Sailor Moon does not belong to me.  
I wish it was so but keep on dreaming. Sailor Moon belongs to Naoki 
Takeuchi/Kodansha, TOEI Animation.  I want to say thank you to all those people who 
encourages me to write to continue writing.  Especially to Jade and Fyrechild.

I am so sorry that I haven't been updating my page that much or putting up my fanfic.  
Have to make you wait this long for Chapter 4 when I could have had it up a month ago.  
I am very busy with school and volleyball practice so I was not able to find time to finish 
this chapter.  I promise you that Chapter Five would be out less than a month.

Please visit my page at 
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Pagoda/9613/
I usually add my fanfiction there before I submit it.

This is a spoiler.  It takes place after Sailor Stars.  It is a romance if 
you are looking for action this is not the right place for you.  I am using
the NA name because it is an alternate reality.
 
Wedding Rehearsal is a copyright of Serena Chiba@1998. 
Now on with the story.  

** means thinking
\\ flashback

Separation
by Serena Chiba  

Chapter Four

	Darien called four times Saturday.  Three more times on Sunday.  Serena didn't answer 
the phone, even when she heard him irritably argure with the answering machine that he knew she 
was there, and he wanted to speak with her personally.
	She spent the weekend wrapped in an afghan and her misery.  Wearing comfortable, 
oversize sweats and thick, cushiony socks, she huddled on the sofa with a box of tissues, 
a box of chocolate dipped fruit from Valentine Delights, and a book she didn't bother to open.
	It wasn't like her to indulge in self-pity, but she figured a woman of twenty-five 
who'd just broken a year-long engagement deserved for forty-eight hours of moping and sulking.  
She was determined to go on with her life and put this debacle well behind her-but she would 
start tomorrow.  Today she would nurse her broken heart and mourn her lost dreams.
	*He'd never even told me he loved me*, she thought with a fresh wave of tears.  
Of course, she hadn't said the words, either.  She'd been waiting for him to speak first.
He was a wonderful lover-considerate, thorough, and delightfully, rather surprisingly, 
creative-but he'd never spent the night in her bed.  She'd never had the pleasure of sleeping 
in his arms, or waking with him.
	He'd always seemed attracted to her, and he'd acted as though he respected her 
intelligence and was interested in whatever she had to say.  He'd always been impeccable 
courteous to her-except, of course, for those occasions when he'd become so involved with his 
work that he'd forgotten dates or arrived breathless and flustered anywhere from fifteen minutes 
to two hours late.  She'd made allowances for those lapses on the basis that brilliant scientists 
were known to lose track of time.  It was to be expected and forgiven from someone who had the 
potential to make the world a better place.
	Overall, their relationship was comfortable, animcable,sensible-and totally depressing 
for a woman of twenty-five who had suddenly realized what she was missing.
	*I deserved more*, she told herself, fetching a dark-chocolate-covered cherry from the 
half-empty silver box beside her.  And she would have it.
	But today, she would give herself permission to grieve for her broken heart.

