Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.

They we falling!! But they were falling slowly. Too slowly.
Darien's arms were flailing wildly. The air seemed thick. Darien
gazed at the murky water far below. He couldn't scream. The air
was so thick that it was hard to breath. Slowly he flipped over
to look up. The tunnel they had just jump through was slowly
falling away. Serena was above him, falling after him. Her eyes
were closed, but Darien could see a slight golden glow on her
forehead. What was that? She appeared to be concentrating on
something. Suddenly the world went white. He wasn't falling
anymore. There was solid ground under his feet. There was no one
in sight. Where was he? "Serena?" The sound of his voice seemed
to be thrown back at him. The whiteness faded away. "Darien?"
Darien jumped slightly. "Serena? Where are you?"
he circled around. He was in a market square. People were
bustling around. Over a portion of the square a large shadow
fell. His eyes followed the shadow. He gasped and stepped back. It was
Beryl's castle! He hadn't noticed, but there was a crowd of
peasants surrounding him. They had probably just seen him
materialize out of thin air. They looked at him suspiciously,
wondering what he was. He was getting nervous. "Serena?" His own
voice was shaky. He backed away slowly from the crowd. A tap on
the shoulder made him jump. He whirled around. "Serena! We're at
Beryl's castle!" Then, lowering his voice, "We have to get out of
here. How did you do it? How did you transport us here?" Serena
shook her head. "I didn't. I don't know who did. But have you
seen Luna?" As if in answer, there was a loud screech in the far
corner of the square. There was a circle of young boys throwing
rocks at something. Serena rushed over and pushed the boys aside.
There was a purple cat with amber eyes and a little golden moon
on its forehead. It didn't look happy either. "Luna!" The cat
hissed and jumped up into Serena's arms. "We have to get out of
here!" The sound of wood cracking cause Serena to look towards a
large gate. There were six big guards shoving peasants aside,
destroying small wooden booths. Serena gasped and backed away.
They were clearly looking for Serena and Darien. "How do you
think they know we are here?" Darien asked his voice cracked. "I
don't think they do. I think Beryl told them that we could be
anywhere and she has guards crawling all over the place." Darien
looked around. His eyes met those of a guard. "&$%@!! We've been
spotted!" Darien put his arm around Serena and ushered her into
the crowd. A loud shout went up behind them. Darien spared a
looked back. He was a good head taller than most of the people in
the crowd. Two of the big guards were pushing through the crowd
and literally throwing people out of the way. "C'mon let's
hurry!" Darien parted the way for Serena and Luna. Their progress
was slow, and they weren't pulling away. Suddenly they were out!
Unfortunately, they were backed into a corner. Darien and Serena
spun around. "Ooh! I HATE when this happens." She put Luna down
and said, "We are going to have to find another way out of here."
Darien turned to face her. "Like what?" Serena shoved him into
the crowd, hidden from sight. "Stay there." Luna followed after
Darien. About three seconds later the guards busted through the
crowd. They looked at Serena and smiled savagely. "He went that
way!!" Serena began screaming and pointing at the crowd. "He went
that way! He is going to try to kill the Queen!" The big guards
gasped and rushed back into the crowd, frantic to get into the
castle. Darien emerged from the crowd. "Wow. They really are
stupid. I can't believe they fell for that." Serena nodded.
"Believe it. Beryl had to get the stupidest and biggest people
she could find and make them believe that she was their only
hope. But sooner than later they'll figure it out so we'd better
find a way out. Fast." Darien nodded. "I think I saw a big gate
on the North wall. But it's guarded by big monsters." Serena
nodded. "We'll have to think of something else. We can't fight
our way out when we are in a crowded square."
*****************************************************************
Serena, Darien, and Luna pressed up against the wall. Serena
motioned for them to stay there. There was a man about Darien's
age standing by a nearby booth. No one was near him. Serena crept
up behind him. She raised her fist to knock him out, but at the
last second, the young man turned around and grabbed her wrist!
