Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and its characters are the brainchildren of Naoko Takeuchi/Kodansha & Toei Animation

She passed a field full of sleeping sheep, and among them, in the shadows, a figure slept. He was wearing a simple toga worthy of a shepherd, but his body was worthy of an Olympian, muscular, strong, firm, and gentle with his face hidden under his arm. She new it was Tuxedo Mask. She was about to wake him and say hello when her white winged stallions began to gallop faster. "Com’n guys! Just a few more minutes!"

"Serena! How can you ask for a few MORE minutes when you’re ALREADY late for school!" Serena’s mother grabbed her sheets and threw her to the floor. "Lately you have been worse than ever. Now, GET READY!" Serena looked at her blankly. It had only been a sweet dream.

"I dreamt of him again." Serena told Lita and Amy at lunch.

"You mean with him." Amy corrected.

"Where you in a ballroom again? Was I dancing with that cute guy?" Lita was more interested in Serena’s dream than Serena’s grammar.

"No, I was riding a chariot, which was the moon…"

"That’s one big chariot!" Lita interrupted.

"The weird part was that people were worshiping me."

"You dreamt that you were Luna." Amy informed her.

"Luna is a cat!" Lita exclaimed.

"No, she is talking about the Roman goddess of the moon." Serena corrected Lita with a little pride of actually knowing something academic.

"Oh, ok." Lita did not seem to mind the correction.

"I was driving the moon across the sky," Serena resumed her story, "when I saw him sleeping among the sheep. He was soooo cute in a toga!"

"Well, what did you do?" Lita asked.

"Nothing, my mom woke me."

"Oh." The girls sighed.

"Ever since we started looking for the Moon Princess, I have been haunted by him in all my dreams."

"You don’t think he has been giving you the dreams, do you?" Lita asked excitedly.

"I don’t know, but it’d be real cool if he were."

"I can see it now, he comes to you as a prince in one dream, confesses his love, and carries you away!" Lita sighed.

"Do you think he dreams with me?" Serena asked.

Darien stepped out of the cold shower. "How come that dream keeps haunting me?" he wondered. "Who is she? Why must I free her? Does she hold the key to my past? So many questions and so little answers." He got dressed and brushed his hair.

"Is she the same one who rides the chariot? She kinda looked like Sailor Moon, but without the meatballs." He laughed as a sudden image of Serena flooded him; then, with a sudden realization, he gasped, "Serena, Sailor Moon, and that Princess have the same hair style. How come I didn’t notice this sooner? Could there be a connection? What am I saying?! Serena…a princess? She is such a clutz and definitely lacking in brains. Well, she could be a beautiful little fool if she wasn’t such a clutz! No, she is an innocent beauty!

"Sailor Moon has the same problem. She is as beautiful, sweet and may be braver than the two, but she is another clutz. Serena could be Sailor Moon." He laughed at himself, "Sailor Moon was able to pull herself together and fight, but sweet docile Serena? It is hard to imagine her fighting!

"And since when is a princess a warrior or a peasant? There is a security in her voice very similar to the one in Sailor Moon’s when she gives her ‘I am the champion of love’ speech. That firmness, confidence, and security that turns men on is present in both their songs. But there is also that plea for protection, that need to be held and set free that is also present in Serena’s eyes. She tries to hide it, but her frail structure gives it away, or is that a front, a fa�ade hiding a strong determined spirit. The more I think of it, she is strong, never giving up on her friends. It’s just that she seems so delicate that I want to put my arms around her. What am I saying? I need to get me a steady girl to get rid of these thoughts!" Darien took his keys and left his apartment.

Serena walked lazily down the street in her own little world. She gave a small stretch followed by a yawn. "What a beautiful day." She sighed.

"It depends on how you look at it, Meatball Head."

"Huh?" Serena turned around to see Darien leaning against a wall reading a book and holding three others under his left arm.

"Some of us don’t like the sunshine, Meatball Head!"