	He showed up on Sunday evening, rapping on her door continiously.  
	"Serena, let me in,"he insisted, a familiar touch of arrogance in his voice that 
had never really annoyed her-until now. 
	"Go away, Darien," she replied through the wooden door.  She knew better than to 
open it.  Darien had a way of manipulating her, giving her rahter endearingly baffled smiles 
that always made her heart melt.  Not this time.  If she didn't see him, she wouldn't be swayed 
by him, she figured.  She'd almost convinced herself that most of her attraction to him was 
purely physical. What else could it be, considering how little else he'd given her?
	"Serena, we have to talk.  This is ridiculous."
	"I'm sorry, Darien, but there's nothing left to say.  It's over."
	"But why?"  Just a touch of his genuine bewilderment came through the door.  "What have 
I done?"
	"It's what you haven't done," she answered, sheepishly aware how absurd it was to carry 
on this conversation in shouts through a door.  "And if you can't understand that, then there 
was never any hope for us in the first place."
	She knew she was being unreasonable to expect him to understand without further 
explanation, but she was still too hurt and too proud to beg for the affection that he had 
never shown or offered.  She knew he was capable of giving it, if he'd truly wanted to.  Darien
wasn't a stupid or insensitivie man.  He just refused to open up to her, for whatever his 
reasons.  And she was fed up with it.
	"Serena, I'm worried about you," Darien said, sounding as though he were leaning very 
close to the door.  "This isn't like you.  I want to help you."
	The doctor had apparently diagnosed a sudden emotional breakdown.  A chemical imbalance, 
perhaps.  Nothing that couldn't be controlled with modern medicine and a pharmaceutical miracle 
or two.
	He knew every centimeter, every funcion, every feature of the human heart.  So why was 
he having such a difficult time identifying a broken one?
	"I can't talk to you now," she whispered, hoping her words carried to him.  "Please go 
away."
	"Serena, I insist that you open this door.  Talk tome.  We can...."
	The rest of his words faded as she moved farther away from the door.  She walked 
straight into her bedroom and closed herself in, further isolating herself from him.  She 
distantly heard him knock a few more times, heard the irritated chime of the doorbell, and 
then there was merciful silence as he apparently admitted defeat.
	She crawled onto bed and curled into a fetal position.  She still had twelve hours 
before she was to report to work the next morning, she reminded herself grimly.  Twelve more 
hours to drown in self-pity.
	She intended to make the most of every minute.

	"Yes, Dr. Shields, Serena is at work today, but she's in a meeting now.  I'd be happy 
to take a message for you," the cheery voice at the other end of the line chirped.  Although 
he'd nver met this woman, Darien had spoken with her several times when he'd had to call Serena 
at work, and h'd always thought she sounded exactly like what she was- Serena's private 
secretary.
	Although he was beginning to suspect that he was wasting his time, Darien sighed and 
said, "Please tell her I called and I would like her to call me back.  As soon as possible," he 
added.
	"Of course, Dr. Shields.  I'll send her this message to her immediately."
	Darien started to hang up, but something made him ask, "Have you-er-spoken with Serena 
today?"
	"Why yes.  We shared a cup of coffee during lunch hour."
	"Did she seem all right to you?" he asked awkwardly, uncertain how to word the question.
	The secretary seemed taken aback.  "I'm not sure what you mean.  She seemed fine an hour 
ago, no different from any other day.  Why?  Has she been ill recently?" she asked in concern.
	"No, no," Darien assured her hastily.  "I was just, uh, checking."
	"Oh."  She still sounded a bit confused. "Is there anything else you want me to tell 
her, Dr. Shields?"
	"No.  Just tell her I called, please."  He hung up the phone with the unpleasant 
suspicion that Serena wouldn't be calling him back.
	It took quite an effort for him to focus on his work that day.  He wasn't accustomed 
to anything interfering with his concentration.
	He wasn't sure whether to be irritated with Serena for doing so now- or seriously 
concerned about her.  He only wished women were as easy to comprehend as his chemical and 
mathematical calculations.
	
