Ice Princess - Chapter 4 By Athena nikita@sgi.net Hi! Hi! O.k. campers, here it is...Chapter 4. Enjoy!! Thank you to everyone who had been e-mailing me on this and all of my other stories. Thanks for being so patient in waiting for this chapter. That's the good news, the bad news is that I have no idea when the next chapter will be done....hopefully, not to long. As always, a special thank you to Alicia Blade. She's a constant source of inspiration and support. The usual disclaimers apply, Sailor Moon does not belong to me. **************************************************************************** Two weeks had gone by since she had 'come out' about being Sailor Moon and every night for the last two weeks, Luna and Artemis had insisted on grueling training sessions in order for everyone get their attacks in sync. Serena had never been more exhausted in her entire life. Even when she was training for the Olympics last year wasn't as bad as this. This morning when she had left for the rink, she had told Luna that under no certain terms would she be showing up for a practice session today. Luna had told her that she had to come but Serena had stood her ground. Yesterday during her own skating session she had missed every jump that she had attempted because she was simply too tired to get the speed she needed or the strength to leap. Her coach had told her to take the rest of the day off to get some rest. At least it was obvious to someone that she was exhausted. She raised an arm out of the hot bubble bath that she was currently soaking in and watched as the water ran off her arm as her thoughts continued to drift over the last two weeks. Then there was Darien. She had been furious with him for how he had gotten her to confess her secret. But truth of it was, he was right. He had given her the chance to tell him, but she chose to play dumb. The problem was, she was too proud to tell him so and patch things up with him. Besides, he didn't know that she was harboring the secret that she was the Moon Princess and that was the most important secret of all. Even Luna agreed that now wasn't the time to admit that to the group just yet. They both felt that it would be better if they got use to Sailor Moon first. So at least she felt like she hadn't lost control of the situation completely. Problem number two. She absolutely hated the feeling of not being in control. That's why she had been so mad at Darien. Only Luna knew Serena's true feelings about Darien and wouldn't you know it, that coniving little fur ball made sure that she and Darien were paired together every time they had a practice battle. She knew that sooner or later that Serena would give into her real feelings for Darien and quit this charade that she hated the sight of him. The sad part was that Serena was ready to do that the day after that night at the temple, but again, her pride got in the way. So she and Darien traded barbs and insults instead of kisses and passion. It hurt to see him everyday and not be with him. Then to watch the others was pure torture! Problem number three. She was afraid to get close to anyone again. After what had happened over a year ago with the death of her family and Sapphire, she was afraid to get close to anyone again. After all, Diamond did kill his own BROTHER to get to her. It hadn't been planned that way, of course, but it all came down that way. Diamond had figured out that Sailor Moon went about as an everyday normal human when she wasn't saving the planet from him and his cronies. Her distinctive Meatball hairstyle had made her stand out. Diamond had figured out her true identity because she shared the same hairstyle as Sailor Moon, not to mention that there had been too many other similarities. So to make a long story short, he sent his brother, Sapphire, in to find out as much as he could about the human, Serena Thompson. Sapphire had landed a job as her personal trainer. But as time went on, they had fallen in love. But by then, it was too late. Diamond had already put the order out to kill her family based on information that Sapphire had given him over the months. It had been during the funerals that Sapphire had admitted to Serena who he really was and his role in this all. She had felt so betrayed at the time that she refused to listen to any information that Sapphire had wanted to share. Nor would she listen to his pleas begging for her forgiveness. She hadn't believed that he had loved her, that it had all be a trick by him and the Negaverse like he had said it had started out as. He kept appearing when she was alone, begging her to watch her back, that Diamond was planning to attack now that she was weak. But still she didn't take that as a sign of his love. It wasn't until the attack had come and Sapphire had thrown himself in front of her to save her from a blast from his brother did she realize that he truly had loved her. Diamond hadn't even batted an eyelash at what he had done. Only muttered something about the traitor getting his due before he had disappeared. But she had wept hysterically as Sapphire died in her arms declaring his love for her with his last breath. That had been over a year ago. It wasn't long after that, that she discovered that she was the Moon Princess and that she actually had a Prince out there somewhere waiting for her. She had felt that she actually had a goal or purpose then, that she wasn't alone in this insane battle against the Negaverse. But it had taken some time before she would allow herself to believe in the legend that the Prince was her long lost true love from so many years ago. With the pain of Sapphire's and her family's deaths so fresh, it was hard to imagine any kind of love, let alone one that had lasted over a thousand years. But now after finding him, and she had no doubts that he was the Prince, even though he hadn't come right out and said it yet. She did love him, there were just a few obstacles standing in her way, namely pride and fear. She was startled out of her thoughts by a ringing phone. Frowning she picked up the portable phone that sat on the ledge next to her. "Hello?" "Serena? Are you o.k.?" the female voice asked. It was Ami. Serena's frown intesified as she said, "Yeah Ames, why?" "Well it's going on 6:30 and training was to start at 6:00 and so we were worried." Now Serena sat up in the tub and asked worriedly, "What? Where's Luna? Didn't she get there?" "Yes she's here, why?" 