Welps, me thinks that this came out rather quickly, all things 
considering.  Sooooo...read, hopefully like, and for gosh sakes, 
please write! *reads again* Heh...ignore the rhyme. ;)

This is pretty short, seeing as though it is an interlude, so 
enjoy the quick 20 mins of reading you'll get from this!

E-mail: stefaniecraig@hotmail.com

Website: http://home.att.net/~stef_chan/

If you add me to the list of any of these, tell me that you got
my name /# from my fics!

ICQ: 63467432

AIM: Stefchan2

Yahoo!: Steff_chan

MSN: stefaniecraig@hotmail.com

RATING: PG or PG-13...This chapter gets a lil *cough* ya know?

DISCLAIMER: I don't own it, but I own this plot, please don't 
take it.

Quote of the Week: "Love is the flower of life, and blossoms 
unexpectedly and without law, and must be plucked where it is 
found, and enjoyed for the brief hour of its duration." - D. H. 
Lawrence

TRUTHS, FAMILY AND FRIENDS
INTERLUDE

__________Tears of Love__________

Serena shivered as she looked out at the moon.  For the first 
time in a long time, Serena felt no comfort as she looked to her 
home.  She closed her eyes and forced down the pain and anguish 
she was feeling and concentrated on what would happen the next 
day.

Tomorrow...Tomorrow would be the real test.

Serena's mind drifted to what had taken place a few hours before 
between her and Darien and felt a pain tear her heart.  He had 
known...about their children, and still he had kept it a secret.  
As soon as she had walked out of the bedroom and seen him, she 
knew that he had known.

A pain had produced itself in her chest when she saw the look in 
his eyes, the look that told her that he knew.  She had almost 
collapsed when she had seen it.  It felt as though he was 
betraying her and lying, when he had never told her anything.  
Maybe that hurt more.

Tears that had been threatening to fall finally did and she 
sobbed out loud.  Raw pain came into her voice and she collapsed 
onto her windowsill.

"Darien...why didn't you tell me?" she cried out.

*****************************************************************

Darien's head snapped up as he heard something inside of him call 
to him...

He shook his head and continued to look out to the city from his 
balcony.  It was all he could do to take his mind off of the 
emotions he was feeling.  Something was bothering him tonight, 
because it was bothering someone else.  "Serena...what is on your 
mind?" he whispered.

"You are," her voice replied from behind him.

Darien turned around quickly and watched as Serena stepped out 
onto the balcony with him.  She walked up so that she was next to 
him and looked into his eyes.  Darien took her hands in his and 
rubbed them with his thumbs.  He smiled at her, even though it 
was obvious that she was troubled, and kissed her knuckles.  
"It's late, and we have somewhere to be tomorrow, Serena.  
What are you doing here?" he asked her as he pulled her into his 
warm embrace.

Holding Darien, Serena debated on whether or not to tell him the 
truth.  "I needed to see you," she whispered to him.

Darien pulled back slightly so he could see Serena's face.  
"Serena?  Is something wrong?"  Serena nodded her head.  "Are you 
mad at me?"  Serena paused for a moment but then shook her head 
no.  "Are you sick or injured?" he asked her again.  Shaking her 
head once more, Serena sighed, finding it harder to tell him than 
she had thought.

A melody began to play and Serena gasped.  Reaching into her 
shirt, she pulled out the Star Locket and watched as the lid slid 
open and the music became louder.  'Why now?' Serena asked the 
Locket mentally.  'Why now when I'm not quite angry at him but 
need to tell him-'

Her thoughts were cut off as Darien took their Locket from her 
and set it down on the railing surrounding the balcony.  Taking 
Serena into his arms, Darien smiled at her.  Serena opened her 
mouth to speak, but Darien cut her off.  "I know you want to 
talk, but relax for now."

He brought her closer to him and held her as they danced to the 
slow music coming from their locket.  It was reminiscent of times 
long ago, and they both felt at peace.  The warmth in each 
other's embrace carried them away, and for a moment the stars 
seemed so much closer.

After minutes or hours, they couldn't tell which, Darien spoke 
softly into Serena's ear.  "You seem much calmer now, what did 
you want to talk about, love?"

Serena didn't stop dancing, but held Darien tighter and took a 
deep breath.  "Darien...it's about Rini and Alec."

