Remember to e-mail me! whyfam@execpc.com
Okay, the plot thickens... (maybe.  ^.~) Legal stuff here: SM not mine.

III
	I moved over to the bed and looked closer at Serena, “You said that the love Rini and I have for you, will save you?” I looked at her, “But how?” I asked.
	I went into the main room and checked on Rini, she was still asleep so I decided to follow suit. My head ached from the short contact that I had with Serena. I laid down, and immediately I was lost in a tangle of dreams.
	The air around me was misty, but when I looked down at the floor, I saw complicated tile patterns. As I looked up again, I noticed that the fog was clearing. I was in a small room with one door. On the walls, large murals were painted. In those pictures I saw a painting of all the planets. Next to each planet was a girl, and I realized, as I looked closer, that they were the Sailor Scouts! A shadowy figure stood next to the sun, it made me wonder, “Is there a Sailor Sun?” More shadowy figures were spread throughout the paintings. I noticed myself next to Earth, I was painted staring at the moon. As I looked to the moon, I saw Sailor ChibiMoon (Rini) but only and outline of Sailor Moon. I touched the outline, it glowed at my touch and before I could do anything, I ended up in the middle of some strange ruins.
	“What is this place?” I asked aloud.
	A voice that sounded slightly familiar replied, “Why Darien, it’s the Moon Kingdom. Serena’s real home.”
	I turned to look at the gleaming spirit (or so it seemed to be) of a women who looked almost exactly like Serena. About the only thing different was the hair color. The woman’s hair color was a light purple. She looked familiar, yet I couldn’t quite remember her, “Who are you?”
	The woman smiled, “I knew that you probably wouldn’t recall me. I am Queen Serenity, Serena’s mother. I remember the day when the inner Sailor Scouts found their way back to the Moon Kingdom, that was many years ago.”
	I had to ask the burning question inside of me, “Please!” I begged, “Do you know how to save Serena from the sleep spell that she is under?” I realized that she might not know about what had happened to Serena, so I explained, “It started about a week ago...”
	Queen Serenity frowned, “There is a way, but it is risky. You must use the silver crystal by-” Fog enclosed me again. Making me deaf to the words of Serenity.
	As I started to wake, I yelled, “No! I must know how to save her!”
	I opened my eyes to stare up into Rini’s anxious eyes, “Darien, what happened? You were yelling!”
	I rubbed my eyes and sat up. “It was a dream. Queen Serenity was telling me how to save Serena, but-” I broke off, “I woke up while she was telling me. Now I do not know where to start.”
	Rini sat beside me, “It’s okay Darien. We can get her back, don’t worry.” We got up. Rini followed me into the bedroom. Serena still lay there, unmoving. My mind was empty except for the fact that I knew that I had failed to find out how to save my love.
	“It’s not fair!” I whispered, “Why Serena? Why can’t anyone tell us outright how to save her!?” Tears flowed down my cheeks, “Luna said that it is possible that you could die. Please don’t Serena! I love you, I promise you that when you get back I’ll always protect you. I will not fail you like I did in the battle with Rianna and Tyna.”
	I heard Rini close the door, I turned to find that she had walked out of the room. She must have known that I wanted to be alone. I walked over to Serena and sat on the bed, watching her face. Nothing. No breathing, no change in expression, no life. She just lay there looking peaceful, yet alone. Most of my feelings were locked inside me, I didn't want to let people know how I really felt.
	The feelings I locked inside were anger, fear, remorse, love, guilt, loneliness, and so much more. I did let some of my feelings slip, but only slightly. I felt great anger towards Rianna and her sister, but I also felt confusion. I still did not understand, why had they tried to attack mostly Sailor Moon? Who were they? And were there more? I knew that I must figure the questions out, but I’d have to wait. As nice as it was to have Rini back, I felt that I had to wear a mask every time of day so that she couldn’t figure out my true feelings.
	I sighed and got up. I walked out of the room, surprised to find two plates set out for breakfast. “Darien, come sit down. I have bagels already made, hope that’s what you wanted.” I nodded and Rini continued, “I also have orange juice poured up.” She placed the juice on either side of the plates, then she placed a bagel on each. 
	Together we enjoyed our breakfast. I was wondering what we should do that day when the telephone rang. “I’ll get it!” Rini offered as she ran to the phone. She picked it up. “Hello?”
	“Oh hi Hotaru!” She paused, waiting for Hotaru to speak. She looked to me, “Darien?”
	“What?” I asked.
	“Can I go with Hotaru to the mall today? Setsuna is dropping her off.”
