Worth a shot

"Serena pulled over and banged her head repeatedly on the staring wheel. Her eyes were wide with shame and shock. Had she become such a drunk that she would betray even Darien. Darien would never forgive her if he found out about this. She cried and screamed in her car, she didn't know what she had begun. Serena couldn't face Darien so she just left and stayed locked away in a cheap motel drinking her brains out.

"You want to tell me where the hell you've been for two days?" Ikuko asked. "Your luggage arrived back on time why didn't you?" Serena looked at her, she was haggard she hadn't even bothered to shower or make herself even slightly presentable.

"I was finding myself," Serena told her. Ikuko wrinkled her nose. She grabbed Serena by the arm as she moved pass her.

"Serena don't do this, don't start drinking, if your father sees you like this, he'll go ballistic, you know how it is, don't stop caring please." Serena didn't say anything as she went upstairs, Ikuko forced her to shower and at least frein sickness until she was sobered up again. She found all the empty whiskey bottles too and removed all the alcohol from the house except the wine cellar and Kenji's personal stash or he would be suspicious.

"Where is Serena?" Kenji asked. Ikuko hadn't let onto the fact she hadn't come back she suspected that Serena might have snuck off to see Darien, but if she told Kenji that all hell would break loose and she couldn't have that. Sammy ate his meal carefully and didn't speak a word of Ikuko finding the whiskey or searching his room for any of the alcohol. Unlike Serena he had gotten rid of his empty bottles.

"She's upstairs she has a stomach bug, sure it will be gone tomorrow," Ikuko commented. He nodded accepting the answer as they ate quietly.

"Did you hear about Rob?" Ikuko shook her head as Kenji frowned.

"He's gone and married some little German-Japanese whore over our Serena, spur of the moment his parents say." Ikuko looked shocked.

"Well it's for the best than I guess, he would have just made our Sere very unhappy, he wasn't even at the hospital you know." Kenji nodded.

"You're quite right I suppose, so I won't take too much offense to the little bastard using up our hospitality just so he could get at this whore." Ikuko nodded. "I will look for another suitable husband for our Sere, I'm sure once she has a prospective husband this nonsense about little Kenji will disappear."

"I'm quite sure dear."

"You're working?" Ikuko asked. Serena hadn't said a word or had a drink to her knowledge since her return, and now she was in the office she shared with Sammy working.

"I thought it was time I get back on track that's all," Serena told her as if everything was normal. The maid walked in and curtsied to them.

"Excuse me miss tsukino, but the movers are here." Serena nodded.

"Just show them up, everything is boxed and labeled what I want them to take except the crib, but I want that taken too, they aren't to touch anything else." The maid nodded and left.

"You're getting rid of Daichi's things?" Ikuko asked sadly.

"No, I'm getting rid of little Kenji's things," Serena replied. "Daichi isn't here yet, but he will come soon I know it." She went back to working, Ikuko looked over at Sammy for more answers, but he just shrugged as he worked his own company. He had, had to give Serena a very detailed report that had taken hours. He had convinced her that resuming normal life was the way to go if she wanted Daichi back. Serena was going to even return to school and that was the biggest step of all.

"I do hope you're making a recovery darling." She kissed Serena's forehead and then Sammy's before she left out, there wasn't much she could do without Serena first talking to her and of course wanting her help. She prayed that Serena pulled through the mess that had turned into her life.

"You were great out there today." The girls had come to support her at her first meet since the accident. "You are sure to beat the record next time." They all nodded.

"According to my calculations swimming steadily over the next few weeks will make you fast enough to beat the city record." Serena merely nodded. She wanted so bad for things to change around Tokyo, but she didn't think they were, she wanted to go on record displaying her full support against the new campaign to ban Amy's invention and the police raids, but how could she? She would have to admit to a lot of things that could put her in jail.

"We should go out and celebrate," Mina suggested.

"I just want to go home now guys if that's all right?" They nodded even though they hated that she wasn't doing the things she loved. Mina and Lita hadn't been able to get her to go stripping let alone to an underage club especially Andrew's and than there was Raye who was such a wreck after her encounter with some college boy she was backing Amy's retaliation plan in full against the protestors. It had split the group a little because Raye thought they didn't care, but they both admitted their lack of support was from selfishness and their best friend Serena. If Raye knew about Darien they wondered if they could change her mind and heal Chad too.

"I'll drive you home," Lita told her. Serena didn't drive much if at all these days only for certain things, but even certain things were nearly nonexistent.

"You guys be careful of perverts," Amy warned them. They nodded before Lita led Serena away along with Mina.

"How are things with Drew and Yen?" Serena whispered so quietly they nearly missed it.

"Fine, they're a bit overprotective, but that's expected," Mina told her. "How are you and Dare?" Serena's body began to shake as tears poured from her eyes, but she didn't make a sound. Lita pulled over and got in back with Mina and held Serena.

"I don't know what I'm doing," Serena cried. "My life is so screwed up I never meant to screw everything up." Lita gave Mina a worried look who returned it.

"Oh no sweetie you haven't screwed up anything, what happen to us wasn't your fault." Serena just cried more.

"Yes, it was I should have been paying more attention at the wheel, I should have protected Daichi better." She cried harder. "If I had just gone to that stupid class with my mother I wouldn't have lost him, I wouldn't have gotten you guys hurt."