Darien didn't stop, but his heart did skip a beat at the mention 
of his two children.  "What about them?" he whispered back, 
trying to hide the fear in his voice.  A million questions ran 
through his head in a heartbeat, and each came down to a single 
question.  'Does she not want children?  Or just...MY children?'

Darien felt something wet against his chest and looked down to 
see Serena's head buried in his chest.  'Tears...she's crying.'

"Serene, what did I do wrong?" he asked, referring to her 
nickname back in the Silver Millennium.

She turned her head slightly to the side, so she could be heard 
and rasped, ever so softly, "You didn't tell me."  Her tears 
suddenly stopped and she pulled away from him.  "You didn't tell 
me about them...about our children!" Serena nearly yelled.

Darien blinked and stepped back in shock.  Serena was...HURT.  
Her soul was aching.  "Serena...I-"

"And before, when you were jealous of me supposedly going out 
with someone behind your back, did you ask me about it? NO! You-
you just assumed...and now you keep the fact that sometime in the 
future we are going to have children a secret."  Serena shook her 
head, still feeling her tears running down her cheeks.  "It was 
important to the mission that we know that...No...It was 
important to ME that we know that."  Serena took a few steps 
closer to him before daring to look into his eyes.  "Why?"

Darien's voice caught in his throat and if he had to think about 
breathing, he would have forgotten to.  "Serena...I never 
intended to hurt you.  But, how was I supposed to tell you?" he 
asked her.  "How was I supposed to say that to you?!" he almost 
demanded.

Serena didn't move back, or look hurt as he continued.

"As long as we're getting things out in the open," Darien 
continued, "I have to ask you something.  When we go into battle, 
why do you take the risks you do?  I watch you time after time 
put your life in danger and for what?!  If you let myself and the 
others take care of it, everything would be fine!  We can fight!"

Serena did move back this time.  She saw something in his eyes 
when he said that, probably the same thing he saw in her eyes 
when she asked for his honesty.  "We aren't talking about that!  
I do what I do for others!  Not some other reason like 'I don't 
know how'!"

"I thought I was protecting you...or at least softening the blow, 
Serena!" Darien argued as he tried to take her hand, only to have 
her pull away from him before he could touch her.  And that hurt 
more than anything she had said yet.

"Don't touch me," she whispered.  Darien changed his mind; that 
was the most painful thing she had done.  "How could you possibly 
think that hiding from me is protecting me?  I've spent months 
getting through to you, and all you have done is pull away...No, 
I change that, you haven't.  I have gotten to you...but what is 
the love with out the trust?  Did you think I wouldn't make a 
good mother?  Or that I would hate you more for thinking I was 
having an affair?"

"NO!" Darien yelled as he came up closer to her, looming over 
her.  He smashed his hand by her head onto the wall and came even 
closer (AN: Jeez, I really am watching too much Fushigi Yuugi!).  
"I know you'd be a good mother, I know you wouldn't hate me..."

"THEN WHY?!" Serena cried out.  "I love you, you're my life, but 
what other reason is there?!  Why?!"  Her eyes spoke volumes to 
him, and it hurt.

Darien looked away, not wanting to face those accusing eyes, even 
if she wasn't trying to accuse.  "I have my reasons...you have 
yours."

"Yes, I do!" Serena exclaimed, trying to move from the confine 
his arms made, but failing.  "Amazing how saving the world and my 
friends can be such a good reason!"

Darien's face became hard, and he became angry.  "You think it's 
easy for me?!  I see you go into battle weekly and I watch you 
put yourself in danger!  You could get killed the next time you 
go into battle!"  Serena opened her mouth to protest, but Darien 
cut her off.  "Don't even try and say you could get killed 
crossing the street, I know that.  But you're more likely to be 
killed in battle than that!"

With a deep breath, Darien pressed on.  "You're mad at me for 
keeping secrets from you, I'm angry that you take unnecessary 
risks and nearly get yourself killed!  I was reborn to protect 
you!"

"It works the other way around, Darien," Serena told him.

"No, it doesn't, not here, Serena," Darien insisted as he 
suddenly grabbed her shoulders harshly.  "There is no way I can 
let you die, especially for me.  I hate watching you go into 
battle, I hate to watch you put yourself in SENSELESS danger, and 
I hate to have you stand here and tell me you should, when my 
duty...my WILL for the rest of my life is to protect you!"

