"Love Waits for You" by Stormlight ~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter Six ~~~~~~~~~~~ The world was coming to an end. That's what it seemed like, anyhow, as Darien sat outside the window, staring blindly at the ground, trying to make his reeling mind understand what his eyes and ears could not deny. **Serena's Sailor Moon...Serena's Sailor Moon...Serena's Sailor Moon...** That seemed to be the extent of his thoughts for the moment. He took a deep breath, wiping the sweat from his brow, and stared up at the thin sliver of moon in the sky. A wry smile crossed his face, and he fought back the ridiculous urge to laugh out loud. **She's Sailor Moon. Who would've thought? But...I guess it makes some kind of crazy sense. Why she always drove me so crazy, from the first day she threw that math test at my head. Why I always felt that crazy urge to protect her, even though I wouldn't admit it. She's been the one I've been protecting all along...** But now that he knew...what was he gonna do about it? He doubted he could simply stroll on in there and announce himself. They'd kill him. He'd seen Lita-or was it Jupiter now?-fight, and knew she could easily kick his butt. **But...I'm on THEIR side! I'm Tuxedo Mask!** he told himself. **I have every right to go on in there and announce myself!** Not that they trusted him or anything. He wasn't exactly buddy-buddy with the Scouts, and he'd never made his intentions very clear to them. But he'd sworn to Sailor Moon...Serena...that he'd always protect her, and she seemed to believe him. Still, the question remained...should he tell them, or not? As it turned out, the decision was made for him. Luna, who had been listening quietly as Raye once again called on the fire, suddenly perked up, her whiskers and ears twitching. She looked around, a very human expression of alarm on her face, before staring out the window...right into Darien's eyes. Startled, he quickly jumped back into the shadows, but it was already too late. "A spy! We have a spy!" Luna yowled, leaping up to the window. Serena, startled at her pet's sudden cry, squealed in alarm and scrambled backwards, looking around frantically. The sight might have been pretty funny if Darien hadn't been so intent on getting away before he got caught for good. He leaped up, preparing to make a mad dash for the wall surrounding the temple, no matter how ungraceful it might be, but Luna was too quick for him. With a yowl, she launched herself from the window and landed squarely on Darien's back, claws digging in deep. "Yeeeowch!" Darien yelled, dancing around and determinedly trying to unattach a cat who seemed just as determined to remain attached. Excited voices rose from inside the temple as the four girls all rushed outside to see what all the commotion was about. "Hey! Luna caught a burglar!" Serena cheered. "Way to go, Luna!" "Serena! I'm not-Ouch! I'm not a-OW! Luna, that HURTS!-I'm not a burglar, Serena!" Darien yelped, swatting at the hissing cat. Serena's face registered surprise, which quickly turned to anger when she realized who it was. "You! What are YOU doing here?! You were SPYING on me!?" she accused. "Molly was worried about you, so I thought I'd just make sure you were okay," he replied defensively. Now Serena looked worried. "Wh-what did you hear?" she demanded. Darien decided that honesty was probably his best policy, in this case. At least, judging by the look Lita was directing at him while she cracked her knuckles, it was. Besides...maybe THEN he'd be able to get that blasted cat off his back...literally! "Besides your talking cat-WHICH, by the way, if she doesn't let go of me in five seconds is gonna get turned into a new hat-I heard...well...everything. Enough, at least, to know who you are...Sailor Moon," he replied. She winced. "I was afraid of that," she whispered as she and the others exchanged uneasy glances. Luna dropped to the ground behind him and calmly began to clean her fur. Darien shot her a withering glance before choosing to ignore her, rubbing his aching skin. He was probably gonna have to go get rabies shots or something after this... "So what do we do now? Kill him?" Raye was asking wryly. "Sounds good to me!" Lita exclaimed maliciously, still cracking her knuckles. Darien shuddered. How could anyone DO that for so long? Wouldn't that start to HURT? "Come on, guys, you know we can't kill him," Serena whined. Then she brightened. "But I can use my powers, can't I? Make him forget..." "NO!" Darien's reaction to that statement was so vehement that even Lita took a step backward. "Nobody has any right to mess with my memories. Even you, Serena," he continued on in a calmer tone, not ready to share exactly WHY he was so unwilling to let anyone mess with his head in front of the entire group. Only two people knew about his amnesia as a child and his life as an orphan, and Andrew was the other one. "I have every right to know this kind of information," he added. "You have NO right to know!" Serena cried, grabbing his arm and pulling him to the side, away from the other Scouts. "Look, Darien, thanks for being