation and asked, "What's going on?" Mina looked at her and said, "It's okay, Lita, we've decided to trust him." Lita looked unconvinced for a moment, then shrugged and then she too detransformed. Darien wasn't surprised now, he expected this. Then Raye brought him back from his thoughts as she said, "Bring her inside, then. I imagine that she'll be okay in a little while." She looked at Ami as she said this and Ami said, "Yes, she should be fine in a few hours. I did a scan before I powered down." Tuxedo Mask followed the girls in the temple and he laid Sailor Moon down on what he guessed was Raye's bed. Then he stood up and looked at the four girls. Each looked anxious. It was obvious that they were waiting for him to react to their identities. He smiled then and said, "You have no reason to fear that I'll give away who you are. You can trust me." But Raye being the cynic that she was said, "Why should we?" Tuxedo Mask didn't answer, he just merely detransformed. All four girls gasped and then Raye said, "No wonder you said that you'd be right there. Gee maybe we should have done this months ago. It would've made things a lot easier. Especially on her." she said pointing to Sailor Moon. Darien said nothing, he just looked down at Serena. Then suddenly before his eyes, Sailor Moon became Serena. He couldn't help but smile. Then he turned back to the others and said, "I hate to leave her now, but...." The girls all smiled and then Mina said, "It's okay, we understand. Come on, I'll show you out." But before he left, he leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead. Then he stood and followed Mina out. When they got to the door, she stopped and said, "Do you want us to tell her?" he looked thoughtful for a moment and then said, "No, I'd like to do that. But we've been avoiding each other lately and..." he trailed off, not knowing what else to say. Mina just smiled reassuringly at him and said as she opened the door, "Don't worry. I'll make sure that she doesn't avoid you anymore." Darien smiled and left. *********************************** When Serena didn't come to see Darien within a week after the youma attack, he decided that Mina mustn't have been able to convince Serena to come and see him. So he started calling her house looking for her. Each time he was told that Serena was either out or couldn't come to the phone. He even hung out at the arcade waiting for her to come, but again she never did. He even grew desparate enough to enlist Andrew's help. He had everyone he knew on the look out for Serena. But all told him that they either hadn't seen her or that she wouldn't come to see him. Darien was pacing his living room in his apartment like a caged tiger. He just HAD to talk to her, to tell her everything. He NEEDED her. He was no longer afraid to admit that, but if he didn't get to her soon, he'd go mad! Then an idea struck him...her school! He would go see her tomorrow after school. He'd wait outside all day if he had too, but he would get her to talk to him tomorrow! With that plan firm in his mind, he went to bed. Serena was beginning to have second thoughts about refusing to see Darien. All of the Scouts, even Andrew said that he was dying to talk to her and that she needed to give him a chance. She was so confused. She really wanted to be with Darien, but her duty as a Sailor Scout and as the Moon Princess weighed heavily in her mind. Would it be fair to leave him without warning all of the time whenever she was needed? How would she explain that? How would she explain any injuries that she might get? She couldn't just tell him who she was....could she? It was already past midnight and now the house was quiet and dark. Luna lay at her feet already asleep. Serena decided that she needed some advice and fast because the will of her head was rapidly losing its battle with the will of her heart. "Luna?" she whispered. When Luna didn't answer her right away, Serena gently nudged her and called again, "Luna!" This time Luna groggily raised her head and blinked a few times at Serena, then said, "What's the matter, Serena? It's late." Serena began twisting the blanket in her hands searching for the best way to ask her what she wanted to ask her. Luna opened her eyes and saw the confused look on Serena's face and gently asked, "What is it?" "Luna, could I...tell Darien?" Luna cocked her head to the side and asked, "Tell him what?" Serena wouldn't look at her as she answered, "That I'm Sailor Moon and about being the Moon Princess." Luna was quiet for a moment, silently thankful that Serena had come to this conclusion on her own. She and Artemis had found out who Darien was after the battle and had actually decided that Serena should go and talk to him. But when she wouldn't Luna was getting ready to suggest this course of action. "Yes, Serena, I think that would be alright." Serena's head came up and hope shown in her blue eyes. "Really???" Luna smiled the only way a cat could smile and said, "Yes. Now, may I get back to sleep?" she was surprised when Serena picked her up and hugged her fiercely and said, "Oh thank you, Luna! Night!" Serena decided then and there that she would go and see Darien tomorrow after school. ********************************** For once, Serena had made it to school on time and actually didn't have detention after school. She was fidgety and nervous all day and when anyone would ask what was wrong, she merely said "Nothing" and went back to being fidgety. Serena thought that she was going to die during seventh period. If it didn't get out soon, so that school