The Wedding
Part 4: The Honeymoon


This part is dedicated to Allison Berger, my little sister, who's always
been there for me.



New Tokyo International Airport

After a huge send-off lunch at Lita's restaurant, Serena and Darien drove to
the airport with Serena's parents.  The process had been relatively swift
and snafu-free, and the new young family found themselves in the gate,
escorted by Serena's parents.

"Bye, Mom!  We'll see you in a week!"  The new Queen and her King boarded the
747 airplane and found their seats in First Class.  The huge aircraft pulled 
away from the boarding gate a few minutes later and rolled to the head of the
runway.  It stopped at the end of the runway, then accelerated to takeoff 
speed and pulled up and away.

In the gate, Ikuko and Kenji Tsukino watched anxiously until the jet was out
of sight, then turned to leave.

"Our Serena... a Queen!?"  Kenji still hadn't recovered from the previous
night's shock.
"And Sailor Moon," added Ikuko.  "It's very difficult to comprehend, but we
always knew we bore a great responsibility when we became parents.  I guess
we just never knew how great!"
"And," finished Kenji as he put his arm around his wife's waist and gazed
proudly after the vanished airplane, "we obviously did a pretty darn good
job of raising her."

Sammy had taken the news that Serena was Sailor Moon very well.  It hadn't
hurt, though, that Mika had absolutely *loved* the show, and his bravery,
joining his sister on the dance floor, had helped with a great bit of a
"Knight in Shining Armor" factor.  The girl who had once been a cute kid who
made exquisite dolls was, with the absence of Serena and her friends, the
reigning beauty of Juuban High School, and Sammy was her shining knight.  The
once-obnoxious boy had matured significantly in the past several years, and
was now one of the most sought-after boys in the high school.  Unfortunately
for the many girls who pursued him, his heart belonged to his Mika as surely 
as his older sister's belonged to her Darien.


When the jet arrived in Honolulu, the Chibas disembarked and recovered their 
luggage, then got their rental car, a rugged all-terrain vehicle.  Since
Darien had the international driver's licence, Serena had to take the
passenger's seat.  As they walked into the warm Hawaii day, Darien intoned,
"Welcome to America, Your Majesty."

The two stowed their luggage and climbed into the car.  Hotel reservations at
the Hilton were already prepared, so when the two arrived, Darien had simply
to say, "Reservations for the Chibas," and they were on their way to their
suite.  Once in their suite, Darien and Serena changed quickly, anxious to go
to the world-famous beaches of Hawaii.


On their third day in Hawaii, Serena and Darien found themselves clinging to
the sheer face of a mountain.  Despite her fear, Serena found that the
sensation of hanging out over the edge of nothing to be exhilarating.  She
flung her leg over the top of a ledge, hauled herself over to find herself on
a large level spot, where somebody, almost certainly with a helicopter, had
brought in a gas grill and a picnic table.

Some ten meters below Serena, Darien heard her call out, "Darien, come on up
here!  There's a picnic area, and we can eat lunch!"  Calling on his powers
as Tuxedo Mask, Darien carefully removed his pitons from the rock and leapt
up the last ten feet of wall to join his beloved.

Serena's face was mock-reproachful as she said, "Darien, that was cheating,"
then she came over and gave him a hug.

"Serena, have I told you today how much I love you?"  As Tuxedo Mask, Darien
felt somewhat more poetic than as himself (if a worse speechwriter, he forced
himself to admit), and he felt for the words to put his feelings into.

"Well," she drawled, "Not verbally, but in all of the little things that you
do for me just because.  Have I told you today how much *I* love *you?*"

Before Darien could respond, she whispered, "I love you so much it feels as
though my heart would burst for trying to hold it all.  If I live for all
eternity, I will never stop loving you, Dare-chan, for you mean the Universe
to me."  By the end of Serena's speech, her eyes were shining with love for
Darien.  Not for the first time, Darien was shocked and humbled by just how
much his meatball-headed Queen loved him.

Darien's words dried up on his lips, suddenly feeling trite and insincere.
Serena looked knowingly at him and said, "Looks like I just spoke for both of
us."  Her quicksilver mood had changed again, and her eyes were sparkling
with laughter.

