Chapter 13:

Darien slumped into his usual booth, in the corner away from trouble, and rested his head in his hands. He messed up. Big time. Of course Serena wasn't ready to even accept the fact that he was Tuxedo mask. That's why he came up with the elaborate plan to 'woo' her so when it finally happened she would accept it and be happy. Not panic and run away.

He swore he saw her outside that sweet shop earlier, but she's not that kind of girl any more. She probably still loves her sweets with a passion, but she's just not so childish about it any more. He still kicks himself from the fact that he couldn't see that brat change into a mature and beautiful woman right in front of his eyes, because he would have more time to win her over, but no, he was stuck in their usual routine of the fight. Why? Because those stupid little arguments made his day; if he didn't get to see her beautiful face flare up and her eyes glitter with her kitten like anger, he felt… Empty.

Darien Shields never guessed in his life that this annoying little brat would become the ray of light that would just make his day that little bit better. Let's not forget Sailor Moon. Of course he loved the way Sailor Moon was. She was reliant on him, beautiful, compassionate, at times she had the grace of an angel and… Serena. She was Serena. He's known this whole time, just never actually… accepted it. It was right in front of him and he never actually saw it. Stuck behind rose tinted glasses; living in his fantasy world on the Moon.

What about the Princess? Obviously he still wants to help her, but his heart belongs to Serena now. Why did she have to do that do him! Leave a little tic-tac sized pill in his brain on the first day that they met and then after a year or two, it suddenly explodes causing all these feelings and stuff. Serena had successfully managed to Ninja his brain and not even notice it at all!

He heard the sound of china being placed on the table and someone slipping into the booth opposite. He didn't exactly want to sit up and socialize, not really. All Darien Shields wanted to do was sink himself into a hole and just stay there.

"Hey man, what happened?" Andrew asked causing Darien to sigh before lifting his head up.

"I kissed Serena." was all that came from his mouth before his forehead hit the table once more.

"Ah. She didn't take it well?"

"She panicked and ran."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

It didn't take long before Darien was drinking his beautiful black coffee. The smell was just too tempting to let go cold. When he finished it, he leaned back in his seat to stare at his best friend, Andrew.

"She found out I was Tuxedo Mask." Darien decided to say, knowing that eventually Andrew will figure it out.

"How? I mean, she hasn't exactly met Tuxedo Mask, and if a kiss gave it away that means she has to… Oh. Are you sure? I mean… It's Serena. I love her like a sister, but still…" Andrew rambled before leaning back and staring at Darien intensely, "You're fucking with me."

"Nope."

"Well… isn't that good, if they're the same person?"

"It's great. For me." Darien explained making Andrew sigh knowingly.

"But not for her," Darien's sigh to Andrew was all the answer he needed. His friend was hurting, but needed to figure things out, "I'll get you another coffee." Andrew picked up the mug and slipped out the booth.

"Thanks man."

"So Metalia's not good at all, and the Negaverse are trying to bring it back." Serena confirmed after having an annoying argument with Luna about her duties and finally convincing the two of them to tell them what they know about Metalia, which wasn't much, but it was enough.

"That could be a small part of the main goal, but it sounds right. So they need the crystals for this, which has something to do with the Princess." Luna stated and Artemis nodded in agreement.

"And the Princess is who we need to find in order to help prevent this from happening." he sat tall next to Luna, seeing the slight distance in the emotional relationship between both guardian and charge. To say it upset him at all would be an understatement.

"But we've been searching and defending all this time, what if we don't find the Princess. I think we need to train, maybe trick the Negaverse and somehow pin point where they are and destroy it from the inside." Serena shifted from her cross-legged position to stretch her legs out.

"And risk you all being killed? Simply not." Luna shook her head and Serena sighed, nodding. "Fair enough, but in order to help protect the Princess, we need to stop the Negaverse from gaining power. They already have some crystals and that's not good. I need to talk with the scouts about this and start thinking of a training program for them. They need to grow as scouts, gain more power with their abilities and hopefully, be able to combine their powers together much more fluently.