'Wait a minute, Luna's there and she didn't bother to tell you that I couldn't make it today???" "No." Serena swore silently to herself and as calm as she could manage she said, "Put Luna on the phone please." Now Ami sounded confused as she asked, "Serena, how would I do that?" Serena rolled her eyes, for someone as smart as Ami was, she sure couldn't see the obvious sometimes. "Just put the phone down next to her and she'll hear me." Ami did as she asked and Serena heard Ami tell Luna that she wanted to talk to her. "Serena, just where are you?" came Luna's patronizing voice. "Luna, am I mistaken, or did I tell you that I was not coming today???" "No you did and I told you to be here." "Luna! I AM NOT COMING!!!!! There is no way. I need rest! I've got a Christmas show to do in a few weeks and right now I can't land any of my jumps because I don't have the energy to do it. NO I am not coming!!!" "But Serena, you have an obligation as Sailor Moon and...." Serena was really fuming now as she cut Luna off and yelled, "And I have an obligation as Serena Thompson, the Olympic Gold Medalist that the good people of Tokyo have paid good money to come and see in a few weeks! Not to mention that it's going to be televised in the States! What about that obligation??? Wht do you want me to say? 'Sorry folks, but I can't perform because I've been too busy training to fight the Negaverse???' I don't think so! Not only would it end my career, they'd cart me off to the nearest nut house faster than you can say Sailor Moon!" Luna was silent on the other end for a moment then she finally said, "Alright, I suppose that you have a point. How about meeting us at Lita's cafe for dinner so that we can discuss some strategy?" Serena sighed on the other end, she really didn't want to leave at all. She wanted to curl up on the sofa with a bowl of popcorn and pop a really good romatic movie into the VCR and just veggitate the rest of the night. But she also knew that Luna wouldn't let up on dinner so she said, "Fine, give me an hour, I'm taking a bath at the moment." Luna agreed and hung up. Serena sat there for a moment longer and thought then got out and began to get ready. ************************************************ She was just reaching for her keys when her communicator suddenly went off. Annoyed now, she snatched it up and yelled, "What??? I said give me an hour!!!" But Sailor Venus's voice came through frightened and garbled on the other end. "Serena...quick...attack....park...we're losing...most of us are....Tuxedo Mask...."then it went dead altogether. Frantic Serena began pushing buttons and yelling, "Venus! Venus Come In!!!" then all of a sudden, she felt Darien's pain. It was so intense that it nearly doubled her over. she thought as she quickly transformed and teleported to the park. The scene that she found was a grim one. Most of the Scouts and Guards were down. Only Mars and Jedite remained standing and that was questionable. Emerald, one of Diamond'S henchmen, was leading an attack on the Scouts. The blasts of power that she sent spiraling towards that Scouts and Generals were raw and powerful. They had barely been a match for her. Numbly Sailor Moon watched as both Jedite and Mars took another hit and went flying. Emerald's hideous laugh filled the air and then she set her sights on a figure in black that had slowly begun to move. It was Tuxedo Mask. He was barely moving at all, but it was enough to draw Emerald's attention. Her hideous laugh once again rang out as she called to her victim. "Time to say good night, Cape Boy!" and then unleashed another powerful blast of energy towards him. Sailor Moon stood stunned for a moment as visions of a scene familiar to this one took place many moons ago and then she screamed, "NOOOOOOOO!!!!!" her scream caught Emerald's attention and made her look in that direction, but she only saw a glimmer of light. The next thing she knew, Sailor Moon was now standing in front of her with a crazed look in her eye. "COSMIC MOON POWER!!!!" she had screamed. Sailor Moon wasn't sure that the attack would work as Sailor Moon, but she didn't have time to change into the Moon Princess. But Emerald watched in horror as a Crescent Moon appeared on Sailor Moon's forehead, flickered for a moment and then burst into a silver light, blinding her. She never really knew what hit her as the energy coming from Sailor Moon enveloped her and destroyed her. Sailor Moon was numb. In her mind she was back at the battle that had taken place over a year ago. Once again she was trapped to watch Sapphire take the energy meant for her, but this time, she could move. This time, she would stop it before it hit him. So she called out the attack that brought out the full power of the crystal. She was vaguely