"Now Serena you stop it, there was nothing you could have done, that car deliberately hit us, there was nothing any of us could have done different," Mina cried. "Whoever was driving wanted to hurt us, now I don't know if we were picked out specifically or just a random choice, but it could have just been you and your mum in the car either way somebody gets hurt so don't blame yourself." Serena cried.

"Darien hates me now, he sees what I've become…." She was talking in nearly a whisper again and they had to strain to hear her. "I don't know how I'm here what I'm doing, I can't focus not really…" Serena rocked a little in Lita's arms staring off into space.

"Hun maybe you need to take a bit more time off from school and grieve; it can't have been easy losing Daichi like that and this new strict lockdown Amy's got going isn't helping things between you and Darien perhaps you just need the rest." Serena laughed bitterly at Lita's words.

"Oh yes a rest to grieve, that'll make Mr. Tsukino very happy," Serena spat without even really looking at them. "If I grieve it's off to boarding school in Sweden or something horrible. I'm not allowed to grieve, I'm a Tsukino a business woman I must measure up or disappear." She sobbed some more before they calmed her down enough to take her home. Ikuko just silently took her up to her room, and she even took dinner in her room, she wouldn't survive her father's inspection that night.

"How are you this morning dear?" Serena looked as if she hadn't really slept, but like Ikuko had taught her makeup covered up dark circles and anything else that might elude to her lack of sleep.

"Fine," Serena answered as she sat down and began the process of picking at her food, taking small bites to please her mother, but fool her father who sat reading his paper.

"How is the business coming along?" Kenji asked as if he hadn't been checking her stock.

"Great, but you know that, you've been checking the stalk and reviewing all my business decisions." Kenji beamed at her proudly.

"You are correct in that I have done exactly that, this is your first business I have to see that you stay on the right path, you must learn by doing and I must try to catch you when you fall." Serena nodded. He turned to Sammy. "And you Sammy a regular model after your old man, honestly I thought you would fail, you who showed me the most potential over the years, I thought you would let me down because you've been my pride and joy academically that is until your sister started showing me she had the balls to do what I knew she could."

"Yes sir," Sammy told him. He glanced quickly at Serena, but she wasn't even there at the table mentally. A car horn outside honked and Serena looked towards the door knowing it was her friends ready for another day of school.

"Hey Serena, may I get a ride with you guys?" Serena nodded. They both kissed their mother goodbye and like a robot they did they same to their father, but it was Serena who was most like a robot as she got in the car and he got in back.

"We have to drop my brother off." Lita nodded and they dropped Sammy off at school before heading to their own high school. Lita glanced at her best friend as she sat looking straight ahead of her, that day she looked as if nothing bothered her, but she knew enough she was in pain deep in her heart and she was hiding it so well most of the time, she didn't know what to do.

"Amy for God's sake if you could just stop suspecting every guy that walks through the doors we're here about Serena, she needs something to really get her healing," Mina told her. Amy nodded.

"Yes right of course." They talked and talked, but still didn't come up with anything. That night they snuck out and met at Darien's beach house, because Amy and Raye turned out to be absolutely no help at all.

"How is she?" Darien asked. The girls were disguised and equipped with fake IDs that could fool even the police.

"Not so good," Lita sighed. "I had no idea she was so bad off until the other day."

"Yeah well to be honest from afar it seems like an improvement," Darien told her.

"Why do you say that?" Mina asked. Darien took a deep breath.

"When she met me when you guys were suppose to be in Korea she was so drunk when she arrived. I've never seen Serena so not herself, she wouldn't even talk to me we just argued, she won't even talk to me now, I mean what moments we can steal together we steal in silence, I don't know if she just needs me to shut up and hold her or what." They all sighed.

"Just shut up and hold her for now, right now I think what she needs to know is we're all here, alcoholic or not."

"You really think her problem is that big?" Yaten asked Lita. Lita shrugged.

"I don't know, but we're going to treat it like it is, make sure she's not drinking you know?" Yaten nodded.

"I'm going over for dinner in a few days I'll talk with Sammy, he usually knows what's going on if I can't ask Serena." They nodded.

"Thanks Yaten, it would be really nice to know if she's still drinking or not, I want it to stop, she's destroying herself on purpose."

"She's just having a hard time coping, her father hasn't exactly been the model father from what she said," Mina commented. Yaten nodded.

"He's a world class I mean he's always been that way, but lately he's been more hardcore on her and Sammy and with Daichi dying…sorry Dare…." Darien shook his head and waved him on, he had only just stopped crying at the mention of his son. "It's just that Kenji told her to get rid of the things for Daichi, they're in storage now, but he wants to go on as if it never happened at least Daichi anyway and you know Serena can't do that."

"Oh God, I can't think of why the sudden change." They all shrugged.

"You know my mom was saying Serena might not ever recover until she has another baby," Mina told them suddenly. They all looked at her.

"Mina are you crazy, how is she going to explain a new baby to her parents?" Lita asked. Mina shrugged.

"I'm just saying, you know how she's always saying that Daichi will come back, well maybe he needs to come back.

"Perhaps, but he can't come back right now, now that we know better it's better she and I finish our education and then bring him into our lives." Mina nodded.

"I agree with Darien, besides we need a right now solution that's the long term solution."

"Maybe Darien you could get her to talk a little set a date for when you two can start trying to bring Daichi back into the world."

"Mina has a point there, maybe if she has it as a real goal she'll take better care of herself.

"Worth a shot, I just want her to not be so destructive, she hasn't slept in weeks, I know cover up makeup when I see it," Mina told them.