"Don’t call me that!" Her face turned stern and her eyes burnt with fury. Darien smiled at this. "Well," she said taking a deep relaxing breath, "there is no way in hell that you can ruin my day! The sun is shining; the air is sweet, and I passed my test."

"You passed a test?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yes, I did." She said with a proud smile.

"Who did you cheat off?"

"No one! I don’t need help failing, and this time, I managed to pass."

"So, are you framing that sixty-five?"

"Actually, it’s a seventy, and no; you can’t annoy me, Darien. Not today!" she teased with a devilish smile.

"A seventy, wow, I’m impressed. What did you use doggy, doggy diamond or mini miney moe?" He said sarcastically. Serena’s face saddened and her eyes began to flood.

"No I used intellectual guessing!" She was about to cry, and this made a flood of guilt attack Darien. He smiled at her and kissed her cheek.

"I guess you’re not so dumb after all, Meatball Head." It was too late for any apology. She was crying, but she did not want him to see her, so she turned away.

"I don’t know how you do it," she said in a shaky voice, "but you manage to ruin my day every time."

"Serena…I’m…sorry. You’re right. That was uncalled for…"

"Why do you hate me so much?" The question ripped through Darien’s soul. Was he that hard on her?

"I don’t! I just like to tease you, Meatball Head."

"I do NOT have MEATBALLS on my head. The are called LUNAR FALLS, or if you are NOT MATURE ENOUGH, MOONY FALLS!" She whipped her tears away with a newfound anger.

"What ever you say, Meatball head." Darien said so nonchalantly that it caused Serena to explode into tears and run away screaming,

"I HATE YOU!"

"May be I took it too far this time?

"May be? Darien, you wrecked her day and killed her pride and made her cry twice! How can you be so horrible with her?" Darien reprimanded himself.

Serena had retreated to a desolated spot by the lake. She was sitting against a maple tree with her face buried in her knees. The tears had seized to fall, but her day had been ruined. "Why does it bother me so much? It’s not like I like him, is it?

"NO, it’s because I don’t deserve that kind of treatment!" she firmly stated." She took out her test; she was so proud of it. "If I do all the corrections, I can bring it up to an eighty." She looked at her twenty-question test. "May be Amy knows."

"Hey Meatball…I mean Moony Head."

"Don’t you ever quit?" She asked tiredly.

"Don’t know the meaning of the word."

"To stop, give up, desist!"

"You know what desist means?" She had laid the bait and like an unsuspecting fish, he went for it. She gave him her saddest puppy face. He was hooked. "I’m sorry."

"I don’t believe you!"

"How do you want me to prove it?" he said in a this-was-predictable tone. Darien had had his share of girlfriends, and he knew this trick quite well, but he was curious to see what Serena could possible want.

"Answer six simple questions."

"Alright." He said a bit confused.

"Number one, who is Zeus’s father?"

"Cronos." Serena wrote down his answer on her loose leaf.

"Who did he kill?"

"Time." He joked. Serena gave him a stern look.

"He gave his name to time. Who did he kill?"

"His father, Oranos." He said a bit surprise by her knowledge.

"Who did he…hey!" Darien took her test paper. First he looked for a pattern among the answer choices, when he failed to find one, he said, "A, b, b, c, and e." He smiled as she took the paper from him and asked,

"Zeus’s father ate stones instead of him?"

"He didn’t chew, so he didn’t notice the difference. What did you put?"

"A baby calf. Oh, and who is Hecate?"

"A moon deity. You musta studied hard."

"Actually, I forgot the book." She said as she continued to write the corrections on loose leaf. "How do you spell deity?"

"D-e-i-t-y." He said as he noticed a paper sticking out of her book-bag. He pulled out the crumbled sloppy piece of paper.

"Mind your own business!" she said as she pulled it away before he could read it. Serena examined the paper before she shoved it into an opened book.

"What are you hiding?"

"Nothing."

"Then what was that?"

"NOT FOR YOU EYES!"

"Then you are hiding something!" he said in his soft-sexy voice. She looked into his eyes and fell into a trans.