"At the moment, we're good together, but not everyone can be there all the time or even straight away, so they need to be able to defend themselves, weaken and finally distract the enemy until everyone else can get there. I want us to be unbeatable and we can achieve this." Serena stood up dusting her clothes as she prepared to head home to spend time with her family and then think about everything in her life to sort her priorities out.

"What makes you think the scouts need further training?" Artemis asked and Serena smiled softly. "Because when the final battle comes, they'll need that knowledge and strength. I have a feeling this is the easy part and if we're struggling, then we need to train; individually and together." Something that the two cats noticed was different to their Serena. They knew Serena was maturing and had her phases acting as Sailor Moon, but this wasn't Serena or Sailor Moon, there was something else there. All Luna could think was that it was similar and all she wanted to do was hug Serena…

Serena sighed as she tugged her hair in the pony-tail once more. She had spent the evening with her family watching television and even a movie. She was snuggled in her father's hold and for those few hours, everything felt… easy. As if she could forget the fact that she was protecting the planet from a bunch of evil guys and just be normal. She didn't even have to think about Darien being Tuxedo Mask, but now she was in her room?

"You're heading out?" Luna asked from the window sill. Serena's head bobbed and she spun round on her seat to face the guardian.

"Just some meditating and strengthening my core power." She smiled as the lie left her lips like silk. It was so easy now. She used to hate to lie, but now it barely even bothered her. Maybe soon the lying will stop all together.

"Maybe you should call the girls and tea-"

"Not tonight. I would rather not see them tonight and then bite the bullet tomorrow." She gave Luna a genuine smile as she stood up and walked over to gather the cat in her arms. Luna couldn't help but purr and snuggle in Serena's embrace, missing it.

"Very well, have a good evening." She smiled as she was placed on the bed watching Serena jump out the window to land with perfect form on the ground. Serena looked up and waved before dashing off, heading towards the lake. It was time for the big confrontation and he better have a good reason for being Tuxedo Mask or he'll just get a beating of a lifetime….

As Serena entered the park, she had to decide where was best for her to go and for some reason the lake seemed best. It was out of the way and no one really heads there at this time. She let her legs take her and during her run, she felt her transformation take over so by the time she reached the dreaded spot she was earlier that day, she was in her scout uniform. It was only a matter of time till he showed up and she was trying hard not to shake. She took a deep breath and crossed her arms, staring at the empty sky. There wasn't even a star right now.

"Serena…" she heard him from behind her and she couldn't help but tense. She slowly spun round to face him, the hat and mask off. He looked empty and sad.

"How long have you known." She asked trying to keep the cold exterior. He flinched before taking a few steps closer towards her. He noted that she didn't move, but she did flinch which means he had to be careful.

"Not very long at all," he began and ran a hand through his hair, "Serena, you weren't supposed to figure out this way!"

"Oh? Then how the hell was I supposed to find out then Darien? Did you want me to look stupid? Oh lookie here! Serena is so stupid she can't disguise her secret so well! Besides, why would Serena of all people be Sailor Moon? She can barely walk in a straight line without tripping over herself!" she shouted and Darien closed the distance, gripping her shoulders tightly.

"You're not stupid! You're anything but stupid! I wanted you to find out in a way where you wouldn't freak out because…" he had to avert his eyes for a second, building up the courage. When he finally looked at her, she wanted to gasp, never in her life has she seen so much emotion from Darien's eyes. It was so intense it had her hairs standing on end, "Because you would find out the man you liked was… me."

Serena remained frozen for what could have been hours on end before she allowed the transformation to disappear and she was left in just her jeans and white strap top. She remained quiet, her big blue eyes just staring at him. There was something about the way she looked at him that had him thinking he said something wrong. What was she going to do now? Slap him? Beat him? Completely reject him and tell him to stay out of her life for good? His heart ached at the thought and he begged whatever god was out there to have her not reject him.

"Why? Do you really think that because it's you that I'll freak?" she asked and he had to look away, but she gripped his chin, "I'm happy that it's you. Shocked? Hell yeah, but I'm still happy." A small tug of her lips made him relax automatically.