	“Yes!” I thought, happy that I’d have a day to myself. “Sure!” I know that I had a lot of days to myself, but it’s just that I’m the kind of person who likes to be alone. And right now, I had so many things to think about.
	My thoughts were broken as Rini hung up the phone and said, “Okay Darien. Here’s what’s going on. Setsuna will pick me up and then stay with Hotaru and I as we shop. She is not sure when I’ll be home, but we’ll call you when we have an idea. There is only one problem, and I do hate to ask you this but anyway, I don’t have any money.” She blinked at me.
	A slight smile crept on my face, “Okay then. I can lend you twenty dollars. No more.” I went to get my wallet from the dresser in the bedroom and walked back out, handing Rini the money.
	Within a half hour, Setsuna and Hotaru appeared at my door. “Hello Darien. Any changes?” Setsuna asked.
	“Come in.” I said, “If I’m to explain the ‘changes’ then I’d better tell you the story...” I explained to Rini, Hotaru, and Setsuna about my strange dream, and even weirder contact with Serena.
	Setsuna did not show any feeling, she simply replied, “I’ll tell the others. Thanks for letting Rini come with us.” With that, the small group of three filed out my door. Rini turned around to wave good bye and then close the door.
	My apartment was now empty, and I remembered the first day that I taken Serena here. I recalled the feeling of failure that was hidden from the view of others. None of the scouts knew that I had had a warning before we all fought the battle with Rianna and Tyna. “Who were they? Where were they from? And, why did they attack Sailor Moon?” I murmured. I sighed, knowing that these questions were not to be easily answered. My feet turned me towards the bedroom and I walked in.
	Serena lay there. Like the time before, nothing. No changes at all. Yet, I had the feeling of foreboding. It scared me because I had no idea where the threat was coming from. “Shake it off Darien! It’s just some silly feeling, nothing serious. Now let's start on my questions. Amy mentioned something on research...” After a time, I planned to go to the library to look up some things. I wasn’t sure where to start or how much information I’d find, but it was worth a try.

	That afternoon, I was still in the library looking up UFO sightings. Nothing was much of a lead so far, but just as I was about to give up I found what I was looking for. I read the passage in the book, “Two UFOs were claimed to have been seen on June 12, 1998. The woman who saw these UFOs described them as ‘Car-sized ovals that gave off fluorescent light. One ship was pink, the other was a brilliant blue.’ Amazingly enough, the woman claimed to have seen the ‘aliens’ of the space-ships. She describes them, ‘One of them was purple with green hair. The other one was blue with black-hair. They looked like humans, but of course their brilliant skin colors were too unreal and so was their hair colors. They floated above the ground and one said her name was-” You can guess who it was, “Rianna. Both wore...’”
	The passage went on to explain what the aliens wore, I already knew that information. What amazed me was that Rianna had landed on Earth before. This UFO  sighting had been seen in Paris in a small park. I skimmed through some of the reading but stopped as I read, “- The woman says that the purple alien (Rianna) was asking how and where to find someone named ‘Sailor Moon’. If you want to know my opinion, I think this is really crazy. I mean, who’s named Sailor Moon?” I slammed the book closed.
	“You wanna know who Sailor Moon is?” I snapped at the book, “She is my true love! Now I don’t think you want to get into ‘silly names’.” I stopped, embarrassed. Thank goodness no one was around. “I can’t believe I was talking to a book.” I put the book back on the shelf.
	I was reaching for another book when my head started to ache so badly that I knelt on the floor. “What?” I closed my eyes and saw a flash of Serena looking scared. “Serena!” I whispered. I ran from the library to my apartment. I knew all along that I shouldn’t have left her.
	When I reached my apartment, I opened the door to find the main room a mess. Noises came from the bedroom and I rushed in. In my room I found another creature like Tyna and Rianna. This alien was yellow with red hair. She was tearing apart my room as if looking for something. She turned as I walked in, “Oh!” She hissed in a crackling voice, “Forget it, maybe I didn't find what I was looking for, but at least I got the girl. Good bye Darien!” She laughed wildly as I ran towards her.
	The creature encased Serena in a glowing light and they flew past me. “No!” I screamed, “NO!” I ran after them and grabbed hold of the creature's leg, she hit me and I stumbled back. They continued out the open doors of the balcony and flew so quickly that all I could see was a blur of color. “NO!” I cried as I ran outside, “No.” I sat down and watched the sky. Now all of my hope was gone. Completely gone.