aware of all of the energy running through her and then out of her through the crystal that now floated between her hands and she stood there and screamed, "NOOO! SAPPHIRE!!!!" Wave after wave of the incredible power of the Imperium Silver Crystal continued pour from Sailor Moon and the crystal, even afer Emerald was gone. Finally, a small semblence of reality returned and slowly she quit her attack. She stood there, her chest heaving with each heavy breath that she took, staring at the pile of dust that was once Emerald. The crystal in her hand flickered for a moment and then disappeared. All of a sudden, she felt weak and light headed. The crystal, she knew, had drained most of her energy. Slowly she turned to look at her fallen friends, and with little awareness, saw that all but Darien were now up and gaping at her. She looked at them puzzled as to what they could be staring at, not realizing that they were in shock over her use of such awesome power or the crescent moon that still blazed brightly on her forehead. Then suddenly, her energy was gone and she collasped to the ground, unconscious. The others stood there stunned for a moment. No one moved or breathed as they tried to take in what they had just witnessed. No one had a doubt that Sailor Moon was the Moon Princess, for only the decendants of the Moon had that much power. Power which came from the Imperium Silver Crystal. Finally they were jarred back to reality when Luna came running by them yelling, "Sailor Moon! Sailor Moon! Can you hear me?" she stopped at Sailor Moon's motionles form and began to try and shake she with her paws. Finally Sailor Moon moaned, but did not awaken. Luna sighed with relief. This seemed to register on Sailor Mercury as she snapped out of her stuper and came forward with her computer. After scanning Sailor Moon and tapping on a few keys, she looked at Luna and said, "She'll be fine. She's just had a loss of energy." Luna again sighed with relief and then pointed a paw at Darien's mangled form and said, "What about him?" Quickly Mercury scanned him and said, "He's in bad shape. He took more of a blast than any of us did. We need to get him to the hospital right away. I need to get him into emergency surgury!" Just then, the wail of sirens filled the air. "Quick, take Sailor Moon home. She only needs rest. I'll wait for the ambulance. I want to work on Darien myself. Now go!" The others quickly complied and disappeared into the night with Sailor Moon. *************************************************************************** Eight hours later, Serena woke with a start from the unconscious state that using the crystal had put her in. Glancing quickly about the room, she realized that she was actually in her bed. Slowly Serena got out of her bed, she was still in the clothes that she had been in prior to going to the battle. After a quick stop in the bathroom, Serena headed out to the living room of her apartment. It was pitch black there, because it was the middle of the night, but even though she couldn't see, she could hear breathing. Frowning now, she walked over to where she knew there was a lamp and swtiched it on. Upon doing so, there were a few grunts by the inhabitants that were scattered about her living room sleeping. Mina and Marcus were on the couch and Lita and Nicholas were on the floor. All four were now sitting up and covering their eyes against the glare while they became use to it. It was Lita that spoke up first, "O.k., who's the wise guy?" Then she saw Serena and said, "Oh Serena. I didn't see you there. How are you feeling?" Serena looked at her a little puzzled and said, "I'm fine. I mean, I feel a little hungover, but o.k. Why? And what are you guys doing here?" All four were now sitting up and Marcus asked, "You mean that you don't remember?" Serena shook her head and said, "No." The four other occupants of the room looked at each other and then finally Mina said, "Serena, who's Sapphire?" Serena looked shocked and she hesitantly asked, "Why? Where did you hear that name?" "Serena, at the batte, you screamed that name as you, well, killed that woman with the green hair and awful laugh." The others sat and watched as Serena's eyes became wide with recognition. Serena reached out and steadied herself again the couch. Quickly, Marcus was up and helping her sit down. Inside Serena, there was a storm raging as she remembered the details to the battle. Then she groaned and doubled over with an agonizing cry, "Oh Darien!" Tears began to stream down her face as she saw him lying motionless in her mind's eye at the battle scene. He was bloody and burnt in places. She looked at Mina and said. "Is he...is he..?" but she couldn't finish. Her mind just kept screaming 'No!' "We don't know anything yet. Ami is with him at the hospital. She hasn't called yet, so we were assuming that she was still in surgury with him." Serena felt as if she was gonna be physically sick. He couldn't die, he just couldn't! She started to rock back and forth on the couch as more tears ran down her face as she sobbed out, "Damn you, Diamond!" the others looked at each other in confusion at this new name. Then Serena stood suddenly and hurriedly put on her shoes and grabbed a jacket from the hall closet. Frantically, she began looking for her keys. "Serena! Just where the hell do you think you are going?" Lita yelled at her, but Serena didn't answer. She just found her keys and ran out the door with all four in hot pursuit. It was Nicholas that caught her and held her tight as she fought against him. "I'm sorry, Princess, but I can't let you go. You