Author's Note on profile. Thanks for your patience.

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Hours after falling asleep on her couch Wendy awoke to a knock on her door. When she opened it to reveal Darien standing there as if the events of the evening had never happened she rushed forward and wrapped her arms around him in relief. Ever since she'd hung up the phone and heard that there hadn't been any sign of Tuxedo Mask at the site of the latest attack by those creatures all she could think about was that he'd gone in to face them all alone; much like how Kyle had volunteered to face off with monsters of his own last year in the Negaverse. And he'd nearly lost his life when he had been trapped in that strange dimension.

After hearing his name breathed in a whisper he sheepishly raised his own arms to return the embrace. He hadn't thought that she would have been so glad to see him. He supposed that he had worried her more than he thought. The fight with the Benu had ended hours ago but since then he'd been with the generals and the palace oracle who had travelled through time itself to find him. All in all, the average day, he supposed, for someone like him.

When he felt Wendy release her hold around him he did the same only to be surprised by a slap to the face. "Ow! What was that for?"

Now that she knew that Darien was alright she couldn't help the feeling of being angry at him for making her worry so much about him. "You promised that you'd contact the Scouts after I left! When I called Lita she said that no one had heard from you! They dropped everything only to not find a trace of you when they finally got to the battle."

Darien stared down in shock at the woman whom he didn't even know would have had the gall to haul off to not only smack him but to condemn him for facing off with the Benu alone. He couldn't help it, he started to laugh. It started off as only a chuckle but when he saw that Wendy became even angrier at the sound of it the chuckle became an all out bout of laughter.

"What is so funny?!" Wendy took a step back and considered smacking him again for laughing at her. Darien must have noticed the thought process as he held up his hands in surrender and telling her that he was sorry as he stepped further into the room and closed the door to the hall behind him.

After gaining his composer he explained where he'd been and just what he'd learned since he'd pushed her into his car with that unfulfilled promise to call in the reinforcements. As it turned out, his help had come to him without the need to call for them after all.

As Wendy listened she grimaced at the thought that the monsters weren't just attacking random people. They were looking for Darien with the intent to kill him; and they'd come close to finding him tonight. What if they'd landed just a few tables closer when they crashed through the ceiling tonight? What if he hadn't been able to spirit away from the table with her so easily? If they had realized that the crowned prince of a long forgotten kingdom was only a hair's breadth away from them earlier tonight then Darien wouldn't be here with her now acting as if he had everything in control.

After he'd finished the telling of the night's events Darien told her that he'd contact the girls in the morning to arrange a time to fill them in on the latest update on their current mission to save the men of Tokyo from the avian creatures. As he accepted his car keys from Wendy he even commented that it was a promise that he'd keep while playfully rubbing the cheek that was no longer red from her earlier assault.

At the mention of the impetuous action, Wendy felt herself flush with embarrassment but maintained her composure enough to tell Darien goodnight. She waited until after the door had closed behind the man before she asked herself just what had gotten into her to cause her to slap her friend like that.

Rei glanced around the street as she distinctly felt a familiar presence. Before she headed into the building where Darien lived she finally saw the reason for it. Malachite was sitting on a bench across from Darien's building with a magazine. She considered walking over to him since she'd been trying to find him for days with no luck only to find him in the last place that she had thought that he'd just show up. Shaking her head when he didn't seem to recognize her, Rei headed inside and made her way to Darien's apartment. When the door opened she was quick to voice her concerns.

"Darien, did you know-"

"That I have a shadow sitting across the street? Yes. He and the others have been tailing me since last night. I'm pretty sure that Malachite wants me know that he's there. He and the others were more discreet about it earlier." Darien led Rei over to the sitting area where the other three women were sitting along with the felines. He then began to go over the events of the previous evening along with all that he'd learned from the generals as well as the woman who had remained so much of a mystery to him as well as the Scouts up to this point. When he was done he waited for the others to react. It was the white feline who spoke up first.

"The Benu?" The cat's brows furled in concentration. "That isn't good at all."

"You remember them?" Darien asked since despite everything, his information on the assailants from last night was quite limited.

"Unfortunately, yes. And I hate to tell you this but you'd best get used to being tailed by your generals. You'll need them."

Darien rolled his eyes at the thought that he needed men who, while they had the memories of his former friends, didn't have the strength from years of battling demons and monsters like he had. "Why's that?"

"Because the Benu have always been able to neutralize any magic used against them if it came from a descendant of the royal bloodline. I'm not sure why. The reason was lost centuries ago along with the cause of the blood feud between the avian race and the kingdom here on Earth."

Darien frowned. He hadn't told the Scouts or the Generals that his powers seemed to have abandoned him last night when he faced the Benu. It hadn't stopped him from fighting, though. However, to be honest, he wasn't sure what would have happened if the other men hadn't shown up.