	I sat on the balcony for quite some time, my checks stained with tears. My eyes were dry, and my checks sticky from the tears when I heard a knock on my door. I turned around to face Setsuna, Hotaru, and Rini walk cautiously in. I realized then that I had not closed the door when I had rushed in. “Again it is my fault. I did not protect Serena, again.”
	“Darien,” Setsuna and the two younger girls came towards me, “what happened?” Rini asked.
	My expression did not change. They had every right to know exactly what had happened, but that meant letting them know that I had failed to protect Serena. I wasn’t sure what they thought. My whole apartment was literally ripped to pieces, and the truth was, I really had no clue about what had went on here.
	Rini was watching me, I saw her face change as she ran quickly from the balcony. As I had guessed, she ran into the bedroom. We heard a cry, “No! Mommy!” Rini ran out, “Where is she? Where?” She shouted to me.
	“I don’t know!” I responded, “And if I did, I wouldn’t be here. I don’t know what happened, I was-” I shook my head to clear my anger and fear, “gone.”
	“You must know something.” Setsuna said softly. Even her normally soft and calm face had a tint of anger, and fear.
	I nodded sadly, “It was one of those alien creatures...” I told them exactly what had happened.
	Hotaru let Rini cry on her shoulder as she fully realized that Serena could not be found, yet. I felt so bad, so angry at myself for not protecting the one that I loved. Rini was now here crying over Serena because I failed to protect Serena. I stood up, “What can I do?” I heard my voice betray the guilt that I felt, but I believe they took it as fear or sadness.
	“We must get the scouts and find someone to clean up this place.” Setsuna said sensibly, “I think we could tell the police that you came home to find your place totally destroyed, I mean it’s almost the truth.” I had to agree.
	My telephone was still intact so Setsuna called the police. It was around nine o'clock at night before any of the four of us could leave. The police asked us many questions, not many could we answer.
	
	As the four of us, Setsuna, Hotaru, Rini, and I, stood outside my apartment building, Hotaru used her scout communicator to contact the other scouts. She simply said, “We need to have a meeting. Now! Let’s meet in the park as soon as you can. Wait by the fountain.” We rode in Setsuna’s car to the park and waited for the others.
	It didn't take long for the other outer scouts  and inner scouts, along with Luna and Artemis, to get there. “What’s going on?” Raye asked. She was wearing a knee-length, red dress with a white sweater over it. My patience had been low during the time that Serena had been gone, and now anger flared up in me as Raye complained, “This had better be important!” I almost made the mistake of offering a smart remark, but I remembered when Serena and I had been on a date just about ten days ago.
	“Where in the world were you tonight?” Raye asked, then she greeted me, “Oh, hi there!” She turned back to Serena.
	“Raye, it just so happens you need to know when to call me up, and when not to. Tonight, was not a good night.” Serena walked up to Amy, “Why don’t you change into Mercury and scan the things?”
	I stopped from making the remark and instead, worked on trying to mask my sorrow and pain that I felt during this situation. I realized that Setsuna was relying all that I had told her to the other scouts.
	“Now we are not sure where Serena is. She could be anywhere.” Setsuna finished. We all stood in solemn silence. The only noise was from the cars on the streets and the breeze.
	I watched the disturbed looks on the scouts’ faces. I noticed that many of them were watching Rini. They knew, as did I, that we would have to figure out where Rini should go. And on a related note, where would I go?
	Lita finally spoke, “Rini can stay with me in my apartment.” We looked from one to another.
	Amy answered, “That’s a good idea. Uh, Darien?” She asked.
	“I’ve already decided where to go.” I replied, Amy watched me curiously, “I’ll see if Andrew will let me stay at his place. He’ll understand, he’s my best friend.” I noticed a few surprised looks. I found that strange, Andrew was my best friend and he always listened and was helpful. I could probably come up with a simple excuse to need a place to stay.
	Mina interrupted my thoughts, “That’s fine. When will we meet up again? Do we wait for more information? Or do we just set a meeting time?”
	I broke in, “Did Setsuna tell you about my research findings?” 
	“No,” Setsuna responded, “I thought it would be better if you explained.”
	I told the others about the sighting of two UFOs in 1998. The scouts expressed anger and confusion to this announcement. “I don’t get it!” Michiru exclaimed, “Why were, or should I say are, those aliens looking for Sailor Moon? What did she ever do to them?”
	We turned to each other for answers, the only one who didn't was Rini. I saw her staring at the ground. She was sitting on the edge of the fountain and dangling her feet above the ground. She said nothing and didn't give any obvious signs of crying, but I could tell that she was or had been recently.