He flung her into an alley and covered her mouth. "Would you
mind telling me why you were going to knock me unconscious?"
Serena mumbled under his hand. "What was that?" Serena jerked
her head away. "I said, If you'd pull your hand away I could
tell you!" Just then Darien came around the corner and threw the
young man off of Serena. "Let's get out of here Serena!" the
young man smiled. "You'll stay right here. All I have to do is
shout for a guard and you're dead." Serena narrowed her eyes.
"What do you want?" The man grinned. "I know you are those two
fugitives that Beryl is looking for. You'd bring a nice reward."
Serena whispered into Darien's ear. "Maybe I can take him down
before he can shout." The man smiled even wider and shook his
head. "I don't think so." Serena stepped forward. "So you are
going to turn us in?" The man shook his head. "You judge me too
quickly. I know you want out of here. So do I." Darien raised a
skeptical eyebrow. "So what do you want to do?" The man smiled
triumphantly. "I want to go along with your little plan that
somehow involved me being knocked out." "That can be arranged,"
said Serena, cracking her knuckles. "Except you just tell me what
you need and I go with you WITHOUT being knocked out. By the way,
my name is Andrew." Serena whispered at Darien, "He can't be
trusted, but for now we'll humor him." Darien nodded and Serena
stepped forward to address Andrew. "Know this. I don't like you.
But we need something of yours and we will take you as far as the
forest. Understood?" Andrew nodded. "So what is it that you
need?" "Your robe. I need a disguise." Andrew nodded. "Fair
enough. But you are going to have to have more than just a robe
to get through those gates." Serena nodded. "I know. But part of
the plan will include stealing a horse, a small wagon, and a good
excuse." Andrew nodded. "Ok. You seem to know what you are doing.
I should hope so because if you are caught, odds are, I'll be
hanged for treason." Darien nodded. "Well let's be on with it,
shall we? We don't really need to stay here for much longer."
Andrew pulled off his the top of his robe and gave it to Serena.
Serena pulled the long brown tattered robe over her head. Andrew
was now wearing a brown tattered tunic and thick hosen. Serena
pulled the hood down over her face. The oversized clothing made
Serena's petite for seems even smaller. She tied a thin rope
around the waist and looked up. "Ok. I'm going to have to get a
horse from that stable over there. But first I need a small
wagon." Serena searched the market place. Her eyes rested on a
skinny old man. A peddler. She reached under her dress. She had
five silver coins sewn into it. She tore them out. "I'm going to
see if I can pursuade that old peddler to sell me his cart. You two stay here."
With that she limped across the square, putting on the act of an old woman.
Hiding her face, she made her voice cracked and nasal. "Bonjiour.
How much will ye take fer that cart?" The old man shook his head. "I
don't think so, madam. The cart's all I got." Serena held out the
five silver coins. "This should be enough to get a
new one." The peddler eyed the money and then his cart. "I still
don't know..." Serena reached into her dress once more and pulled
out a gold coin. "You drive a hard bargain." The peddler eyed her hand.
"How is it you got so much money? You some sort of a thief?"
Becoming wary, Serena asked harshly, "Do you want the
money or not? This is all I got." The peddler paused and then
snatched the money from Serena's hand. "Thank you." Serena
wheeled the cart back to the alley way. "The old man cleaned me
out." Darien sniffed. "What's a few coins to you? You're a princess."
Serena rolled her eyes. "Darien I don't have time to
argue with you right now. I'm sorry your mad because I failed to
reveal my identity to you and totally ruin everything." Darien
turned away. "Andrew. You are more familiar to the people here.
You go and get the horse. Make sure it's strong enough to carry a
slight load." Andrew mockingly clicked his heel and saluted. "Yes,
ma'am!" Serena caught his arm and squeezed it tightly. Andrew
winced. "Don't mess with me. This is a deadly situation and now
you're every bit at risk as we are." Andrew, serious now, nodded
and gulped. He nonchalantly walked away. Serena followed him with
her eyes into the stable.
