Second Chances - Chapter 3 PG-13/R. Athena Hi everyone! I realized that after I had submitted chapter two, that I didn't write a little note here at the beginning, so I'll make up for it this time. First I must say thank you to everyone who has taken the time to write me. Your inspiration has kept me going and made me want to keep putting this out every week. You all are great!!! Second to Theresa or P120, my LFN pal! Thanks so much for all the info on LFN..I've signed up for so many mailing lists, that my in box is alway full. I look forward to reading your upcoming chapters on your story!!! I hope that we can keep chatting about LFN as well. Finally, to Jade, like I said, "You are too cool, girl!" I can't thank you enough for your inspiration and input! Sorry, but I didn't get your e-mail until after I put this together, but I promise, we'll get together on ch 5. But to everyone else, keep letting me know what you think and thanks again. Love and Peace, Athena *************************************************************************** "That wasn?t quite the response that I was hoping for." Serena, who had also transformed back to her normal self, muttered under her breath. "I told you that this was a bad idea!" "Oh quit whinning, Jason! I?m not in the mood!!!" "Sorry." he mumbled like a small child that just got scolded for doing something wrong. In an aggitated action, Serena dragged her hand through her long hair and let out a long breath. Finally, she looked at the four scouts and said, "O.k. Everyone transform back into to the human selves." The scouts did as they were told and Serena continued,"Now, whether or not you like this turn of events, I really don?t care. I wanted to tell you who they were from the beginning, but they wanted you to love them for who they were, not what they were. I can?t say that I disagree with that, but this is what I feared would happen. But as I said, I really don?t care whether or not you like this. We are ALL a team, so get use to it. You liked/loved each other or whatever your own particular cases may have been, prior to this night, so I really don?t understand why you can?t continue to do so." The girls all began to voice their complaints all at once, but Serena just held up her hand for silence, "Guys, love is too precious and delicate to throw away over something as trivial as this, believe me, I know. Sometimes I think if only I?d.... But that?s over now. Now you have each other.... don?t throw that away!!!! I?ll leave you all alone now to work out your ?differences?." And with that said, she turned around and walked down the steps of the temple and out of sight. Four men, women and two cats stood staring at each other. Finally, Raye broke the awkward silence, "Gee, I never realized that she blamed herself for Darien." "She told me once when I first met her a few years ago that he left her because she was too dumb, clumsy and afraid for someone like him. I always thought that she was crazy for believing that, but she does. So much that it drives the person that she is today." Marcus said sadly as he looked back to where Serena had walked off. Slowly, Luna began to walk in the same direction and then she took off running. "Luna! Wait!" Artemis called and ran after her leaving eight people staring at each other in silence again. Finally, Mina looked at everyone and said, "I think she?s right. I mean we did all like each other before, so why should this change anything?" Slowly, one by one, the other three scouts nodded and all four generals smiled and walked over to their respective loves and gathered them in their arms...... ************************************************************************ A few days later, Darien was watching the evening news talk about yet another youma attack that had taken place the day before at the local movie theater. No one had been hurt and SM once again saved the day. However, that wasn?t the focus of the story. The focus had been on the four men who had joined forces with the Scouts. Everyone was talking about the mysterious men who were overheard referring to themselves during the last battle as the Royal Guard. ?The Royal Guard?? Darien thought to himself, ?I don?t remember them. But they look awfully familiar to me.?Just then Kimberly came into the room carrying two plates of food with her. "Dinner?s ready! What are ya watching? Another attack? Where at this time?" "Huh? Oh yeah, it was at the movies this time." "This is so strange. We haven?t had attacks in years. As a matter of fact, I don't recall hearing about any of the Scouts until recently. And no one?s mentioned that gorgeous guy that use to be with them. What was his name?" "Tuxedo Mask." "Yeah that?s it!!! He was sooo dreamy! Boy you sure do know a lot about the Sailor Scouts and stuff, how come? Were you a big fan or something too?" "Uh...something." "Cool!" Darien just rolled his eyes when she looked away.This was too uncomfortable by