	I yawned and looked absently at my watch, it was 9:30. I cleared my throat, “If I’m to see if Andrew will let me stay at his place, I’d better be leaving. Are we going to meet tomorrow?” I noticed the scouts exchange glances, as if something else was going on.
	Finally Luna answered, “I don’t think we’ll need to meet tomorrow. How about you give one of us Andrew's phone number so we can call you to set up the next time for a meeting?”
	I gave them the number and walked back to my apartment building. I went back only to get my car. I got in and sat for a moment, thinking, “Where is she?! What is actually going on here? Why can’t I ever protect Serena? Sure, maybe I have. But only for little things, when Serena protected me she always would protect me from real harm. I failed again...” I had enough sense to cut off the guilt and get going. I drove to Andrew's apartment building and stepped out.
	At Andrew's door I hesitated, making sure that I had my “story” clear. I knocked and Andrew's face appeared. “Hi Darien! Long time, no see!” I gave the best fake smile I could.
	“Hey Andrew! Uh, I kind of need a place to stay right now.”
	He gave me a quizzical look, “Now what’s this? Come in and tell me about it.” I followed him in, closing the door behind me. Andrew had about the same size apartment I did. There was one bedroom, a kitchen, a main living room, and a bathroom. He also had a balcony that looked out over the city. Outside, I could see the night sky and wondered about where Serena was out there.
	“Well?” He asked.
	I sighed, “Okay. You see, I was out today at the library. All of the sudden I got this weird feeling, so I went home wondering what was wrong. When I go there my door was open and the apartment was ripped apart. Literally. At the last minute I saw a flash of color going out my balcony. I have no idea what happened. I was with the police all afternoon, telling them the information I knew. I don’t have a place to stay, so I was wondering-”
	Andrew interrupted, “No need to ask. Of course you can stay here. You can have the couch.” I smiled, he continued, “You said you’ve been with the police all afternoon? Then you’re probably hungry, you can help yourself.” He motioned to the kitchen. He yawned, “So sorry Darien. Yesterday I had a late night so I’m tired. After I get you a pillow and a blanket, I think I’m going to bed, that okay?”
	“Sure!” I answered. As Andrew got the blanket and pillow, I went into the kitchen to find what he had to eat. Truth to tell, I was really hungry. In the refrigerator I found some leftover pizza, so I heated it up and had two pieces. During that time I heard Andrew go to bed. I ate quietly, and after I was done eating I went to go sit on the couch.
	After a while, I reached down and took off my shoes. I stretched, thinking about the look that the scouts had exchanged. What were they hiding? As I wondered about this, I slowly drifted off to sleep- into some nightmares and some memories. 
	I stood in a room of stone. It was dark and silent, then from one corner I saw her. Serena. She was curled up, asleep. I tried to speak to her, but when my mouth opened nothing came out. I tried again and again. Finally I decided to walk towards her, even though I suspected I probably wouldn’t be able to. “What’s going on here?” I asked myself as I stepped forward. I had been right, something held me back from walking towards her. I again tried desperately to shout to her. No sound. In front of me appeared a yellowish light. It materialized to reveal the creature that had taken Serena from my apartment. She frowned, “What are you doing here? Oh well, I guess I just have to get rid of you.” I wondered, what did she mean by ‘what are you doing here?' I fell back as she threw some weird light at me. I sat up and rubbed my head, “Huh? Who exactly are you?” I demanded, “And why are you after Serena?” The yellow girl just laughed, “Who am I? Why I am the stars in each galaxy, I’m the planets of the solar systems, I am what I am, and nothing more. I can be what I want and do what I want. That is all the answers that you will get from me!” She laughed and my surroundings dimmed. 
	When I could see clearly again, I noticed that I was in some kind of creepy cave. I heard a scream that sounded like, “No! Tuxedo Mask!” I ran towards the sound, I was astounded to walk into what seemed to be (most likely) the past. Zoycite stood at one end of the cave and at the other, I saw myself-or rather- Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon. He (Tuxedo Mask) was lying on the ground with Sailor Moon kneeling by him, I knew what had happened. He had been hit by a crystal spear that Zoycite had created. I watched as Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask exchanged a few words, then he fell limp. As I watched I saw a tear glisten down Sailor Moon's cheek and as the seven rainbow crystal flew to join the tear. They combined to make the silver imperium crystal. It was at that time that I realized that Sailor Jupiter, Venus, Mars, and Mercury had come in and were now trying to find out from Luna and Artemis what was going on. Everyone in the cave, including Zoycite and I, looked to Serena who was now slightly floating. She turned slowly as she transformed into Princess Serenity. That was the time that Luna had finally found the Moon Princess that she had been waiting for. And I, had finally found my true love. I was faintly aware that my surroundings were again changing.
