The Troubling Truth3
By MoonKlutz
moonklutz@yahoo.com
part 3 of 3
rat: G


The Troubling Truth 3- The Face in The Mirror

	Serena woke up at eight that morning, still dazed from last night.  
'Was it a dream?  I don't think it was...' She wondered what she should do, 
as she got ready for the day.  She had never experienced a kiss like that 
before.  It was another of those old-new feelings that confused her so 
much.  'What am I supposed to do?'  It was amazing, it was confusing, 
uplifting, new... Should she go out with Darien? Give him a chance?  
And how did he know about her alter ego?  It was all to confusing... She 
went to the park and sat down on an empty bench.  Tuxedo Mask Vs Darien.  
Who did she love?  She pulled out her locket again.
	"You helped me before, Star Locket.  Who do I love?" The music 
played softly and she closed her eyes.  She could see Darien, smiling, 
laughing- all since he had started talking to her.  The frown was gone 
from his features... She could see Tuxedo Mask flying to her rescue and 
acting dashing and romantic.  
	'Correction.  To Sailor Moon's rescue.' She thought slowly. 
 'Who am I?'

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

	Darien rolled over reluctantly in his bed.  'What have I done?' 'You 
kissed Serena you dumb-ass.  You're girlfriend's best friend.  And what did 
she do?  She gawked at you like you were some freak nerd or something.' He
moaned.  "Can't I stay in bed forever?" he asked aloud as the doorbell 
rang.  "Just a minute!" he called loudly.  He ran a comb through his 
bed-headed and looked through the peephole.  Serena stood there, looking 
like an angel.  'Oh shit.' He took a deep breath and opened the door, 
acutely aware that he was wearing his pajamas. She looked a little 
surprised, but asked if she could come in.  He stood aside and she put her 
slippers on before walking into the living room and sitting down on the 
couch.
	"Darien, about last night..."she started nervously.  "How did you 
know who I was?"  He paused, thinking for a second before sitting down.
	"Before I answer that, I need to know if... if you like me." He said 
settling for something in between love and friendship.  She looked at him.  
His gray blue eyes mussed black hair, a nice body.  He certainly wasn't 
lacking in looks. He was funny, kind, and understanding...
	"I think I do." She said a little uncertainly.  "I mean... yes, I 
like you." She said gaining a slight bit of confidence. He looked 
relieved.  
	"Then I guess I can tell you how I knew..." he said, uncertain if 
this was a good time or not.
	"Wait." Serena said before he could do anything.  "Why don't you tell 
me another time...  I'm sure you'd rather get dressed and stuff first." She 
said pointedly.  
	"Good point." He agreed, thankful for the delay. "I'll see you latter 
ok?" Serena nodded and left.
	Darien inhaled the sweet smell she left behind, a combination of 
shampoo, perfume, clothes detergent and body-wash.  He washed, dressed and 
ate in record time and left for the park where he knew she would be.  The 
feeling of rightness drew him to her.  He knew he only had a small hold on 
getting Serena to like him and he wanted to keep that hold.  When he got 
there she was sitting on a small wooden park bench, her face lifted to the 
sky watching the clouds pass overhead.  Her hair spilled down her back, 
free from the usual odango and glinting golden in the sun.  He snuck up 
behind her and put his hands over her eyes.
	"Guess who?" he asked teasingly.  Serena reached up, smiling, and 
removed his hands. 
 "Darien!" she laughed scoldingly.  He sat down beside her.
"So what are you doing?" he asked.
"Just watching the clouds I guess." She said.  "Sometimes I just like 
watching the sky." She shrugged.  "How about you?"
"I thought you might be here, so I thought I'd come by and offer you 
lunch."
"But it's only ten in the morning Darien!"
"Well... latter then.  How about a movie or something for now?"
"Alright." She agreed.  They stood up and walked to the Jubaan Cineplex and 
bought two tickets for the latest Sailor V movie.  Now the funny thing 
about Sailor V movies, is that there is always at least one really boring 