"No, I just don’t-don’t wanna be teased." She was hit by a wave of nervousness as he moved closer. She began to put away her things clumsily. When she took the book with the paper, he took hold of her hand and took the book from her.

"I won’t." He pulled the paper out and read it. "You have an admirer?" He asked worriedly.

"Who is he?" They both looked up to see Lita and Rei.

"Hi Darien." Rei said shyly. She had gotten over her crush, and now, she felt guilty because she had not told him.

"So, who is he?" Lita pressured.

"He is imagining things!" Serena said as she unsuccessfully tried to take the paper from Darien.

"Then What is, ‘And under the light of my chariot, I watched you sleep, Among the sweet innocent sheep, And I your glory…"

"Witnessed, For more than a shepherd are you, You are a goddess’ love." She finished. ‘I wrote that for class."

"Your goddess’ look gods’s." He complained.

"Why must you tease me?" Serena was furious.

"Because it’s fun."

"Why do you hate me? What have I done to you? I threw a paper at your head accidentally. Haven’t I paid for that? First, you wrecked my day; now, you insult my writing! WHY DON’T YOU GET A STINKING LIFE?" She grabbed her things and ran away.

"What did you do to her?" Rei asked very defensive.

"Nothing!" Darien defended himself.

"Darien, you had to do something!" She continued. "Serena is extremely sensitive, but she doesn’t imagine things!"

"We had a disagreement! I apologized!" He did not like being accused.

"Talk to her." Lita pitched in. "You seem to have missed the real reason long ago." The girls walked way leaving Darien very confused. He picked up his things and noticed a golden chain with a crescent moon charm lying on the grass.

"Endymoin, wake up." He slowly opened his eyes. He was no longer in the field but in a white room with a bed in the center. He was on the bed covered by a single white silk sheet. The bed had four wooden posts that were connected to each other by long white silk sheets. The room was covered by white sheets. He walked towards the voice.

"Who are you." He looked at he blond girl. Her hair was in a ponytail. She was wearing a white dress that was skin-tight until it reached her hips. There, a tight golden braided thread encircled her hips. A piece of white cloth covered the front of her legs, and another did the same for the back. The sides of her legs were exposed to his lustful eyes. Her arms were bare, and her cleavage was low.

"I’ve been watching you." She said as she moved closer to him.

"But who are you?" Her face came into clear view.

"Why don’t you name me?" Her voice was quiet and seductive.

"Because you have one, already." He smiled as he moved closer to her god-like body. He caressed her cheek. She kissed him sweetly, softly, slowly, and painfully.

"Selene." She whispered as she pulled away.

Serena awoke with a jerk. "What was I doing?" I’m not that forward!" She took a deep breath. "Is his real name Endymoin? There was something about him so…so familiar." With another deep breath, she had a startling realization. "It was Darien! I know I’ve felt an attraction to him lately, but it…it doesn’t explain this! I wonder if he really kisses this good. SERENA!" She reprimanded herself in shock.

"I need a cold shower!" Darien said as he got out of bed. He jumped into the shower and only turned on the cold water. "Darien, where has you mind been?" he nagged himself. "She is only a kid! Is that why I had her kiss me? To make me look less of an attacker? And that dress, what was that? Her legs, her body, why torture yourself like that?" Darien closed his eyes, and saw her once again. "You have to stop this here! She is TOO young and TOO innocent for you. She is OFF LIMITS!"

He stepped out of the shower and sat on his bed. He looked at his little black book. "May be, just may be, if my mind is on another…" He took the book and opened it. "NO, NOT REI!" At random, he had picked her. "NOT anyone that will talk or be with her!" He took a deep breath. "May be I oughtta see Serena."

Serena walked to Rei’s in a long black skirt and a white loose shirt that hinted her curves. After the previous night’s dream, she needed anything but to feel provocative.

"Hey, Meatball Head!" Serena turned around to see Rei running towards her. "So, who’s the guy?"

"Huh?"

"Who did you dress so elegant and sexy for?" Rei persisted as a look of horror spread through Serena’s face.

"I look sexy?" she asked in disbelief.