half. He should feel flattered or something that she liked his alter ego, like the way he did when he found out Serena liked Tuxedo Mask. But he didn?t. For some reason, it made him feel sad. Slowly he turned to look at Kimberly, who was engrossed in a movie that she found on the t.v., and he studied her. She really was beautiful, but his heart didn?t flutter when he looked at her and he didn?t live to bask in one of her smiles. He felt almost as if he tolerated her. ?What?s wrong with me? I?ve been like this ever since I realized that Serena was back.? he thought. Serena. His meatball head. If only it hadn?t been for that damn dream! Then he wouldn?t have had to chase her off. Then his life would be perfect again and he?d feel alive again. ?What am I thinking? I?ve got Kimberly!? But no matter how he tried to convince himself, that just wasn?t enough. "Darien, is something wrong?" "Huh? No why?" "Because you were looking at me funny." "Oh no, nothing?s wrong, I was just thinking that we should go for a walk tonight, in the park." "Oooh how romantic! Let?s go!" ************************************************************************ Later, in the park, Raye and Jason were walking hand in hand down the path, when Raye spotted a familiar head of hair. "I can?t believe it!" she exclaimed. "What?" Jason asked. "That?s Darien! And that must be Kimberly. Look! She looks like Serena!" "Where?" "That guy coming towards us. The tall one with the black hair in the black jacket. "Soooo, that?s the infamous Darien." "You mean you don?t recognize him?" "Raye, it?s been over a thousand years since I last saw him, but now that I look at him, yes, he does look familiar." "I wonder if he?ll speak to me, or if he?ll act like I don?t exist either." "Oh I guarantee he?ll talk. I?ll make him talk." "Now Jason, you?re not gonna cause a..." "Hey Raye! Wow! I haven?t seen you in years! How are you?" Darien called out. "Oh hi Darien." Raye mumbled, "I?m fine. How are things with you?" "Good. This is my fiancee, Kimberly." Darien couldn?t help but notice how Raye stiffened up at the word, fiancee. With a forced smile,Raye responded, "Nice to meet you. This is my boyfriend, Jason." Darien was just reaching to shake Jason?s hand when a load roar filled the air. "What the hell was that?" Jason yelled and in response a huge youma with long tentacles emerged from the lake and started towards them. Kimberly started screaming and Raye and Jason looked at each other, to the youma and then at Darien. "Run!" All three yelled at the same time and the group scattered. Raye and Jason headed in one direction to transform and Darien and Kimberly in another. After they thransformed, Raye called the others on he communicator. "Everyone come quick!!!! Another youma is attacking. This time at the park!" Everyone replied that they?d be right over. And Raye went to join Jedite in the fight. Meanwhile, Serena had just walked in the front door from work when the call from Raye came. ?Oh no! Not again! I?m so tired!? she thought frantically. "Serena, is that you?" Michael yelled out. "None other!" "Let?s get going then!" "Moon Crystal Power!" As soon as she finished transforming, Nephlyte was standing before her. "Are you ready?" he asked her. "As I?m gonna be." she replied and together they disappeared in a whirl of silver light. They arrived at the scene of the attack at pretty much the same time as everyone else. Everyone paused to take in the scene and that?s when Sailor Moon realized who the youma had in it?s slimy tentacles....Darien and Kimberly. "Darien! NOOO!" she screamed, but he didn?t hear her. He was too busy trying to reach Kimberly, who was almost unconscious from having her energy drained from her. SM reacted blindly yelling out, "Let them go you slim creature from hell! Moon Distortion...STRIKE!!!" her distortion waves went out mixed with Jupiter?s thunderclap and the youma let go of it?s victims as it was thrown backwards. SM immediately disappeared and reappeared in front of where Darien was struggling to sit up. "Darien, are you o.k?" she asked in a tembling voice. Slowly Darien looked up, taking in the black heeled shoes, the black skirt, silver bow, the tall Crescent Moon Glaive, and finally the blue eyes that haunted his dreams every night. "Sailor Moon?" he asked in bewilderment as he tried to pick his jaw up off the ground. SM knelt down and reached out ot him. "Yes, Darien, it?s me." Tears now shown brightly in her beautiful eyes. "What happened to you?" and with a strangled laugh she replied through her tears, "I grew up." Just then SM was hit from behind with a energy blast from the youma because she had been so distracted with Darien. Her small body went flying forward, dropping the tall glaive in her flight and Darien screamed, "NOOOO! Serenaaaa!" Serena lay motionless on the ground. Her glaive lay a few feet behind her where she dropped it in her flight. Everyone stood motionless for a moment at the