"Up until recently… I thought-"

"Darien… when I socked you one on the jaw, you started being the guy I wished you were. I wouldn't have been kissing you if I didn't like you." She smiled and took a step away from him before slapping his cheek. The sting remained and he swore if he didn't get ice on it soon, there'll be a mark, "Can I just say something? If we're going to work together slash date? You don't keep secrets that big from me and knowingly cheat on Sailor Moon. That was your punishment."

He burst out laughing, a hand on his cheek before he nodded in agreement, "I knew who you were at that point, and if I was wrong… I would take what was coming to me." She smiled at this and her head bobbed whilst she tried to put a mock serious face on her features.

"And I won't hesitate to spend three weeks in an emotional guilt ridden rut if you weren't tuxedo mask." She smiled and he arched a brow in curiosity as his hands landed on her hips.

"Really? Would you still choose me?" he asked and she grinned, shrugging.

"Not sure… I mean… he does pull off a tuxedo." She winked before sliding her hands round his neck and pulling him in for a kiss before pulling away, "Still angry at you, but it's mainly because you of all people are self conscious. Come on. Buck up Shields." He laughed before pulling her in, relishing the feel of her lips against his…

"Good luck tomorrow with the girls." He pecked her lips once more, not wanting to let her go. They had spent the next couple of hours talking, cuddling, and lots of kissing. Serena knew that she should be angry with him still, but she just... wasn't. As soon as he was there and looking at her like that, it seemed like all her anger just melted away. She was just disappointed that the cocky arrogant former jerk had low self esteem.

She smile and melted into his embrace for a few more seconds before pulling away. He had de-transformed. After the media incident last night, they were trying to be careful. There should only be so much media coverage on the scouts and their life outside of fighting.

"Will you see me after?" she asked and he gave her a brilliant smile before kissing her forehead.

"Of course I will. We're in this together now." The way he said that had Serena's heart flutter. She felt like an aching gap in her heart had been filled, one that has been there ever since she could remember. She smiled before going on her tip toes to give him a kiss, knowing that he felt the same.

"I'll tell them everything. Relevant information that is," She smiled and Darien nodded. He wasn't ready for them to know that he was Tuxedo Mask just yet so they agreed to keep it a secret until he felt it was time. She smiled as she took a step back, their hands still connected, "I'll be seeing you tomorrow." And with that she ran the rest of her way to her home making the leap to her windowsill with clean precision. Luna was already snuggled in bed with some figure. Serena climbed in a switched her bed side lamp on, pulling the duvet away to see her stuffed toys. She saw as Luna stretched and looked up to her with a small smile on her catty features.

"Training went well." She said and the cat's head bobbed lazily, obviously still tired.

Serena went to tidying away the brilliant work of Luna's (Creating Serena's sleeping form) before getting herself ready for bed. The plan was set. Tomorrow would be it. She will be confronting the girls and giving them the what for. It was time to bite the bullet and be the woman she is today. They can live with it or leave. It hurt Serena to think such things yes, but it was time. They knew of the mask and she now had to take it off. Maybe for the better. In fact, it was for the better. Serena was going to work these girls till they were as strong as she was and once she feels they are strong enough, it was time to fight the Negaverse full on. Maybe she can find away to make that crystal full...

I'm sorry for such a short chapter after waiting for so long, but it has been difficult for me to write this. I do have plans for the next few chapters and I am sad to say that this story is coming to an end. This was always going to be a small story, but I loved writing it at the time. I was able to let my creative juices flow and put out my ideas of how I would have loved for the story to have gone if it wasn't based for me when I first saw it.

The story is exactly how this has been able to go. I wanted to show a more mature Serena and I hope I achieved that, but now the scouts have seen through the mask and it's now time to start saying good bye. Of course, there will be a few more dream chapters because they were created for a very good reason and I hope you will get to discover that reason for yourself soon.

For those of you still here and have me of story alert, favourite story etc. I thank you so much! The fact that even after the long delays of chapters, you still review or favourite these spur on the moment story/ies! I'm going to try and finish this story for you and soon!

I promise this.

Lennatha

XxxX