"Well, lets get a guy’s opinion. Darien, could you settle an argument for us?" She asked as she saw him pass by. He came by.

"Hi Rei, Serena, whaz up?" He tried to sound nonchalant and avoided looking at Serena. She, in turn, blushed and lowered her head to the ground. Rei notice the latter.

"You see," Rei began, "we can’t agree on Serena’s attire. I said that she looks sexy but elegant. She disagrees, so what do you think?"

"She’s ok."

"You haven’t even looked at her!" Serena buttoned the top button of her blouse. Rei eyed her. "Don’t cheat!" Rei undid the top two buttons against Serena’s whishes. She noticed Darien looking away embarrassed. "So?" Darien gave her a quick look over.

"She’s pretty."

"But is she sexy and elegant?" Darien blushed and looked away. Rei was sick of their behavior. "Did you too get together or something?" Rei asked furious.

"What?" Darien and Serena looked at her like two kids who had been caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

"Well, explain her behavior and yours! You won’t look at her or tease her…Did you have a fling or something?"

"NO!" Serena answered too quickly. "It’s just…just…just that my dad…he and me had the same discussion about my attire…but replace elegant with trashy." She answered tensely. Rei pretended to buy it.

"So, what’s your excuse?"

"I…I’M NOT USED TO TEASING HER ABOUT HER CLOTHES! I only do hair when it comes to Serena!"

"I didn’t ask for a tease; I asked for an opinion." Rei said annoyed. Darien forced himself to look at Serena.

"OK, I think it is a classic look of simple elegance with classic colors. I also think it is a classic example of sexiness, the forbidden fruit type. You are tempted to try it by the hint of the hourglass figure, and the semitransparent shirt. The lack of make-up suggests innocence. Are you happy?" He could have gone on about the suggestion of the slightly opened shirt, but Serena was already redder than a fresh tomato.

"Yes, so when did you two…you know?" The both stared embarrassed at Rei.

"Rei, you’re imagining things!" Darien finally laughed. "Me…and Meatball Head…we are each others worst nightmare."

"You can say that again!" Serena mumbled.

"Well, you would make a cute couple." Rei had a hunch, and she always listened to her hunches, but Serena seemed to be turning green to her stomach. "But I guess you are right. You seem to have too many differences, though you don’t need much more than a physical attraction to have a fling." Serena looked as if she was about to start crying, and it finally dawned on Rei what was really wrong with her. "Who is he?"

"I’m not sure but…but he’s getting to me." She said bursting out in tears. Darien began to feel helpless. Why did she have to cry? He took out a tissue and gave it to her.

"If he makes you cry, he is not worth it." Darien said as he walked away. He heard her say,

"Now I can tell you. It happened again."

"The fire doesn’t say anything!" Rei sighed. "I’m sorry, but I need something of his."

"What’s happening to me, Rei?"

"Puberty." Rei smiled. Then in an annoyed voice, "You’re such a Meatball Head! It’s normal to have those dreams about a cute guy! Why must you be SUCH A CRY BABY?" She teased. It worked. Serena forgot the shameful feeling the dream had left her, and began to argue with Rei.

Endymoin was tending to his sheep on a warm sunny spring morning. The soft cool breeze was whispering secretes to him. Suddenly, he noticed a thick oak door in the middle of the field. There was nothing around it, no walls, no ceiling, and no room. Without warning, the door opened. He stepped through.

He was in the white room again; only this time, she was sleeping on the bed. "Selene." He whispered. He approached the bed. Her delicate red mouth was painted on her porcelain face; her golden hair grew wild, unrestrained on the bed. Her provocative dress was covered by the sheets.

He kissed her, softly at first, but then, with a burning passion. She whispered his name; this drove him madder with passion. "Who are you?" he gasped.

"I am yours." She whispered. He took her into his arms.

"Then let me claim your lips, again…and again." He kissed her lips followed by her neck.

"Who are you? How do you have such an unearthly grasp on me?" she gasped.

"I am yours, like you are mine." He conquered her lips and her heart with one kiss.