	This next time I found myself in the middle of the last battle with Wiseman. I saw Small Lady (Rini) and Neo-Queen Serenity using the power of the silver crystals, one from the “present” and one from the future.
	My next dream was more than a nightmare. It scared me so much that I must have started to yell or something because all of the sudden I felt someone shaking me, “Whoa! Darien, wake up! It’s just a dream!” I woke up to find Andrew shaking me by the shoulders. He stopped when he realized that I was up.
	I sat up and rubbed my eyes, “Huh?” I moaned.
	“Phew!” Andrew sat down beside me, “Darien you really had me worried! All of the sudden I hear these wordless shouts so I came out here. That was a real wake-up call for me, it’s around midnight!”
	I yawned, “Sorry Andrew.”
	“Well...?” he asked.
	“ ‘Well’ what?” He gave me the “how-stupid-can-you-be” look.
	“What in the world was that dream about?!”
	“Oh!” Now I understood, I guess I was sort of out of it, “Uh, Andrew, I’d really rather not talk about it. But I can tell you that it was about-” I broke off, did I really want to tell him this? But I continued as I saw his curious gaze, “Serena.” I finished.
	Now that surprised him, “Okay.” He paused, as if thinking about something. “Darien? You still going out with Serena?”
	I knew that some how Serena would eventually come up in our conversation, but this question hurt deeply. I answered briefly, “Yes.”
	Andrew kept thinking, “When did you meet her? The way I remember it, you hated her so much, then you turned out to like her, a lot.” 
	“I met her when she was fourteen.” I replied, hoping that I was masking my feelings away so that Andrew couldn’t figure out that something was wrong.
	“Wow! So you’ve almost been together for six years! That’s a long time.” I didn't respond so Andrew continued, he started to laugh so I turned to find out what he thought funny, “Didn’t Serena and you meet up when she threw her math test back and it hit you in the face?” I nodded, half-smiling. He continued to laugh, “And had gotten a 30 on her test? She must have been embarrassed for a total stranger to find out how lousy she did on her math test.” I was beginning to think that this was turning into more than just a small conversation on Serena. I was right. The next question that Andrew asked startled me, “Darien, where is Serena? I know that she has been gone for almost a week and a half now.”
	“How’d you know that?” I realized immediately after I said it that I had lost all chances of coming up with a simple story to make Andrew quit worrying. 
	“I kinda figured it out.” He answered, “I saw Serena on her birthday, but that was the last time that I’ve seen her. Raye, Lita, and Amy came to the arcade the other day with Hotaru and I overheard them chatting about not knowing what to do with Serena gone for the past week. The last thing that tuned me in that Serena is still gone is that you are not yourself. You never seem to be quite right when Serena is in trouble, gone on a trip, or when she’s simply not seen you lately. So where is she?”
	I looked at Andrew, “I do not know.” It was the total truth and it was the simplest thing to say. He looked back at me, “I just don’t know okay?! I mean, sure it’s fine that she’s gone, I’m sure that she’s fine!” I said sarcastically.
	He stood up, “All right Darien! You don’t need to go cranky on me!”
	“Sorry Andrew. I have no idea where she is. No one does and I do know that she’s in trouble. I know more, but I can’t tell you. I’m truly sorry.”
	“Hey,” he came back over, “it’s okay. I’m sure Serena will figure out a way to return. Maybe- wait that doesn’t work. So no one knows where she is?” I nodded. “That’s really strange. [yawn] I’d better go back to bed. You get some sleep too, tomorrow maybe we can start a search for Serena.” He flashed a smile at me. I gave a weak grin back.
	“Thanks.” I whispered.
	“Anytime.” He answered as he walked back to the bedroom. I sat there and thought for a time before going to sleep again.
	This time when I got some rest, I slept quietly with no dreams. My mind was empty of almost everything except a picture of Serena sitting in mist, looking to the sky at the Moon.  


	AHHHHH! Where's Serena? Where did that nasty creature take her to? (Stay tuned and find out!) I luv mail so send me some comments to: whyfam@execpc.com
Remember- I am Sailor ClearMoon, protector of a distant galaxy....yadda, yadda.
	[Uh, sorry. Maybe I'm a little bored.]