sight of their beloved leader lying crumpled on the ground. Finally, Malachite ran forward to her side. Gently he picked her bruised body off the ground and tried to revive her. "Sailor Moon? Serena? Can you hear me?" but she remained silent and limp in his arms. Tears began to spill down his face as he began calling her name over and over trying to gain a response from her. Slowly and numbly Darien walked over to wear Sailor Moon lay unconscious in Malachite?s arms, forgetting all about his hurt fiancee, who was trying to get up from where she laid on the ground. "Serena?" he said weakly. At the sound of Darien?s voice, Malachite sharply brought his head up and glared his most vicious stare at him. "Stay away from her!" he growled menacingly at Darien. Darien step back and asked in confusion. "What? Why? I want, no need, to know if she?s okay." Darien pleaded. "No! You stay away from her." He said again while the other three generals came to stand behind him in a show of support. "I?m tired of you hurting her! All you bring her is pain! Some Prince! I can?t believe that I ever pledged my loyalty to you!" All three of the remaining generals nodded in agreement. In pure shock, Darien slowly looked from on general to another. He was completely taken back by the look of pure hatred on each and every one of their faces. Suddenly, the remainder of the scouts joined the generals at Sailor Moon?s side. Immediately Sailor Mercury sat down beside Malachite and began to assess SM?s condition. Through tears of complete agony, Sailor Venus asked, "Mercury, is she o.k?" "Yes, she?ll be alright. She was just stunned by the blast." There was a collective sigh from the group at whole. Malachite slowly gained his feet, being careful not to jar Sailor Moon around. He had her craddled lovingly against his chest and he looked down at her unconscious form and without another thought, he leaned down and kissed her forehead. Darien again took another step back. For some unexplainable reason, he felt as if his heart had just been ripped right out of his chest. Who was this guy? Was he Serena?s boyfriend? Darien was physically getting sick from the thought of that. ?No it?s impossible! Serena wouldn?t do that to me!? one part of his mind screamed. ?Oh come off it Chiba! You?re engaged for Pete?s sake! It?s not like you?re faithful to Serena!? the other part of his mind answered. Slowly he regained his senses enough to ask, "Just who are you anyway? And what do you mean, you pledged your loyalty to me?" But he got no response, instead Malachite said, "Just stay away!" and then he and the other three generals disappeared. Darien blinked several times and then yelled, "No wait! Serena!" but they were gone. Finally he seemed to notice the other scouts standing there glaring at him as well. He looked at them and finally his anger came to the surface and he glared back. "What the hell is going on here!??? And just who were those, those..thugs that took Serena away? Aren?t you going to go after them? They took Serena!" he demanded. "You know something Darien, you?re a real asshole! I can?t believe you! You?re spouting off what our duties are, yet you can?t be bothered to remember what yours are? Just who the hell do you think you are????" Mars demanded from him. "I?m your Prince, dammit!" he spat back. Missing the look of complete shock on Kimberly?s face who heard the entire conversation between Darien, the generals and now the Scouts. "Not anymore you?re not!" Darien was stunned and Kimberly gasped, finally drawing attention to herself. "You?re a Prince?" she asked softly. Darien didn?t answer and when he turned back to face the Scouts, they too were gone. "Fuck!" he muttered. "Darien, what?s going on?" Kimberly whimpered at his side. Darien let out an agitate sigh and ran his hand through his hair. "Nothing. Let?s get out of here." And he walked off leaving Kimberly to stare after him with tears running down her face. ********************************************************************** Back at the house that Serena shared with the four generals, Malachite was gently laying Sailor Moon down on her bed. The moment that he released her, she transformed back into Serena in a sparkle of silver light. All four generals stood back at the sight. Suddenly, Serena let out a moan. Malachite, now Marcus, sat down on the bed besides Serena. "Little One, are you o.k?" the fear he felt clearly visable in his voice. Slowly Serena sat up and brought a hand to head and groaned again. Yeah, I..I think so. What happened?" she asked as she shakily tried to stand up. "Whoa! Take it easy! You had a busy day." Marcus said as he gently forced Serena to sit down. Michael sat down on the other side of Serena and gently brushed her hair off of her shoulder as he said, "You were hit with a blast from that youma." Serena looked confused for a moment and then she remembered. "Darien." "Yeah, you were busy crying over him." Jason said with