	"You've broken up with Darien?" Serena's friend, Raye Hino, asked that afternoon.  
"For real?"
	Serena began to pack up her files, which gave her an excuse to avoid Raye's intense gaze.  
"Yes.  For real.  I gave him back his ring."
	"Well, paint a white stripe down my back and call me a skuck," the irrespressible 
shinto priestess marveled.
	Serena rolled her eyes.  "Wwas that colorful outburst supposed to convey sympathy or 
surprise?"
	"A little bit of both, I guess."  Rayed dropped the dramatics and looked at her friend 
with concern. "How are you?  Are you okay?"
	"Yes, I'm fine.  I spent the weekend indulging in an award-winning display of pouting, 
but now I've gotten that out of my system."
	Raye propped one amly rounded hip against a corner of Serena's desk.  "I've been 
expecting this," she confessed.
	Serena grimaced.  "You have?  I wish I could say the same.  To be honest, the breakup 
was totally impulsive on my part.  There was absolutely no planning or forethought.  I just 
snapped."
	"Was it something he said or did?"
	"More like something he didn't say or do."
	Raye nodded thoughtfully.  "That makes sense.  Especially to anyone who's met Darien."
	Serena found herself getting defensive on Darien's behalf- maybe just out of long habit.  
"He's a brilliant man."
	"Of course he is.  But I've always thought he'd make a lousy husband.  Doctors 
generally are, I understand."
	"You never said anything before."
	Raye shrugged.  "It was your business.  If you loved him, I hoped you'd be happy with 
him.  I just always wondered if you didn't secretly crave a bit more than you got from him.  
After all, you've been engaged for over a year now and I've still never heard mention of a 
wedding date."
	"I know," Serena muttered.  "Darien never seemed to find the right time to set one."
	"Maybe he didn't really want to get married."  Blunt as always, Raye didn't bother 
presenting the possibility tactfully.
	Serena winced.  "Trust me, that thought has occurred to me on several occasions lately. 
It just took me a while to figure it out.  Which says something about my intelligence, doesn't 
it?"
	Again, Raye shrugged.  "Love tends to cloud a woman's judgement," she pronounced.  
"Trust me, you're talking to an expert on the subject. Remember Jediate?"
	Serena managed not to shudder at the mention of Raye's former and utterly unlamented 
boyfriend.  "Er-yeah.  I remember."
	"Weren't you the one who assured me then that anyone could make a mistake?  That the 
best thing to do is acknowledge it and get on with you life? I'm returing that advice to you 
know."
	Serena nodded.  "I've already decided to do just that.  I just....wish it didn't hurt 
quiet so much," she added in a small voice.
	Raye touched her hand.  "I know.  Believe me, I know."
	There was a moment of silent, feminine commiseration.  And then Serena drew a deep 
breath.  "Well," she said, closing her desk drawer and picking up her briefcase.  "Thanks for 
the support, Raye.  But don't worry about me.  I'll be fine."
	"Hey, I know that.  You're a survivor, kid.  Takes one to know one.  So how would you 
like to meet and attractive gy with dimples to die for?  He's a friend of Chad's, and he's 
looking to settle down.  Makes a good living at the music department, sings in a band, and 
dress casually.  He's the exact opposite of Darien.  Just what you need to get over him."
	It wasn't easy, but Serena managed a smile.  "He sounds....interesting, but I'm not 
really ready to start dating again, Raye.  Not yet."
	"You know what they say about being thrown off a horse.  Gotta climb right back on 
before you forget how to ride."
	"Yes, but I think I'll soak my bruises a little while before climbing back into the 
sattle.  And that's all I can stand of that metaphor."
	Raye grinned.  "Me, too.  Still, think about it, okay? You and Stan might actually get 
along great.  He's a really nice guy."
	"I'm sure he is.  Andif I decide I've got a hankering for a singer, I'll be sure to let 
you know, okay?  In the mean time, I have to run if I'm going to have time to eat and finish my 
designs."
	Raye glanced a her watch.  "Yeah,me, too. But not designs.  See you later."
	Clutching her briefcase, Serena headed for the door.  "Later," she promised.
	*It was amazing*, Serena thought, *how much better it felt to share my pain with someone 
who isn't afraid of the honest emotion, who knew and understood the foibles of the heart.  I 
still hurt-and I suspect that I would for some time to come-but it helps.  And I am grateful.*


Author's Note
So how do you like this??  Is it good, bad, or I could have done better??  
Please send your comments, flames, and critisism to me at 
serena_chiba@hotmail.com
Ja ne.

Character List

Tsukino Usagi			Serena Moon
Chiba Mamoru			Darien Shields
Hino Rei			Raye Hino
Kou Seiya			Stan
Yuuchirou			Chad