worried about me enough to check up on me...but I can't let you remember this! Knowledge of the Negaverse is dangerous! If anyone ever discovers that you know who we are..." She shook her head, looking away in slight embarrassment, a faint blush staining her cheeks. "I...I care about what happens to you...and ANYTHING could happen to you if the Negaverse gets it into their heads that you know something! I...I couldn't bear to see that happen," she whispered. Darien stared at her in complete astonishment. Had he just heard right? Had his meatball head actually admitted that she...CARED for him?! It was almost too much to hope for...but... "I care about you, too, Serena, which is why I don't intend to forget that it's you out there risking your life every time there's an attack. I never knew why it was so important for me to protect Sailor Moon...but now that I know she's YOU...I'm starting to realize why...and it makes my job all the more important." There was complete silence on Serena's end, and it took Darien a moment to realize what he'd just said...that he'd just practically admitted to her that he was Tuxedo Mask... Her brow was furrowed; apparently she hadn't made the connection yet, he noted with wry amusement. Not that he blamed her. It was a shock for HIM to find out that SHE was Sailor Moon...no doubt her discovering that stodgy old Darien was her "dream hunk", as he'd heard her refer to him more than once (which was quite flattering, actually), was a little disconcerting. "Wh-what do you mean, protecting me?" she finally whispered. "I...I've never seen you..." Darien glanced at the other Scouts, who suddenly appeared to find the small, stunted trees growing around the temple quite fascinating, although he could practically see their ears straining to catch every soft-spoken word. His smile was wry as he turned a gentle gaze back to Serena and placed his hand inside his blazer. When it emerged again, he was clutching a beautiful red rose in full bloom, as fresh and dewy as if it had just been picked...or conjured, depending on one's viewpoint. Serena's gasp of shock echoed in the suddenly silent yard, and her wide-open eyes were fastened intently on the rose. "How...how did you...you CAN'T be...but...Tuxedo Mask is..." she stammered, before finally giving up trying to form a coherent sentence and settling for staring at him with a dumbfounded expression, instead. "Now is it okay for me to know that you're Sailor Moon?" he asked her softly. She looked at him, gulping slightly, before nodding her head. "Um...yeah," she replied in a whisper. "I guess it is." She turned to look at the Scouts, who were now busily inspecting the framework of the temple for any stray termites that might happen to be lurking about. "So...think it's okay for him to be let in on the secret? Seeing as how he's one of us, and all..." She didn't sound too sure about that last part, but at least she wasn't going to string him up and burn him at the stake, as Raye was opt to do. SHE looked positively furious. "All this time I've known you, and you never told ME that you were Tuxedo Mask?!" she ranted, standing there with her hands on her hips. "Was this subject EVER gonna come up?!" "Oh, I don't know. Probably when the subject of you being Sailor Mars was brought up, I might've mentioned something about it," Darien replied, deadpan. For once, Raye was speechless. She blinked. "Oh," was all she managed to squeak, before going right back to inspecting for termites. There certainly seemed to be a lot of the little buggers tonight... "Well, as I might remind you all, this IS a Sailor Scout meeting, and we should get back to discussing business," Luna reminded them primly. "Luna! We ARE discussing business!" Serena pouted. "Besides, we've been here forever, and we haven't found that stupid youma that was supposed to have appeared! Can't we go home now? I'm starved!" Luna started to protest, but the other Scouts were, for once, agreeing with Serena, so she gave it up with a shake of her head. "Oh, very well! But you'll have to make it up, sometime. We can't be too slack in our duties where the Negaverse is concerned!" she lectured. "Yeah, yeah! Give it a rest already!" Serena interrupted. "I'm going home to eat! See ya later, guys!" With that, she turned and began to walk down the steps from the temple. "Hey, Serena! Wait up!" Darien called, running to catch up to her, oblivious to the curious stares of the other Scouts as they watched him leave. He slowed his pace when he reached her and walked beside her silently, his hands jammed in his pockets. "Need a ride home?" he asked casually. Serena glanced at him, hesitated, shook her head. "No thanks. I'll walk. It isn't that far," she replied cheerfully. "I usually take a shortcut through the park." "But it's getting dark, and my car's right over there," Darien insisted. "Come on. Let me give you a ride..." Serena sighed. "Well, okay," she relented, walking across the street with him to the car. She felt strange, walking along with someone who had, at the best of times, merely been a pest to her, and now turned out to be the guy who was always coming to her rescue, who had swept her off her feet more than once, who had made her dream impossible dreams... **And I've told all this to Andrew before, and sometimes Darien was there, and all this time he's been listening to me raving over Tuxedo Mask and probably laughing his head off at me...and...and I never even knew!