THE TROUBLING TRUTH
By Klutz

AN: The time line in this is really screwy, so don't mind it.  It's before 
An Artful Attack, but she has the star locket already... 

	Serena waited just inside the temple doors for the guests to arrive. 
It was Rei's birthday and she was throwing a surprise party.  Everyone was 
invited, the scouts, Andrew, a few rainbow crystal carriers, Molly, Melvin, 
some girls and guys from Rei's school... Even Darien.
					Darien. 
	She had only invited him because he and Rei were going out, but 
something about the whole thing didn't seem right.  Seemingly, just to add 
to the weird vibes, Serena hadn't messed up once or forgotten anything for 
the party.  No one had arrived yet and Lita was keeping Rei busy until the 
right time.  A car drove by and parked around the corner.  Serena felt like 
she should have recognized it but... 'Oh well.  It's probably just one of 
the guests.' She pulled out the star locket and lifted the lid, listening 
to its soft melody.  'Please don't let me screw up...' She asked it inside 
her mind. 
	Darien heard the tinkling music a few moments before he reached the 
door.  He froze.  That was the locket he had given Sailor Moon!  He took a 
deep, calming breath and walked in.  Serena closed the locket immediately 
and looked up, mildly interested. 
	"Hello Darien." She said formally. No reason to ruin the night by 
fighting with him. 
	"Hello Serena." Darien returned, flustered.  'I could have sworn I 
heard the music...' he thought as he walked past her to sit down.
	Serena leaned in the doorway again, lifting the lid on the locket.  
She was so nervous and the locket always calmed her down a bit, but it did 
not rid her of the butterflies in her stomach this time.  It simply eased 
them a little.
	Darien's head snapped up.  The music was playing again.  His eyes 
fell on Serena.  She was leaning against the doorway, looking at a small 
object in her hands.  It shone some light across her face and she seemed 
almost hypnotized by it.  The music was coming from her hands.  Darien's 
eyes grew wide.  'Serena?'
	Guests slowly arrived and the whole time, Serena felt someone's 
eyes on her, but when she turned around no one was looking at her.  A while 
latter the guests heard Serena's voice hushing them.
	"She's here!  Get to your places!"  The lights were flicked off and 
everyone scrambled out of sight.
	"Hey Rei, do you mind if I stay a little while longer?" Came Lita's 
voice.  "I really want you to try this new recipe of mine." Lita lead her 
into the dark room.
	"Sure Lita, but-" 
	"SURPRISE!!!!" Serena flicked on the lights and the air was filled 
with balloons, confetti, and streamers. 
	Rei looked sideways at Darien as she opened the next present.  He 
looked kind of dazed.  She had noticed that he had spent the whole party 
staring at something.  She followed his gaze to Serena.
				'Serena?'
	'What've I done, what've I done?! Maybe I was seeing something, 
maybe I imagined it!' Darien stared at Serena hopping his eyes would say she 
wasn't.  That she couldn't.  But she was, and is.
	'I'm so bored.' Serena thought as she sat down beside the stack of 
presents Rei was opening.  'I should be having a blast, but I feel like I'm 
missing something! Damn!' She pulled out the locket again, lifting it from 
one hand to the other repeatedly.  'I wish there was something to do...' 
She stood up and stepped outside into the fresh night air.  She took in a 
deep breath, breathing the temple smells.  It was good to get away once and 
awhile.  'I mean really get away from it all.  School, friends, Sailor 
business... and just daydream...' She took out the locket again.  'Hope is 
all right here, in the palm of my hands...' she thought listening to the 
soft melody for the thousandth time that night.
	Darien saw Serena go outside.  If he followed her, he could make 
sure it was his locket.  He stood up telling Rei he needed to get some air. 
'Well I do really...' he told himself.  'It's hot in there.' Outside Serena 
was sitting on the porch.  The music was there again.  He stood behind her,
simply listening for awhile.  
	Serena lifted her head slightly.  Someone, the same someone as 
before, was watching her.  After a moment she spoke, closing the locket.  
"Who's there?" she asked without turning around.  Darien stepped forward and 
sat beside her.
	"Just me." He said trying to sound casual.
	"Look, if you're here to tease me, I'm just not up to it, ok?  I'm 
exhausted from planning this thing, so go away alright?"
	"I'm not here to tease you." He paused, looking down at the locket 
mostly covered by her protective hands.  "What's that?" he asked slowly.
	"Hmm? Oh, it's just my locket." She said uncovering it.  
	"Yeah, it's pretty.  Where did you get it?" 'Oh my god, that's it!'
Serena looked away slightly cautious.  "Someone gave it to me.  I don't know 
where they got it." She said softly. 
	"Oh." Replied Darien.  There was a comfortable silence and then 
Serena opened the locket again.  Was it just him, or was there a moon symbol
on her forehead? Serena closed it abruptly. 
	"I should go back inside." She said standing up.
	"Wait!" Darien grabbed her arm.  She looked down at his hand and 
then at him and everything seemed to stop.  'Why does this feel so 
familiar?'  "Serena..." he faltered.  What could he say?  I know you're 
Sailor Moon?  'I mean really...'
	"Yeah?" she asked him.  He looked so confused! She liked it.  She 
liked it a lot. 
	Darien hung his head and let go.  "Never mind, it was nothing..." 
She looked at him oddly and went back inside.  'Weird...'

