Hooray!  Chapter 20!  And I finished it all in one day!  Well most 
of it, anyway.  I had really bad writers block all night and then 
all of the sudden WHAM!  A ton of ideas hit me like a sac of 
bricks.  You have no idea how much that hurt.  Serious, a lot.  
I'm shocked I got this done so fast seeing as though I was gone a 
lot this week.  Hope everyone in the US had a great Fourth of July 
and everyone in Canada had a great Canada Day!  I'm pretty sure 
that's an important Holiday in Canada, but I live in the USA so I'm 
not sure.  *smile*  Forgive my ignorance.

Anyway, last time I said I narrowed this down to 6 more chapters.  
Well now, I may even have it done in three and an epilogue.  *big 
grin*  I might finally finish this!  YATTA!

And on July 10th, it will have been 52 weeks, one full year, since 
I first started writing fanficion!  A whole year!  Hugz out to 
everyone who has ever written me and visited my website!  If you 
haven't visited my site...*pout*  Please?

E-mail: stefaniecraig@hotmail.com

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

ICQ: 634674320
If you add me to your ICQ list, please tell me why, and who you 
are! ^_^

RATING: PG, some blood, swearing and making out.  Typical PG stuff!

DISCLAIMER: I own some stuff.  Clothes, food, manga, Sailor Moon...
wait!  Oh right, I'm not opposed to let anyone know about that!  
*crosses Sailor Moon off of list*  Okay!  Now I own, clothes, food, 
manga, Dragon Ball Z...

Quote of the Week: "Confession, apology, and forgiveness were the 
tools friends used to break walls down into bridges."  Aunt Beru 
of Star Wars from the book  "Vision of the Future"

FINAL AWAKENINGS
CHAPTER 20

__________Dream Believer__________

King Endymion trudged slowly down the long halls of the Crystal 
Palace.  While there was probably no place more beautiful on Earth 
at this moment, he only wanted for things to be back to normal.  A 
couple of weeks ago, he had felt it.  Felt his love's energy awaken 
and reach out for him.  But when he had arrived back at the Medical 
Wing, there was no change.  The Soldiers didn't even try to convince 
him it was his imagination, because they knew if he felt it, it must 
have been real.

And he was there again, waiting in his silent vigilance for her to 
awaken.  Her body was healed, he could sense that too, and Mercury 
had confirmed it for him just after he had gotten back from when he 
was being held captive by Onyxious.  The thought of the man's name 
made Endymion's vision blur with hatred.  He hated very few people, 
and for some reason everyone he did hate was named after gem.

"ENDYMION!" a very familiar voice yelled from down the hall.  
"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!  WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE PLANNING FOR AN 
ATTACK!!!"

Endymion smiled wryly.  And flowers.  They were also named after 
flowers.  He kissed his wife's cheek.  "Pardon me while I go and 
kill Rose for nearly waking the dead...again!"

For a split second, Endymion saw a ghost of a smile on her lips, 
but she didn't move and Endymion only smiled at her as he walked 
down the hall to meet with the others.  There had been some unusual 
movement with the Dark Kingdom lately, and each of the guard and 
royalty had an evil feeling about what Onyxious was planning.

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

Serena warily trudged down the street on her way home from school.  
She had to pick up Rini, but really wished Darien had the afternoon 
off so she could just go home and take a nap.  The last week had 
been hard on her.  Onyxious had been trying to invade her dreams 
all week, and it had taken all of her strength to prevent him from 
fully entering her mind.  She had talked to Raye earlier in the 
morning and she had put up a mind barrier to block Onyxious, praying 
it would work.

"Hey Serena!" Rose called from down the street.

Serena stopped and turned around.  Rose and Tim were running from 
the school to catch up with her.  "Hey guys!" she called sleepily 
as she slowed for them.

"Hi Serena!" Tim greeted but stopped when he saw how she looked.  
"What happened to you?

Serena yawned and smiled.  "Just haven't gotten much sleep all 
week.  Long story.  And Rose, I'm so glad I saw you!  You can go 
get Rini for me and watch her for the afternoon while I take a nap!" 
she exclaimed, her eyes practically begging her.

Rose looked at Tim who shrugged.  They were supposed to be going 
out, but Rini wouldn't be a big problem.  Rose sighed and nodded.  
"Sure, Sere.  You just go and get some sleep!"

Serena squealed and hugged her friend.  "Thank you so much, Rose!  
Bye!"  Serena took off towards her house, her one thought being of 
being able to sleep with out that bastard, King Onyxious, 
interrupting her sleep.

