Konnichi wa, minna-chan! Well, I have good news and bad news - the bad news is, I'm home sick from school with bronchitis (yick). The good news is, I have ALL DAY to work on this series! Woohoo! Maybe if I'm lucky I'll get part 2 done and start on part 3, but seeing as how part 1 took me 3 days to finish I'm not jumping to any conclusions AT ALL. I love hearing from people as to how I did, PLEASE tell me!!! My email's at the bottom of the page =^.^= *~!~**~!~**~!~**~!~**~!~* Love Will Still Live On *~!~**~!~**~!~**~!~**~!~* About 2 hours after Serena had left the apartment, the phone rang. "Hello?" "Is this Darien Chiba?" The voice was unfamiliar. "Yes. What can I do for you?" "We're sorry to inform you of this, but your wife was in a serious accident. She was hit by a car. She is in intensive care, if you want to come down to the hospital, okay?" "S..Serena.. you're sure about this?" Darien turned deathly pale. He gripped the phone tightly. "Yes. Please come to the hospital at once. Thank you." The person on the other end hung up. Numbly, Darien hung up his phone. He felt sick, like he was going to throw up. "Serena... no!!!!" Faintly, he heard a familiar tune. He looked up and over at the dresser. On top of it was Serena's locket, playing the song of their everlasting - or so they thought - love. "Serena, oh Serena.." He picked up the locket and put it on. It rested over his heart. Suddenly, he jumped into hyper let's-get-our-asses-in-gear mode and grabbed his keys. Speeding out the door, down the stairs, and into the garage, he almost ran right past his car. Darien swore under his breath and skidded to a halt. Cursing his clumbsiness, he fumbled with his keys, trying desperately to unlock the car door. Forcing himself to slow down, he took a deep breath to compose himself. When he finally got in the car, he set the speed record going from the apartment building to the hospital. Good thing there weren't any police around. After he arrived at the hospital, there was an abundance of paperwork to be filled out before he could see Serena. Finally, after what seemed like centuries, they let him in. Slowly, silently, he drug a chair to her bedside and sat down. She was in bad shape - her right arm and left leg were broken, she had many ugly bruises, and there was a big, nasty looking gash on her forehead that had been stitched shut. All sorts of tubes and wires led from various machines to her body. She was in a coma. Fighting nausea, Darien took a shuddering breath. He reached out and gently took her hand. One of the doctors had said that even though she was in a coma, she could probably still hear him. "Serena.. if you can hear me.. if it even matters to you anymore.. I'm here. Words can't say how sorry I am, Serena! If I could take this morning back, I would in a heartbeat. I feel like this is all my fault. If I had only spent more time with you and less time trying different experiments, none of this would have happened. "Serena, you.. you mean more to me than any job ever did or ever will. I know I didn't tell you nearly as often as I should have. But it's true. You've got to live, Serena, you've got to! "I.. oh, this is all my fault.. Serena.. my only love.." Darien's voice cracked miserably. His midnight blue eyes filled with tears. "The thought of never seeing you again is.. is.." He was sobbing now. "You've got to get well! You have to!" Darien drew a deep breath, trying hard to calm down. He never cried, never. "Darien?" asked a soft voice, uncertianly. "May I come in?" Darien turned around to see who it was. The voice belonged to his friend and lab partner, Melody Silverblade. "Mel!" He sniffled and wiped his eyes. "S-sure. Have a seat." She gracefully pulled a chair over and sat down next to him. "Hotaru told me what happened. I came to see how you were doing." "Hotaru.." Darien didn't bother asking how Hotaru had known. She was extremely sensitive to things that happened to the Princess. "Thanks for coming." "Anytime, Darien. Here, I brought you something." Melody reached into her backpack and pulled out an object wrapped in newspaper. Darien took it with a smile. "Thanks." He carefully unwrapped it and gasped as the last piece of paper fell away. "Wow.. it's beautiful!" The object was a rose, made of colored glass. It was perfect down to every detail. It sparkled, even in the dim light. Melody beamed. "I'm glad you like it. I'm a sculpter, but I also make crafts and jewelry and the like." "You're really talented.. but why a rose?" Melody leaned back in her chair. A dreamy look came over her face. "My grandmother once told me about a man in a black tuxedo. He wore a cape and a mask, too. His symbol was the rose, the sign of love and beauty. When I was little, I could have sworn I was in love with him." She blushed. "But it's just a fairy tale.." Darien smiled to himself. he thought. "But it's always been my dream to meet him." Melody sighed. "I know it won't happen, but I still dream of it." Darien met her gaze. He didn't voice the thought, though. Instead, he said in a soft voice, "Dreams can come true. You just have to believe." Melody's emerald eyes twinkled. "That's why I keep dreaming. I have to go. I just dropped by to see how your wife was doing. I hope I get to meet her someday." With that, Melody stood up and left. *~!~**~!~**~!~**~!~* Darien got home around midnight. He didn't bother to eat, he was way too tired. Instead, he went straight to bed. It took him awhile, but finally he fell asleep.. *~!~**~!~**~!~**~!~* Darien and Serena were walking hand in hand along the beach. It was perfect. The stars were bright and the moon was full. "Muffin? What's wrong?" Serena looked up at Darien with big blue eyes. "Nothing's wrong." He stopped walking, turned to her, and took both her hands in his. "I'm so happy we're married, Serena! It's been so long, and we've been through so much, but finally, we are together. I promise you, I will always be there for you.." She smiled at him. "I know, Muffin. I know." They kissed softly. *~!~**~!~**~!~**~!~* Darien awoke with a cry. That dream was a memory, it was 3 days after their wedding night. He looked at the empty spot in the bed beside him and began to cry. He fell back agianst the pillows and sobbed into the blankets. Both physically and emotionally exausted, he finally fell into a light, fretful sleep. Morning couldn't come soon enough. *~!~**~!~**~!~**~!~* To be continued.. *~!~**~!~**~!~**~!~* Sorry this part is so short! I wrote most of it by hand during school =^.^= I'm going to take some time to mention people, so bear with me here! First off, I'm going to thank my very best friend, Brittany McLaird =), aka Kaos95. I mention her in every story because she is wonderful with support and ideas for plot lines. Without her, I probably wouldn't be writing. Thanks so much, Brit! Oh yeah.. de deee de deeeeeeee!! Someday, it WILL happen! =^.^= Second is Razzz. She was always there to help me out when I got stuck with the plots Brittany came up with ;). A good part of stuff in this story came from her wonderful advice and ideas. Plus, she's wicked cool and majorly funny! Long live the Spatula!! Third is Lianne. She is the Goddess of romance stories. I really mean that! Her stories are BEYOND awsome. Her stories have given me ideas of my own. She's encouraging and really smart. She's got a WONDERFUL sense of humor.. "The Wacky Adventures of Psycho Setsuna" had me rolling on the floor! Fourth is SamusStar. She's written some awsome squaresoft fanfic. You've really gotta read it! (Note to Sam: You've really gotta send it so people can read it! =^.^= j/k) And last but not least is a really cool person called Jade. Her email was the first one that was sent to me praising my writing by someone I don't know. Jade, your encouragement was WONDERFUL, and I kept my promise - here's the second part. Thanks sooooo much! Well, minna, I hope you are enjoying this. I'm writing most of it in school, as I said, and that's why it's taking me an impossible amount of time to get it up. Thanks for putting up with me! Tiga Shadow http://members.tripod.com/~PaladinStar/index.html Tiga2@hotmail.com