"SERENITY OF THE MOON, WAKE UP!" a voice yelled in the background. Selene was startled at first, but then vanished into thin air.

"Sammy? What’s wrong?" Serena tried to sit up. Her stomach was flooded with butterflies.

"Mika and me just broke up! You got to fix it!"

"Me? Wait, you two were dating? Wait, it’s four thirty in the morning how did you break up?"

"We’ve been on the phone all night. Serena, please, I think I love her." He whined.

"I need something more than a cold shower this time." He drew a cold bad, added ice cubes, and got in. "Boy, no more double-day sundaes before bed!" He submerged completely. "OK, I admit wanting her. It’s been a while since I admitted it, but the voice. It was male. It makes no seance! I want her, so I dream her. Why make her disappear?" He closed his eyes and visualized her. He noticed something he had not before. "That crescent moon! Sailor Moon has the same one on her forehead too! Why didn’t I notice it sooner? Could it be Sailor Moon, not Serena, who I’ve been dreaming with? Perhaps that is her real name, Serenity of the Moon; it’s such a beautiful name. Didn’t she once say she had a human name? Yes in the elevator, when Nephrite was attacking!

"Why did I think it was Serena? Because they look so much alike?" Darien thought of any physical differences between the two besides the crescent moon. "There are none! They even have the same hair! Could they be one?

"No, Darien, I’ve been through this before. It’s impossible! I can dream them to be the same person, but they aren’t!" The sun had fully risen and a natural light filled his bathroom. "Then again…"

Darien was in the library doing research on crystals. His mind was clouded with images of his last fight. "How could I’ve left her unprotected?" he wondered. "I was so busy with the Rainbow Crystal and Zoizite…If she and the Scouts hadn’t been able to handle it…How could I…" He tried to concentrate on his books, but the picture of the sleeping Selene haunted him. "My sweet Serenity."

Serena walked to the library with forty pounds worth of books in her arms. All were about Selene. They told the story of how the Moon Goddess fell in love with a shepherd boy and visited him every night in his dreams. It also explained how Zeus had granted him eternal life and youth, so the couple could be together. They had fifty children, and it is said that he sleeps with a smile on his face.

Someone walked into her and all her books fell on the floor. She bent down to pick them up and their hands touched. She looked up and saw Darien’s eyes looking into hers.

"Hey Meatball head! Running an errand for Amy?"

"Ah, no…just returning some books." He looked at the titles and his mouth became dry.

"The Moon Goddess?"

"Oh…it’s…um…aaaa…for school." She blushed. Darien picked up the books for her and walked her in.

"So, did you patch things up with your boyfriend?" She blushed.

"He’s not my boyfriend. We…just know each other…sortta."

"Oh, sorry. I didn’t know you two broke up."

"We didn’t even date!" She protested.

"Then, what is this?" He took out the crescent moon chain he had found in the park.

"You found it! Thank you so much!" She hugged him. He hesitated before returning the hug. "My grandma gave it to me before she passed away. It is the only thing I have of her. I was devastated when I thought I had lost it forever." A single tear escaped her eye. He put it around her neck. "Thank you sooooo much!" She hugged him again and kissed his cheek. He blushed.

"I hope this proves it!"

"Proves what?"

"That I don’t hate you." He pulled her pigtail playfully. "I may tease you, but I don’t hate you, Meatball Head!"

"Then, why are you so mean?" She whined.

"Because I love the way your eyes turn into two balls of blue fire when you are mad!" he said in a nagging voice.

"My eyes turn into blue fire? Wait, you notice something else besides my hair?" He blushed.

"Well, your meatballs…"

"Lunar Falls."

"Moony falls are attention getters, but I do look at your face. It is so close to the ground." Her face hardened, but then softened.

"I owe you one, so I’m going to let this one slide."

"That’s right, you owe me big! And I plan to be paid in full." Serena blushed and lowered her eyes; for a brief moment, he could make out an outline of a crescent moon on her forehead. He parted her bangs but it was gone. "You need a trim." He said covering up for his action.