About ten minutes later, with Serena pacing back and forth,
Andrew appeared with a large black horse. He walked it over and
hitched the horse to the small cart. Serena stood aside with her
arms crossed. "Well?" Andrew paused. "Well what?" Serena rolled
her eyes. "How'd you do it?" "There was only a young stable hand.
A boy about eleven. He was the only one there. He was easy to
persuade." Serena rolled her eyes again. "You been easy to bully.
Ah well. Let's get out of here." Andrew, Luna, and Darien all
climbed into the cart. They threw some rags over themselves. "Now
you have to be quiet. If you so much as sneeze we are all dead."
Serena climbed onto the horse and pulled the hood low. She made
her way to the gates. She prayed that all the monsters were as
stupid as the guards. As she drew near to the gate, the two
monsters tensed and blocked her path. The one on the left was
covered in thorns and had poison ivy for hair. Wicked looking
claws adorned its feet and hands. The other was all knives. It
had blades emerging from basically every angle of it's body. The
gruff voice of the ivy monster was heard, "What brings you to the
gate?" Serena, tried to keep her voice gruff. "I am a scout for
Beryl." She couldn't help spitting out the last word. "Why do you
not have a uniform?" Serena took a breath. "The last scouts were
caught and identified by their uniforms. Who would suspect a
peddler in rags to be a scout?" The monsters seemed to accept
this, because they let her pass, but not without a suspicious
look. Serena didn't let out a sigh of relief until they we a mile
or two away down the road. She dismounted and walked around the
cart. "Alright Andrew. This is where you get off." Andrew crawled
out of the blankets and off of the cart. "I will repay you
someday. But for now, the life of an outlaw awaits." Serena
allowed herself a smile and nodded. "Thank you for all of your
help." Andrew turned and ducked into the woods. Darien and Luna
crawled out too. We'd better ditch the cart in case someone from
the Negaverse decides to follow our trail." Luna nodded. "I have
to go back." Serena frowned. "Why?" Luna smiled. "Your mother
felt something was wrong and sent me to help. By the way it was
she who saved you from the fall. I'm not sure how, but it was
her. I know it. But I have to go. You seem to be okay now. There
is nothing more I can do." Serena nodded and hugged her cat. "Bye
Luna." She set Luna down on the path and watch her disappear. Now
it was just she and Darien. "Darien help me unhitch this cart."
Darien nodded and helped her. "Seems like a waste now, all my
coins for a cart we can't even keep." Darien remained silent.
Together they dragged the cart into the woods and hi it under
some brush. They returned to the horse. Now Darien spoke. "How
come you never told me?" Serena reversed the question. "How come
YOU never told ME?" Darien smiled slightly. "Well, first of all
Malechite would kill me, and second, I needed to help my country
and planet the best I could. Now you." Blushing, Serena said,
"Well, it's basically the same. I didn't want special treatment
and I was doing it for the moon." Darien, climbing on the horse,
said, "Tell me about the moon." Serena climbed up behind Darien.
"Well, we have a lot of advanced technology. Kind of like
those hovercraft, but ours is better." Darien nodded. "Go on."
"We have dancing and fireworks every night." Darien raised and
eyebrow. "Fireworks?" Serena laughed. "Oh, they are like tiny
stars that shoot up to make flowers in the sky." Darien nodded.
"Must be quiet a place." Serena, now homesick, nodded. "Yes, it
is." She fought back the tears that were welling in her eyes. She
put her head down so Darien couldn't see. But could never work.
Darien sensed something was wrong. He reined the horse to a stop.
He turned around to face Serena. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."
Serena shook her head. "No. Really, I'm fine." Darien took her
chin in his hands. This time Serena didn't pull away. "No, you
aren't." Darien's voice was low. Serena didn't respond. Slowly
Darien closed the gap between them. It was a brief moment, but
Serena didn't feel like crying anymore.

***********Like it? I'm still thinking up adventures for these
two and it's building up to an explosive ending!!!!! I'm working
on some new stuff and I hope you'll read them! I STILL WANT
MAIL!!!! ~Jordan~