scene in the middle of them where V-chan is talking to the police about 
something.  It's not really important, but the artist thought it would be 
neat.  There was about 10 minutes of it in this movie.  Serena looked over 
at Darien during this scene, who seemed to be thinking about something.  
She almost laughed at the confused look on his face but didn't.  
'I'm better than that now.' she told herself and contemplated kissing him 
again.  'I do have this whole boring scene to work with... why not?' She 
sat up straight so she could see the side of his face. Then she reached 
out one hand to the other side of his face and pulled it towards her before 
gently kissing him.  Darien closed his eyes and leaned into it, unsure what 
had brought it on, but happy anyway.  Serena opened her mouth a slightly 
and pushed the tip of her tongue into his mouth before pulling away.  
Darien looked completely bewildered, giving her some satisfaction at 
surprising him.   It was nice, kissing Darien.  Almost totally unlike 
anything she had experienced before.  It was like the whole universe was 
re-joicing with each other with every touch of his hand, every breath they 
shared.   Her heart beat a little bit faster every time their fingers 
brushed, reaching for a drink or popcorn.  It was so... new.  'Is this 
love?'
Darien faced the movie screen again reluctantly.  His heart was pounding, 
his stomach swirled and his head spun.  That was the first time Serena had 
kissed him and she was darned good at it!  His fingers itched to run 
through her hair or pull her close or anything that brought them closer, 
just so he could be nearer her.  He felt that everything was coming 
together for the first time in his life and his heart soared at the 
knowledge.  He put one arm around her shoulders and played with a piece of 
her hair between his fingers for the rest of the movie.  But all too soon 
it seemed, the movie was over and they reluctantly left the building.
"I'm hungry, Darien.  How about that lunch now?" she asked him.  He smiled 
down at her.  Good old Serena.  That stomach never failed.  
"Sure Serena.  Where do you want to go?" she thought about it for a minute 
before replying.
"My friend Lita is working at a restaurant I know of today.  She's an 
amazing cook!" she offered.
"Alright." He agreed.  'Lita?  Isn't that one of the names I heard last 
night?  It is!'  They sat down at a small table, ordered and waited for 
their food.  Serena was talking about all the great meals her friend had 
made, and Darien sat listening, not paying attention, but just listening 
to the sound of her voice.  For the first time in his life, Darien felt 
truly happy.  'Wow!' Serena thought as she rambled on, 'Darien's actually 
listening to me!  No other guy except Melvin has done that before, but 
Melvin was kind of obsessed with me at the time...' When their food came,
Serena held herself back so she could see the expression when he took the 
first bite.  He lifted the fork to his mouth and a smile broke across his 
face ass he chewed and swallowed.  "Wow!  That's amazing Serena!  She 
should open her own restaurant!"
"She's already planning on it." She told him smugly. 
"Good for her. You can be sure I'll be her first customer!"
"Not unless you can beat me!" Serena said laughing.  She looked down at 
her watch and sighed.  "I've got to go.  Scout meeting." She sighed again 
before eating her whole plate in a matter of seconds.  "They're so boring!  
Oh well, I had a great time!  I'll see you latter Darien!"  She stood up 
and stuck her head into the kitchen.  "Come on Lita!  Rei'll kill us if 
we're late again!" A moment latter, a tall brunette came out of the kitchen 
and smiled at him before they left together.
'Scout meeting eh?  Might as well follow her and find out what's up...' He 
put some money on the table, stepped out into a nearby alley and 
transformed, following Serena and Lita by rooftop. 
Serena hurried along the street with Lita silently.  Maybe she could 
surprise Rei and actually be on time for once!  Something pricked at the 
back of her neck.  'Someone's watching me...' she thought, slightly 
alarmed.
"Serena?  What's wrong?" Lita asked curiously.  'It feels like Darien, but 