"What are you talking about? I just had one!"

Darien woke up in the white room. He felt as if he had slept through half of the dream. He looked for her. "Selene, where are you?" She came out of the shadows in a long white silk robe. Her hair was lose and dangling in front of her eyes as she looked down in shame. She was fidgeting with the crescent moon charm on her chain. "What’s wrong?" She moved back as he approached. "Come here." He said softly. She obeyed silently. As she began to weep, he took her into his arms.

He wondered what had happed. If he had done something wrong. "Selene, trust me."

"It’s all going to end soon."

"What is?"

"The Rainbow Crystals have been collected; the fifth scout will arrive in Tokyo soon, and we will be set free." It took Darien a second to digest the news.

"You are the Princess?"

"Yes, and when that happens, she will take you away form me again." She looked away again in shame. "I know I should have told you from a beginning, but I was scared to lose anytime I may have with you here. Now, the enviable is here." With his index finger he moved her face to him.

"I will never leave you, Serenity." He smiled. "I didn’t then, and I won’t know."

"She will turn you against me. It has been written that we shall die several times before we will be allowed to be together." She was crying harder.

"Nothing is written in stone, but even if I were wrong, we will be together in the end, Serena." She looked up in shock.

"You knew?"

Serena awoke confuse and with an indescribable need to cry. She wasn’t sure who had said what. What she was sure was that a fifth scout would be coming. She had noticed Luna examining every girl she came in contact with; she had seance it from the start, but why was that a bad thing. Was it an omen of some sort?

She also remembered something about him betraying her. This she could not believe. For the first time in many moons, Serena believed it was Tuxedo Mask, not Darien, who haunted her dreams. He could not betray her. He had said that they would be together in the end; this she was sure about.

He had also mentioned the Princess. What about her? She tried to remember, but her mind was fogged by winged crazed emotions. Something about the Princess and him being set free was said, but what and by whom? Did he know who she was? She had asked him once, and he had said no. Why doubt his word?

Serena was too confused and felt too enclosed in her room. She needed air. She needed space. She needed to find him. She got up and put on the first thing that came to her hand, which was a short blue miniskirt, which looked allot like her Sailor Moon skirt, and a tight white top. She went down the stairs silently, and when she was about to leave she heard Sammy cover the telephone receiver and say to her, "Thanx sis, the roses and the ‘I’m sorry’ poem worked like a charm."

"Anytime, and since you owe me one, you didn’t see me leave the house tonight like I didn’t see you on the phone at three thirty in the morning!"

"Sure." Sammy said returning to his romantic conversation. Serena stepped out of her house. The night was hot with humidity. A raindrop fell on Serena’s head. She did not feel like returning home for a jacket or an umbrella. She just kept walking blindly being lead by fate.

"I need something more than cold water this time!" Darien said as he got out of bed. He got dressed and left the apartment. He was ready to walk into the rain unprotected but a doorman gave him an umbrella.

He walked aimlessly without realizing how destiny was guiding him every step of the way. He walked back to the lake. The night was dark and the rain was heavy. He saw her. At first he thought it was Sailor Moon, but when she let down her hair, he realized it was all four of them in one, her true self.

Serena’s hair began to weight too much, so she let it down. Her mind was flooded with have thoughts and worries. She felt the rain stop falling on her head, but she could still see it fall on the shattering lake. She slowly turned around and saw him standing there. "Nothing," he began, "in this world or the next, will ever keep us apart. I’m not sure what happened, or what is to come. All I know is that right now, right here, something is right, even in the rain."

She hugged him and began to cry into his chest. "How long have you known."

"I suspected it from the beginning." He lifted her face. The tears felt silently. "Don’t cry. Everything will be ok in the end."

"Darien, I’m scared!"

"Don’t be. We have each other. That’s all that matters." He kissed her lips. He was shocked that they were sweeter than in the dream. He had not thought possible, but it was. She surrendered all her fears to him there. He put his jacket around her and pulled her close. "Com’n."

"Where?"