would be over, she thought that she would explode. Finally, the bell did ring and Serena's nerves were so tightly woven that she jumped and gave a small yelp. Everyone turned to see what her problem was, but she was already up and heading out the door. She made a quick detor to her locker and then headed out the side door, heading straight to Darien's. Darien stood and watched all of the people leave the high school, but still no sign of Serena. his brain wondered. Then he spotted Lita and Mina and waved to them. They saw him and came over. "Hey Darien!" Mina and Lita said in unison. "Hi guys. Did Serena come to school today?" "Yeah, she was here and in a really strange mood." Mina said. Darien frowned and said, "Strange mood? What do you mean?" "Well the poor girl couldn't even sit still all day. I mean, normally she naps in class and today she could barely sit still." Lita said. "Oh, well do you know where she is now?" "Yeah, I saw her leave through the side door about ten minutes ago, but I have no idea which direction that she headed." Lita continued. Darien smiled and turned to get back in his car as he called out, "Thanks guys, I'll see ya later!" *********************************** Serena ran up the stairs in Darien's apartment building instead of taking the elevator. She was outof breath when she reached his floor, but she didn't care. She forced herself not to run to his door, but to walk in order to gain some sense of composure. When she reached his door, she paused before knocking. Her heart was racing and she wasn't sure if it was from running up the stairs or from what she was about to do. She suspected that it was a little of both. Talking a deep breath, she reached up and knocked on his door and waited. And waited, and waited. She knocked again, a bit more forceful this time and still no answer. Frowning she called out, "Darien? Are you in there? It's me, Serena." No answer. Serena sighed, Slowly she sank down and sat on the floor in front of his door with her chin on her upraised knees. ************************************ An hour and a half later, Darien walked dejectedly out from the elevator and started down the hall to her apartment. He sighed, He came up short when he reached his door and saw the angel that was sleeping in front of it. His heart lept with joy at the sight of her. Darien just watched her sleep for a moment and then bent down to pick her up. She didn't wake when he lifted her, merely mumbled in her sleep and curled up even closer to him. Darien smiled to himself as he fumbled with the door. He took her in and placed her down on his bed. Then he sat down next to the bed and just watched her sleep. Hesitantly, he reached out his hand and gently traced the lines of her face. When she still didn't stir, he smiled, So he got up and went out into the living room to study. Somehow just knowing that she was actually there allowed him a sense of calm that he didn't think that he'd ever feel again. Slowly Serena woke up and realized at once that she was in a strange place. At first she was frightened, but then the sleep totally faded away and she heard a television playing softly outside the door. It was dark in the room and she tried to carefully make her way to the door by following the light that was coming from beneath it. Luckily, the owner of this bedroom was not a slob like her and she didn't trip on anything. She caustiously opened the door and peered out into the hallway before her. Slowly she walked down the hallway and peeked around the corner to see who the room's occupant was. She smiled softly when she saw him. Darien was lying on the couch, his book face down in his lap and he was sleeping. She quietly made her way over to him and sat down on the floor next to him. His long black bangs were lying in his eyes and with a trembling hand, she reached out and moved the bangs from his closed eyes. But the moment her hand made contact with his hair, his eyes sprung open. Quickly she pulled her hand back and blushed, but Darien only smiled at her. "Hi." he whispered sleepily to her. Serena smiled back at the little boy who was now before her and said, "Hi. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." "It's okay, you can wake me anytime that you want." She just smiled at him. They continued to stare at each other for a while until finally he said, "You came." Serena looked hesitant now as she said, "Yes. I had to. I have something that I want to tell you." "Oh? I have something that I want to tell you too." Her eyes got big as she said, "Really?" he nodded, "What?" "I love you." Serena's eyes filled with tears and then she shook her head. "No, Darien, you have to let me tell you everything first and then you can decide whether you love me or not." she took at deep breath, but he interrupted her by saying, "You mean that you need to tell me that you are Sailor Moon?" she stared at him with wide eyes for a long time then, finally she whispered, "You knew?" He smiled and reached out and touched her face and said, "Not always, just recently." "And what do you think of that?" He was quiet for a moment and then he looked into her eyes and said, "I think that it's o.k., especially since I am Tuxedo Mask." Serena just sat there and gaped at him as her mind tried to take in what he just told her. Darien laughed at the sight of her shocked expression. It wasn't until she finally smiled at him did he lean forward and capture her in an earthshattering kiss. When they finally parted, he smiled at her and said, "I love you." She smiled back and said, "I love you too."