"The Key To Remembering"

Part 3

Rated G, standard disclaimers, blah blah blah.

AN:  I know that last part was really short but I reeeeallyy wanted to
leave it off
at that point!  Forgive me?  kay.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~&~~~~~~~~~~@

Darien's face blanched and later he would never figure out what kept
him
standing--or what allowed his voice to say, "Come in.  Have a seat. 
I'll 
make some tea."
The Walsh's stayed for hours, sharing stories and asking Darien about
his life.
He kept Serena with him, she went to leave at one point but he stopped
her, his voice
soft as he asked, "Please stay?"
He didn't need to add 'I don't want to do this alone'  
She smiled immediately reassuring, "Okay."
Darien asked as many questions as he could think of before letting them
go.
He got their address in America and they promised to write and send
photos.
Invitations to come visit anytime were offered on both sides.
Darien and Serena walked them to the door slowly.  Mrs. Walsh turned
and put her 
hands on his tall shoulders suddenly and said sadly,
"I don't know what this will mean to you if I say it now, but I want
you to know
if we had known--"
He tried to stop her but she continued.
"If we had known you survived,"  Tears trickled down her cheeks, "We
would have come--
we would have taken care of you--oh I'm so sorry!"
"Don't be!  Don't be!"  choked Darien and hugged her--this stranger
from a forgotten
life whose heart was bursting for him.
Finally she pulled back and touching his cheek, said,"I loved you when
you were a 
little boy and so, I love you still--remember that."
Serena watched something come into Darien's eyes--something beautiful
and painful.
"If there's ever anything you need," Said Mr. Walsh emotionally, "just
call us."
"Thank you.  I can't tell you what it means to me to meet you."
Darien managed to sound almost calm--and very polite.
The Walsh's left.  Darien and Serena stood a long time in the doorway.
"I should go.."  She finally said softly.
"I'll walk you home."  he offered, his voice equally soft...

They walked silently through the park towards her house.
"Thank you."  he said finally, his voice breaking.
She looked up to see his eyes full of tears, "There's no need to thank
me Darien
I--Oh!"
She caught him up in her arms tightly and felt him return the squeeze.
He pulled back and looked down at her.  
Tears were streaming down his cheeks and he didn't care.  Right here. 
Right now.  He was
vulnerable and broken--and their was no one he could want near him but
Serena.
She brushed the tears from his eyes, her own filled with comfort for
him.
"I wish I could remember..."  He confessed to her, the one driving,
burning pain of his life
and all his identities.  (AN:  I'm so proud of that sentence!  ;)
This time his legs did give out and he fell to his knees.  Serena
gathered him up gently,
her heart breaking for him.
"I wish there was something I could do."  She cried, hugging him
fiercely.
"You did...you did.."  He murmured into her hair.
She tried to compose herself a little when he said,
"She said she loved me......no one's ever said that to me before!  And
I can't even
remember her--I can't remember anything!"
And at that moment, as she cried for him, trying desperately to sooth
him, she realized as 
another part of her remembered....the words just spilled out...
"But Darien...I love you."
They both froze at the same moment, tears in their eyes, crumpled in
each other's arms.
Darien ran a gentle hand down her cheek,
"Serena..."
Her brooch began to glow, the crescent moon burst forth in a blast of
light from her 
forehead and from her pocket, the star locket began to play.
She pulled it out as Darien stared wide eyed at her, and the light from
her forehead 
encompassed them both...
"Remember..."  She said softly, her mournful blue eyes fixed on his.
He realized simultaneously that she was Sailormoon and the Princess
from his dreams...before
memories rushed over him--as well as her.
And he did.  He remembered everything with her......the Moon
Kingdom....their past life
together....a thousand years ago....as lovers...suddenly Sailormoon and
Tuxedo Mask 
made a lot more sense.  And then, finally, his amnesia melted away and
every memory of his 
childhood awakened.  His parents...his house...his birthday
parties...their love..

Serena had wished so much for him to remember....longed to do
something...felt she could
and then suddenly, in a blinding flash of instinct, KNEW she could. 
But with those brief
six years of memories came ALL his memories....and hers....

The glow and the crescnet moon ebbed away, the brooch dimmed, and
lastly the locket's
melody stopped.  She tucked it away, her eyes never leaving his.
A tenderness had crept into his eyes as love--the one thing foreign to
him--had suddenly
entered from all directions.
"I remember..." He said softly, touching her face.
She caught his hand, "I'm so glad..."
He pulled her gently to her feet, she was shaky and exhausted.
He gathered her into his arms (AN:  siiigh, I love that romantic
phrase...don't you?)
"I remember my parents, and the Walsh's and my childhood.....and--and
the Moon Kingdom
and my family on Earth...when I was Endymion...."
He spoke with awe....
She was watching him intently.
"And I remember something else...."  He said softly, "I remember I
loved you...
..in another life..."
Her eyes clouded over sadly, the past tense cutting her heart.
"But it doesn't matter,"  He continued, "Because I fell in love with
you here 
and now anyway.  I just didn't know how to tell you."
Her face lit up and she smiled.
"And what about me?"  He asked, his confidence faltering--forgetting
she had said she 
loved him a few brief moments ago, "I don't know how you could......I
was never even 
nice to you...I didn't mean it..I--"
"Darien.  I always felt something for you--otherwise I would have just
ignored you
when you teased me.  And that day at your parent's graves--that day you
opened up
to me...and I knew..."  She finished quietly and looked at him
cautiously.
There was a look of utter gratitude in his eyes--that she could be so
forgiving...that
fate had conspired to bring them together twice.
"We're really lucky I guess,"  He said, his hands slipping up her back,
"We got
to fall in love twice."
She smiled, "Three times for me....I fell for Tuxedo Mask too--big
time!"
He laughed and then gently....ever so gently pulled her into a kiss.
So familiar.  So perfect.  And still new.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~%~~~~~~~~@

See minna?  I promised mush and I delivered!  Hope ya liked?  As I
mentioned earlier, 
this story is ancient I've just been too lazy to type it up!  But
thanks to the 
snow storm pummeling my window as we speak, I suddenly have some free
time! (What's that
about homework?  NO WAY!  :p )
E-mail me pretty please kay?  natia_99@yahoo.com