** she thought furiously. How dare he make a fool out of her that way! "Penny for your thoughts?" Darien's quiet voice cut through her musings, causing her to jump slightly. "Oh! I...uh..." she searched for an answer to his question that wouldn't make her look like even more of an idiot than he already thought she was. "I was...just...thinking that I can't believe that YOU'RE really Tuxedo Mask!" she finally blurted. "I mean...you two are NOTHING alike! He's...well...and YOU'RE...well, you're...YOU!" "Gee, thanks," he countered wryly. "D'ya think it's easy for ME to believe that YOU'RE Sailor Moon? I mean, she's a super hero, and no offense, but you aren't at all what I'd picture as a hero!" "I'm not any different as a hero than I am in real life!" she protested angrily. A slight smile curled his lips. "That's true. Sailor Moon IS kind of a klutz, now that I think about it. I can see the resemblance there..." "Shut up, Darien! Tuxedo Mask is a complete snob sometimes, and I can see the resemblance THERE!" she snapped. Darien scowled, feeling miffed at her words, and all of his old habits chose that moment to kick back in. "Frankly, if it weren't for me, you'd have been killed long ago! You know that as well as I do! You should be thanking me, not to mention the other Scouts! If it weren't for us helping out of every little scrape you get into, you'd be dead!" he told her harshly. She paused, frozen. "Tha-that's not true," she whispered. "I...I can take care of myself..." "Oh? What about that last youma attack last month? Remember what happened? You tripped on a root, right into the youma! If Mars hadn't attacked it from behind and if I hadn't grabbed you, you would have been ripped to shreds!" He wanted to stop; honestly he did, but his mouth appeared to have developed a mind of its own, and he could not stop himself from blurting out one last accusation. "Sometimes...sometimes you're more trouble than you're worth!" Serena recoiled as though he'd physically struck her, which he may as well have as far as she was concerned, and drew in a sharp breath as her eyes filled with tears. "You...heartless...creep," she whispered in a choked voice. "You...you have...I never WANTED...I..." She paused as a sob escaped, shaking her slender frame like a leaf. "I never WANTED to be Sailor Moon!" she suddenly screamed, clenching her fists. "I NEVER asked to save the world! I just want to be NORMAL! I HATE being Sailor Moon! I HATE IT! And most of all...I hate YOU!" With that she turned and bolted down the street away from him, sobbing softly. Darien stood where he was, feeling as cold and numb as a block of ice as he stared after her, shocked at her words...and ashamed of his own. "Awww...cripes," he muttered softly, jamming a hand through his hair. What had he been THINKING about?! He'd never meant to say those things, but once again he'd thrown common sense...not to mention compassion...to the wind and had let his big mouth do his thinking for him. Sometimes he wondered why he even had a brain, he failed to use it so often... "You'd better go after her, Darien," came Raye's cold voice from just behind him, making him jump. He whirled around to see all three Scouts and Luna standing there, looking mad enough to kill. "You just did a lot of damage, and you'd better fix it...or else," Lita added icily as she cracked her knuckles yet again. "That was way harsh of you, Darien, not to mention completely untrue," Amy finished, looking extremely disappointed in him. Luna merely growled, flexing her claws evilly. Darien sighed. "I didn't mean any of it. Honest," he said quietly. "I just...it's habit. I didn't MEAN to hurt her like that!" "You need to tell HER that...not us," Raye said. "Yes, you REALLY put your foot in it this time!" Amy sniffed. "Hell, forget the foot! He just shoved his whole damned leg down his throat! I'm surprised he didn't choke!" Lita snarled. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go after her!" "We'd go ourselves, but this needs to be resolved between the two of you," Amy told him quietly. "We're a team, and Serena knows that WE consider her to be a valuable leader, despite her faults, but if you expect to be a part of this team, she needs to know that YOU consider her to be a valuable part of it, as well. It's time to put aside this childish squabbling and grow up." Darien flinched, knowing she was right and hating himself for being so cruel. It WAS time to grow up, and it was time for him to stand up and be a man and pay for the mistakes he'd made. "I'll make things right," he swore softly. "I promise. I care about her. I really do. And now that I know...I mean...I'll take care of her." With that, he turned and sprinted down the street after her, leaving the Scouts to stare after him. Continued...