disgust. "I thought that you didn?t like that guy anyway." Serena didn?t answer, she just had a far away look on her face. "Well don?t worry, little one. I told him to stay away from you." Marcus said in a soothing tone. "You did?" she asked. "Yeah!" Greg said, "You should?ve seen it! Marcus really told him off. He told him that he was a sorry excuse for a prince and that it was a waste to pledge our loyalty to him!" "Oh you did, did you." Serena said, all four generals missing the hint of anger in her voice, because they were all too busy gloating. "I can?t believe that you did that!!! What the hell is wrong with you??" All four generals cringed at her out burst. Like a fool Jason asked, "But Serena, I don?t understand. I thought that you didn?t like him. I thought that you hated him." The other three generals groaned when they saw Serena?s face go from being mildly angry to extremely pissed off, Jason could be so dense sometimes. "Since when do you make decisions about my life?! It?s my life dammit and only I will tell him whether to stay or go!!! That?s my right..NOT yours!!!! If Darien ever tries to get in touch with me, I don?t want any of you interferring. That goes for the Scouts too, so make sure that you pass that on to your girlfriends!!!" And with that Serena got off the bed and stormed into her bathroom and slammed the door, leaving all four men staring after her in confusion. "Jeez, what did I say?" Jason asked. Greg merely shook his head and walked away, while Michael leaned over and slapped him upside the head. "Ow! Hey what was that for?" "You idiot! Isn?t it obvious?! She still loves him! And now she probably thinks that we ruined her chances." "Oh." Marcus stood up as he heard the door bell ringing in the distance and said, "But she still doesn?t need to be hurt again. He is engaged." And walked out of the room as female voices floated up the stairs. ************************************************************************** Meanwhile, back at Darien?s apartment, another heart was being broken. Kimberly was sitting on the couch, wringing her hands, as Darien stood in front of her staring out of the sliding glass door that lead out to the balcony. "Darien, please, what?s going on?" the hurt, anguish, and confusion coming out in a flood of tears. Slowly Darien let out a huge sigh and said, "I?m sorry Kimberly, but I can?t marry you." This was not what she expected. "What? I don?t understand." "Sailor Moon..I love her. I?ve always loved her." "But Darien, she?s not human! No one knows who she is. How can you believe..." Darien cut her off when he turned around to face her and said, "But I do know who she is. Look Kimberly, I?m sorry. But I just can?t kid myself any more and I can?t lead you on anymore. Not now that I know that she?s back. That I could make things right between us again." "No! Darien, NO! It?s not fair! You love me! I know you do! You can?t tell me that this is all a lie! You love me! You..." "No Kimberly, I don?t!" "Then why did you ask to marry you, huh?" But he wouldn?t answer her. She persisted further. "Why?" Silence. "Why?" Silence. She picked a pillow up off the couch and threw it at him, hitting him in the face with it and yelled again, "WHY?!!!" He gripped the pillow as his anger mounted and spat back, "Because you looked like her, damn it!!!!" Kimberly sat there gaping at him in total shock. "Fuck!" he spat again and threw the pillow across the room. Then Kimberly remembered the picture that she had found in Darien?s drawer under some clothes one day. "That picture..that day..the one that I found that day...that?s Sailor Moon...isn?t it?" Silence. "That girl...in the picture, with the weird hair, it?s just like Sailor Moon?s hair...that?s her, isn?t it? Silence. "ISN'T IT????" she yelled. "Yes." "Oh God! I?ve been such a fool! That day when I found it and you got all pissy with me and took it out of my hands. I saw the way you gazed at the girl in the picture, but I thought," she choked back a sob, "I thought that maybe she had died or something. Maybe that was why you were so sensitive about her. Because you had said once that you had lost someone dear to you and I just assumed...." but she couldn?t finish. She just put her face in her hands and cried. "Look," he said, "I?m going to go and pack up a couple of things and then I?m going to go and stay at Andrew?s. I?ll find a place and move out by the end of the week. "No," she said sniffing, "I?ll move back in with my mom and dad. It?ll be easier that way. Let me just get some things together." As she stood up to walk back towards the bedroom, he said, "At least let me take you over there." "No, I?ll have Daddy come and get me." ?Oh great,? Darien thought, ?so that he can beat the hell out of me for hurting you? No thanks.? But instead he said, "O.k. I?m going to go for a walk though. I?ll be back later." And with that he left. Kimberly slowly walked over to the phone and called her parents.