Reaching into his backpack, Darien pulled out a gas cylinder for the grill
and two steaks packed by Lita.  "How would you like yours prepared, Serena?"

"Nice and brown, Darien!"  As soon as the steaks were on the grill, Darien
set his watch and sat down next to Serena, who pulled from her own backpack
two cans of pop.  They had decided against wine because of the fragility of
the items that needed transport, very bad when engaging in a sport which
involved clinging like a bat to a very large piece of rock.

>From their perch, Serena and Darien looked out over the southern part of the
island.  A misty waterfall nearby drew their attention, and the two sat
watching the ever-changing patterns of the falling water.

        *                       *                       *
After they ate, the couple began their descent.  Although climbing down was
more difficult than climbing up, Serena managed it without falling.  Once
down, she hugged Darien again and noticed as she did so how very tense his
muscles were.  "Whoa!  That felt like hugging a rock!"

"Tell me about it - my whole back feels like one big cramp."  When they
reached their car, Serena had him take off his shirt and lay down in the
back, on top of a beach towel.  She straddled his waist and began to massage
him.  As she did so, she incanted a spell that she had been working on over
the past year.  Her hands glowed slightly as they rubbed Darien's back, and
tiny sparkles of magic flowed from her body into his.

"Ooh, that's good,"  Darien moaned in relief as  the tension flowed away.
Serena's massage felt very, very good to Darien's tired muscles.  As soon as
she was done, she lay down beside him and the two dozed for a little while.

After waking up, Darien got out of the car and walked around.  Serena's
backrub had done wonders for him - he had none of the aches he usually had
after such a serious workout.  He knew the real reason why he felt so good:
While Serena had been rubbing Darien's back, she had been sending tiny
amounts of Silver Crystal energy into his body, helping the process of
relaxation along.  While either positive or negative energy could relax
a person's body (he had found the latter out many times - being kidnapped
repeatedly by the NegaVerse was an experience he hoped never to have again),
the latter could be damaging.

When Darien returned to the car, he noticed his wife curled up like a cat,
snoring peacefully and quietly.  He debated whether or not to wake her, then
decided just to pick her up and belt her into the passenger's seat, and drive
back to the hotel that way.  Halfway back, she awoke and stretched.

"Did you sleep well, Serena?"

"Mmm... yes, thank you for not waking me, Darien."

        *               *               *

Back home after a week in paradise, Serena sat down for a conversation she
had been dreading.  Sitting at the table across from her were some of the
people she cared most for: Molly, her mother, her father.  Next to her was
the comforting presence of her husband.

Molly spoke first, "Serena, how could you have not told us!?"  The eyes of
the others echoed her hurt question.

"Well, how could I *have* told you guys?  If I had told you that I was Sailor
Moon. . .  you all know that the likelihood a secret will get out is directly
propor. . ."  She cast an entreating look at Darien, who supplied her the
correct word, "Proportional to the number of people who know it.  Thanks,
Darien."

Kenji leaned forward and asked, "Young lady, how long have you been Sailor
Moon?"

"Since I was fourteen, dad."  Kenji's eyes widened in shock.

"You mean. . .  you've been risking your precious life since you were
fourteen?"

Ikuko tearfully added in, "Oh, Serena. . .  I'm not sure whether I should be
really angry at you for risking yourself like this and not telling us, or be
very, very proud of you."

After a long minute, Molly added in, in a quiet tone, "I should have seen it
before.  Whenever I was attacked by a monster, Sailor Moon would always be
there to save me,"  she paused for a moment, "Thank you, Serena."

Kenji added in, "Serena, I'd be really, really angry at you, but I'm so proud
of you that I might burst!  My little girl is all grown up, and she's
responsible for saving the entire world, probably countless times over!"  He
came over and gathered his daughter into a hug.

"And you, young man," he continued, "I greatly misjudged you in the past.
You have protected my daughter from certain death more times than I ever want
to know about."  Kenji extended his hand and said, "Welcome to the family,
son."  Darien's heart swelled as he shook his father-in-law's hand proudly.
The words he had hoped to hear from Serena's father for years had finally
been spoken.

Serena noticed the happy tears in Darien's eyes, and knew what they were for.
They were the same happy tears he had cried with her many times before.  The
orphan finding his family.  Now he would always belong.