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
	
"Ugh." Serena moaned as she rolled over in bed.  The clock said it was two 
in the afternoon. 'Well I didn't get much sleep last night.' The party had 
ended around eleven and Serena got home around one after seeing everyone off 
and cleaning up.  Darien had been the last to leave.  'He was staring at me 
all night!  I wonder why?' she thought randomly as she stood up and started
brushing her hair.  She began to get dressed a few minutes later.  'It 
could be because I didn't mess anything up...but I don't think so.' She 
brushed her teeth and washed her face before heading down for some breakfast.
Or was it lunch? 
	"Hello Serena.  Sleep well?" her mother asked pleasantly.  
	"Yeah, thanks for letting me sleep in." Serena said as she grabbed 
some breakfast.  (Again, lunch?) Half an hour latter she headed out for the 
arcade, humming her song.  
	'I wonder if Andrew will be there tod-' "OOF!" Serena fell to the 
ground with a thud.  "Oh, I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention..." she said, 
not looking up as she checked for any cuts or bruises.  
	"Oh no, it was my fault Serena.  Umm... Let me help you up..." Two 
strong hands grasped hers and pulled her to her feet.  Serena looked up to 
see who it was and was met by a pair of confused and almost nervous stormy 
gray-blue eyes.  
	'Darien?!' "Um, thanks." She said, still surprised.  They had not 
let go of each other's hands.  Serena blushed slightly and Darien 
immediately let her go.  "Um, I'd better get going, I want to beat the 
afternoon rush for-"
	"Sailor V?" he finished for her.
	"Yeah," she said quizzically, "How did you know?"
	"You only play it every day and Andrew is my best friend."  Darien 
said laughing and feeling a little more at ease around her.  'I can't 
believe she's Sailor Moon!'
	"Oh yeah!  I almost forgot.  You never hang around there you know." 
She said.
	"Well I do have homework and some other stuff to do."
	"Like what, sports?"  They were already walking into the arcade 
together and Serena had butterflies in her stomach for some unknown reason.
	"Yeah, you could say that... I take karate, sword fighting and some 
hand to hand combat lessons..." 'That sounds about right...'
	"Yeah?  Sounds neat!" she said as she casually sat down at Sailor V.
'Sounds almost like Tuxedo Mask...  Sort of looks like him too.  Could he...?
Nah... that's crazy.' She thought as she plunked a quarter in the slot and 
selected 'bunny'.  'Why do I get all weird when I'm around him now?  It's 
like everything is new and I keep feeling strange.  Like something else 
should be happening... and the whole Universe is waiting for it...' she 
thought, not really paying attention to the game.  'Like maybe there's more 
to both of us than we know or... remember.'   A loud buzzer brought Serena 
back to reality.  She looked at the screen.  "HIGH SCORE! NO WAY!" She 
shrieked as a prize fell out of the slot.  It was a small gold necklace with
a golden crescent moon and a heart intertwined hanging from it.   Darien 
stood behind her, still in a bit of shock.  Andrew had said she was good, 
but not this good!
	"Here," he said, taking the necklace from her, and bending over to 
put it around her neck as she lifted her hair out of the way.  Darien took 
a deep breath through his nose before clasping it.  What was that incredible 
smell?  It was gorgeous!  Perfect!  He pulled away and the smell was almost
gone.  It was... Serena?  'Wow...' was all he could think. He was almost 
incapacitated, just by the smell of her!  He shook his head to clear it.
	"Thanks Darien, oh wow this is pretty!" she said fingering her 
prize.  She looked at her watch.  "Still got time for a shake.  Want to come 
Darien?"  He looked a trifle dazed.
	"Huh? Oh, sure Serena." He said in that confused voice while 
following her out the door.  Andrew watched from a ways away and laughed.  
'He's got it bad...'
	'This sure is weird!' thought Serena.  'I'm hanging out with Darien 
and he seems... different somehow.  Like he lost something.... Or maybe he 
found it.'
	They sat down at Serena's usual booth in the café and Darien 
offered to treat for two milkshakes.  They arrived almost immediately and 
there was a comfortable silence while they drank.  Serena almost drowned 
hers in about a millisecond and smiled.
	"MMMmmm... That was good!" she said happily, flashing him a 
brilliant smile.  Then she paused, looking down at her bag.  The crescent 
moon wand alarm was going off!  She faked looking at her watch again and 
shrieked "I'm SOOOO late!  Gotta go Darien! Byee!" before running out of 
the café.  Darien suspected something and threw some money down on the table
before following her discretely.  
	She pulled the crescent moon wand out of her bag which was beeping 
and flashing, and let it lead her towards a place outside the university of 
Biology.  She and Sailor Jupiter toasted the youma back into Rita in no 
time so he left it be.  She could handle it.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