are too distraught." Serena only fought harder, not even realizing how he addressed her, and said, "But I have too. He can't die! I won't let him! Not when I can save him! PLEASE!!!" But he just held tighter and started to drag her back to her apartment when she surprised them all, including herself, when she suddenly disappeared from his arms. The others tood there stunned and finally Marcus said, "I had no idea that she could do that in her human form." Neither could anyone else, especially Serena. ************************************************************************ Ten minutes later, Serena pulled into the hospital parking lot and was out of the car practivally before it stopped. She ran inside and went to the receptionist in the ER. The receptionist looked up and said, "May I help you, Miss?" "Yes, I, uh, Darien Chiba, brought in. He was brought in a few hours ago. He was hurt really bad." The nurse just stared at her and then punched some keys on the keyboard and then looked up at Serena and said, "Are you family?" Serena shook her head and said, "No, but.." but the nurse cut her off and said, "I'm sorry Miss, but I can't give out any information on that patient except to family." Frantic now, Serena yelled, "But he has no family! I'm his..his, uh, girlfriend." But the nurse still shook her head and said, "I'm sorry Miss, but there are strict orders from Dr. Minzu to not give out any infor.." Serena now cut her off and said, "Yes, Ami, I mean, Dr. Minzu, I'm her friend. Call her. She'll tell you that I'm allowed to see him." The nurse was going to deny her, but Serena kept yelling and finally the nurse said, o.k. and paged Ami, then she told Serena to go and sit while waiting on Ami. Serena did as she was told, surprisingly and went and sat and fidgeted while she waited for Ami. Ten more minutes went by and Serena thought that she was going to go out of her mind when Ami finally came around the corner. Ami didn't see her at first and turned to the receptionist when Serena called her name. Ami turned around to see a very distraught looking Serena. Immediately Ami came over and put her arms around Serena in a hug. She turned back to the nurse and said that it was alright and she began to lead the now sobbing Serena down the hall. "Serena, what are you doing here? I just got a frantic page from Mina saying that you left your apartment all upset." "Oh Ami, how is he?" Ami stopped and looked at Serena for a long moment. Serena sensed that she had bad news and immediately said, "Don't even tell me that he's dead. I know that he's not! I can feel that he's not gone!" Quietly Ami said, "No, Serena, he's not gone...yet. But I honestly don't expect that he'll make it another 24 hours. He's really bad Serena. I tried everything, but.." and she trailed off. Serena just looked at her, she felt totally numb inside and somewhere in her mind she thought Then she realized that Ami was calling her name and she snapped out of her daze. When Ami realized that Serena was once again paying attention to her, she continued, "Serena, he's in a coma." Serena sniffed and quietly said, "Can I see him?" "Sure, come on. He's in the ICU. I'll sign you in and make sure that you always have access." When they reached the ICU, Ami signed her in and told the nurses that she was to have access at anytime. Then she lead Serena over to Darien's room. Serena stood in the doorway and stared at Darien's mangled form. He was practically covered from head to toe in white bandages. Pure white hatred for Diamond washed over her. She would repay him for all the hurt and anguish that he has caused her. By the Moon, he would. But she looked over at Ami, who was standing at his side now and said, "Ames, can I be alone with him for a moment?" "Sure, go ahead and talk to him. It's good for him." Then she walked past Serena and left the room. Serena stood in the doorway for a moment longer and then slowly entered the room. A deadly calm came over her as she looked at him. His face was swollen and bruised, while she couldn't even see any of the rest of his skin as he was bandaged, most likely for the burns. Then she leaned over and kissed his swollen lips gently. When she stood up, she stared at him a moment longer and then she said, "I couldn't save Sapphire, but I can save you." Then she held out her hands and the Imperium Silver Crystal appeared and hovered between her hands. Then she quietly whispered, "Moon Healing Activation" The crystal flared to life at her command and bathed Darien in its silver light. Serena closed her eyes in concentration and continued to pour its power into him. Then she heard his heart monitor beep as his heart rate increased. Only when she heard him moan, did she stop the energy. When she looked at him, his was breathing strong and steady and the bruises on his face were gone. She had a pretty good idea that the burn marks would also be gone. She smiled down at him as he slowly opened his eyes and tried to look at his angel. But then the strain of using the crystal and the energy that it had taken from her, caught up with her and she swayed on her feet. She lowered herself into a nearby chair and waited for the lightheadedness to leave. When it did, she stood up and stared at the now sleeping Darien with love in her eyes. Then she kissed the tips of her fingers and reached out and touched his lips with them. He moved his head slightly at her touch and she smiled. Then she left the room, just as the nurses began to run in and check what they didn't think was possible. Serena just smiled as she walked out of the hospital and into the night.