"Maybe they won't have the same effect on Darien since, while he's the reincarnated prince, he no longer has a direct blood connection to the royal family," Mina suggested when she saw her friend's expression. She knew that his pride would take a big hit if he thought that he had to depend on the others for protection from these creatures who clearly wanted him dead for some unknown reason. She hoped that her reasoning might reassure him somehow.

Darien let out an exasperated sigh as he stood up and looked out of his window down to the general on duty across the street. He couldn't tell the women behind him that he already knew that his powers were useless against the Benu. If they knew for sure he was certain that it would cause the others to worry more about him. They might would even insist that he not join them in battle when it came time. That was something that he couldn't allow. He couldn't permit the others to go off to fight on his behalf without fighting right alongside them.

At least the generals didn't know what Artemis had just told him. Or he was pretty sure that they didn't. No mention of it had been brought up the night before. Now he only had to make sure that it stayed that way. Still, if he was going to have to depend on the other men, and possibly the women behind him, for his own safety then he supposed he should do something about it.

After the Scouts left his apartment Darien found his resolve to go over to speak with the blond general. When he approached the bench that Malachite had been camped out on for the last couple of hours the other man lowered his magazine and didn't look one bit embarrassed at having his prince holding back a glare. Malachite knew that he'd been spotted the night before after the prince had made a stop off before coming to his apartment so he'd not even bothered to hide his intent to watch over the other man when he'd returned for his next shift. He was a bit taken aback when the prince openly invited him to follow him before heading down the street.

"Where are we going?" Malachite asked as he matched his strides to match his liege's.

"The gym. I figured that as long as you insist that you become my shadow, we might as well as get a bit of training and sparring in. I'm sure that it's been a while for you and it would appear that you and the rest have a bit of work ahead of you if you plan to be in fighting form in time to be of any use against the Benu."

Nodding, Malachite knew that each of the generals would benefit from a trip or two to the gym. After all, his only real form of exercise for the last four years had come in the form of trying to fight with the hospital staff when he'd try to escape from the mental ward. Jadeite ran for pleasure but sitting behind a desk was a long way from battling against monsters. The same could be said for Nephrite as well since despite the fact that he had a personal trainer, none of them could have suspected that any of them could expect a real fight for their lives outside the possibility of the occasional mugging.

The next few hours went by with the two men testing one another's limits. While acknowledging just how much work he could look forward to in order to get back to his own former glory Malachite was impressed by the prince. He had improved so much since their last sparring match; both in skill as well as discipline. Of course the prince had discussed his battles in recent years against the various foes of the Sailor Scouts. That, perhaps, was the one thing that hadn't surprised the general. Prince Darien was still fighting on behalf of his princess, even in this time.

It was upon mentioning the warriors of the moon that the prince had suggested that it would be a good idea to arrange a time for them and the generals to get together to practice their skills together. After all, there was no way that they'd sit this battle out and not fight beside their longtime friend and ally. Not the mention, the two groups have never really had a chance to train together. The women had worked with the generals' counterparts from another dimension but there would be differences between them and the reincarnated men in this dimension.

After settling into their room at the hotel Serena called home to touch base with her parents and promised to come out to see them while in town while Kyle went out to see his sister. After hanging up with her mother she let the Scouts know that she and Kyle back and found out that everyone was meeting over at the temple after the evening meal to train. That was when she was filled in with the previous night's events as well as what Darien had told the others earlier that morning.

After breaking off her communication with the Scouts Serena mulled over whether or not she should have told them about Zoisite but decided that she'd leave it up to Kyle to decide what to do about his friend. He knew him better than anyone. Would he be able to accept what is going on just yet and fall into place with the rest or would he be a liability to the team while trying to sort out the recent events? Was there anything that she could do to help him come to terms with his new life any quicker?

"If you keep making that face, it will stay that way."

Serena turned to the owner of the deep voice and found Brutus staring up at her. "What face is that?"

"The one you get every time you think about the others going off to fight without you. You knew that this day would come. Maybe not quite this soon but when Michael's memories started to surface after his visit by one of the other generals you had to know that the time was close."

Serena knelt down to give german shepherd a hug more for her own self than for him. She'd been trying to figure out a way to help make this transition easier but it still hurt knowing that the people that she care about so much were going to be put in danger partially due to her own actions.

"I did. It just feels more real now that we are in Tokyo. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do. Even with the training session tonight, I'll just be in the way."

"You don't have to be in the way." Brutus began to chuckle at the thought of his plans for tonight. "You can join me and Artemis in harassing Luna tonight. I'll bet she doesn't leave the trees or the top of the walls around the temple once tonight."

Serena couldn't help the smile that crossed her face as the picture of Luna nearly jumping out of her skin every time she was near the canine came to mind. "And other than laughing at the three of you, I'll be doing just what?"

"Finding your new place in the group, of course." Brutus sobered up just a bit before adding, "You don't have to have all of the answers right from the start. You may be on a different path but that doesn't mean that you can't enjoy the journey, Serena."

After giving the dog another hug she thanked him. He always seemed to know just what to say to make her feel better.