	The next day Serena went to an art gallery with Molly and Melvin.  
The artist was fantastic.  Someone called Lonnie Loni, and it was rumored 
that if you bought one of her paintings, all your romantic dreams would 
come true.  
	'Hmm?' Serena turned around to see Darien outside talking to 
someone.  "Oh!  I'm going to say hi to Darien!  I'll see you guys latter 
ok?" and she ran out the door.  Melvin made a comment and Molly sighed, 
laughing inwardly at him.  
	"Hey Darien! Who're you talking too?" she called out as she ran 
over to them.
	The woman gasped when she saw Serena.  "You're perfect!  Please
model for me!"
	"ME?! MoDeL?!"     
	"Sure!  Can you guys come over this afternoon at three?"  She 
rummaged around in her bag before triumphantly pulling out a card with her 
address on it and giving it to Serena.  "Here's my address! Bye!" and she 
ran off.
	Darien and Serena exchanged a glance.  '?'

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

	They showed up on Peggy's doorstep at three, as planned.  "Hey you 
guys, come on in!" Peggy said before disappearing into the kitchen.  
	"Oh Wow!  This place is totally dreamy!  It's like, gorgeous!"  
Serena exclaimed gazing at Peggy's garden.
	"I wonder if she has any roses?" Darien mused quietly, standing 
behind her. 
	"Why don't you two sit down on the couch?" Peggy called, "I'll be 
set up in a minute!"  She was fixing her chair and sketchbook up a few 
meters away in the living room.  They walked over to the couch and Darien 
sat down while Serena got distracted by some of the paintings.
	"Alright Serena," Peggy said picking up a lacy pink cushion and 
setting it down next to Darien. "Why don't you have a seat?"
	Serena looked at Darien worriedly.  He had had fun yesterday, but 
lets face it.  This was Darien.  "Umm... Ok." She said sitting down.  She 
looked at him out of the corner of her eye.  'I guess he is cute, but he's 
so cranky and mean sometimes!  It's weird, like he's two different 
people...'
	He could smell her again.  Serena smelled like honeydew or 
something, and he couldn't get it out of his head.  Whenever he smelt her, 
got close to her he kind of dazed off, relaxed and felt odd all over.  He 
had never felt that way before.  What was it?  'It can't be that I know 
she's Sailor Moon, because I'm sure I've felt this before when we've bumped 
into each other...  I guess she is a looker, when she's not falling down.' 
He thought looking at her for a moment before going back to gaze at the 
paintings.  
	'He was looking at me again!' Serena knew.  She could just feel it.
'Why does he keep doing that?' 
	"Ok, you can move now!  I'm done the sketch!" Peggy said cheerfully.
She had not missed the glances at each other or the expressions on their 
faces.  Something strange about those two...  Serena grabbed a cookie and 
peeked over her shoulder.
	"Mmm...Can I peek?" she asked.  "Hey that's really good!  Wow 
Peggy!"  Then she stepped over to another painting that had caught her 
eye.  "What's this one?  It's majorly beautiful!"
	"That one is about a legend my grandma used to tell me.  It's 
called, 'till we meet again' because she's giving him her locket, so he'll 
always remember what they had."
	"Oh!" said Serena. She picked up the painting to show to Darien.  
"What do you think Darien?"  Darien glanced up and his eyes went wide.  'Oh 
my god!  That's the locket!  That's me!  That's.... Serena?'
	
To be continued...

MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! ~Author laughs uncontrollably~ Bet you're gonna kill me 
again huh?  WELL E-MAIL ME ALREADY!!!!!! I am so bored, and I got almost no 
e-mail this weekend, so if you don't e-mail me, I'll have to deal out a just
punishment!  Like a cheesy tradejy fic!  Nah, I wouldn't do that... Or 
would I?  E-MAIL ME! monklutz@yahoo.com
Thanx to: Alicia Blade, for helping me fix the epilogue of SCD....
Luvs ya everyone!~
Klutz