Serena didn't answer for a moment.  "Darien...You're hurting me," 
she whispered to him.

Realizing his grip, Darien eased away, but did not let go of her.

Serena shook her head.  "This is getting us nowhere!  You lie and 
I fight."  She closed her eyes.  "To imagine...most couples fight 
over where they're going to go on their next date."  She almost 
laughed bitterly before starting to cry again and letting herself 
collapse to the ground.  Darien went down and caught her before 
setting her down gently.  "Please...tell me why you did it, 
Darien."

Darien didn't move, and they sat there, nearly holding each other 
but also cold at the same time.  After a few moments, Darien did 
put his arms around her and listened to her breathing.

'It's calm...' Serena thought.

Darien didn't allow her to move as he began to talk...and as he 
began to say things he never thought he would say.  "I'm afraid," 
he whispered to her.  "I'm afraid of our children, of myself and 
of you."  Serena gave a start in his arms, but Darien held her 
closer.  "I'm afraid of the truth..."

Serena felt something fall into her hair and realized that THIS 
was the moment; the turning point, undoubtedly one of many, in 
their relationship.  She had admitted something was wrong, and so 
had he.  And now, he was solving it by telling her why.

"But most of all..." Darien's voice cracked "...I'm afraid to 
lose you.  I'm afraid that by saying it wrong, by telling you 
something in my life that involves you wrong, I could lose you.  
I've watched people walk in and out, in and out of my life for 
years and I cared, but didn't show it.  This time, I would have 
to.  You walking out on me, leaving me, would hurt more than if 
I simply didn't ask and let it be."

"If I had asked you if you were seeing Allen...the pain in simply 
asking that question was worse than just assuming it was right.  
Attempting to break up with you for the dreams.  If I could have 
kept them a secret, I could have protected you from them, and 
from myself.  And Rini and Alec..." Darien paused for a moment 
there.  "I had to think.  What would I say, how would I act?  It 
was easier to wait, and not say anything, than to admit that they 
were mine...ours, and we would be responsible for them.  It was 
easier to hope you would find out on your own."

Serena heard more pain in his voice than when he had died in 
Queen Beryl's Palace at D-Point.  He was trying to protect 
himself and her from their lives by forgetting, or trying the 
easy way out.  Even if there was no easy way out.

"Tell me," Darien whispered to her hair.  "Tell me why."

Serena smiled bitterly for a moment, knowing her answer was his 
answer.  They were no different.

"Fear," she told him with a quake in her voice.  "Fear of loosing 
everyone and everything.  I watched all of you die so long ago, 
in a time where I wasn't trained to fight, and when I remembered 
that I was determined to never let it happen again.  But it did."  
Painful memories came to Serena's mind but she didn't make an 
effort to push them back.  "I watched as all of you fell, but 
this time I wasn't powerless.  And I swore when you died and we 
came back again, that it would never happen!"

They were both crying now, clutching, holding, grasping onto each 
other as though they were holding on to some delicate fabric of 
sanity that they found in each other.

There was no grasp of time and for all they knew it could have 
been days before Darien picked his lover up and carried her 
inside, where they both lay down on the couch.  Darien's back was 
up against the couch and Serena was safely tucked against him 
with his hands locked securely in front of her.

There were no more words to be spoken, because right now all they 
needed to do was heal.

Darien began to kiss Serena slowly, starting at her neck and 
working his way up higher than her lips and then back down.  He 
gently nudged her chin up and captured her lips in kisses.

Serena felt something in the way he was kissing her; in the way 
he held her this time.  Passionate...he held so much more passion 
than usual, and she didn't mind it.  She returned his passion and 
gave into all of his demands, adding a few of her own.  They both 
let the barriers of hurt slowly be pealed away and reinforced 
with their love.

Serena pulled away, knowing full well where this would lead them 
if they continued.  Looking into Darien's eyes, she saw that he 
knew the same thing, she could almost hear him telling himself 
not to.

Darien nodded to her and stood up, painfully aware of how much he 
didn't want to.  He turned around and looked back at Serena, who 
was sitting up on the couch, her breathing ragged and her face 
flushed as their eyes met.

Darien couldn't help himself, one way or the other she wasn't 
leaving him tonight.  He bent down and scooped her up in his 
arms, and smiled down at her, something in his eyes, but also a 
promise of restraint that made them both wonder if it was good or 
bad.