not like him...' she stopped and turned around, scanning the streets and 
buildings quickly with her eyes.
"I could have sworn someone was following us... Don't act like you know 
Lita." She said softly.  'No one... that's weird!  They turned and 
continued walking until she got to the Hikawa Jinga Shrine.  
Tuxedo Mask raised an eyebrow as they climbed the steps to the temple.  
'Isn't this the Hikawa Jinga Shrine?  Why would they meet here?' He soon 
found out as Rei came out of the temple followed by Ami and the two 
proceeded to scold her for being late.  He noticed Serena's cat Luna step 
forward in between the girls.
"Oh stop fighting!  We've got more important matters to discuss than why 
Serena's late this time."  Darien was shocked.  'That cat just spoke!'
"BEEP BEEP BEEP!"  It was that same sound he had heard on the bridge last 
night.  Serena opened her bag and pulled out the crescent moon wand.
"Rainbow Crystal Alert!  The nega-verse is after another crystal!  
Transform Scouts!"  Serena ordered quickly.  They looked at her blankly for 
a moment before declaring their transformations.  Rei: "MARS POWER!" Lita: 
"JUPITER POWER!" Ami: "MERCURY POWER!" Serena: "MOON PRISM POWER!" all: 
"TRANSFORM!"  Darien looked blankly on, still mildly in shock.  But there 
was no time, he knew, his Bunny would need his help!  'Bunny?' he thought.
'Yes... That sounds right somehow...' he hopped from building to building, 
falling slightly behind the scouts.  He caught up when they got to the 
park.  Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Moon were fighting a large youma, but 
every once in awhile he saw Ami's friend Greg's face flash through.  
Finally, just as he was about to help, they managed to heal Greg.  Lita 
and Rei smiled at Ami and Greg, who were having a sweet little moment.  He 
too, smiled and turned to walk away.  
Serena looked up, away from Ami and Greg.  'Darien?  Is he here?' She saw a
 flash of black amongst the trees and quietly snuck up behind who ever it 
was.  She pressed her back against a tree and turned her head over her 
shoulder trying to see who was there.  'Tuxedo Mask?  I could have sworn 
I felt Darien around...' The cloak Tuxedo Mask wore began to shimmer and 
then disappeared completely.  Serena did a double take. 'Darien?  Tuxedo 
Mask?  No way...' she thought.  She thought and tapped her broach, 
becoming Serena again before running after him.
"Darien, wait!" He stopped and turned around.
"Serena?" he asked her with an odd look on his face.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked him.
"Well, you said another time.  It was your choice really..."
"It was?  Oh..." she said, realization spreading across her face.  
"That's why you've been staring at me!"
"You never saw me though!  I made sure!"
"Silly Darien." She said taking his arm as they started walking again. 
"Of course I noticed, I didn't need to see!  I could feel it, right here."
She said tapping the back of her neck.  Darien thought about that for a 
moment, slowly digesting this new information.
"That makes sense, but I would have rather you felt it here."  He said 
tapping his heart.  Serena smiled at him and put her head against his arm, 
as she was to short to rest it on his shoulder.  
"Never, ever doubt that I love you Darien.  I guess I knew it all along, 
but wouldn't admit it 'cause you bugged me so much." She said ruefully.  
"Was I that bad?" he asked cringing.
"Yeah, but it's ok." She said. "I forgive you." She smiled at him again.
"Hey, Serena?"
"Yeah Darien?"
"Can I call you Bunny?"
"Bunny?  What for?"
"A nickname of course." Serena smiled.
"Sure muffin."
"Muffin?" he gave her an odd look.
"You started it." She said grinning. 

THE END

Yeah, I know it was kind of cruddy, but remember!  This was written at 
three a.m. when I was freaking out over a test the next day!  I finished 
this Oct. 11 1997 and just typed it now... My sister thought it was a 
diary.  Silly girl! Anyway, I hope everyone liked it.  My e-mail is 
moonklutz@yahoo.com and my site addy (FULL of Fan Fics and It's gotten 
some good reviews so far) is 
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Bay/8614/MoonWorld.html
and I would REALLY APPREACIATE it if you would sign the guest book!  
Luvs ya!~
Klutz