Chapter 3 Serena arrived at the hospital only minutes after she had received word of the situation. And, just like at the Sailor meetings, she was the last one there. She was not permitted to see Lita, as she was not family. She was, however, allowed to wait in the waiting room with the rest of the group. "Serena! Glad you could make it!" { Rei, you of all people should just shut up. } Serena faked a smile. "Uh, glad to see you too." Serena knew not to cause a scene in the hospital. And besides, she was thinking more about Lita, rather that Rei and Darien. "Thanks for calling on my communicator, Amy. What exactly happened?" "I think I should tell you this." The blond-haired girl stood from her sitting position on the floor. "But not here, with all these other people around. Can I see you outside?" Serena nodded, and she and Mina were soon away from the group. "Rei, is it true?" "Amy, what do you mean?" "Well, Mina told me what the argument was that caused all this crap, about the rumor that you and Darien were kissing." "Amy, I was giving him mouth to mouth! He wasn't breathing, and I sure as hell wasn't going to let him die." Amy was silent for a minute. "Well, why didn't you tell Serena that!" "I didn't know she was watching. But now, when I try to tell her, she just tells me to shut up. She won't listen to reason." "I hope to GOD you are telling the truth. Because if you're not..." Amy moved closer to Rei, and whispered in her ear. "I'll kill you myself." Amy walked out of the waiting room. Serena and Mina came back in, to find Rei staring at the floor. "Rei, what's wrong?" Mina asked. "Huh? Oh... nothing. Just hoping that Lita's gonna be OK." Tears were in Rei's eyes. She had been so hurt, and felt so abandoned. "Uh.. Serena?" "What?" There seemed to be no emotion in her response. "Can I... see you outside...?" { What is it with me and outside? } "Sure, but make it quick." Serena and Rei went outside. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Serena, what you saw --" "What I SAW was that YOU were kissing my boyfriend. No, I take that back. My ex-boyfriend." "Serena, I was giving him artificial respiration! He was unconscious and had quit breathing. If it weren't for me, he'd be dead right now!" Serena's eyes widened. "What? You were... saving his life...?" "Yeah Serena." "Oh... I-I'm... sorry. I guess I just saw you two like that --" "And automatically assumed that we were making out. You gotta learn to trust me more Serena. I'm your best friend. I would NEVER put you through so much pain." Rei put her hand on Serena's shoulder. "So, friends?" "Friends." The two girls smiled. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Darien saw the two girls, and had heard the entire conversation. He was glad neither of them had noticed him. Darien started running toward the girls. "Hey there, sweet cheeks!" Darien gave a full fledged lover's kiss to the nearest girl. Rei. "Last night was awesome!" he said as he held her close enough that he could have smothered her. "Darien --" "Shh." He kissed her again, and his tongue was trying to pry into Rei's mouth. He broke away, and started running again. "See ya, honey! See ya, Serena!" He continued running. Serena looked at Rei, with fire in her eyes. Rei stared at Serena. "Let me guess. He needed saving again." Serena slapped Rei so hard she knocked her down. "If I ever see you again, I'll kill you, you bitch. You could've at least been honest with me." Serena stormed back into the hospital. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Darien continued running until he was out of sight. He then slowed to a normal walking speed. A swirling black light enveloped him, and then he was in his true form; the Black Knight. "That was fun." The Black Knight vanished into thin air. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Serena's tears were visible to Mina, even from across the room. She got up, tears in her eyes, as well. "Serena, what's wrong?" "Lita was right. And so was I. Darien IS having an affair with Rei." "Oh... Sorry." "What's wrong with you?" "Well... the doctor told me the news about Lita." "...What is it?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3 days later.... The scene was simple, yet pretty. And very sad. It was a church, with the whole group there. Everyone was dressed mostly in black. Serena, Rei, Amy, Mina, Darien, Andrew, Molly and Ken. The preacher began. "Dearly beloved. We are gathered here today to mourn the loss of Lita Kino." The preacher droned on and on. Serena glared at Darien, who had sat next to her. Rei had made the good decision to sit far, far away from them. { Who does he think he is? He doesn't even act like anything happened! } Serena tried to edge her way away from him. { Damn, why is she doing this? Most people WANT to be comforted. } The tears that came from Serena's eyes were from mixed emotions. She felt so sad about Lita, so hurt by Darien, and so betrayed by Rei. "And now, a close friend of the dearly departed." The preacher stepped down, and Ken walked up to the podium, in front of the casket. "Lita was a good friend of mine... And I'm sure she was a close friend to all of you. I know we will all miss her very much. But we must remember the good times, and not go on crying and moping around for months. She wouldn't want that. Lita would want us to carry on, and remember the good times. Because as long as we remember her, she will never truly die." Ken stepped down, and found his seat next to Rei. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The funeral procession seemed to take forever to Serena. She was riding in the same car as Darien. She thought it best not to do anything bad to him, especially at a time like this. For some odd reason, however, she felt different. Different than the day he had kissed Rei, right in front of her. Almost like... he was a different person. "Darien?" "Yes, meatball head?" "...... Why did you..." "Why did I what?" He glanced over at Serena, who was staring out the window. He had no idea of the pain she was in. "Why did you kiss Rei?" "Uh... Serena, what the hell are you talking about?" "Don't play coy with me, Darien! You know exactly what I am talking about!" "No I don't. What gave you that idea, anyway?" "What the hell do you THINK gave me that idea? I saw you! You ran up to Rei, and kissed her like you USED to kiss me. And I was only standing three feet away." Darien glanced over at Serena. Her reflection was in the passenger side window. Darien could see the tears streaming down her face. He was crushed. The words that his love had spoken hit him worse than a million shards of rock. He didn't remember ever kissing Rei. Why would he? Sure, he found her to be attractive, but he did not have any feelings toward her. "Serena, I don't remember --" "Darien, you don't have any fucking amnesia to get you out of this one. You know you did it, and you know that you want her. I wouldn't be surprised if Rei was the true mother of Reeny!" "Damnit! I don't know what you are talking about! But I did NOT KISS REI!! I DON'T WANT HER!! THE ONLY PERSON I WANT IS YOU!!" "Well, you'll just have to settle for Rei then. Because you're not having me. I don't put up with two-timers." The rest of the trip, neither of them said a word. When they got to the cemetery, they all gathered in front of the casket. The preacher read some things out of the bible, and then the casket was laid in the ground. Everyone threw a few flowers on the casket. Then, the dirt was placed on the flowered casket, and soon, the ground was solid once more. The people got into their cars, and slowly drove away. Serena did not ride with Darien, or anyone else. All she wanted to do was be alone. As the last car disappeared from sight, Serena stood at the foot of Lita's grave. She kneeled down. "Goodbye, Lita... Sailor Jupiter.... I will miss you..." As Serena wept, the crescent moon on her forehead glowed slightly. A gentle breeze blew, and as her tears fell to the ground, the sunlight made them sparkle like crystals. Finally, Serena stood, and stared up at the sky. "I won't give up. I won't stop caring. You will live on in my heart, for all eternity." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Nobody said life is fair, we've all got a cross to bear When it gets a little hard to care, just think of Jesus hanging there." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To Be Continued... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So, nice and gloomy, huh? I know that a lot of people read these notes before they read the story. So, I'm not gonna re-state what happened in the story. If you read it, good for you. If you're not on the verge of suicide, good for you. So, how'd ya like it, anyway? I really wanna know. cowboys@wwd.net You all know that's my email, right? Ya think there might be a reason it's there? Hmm....