"Just stay here tonight," he whispered as he got closer to 
Serena's face.  "I need you with me.  Let me hold you."

Serena wrapped her arms around Darien's neck and leaned against 
his chest.  She nodded and closed her eyes as he took her to his 
bedroom.  She was placed on the bed before he lay down beside her 
and wrapped his arms around her stomach.

"Darien?" Serena whispered so softly that Darien was scarcely 
sure he had heard her.

"Yes?" he mumbled back.

"I love you."

Darien pulled her closer to him and closed his eyes.  "I love 
you, I love you, I love you!" he told her forcefully.

Serena felt her eyelids drooping and relaxed even more within his 
embrace.  It was right...and she had never felt so at peace with 
herself, and her love as she did right then.

Darien's expression mirrored her's and he felt a great burden had 
been lifted, and he felt healed.

*****************************************************************

Darien awoke first and saw that his angel was there, and that she 
had been the whole night.  She was underneath the covers and he 
still held her tightly.  Untangling himself from her and his 
blankets, Darien climbed out of his bed, albeit reluctantly, and 
looked at her as she slept.

Someday...someday he would be able to do this every morning.  He 
would wake up with her next time him and feel warm and calm all 
the time.  And last night was the first night in many nights he 
had not had one of his horrible nightmares.  He slept at peace 
with her next to him.

Smiling to himself, Darien set out to start the day, and start it 
right for a change.

*****************************************************************

Serena felt a warm pressure on her lips as she slowly began to 
stir.  It was the first thing she felt as she began to wake up.  
Soon, her lips no longer felt that pressure, and she whimpered 
slightly before opening her eyes and seeing the handsome, smiling 
face of her love.  "Morning," Serena whispered to him as she sat 
up and stretched.  Her eyes slowly focused and she noticed that 
Darien held a tray within his arms.  Her eyes lit up.  'Food!'

Darien chuckled when he saw the look in her eyes.  He set the 
food down on her lap and smiled.  "I take it you like?"

Smiling, Serena picked up her fork and began to eat the American 
breakfast he had prepared for her.  "What is all this?" she 
asked, not recognizing some of the food.

"Fried eggs, bacon, sausage, French toast, and hash browns." (AN: 
Uhh... Yeah, I'm REALLY hungry if anyone is wondering.)

Half way through the breakfast, after Darien had refused to eat 
several times, Darien gently took the hand of Serena's that 
didn't have a fork in it and rubbed her palm.  "Are you going to 
forgive me?" he questioned her, bringing up the topic from the 
night before.

Serena stopped eating and turned to look at her love.  Swallowing 
what was in her mouth she smiled brightly at him.  "How could I 
not?"  Her face became sullen and she took a deep breath.  
"But...I can not promise you."

Darien looked slightly hurt for a moment before nodding.  "I 
know.  Just promise not to leave!" he demanded of her.

A glint of a tear was in Serena's eyes and she nodded.  "I swear
to it!"  

Darien's arms infolded her in an embrace again and Serena held 
him back.  "I swear as well."

Several moments later, Serena pulled back and looked at the 
clock.  "7:23..." she whispered.  "We have to go get Rini and 
Alec."

She looked out of Darien's bedroom window as she stood up and 
straightened out her clothes.  Darien wrapped his arms around her 
waist from behind and leaned his head on her shoulder.  For one 
more moment, a second even, the two were at peace.  Serena no 
longer felt the pain she had felt yesterday, and Darien knew 
Serena would think twice before throwing herself into senseless 
danger.  They would always have problems, that was their destiny, 
but for now...for now...

"The future," Darien spoke softly.

"Yes, to the future!"

To be continued....

Well, that's it or now, I hope you enjoyed and I was REALLY 
debating on some of those...intimate parts on where to go, but 
decided It's best to let you guys hang for a while longer. LOL

I wrote this part because my editor suggested to me that I have 
Serena be hurt by Darien and his lies, thanx for the advice!

Thank you for reading this, and next time...It's time for the 
journey.

Stef-chan

E-mail: stefaniecraig@hotmail.com

Website: http://home.att.net/~stef_chan/
If you add me to the list of any of these, tell me that you got
my name /# from my fics!

ICQ: 63467432

AIM: Stefchan2

Yahoo!: Steff_chan

MSN: stefaniecraig@hotmail.com