When she arrived home, she called to her mom her plans really quick 
before going upstairs and just collapsing on her bed, promptly 
falling asleep.

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

Darien opened his door and leaned on it as it closed.  It had been 
a long day.  He hadn't been able to get Serena off his mind all day.  
He could feel how tired she was, and couldn't do anything about it.  
He desperately wished each night he could take away the pain from 
her, but knew he couldn't.  He could feel her pain, what she was 
going through.  Onyxious had tried for a week to kill Serena before 
Queen Serenity had been able to set up a barrier to keep him out, 
and they weren't sure that was enough.

Darien lay down on his bed and closed his eyes.  He had spent most 
nights the past week watching Serena outside of her bedroom window, 
or inside depending on if he had permission to enter.  Darien 
closed his eyes and let his thoughts drift.  Serena was asleep, and 
thus, he could sleep for now.

"Sweet dreams, love."

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

Onyxious gasped as he was thrown from the World of Dreams.  "Damn 
you, Serenity," he hissed as he rubbed his sore head.  "But smart.  
You finally put a barrier up to stop me."  He hissed between his 
teeth.  "But don't think that you can stop me for long."

Sitting down, Onyxious poured himself a glass of brandy and slowly 
sipped it, thinking aloud.  "If I wait a while, the magic of the 
barrier will wear off and then I can enter and destroy her.  I 
don't have time for that," he said almost quietly.  "I have to set 
up an attack and kill her now, in the past.  She's tired now, 
exhausted actually."  He slammed his fist into the table, cracking 
the wood.  "But those pesky brats will be there to protect her.  
Damn it."

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

Zoisite quietly closed the door that she had cracked open and 
smiled evilly.  'So that's what he's been doing!  Her dreams, of 
course!  If I go in and destroy her, I can finally gain some rank 
in this place.'  Zoisite's smile widened.  'Oh this is too good to 
be true.  You're mine, Sailor Moon!'

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

Michelle balanced the tray that she was carrying to Amara's room on 
her knee as she struggled to open the door.  With a sigh, she 
finally got the knob turned and pushed it open the rest of the way.  
"Amara, you didn't come down to eat so I brought you your-AMARA!" 
she yelled when she didn't see her in bed, like she was supposed 
to be.

"I'm right here, Michelle," Amara said quietly from the side of her.

Michelle turned and faced her long time friend and smiled.  "You 
should be in bed, those injuries are taking quite a long time to 
heal," she said as she set down the tray of food.

"Is everything okay?" Hotaru asked as she and Trista stepped into 
the room.

"Everything's fine, Hotaru," Michelle said as she sat next to 
Amara.  "What's wrong?"

Amara looked out at the setting sun.  "I was just thinking about 
what our Princess said.  About me sacrificing myself for her," she 
sighed.

Michelle looked away.  "It's been on my mind a lot lately, too."

"Mine too," Hotaru put in.  She had never agreed with Uranus and 
Neptune's' policy that if only could make it out alive, the other 
would leave the one behind to complete the mission.  But she knew 
that there were times where a sacrifice was necessary for the world 
to keep going, and yet, the Princess would not let one of her 
Soldiers, who lived to die for her, complete her mission.

Amara continued speaking, almost unconsciously.  "She'd rather let 
herself and the future die than one of us.  She's different than 
others, but I don't understand why."

"Maybe we aren't supposed to," Trista suggested.  "Maybe only she 
is supposed to know."

"Right," Amara smiled sarcastically.  "What ever you say, Trista."

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

Rini licked the last of her ice cream off of her hands and grinned 
up at her aunt.  "Thank you, Rose!" she exclaimed.

Rose gave Rini a noogie.  "No problem, brat."

Laughing a little, Tim threw a French fry at Rose.  "Don't be mean 
to your future cousin-in-law, Rosie!"

Rini and Rose exchanged wry smiles.  'Yeah, cousin!' they thought 
at the same time.  "What makes you think she's going to be my in-
law?" Rose asked Tim.

Tim shrugged a little, signifying that it was pretty obvious.  
"Everyone knows how serious Serena and Darien are, it's a given that 
they are going to get married."

"Hopefully soon," Rose said as she moved closer to Tim and smiled.  
"I want him to quit whining about not seeing her enough as soon as 
possible."

Tim chuckled a little and gently kissed her lips.  "I can see how 
you can get annoyed with that."

"Yeah," was all Rose said before Tim kissed her lips, silencing any 
further words from her mouth.

Rini rolled her eyes and walked away.  "And I thought they were bad 
at home!"

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

Zoisite closed her eyes and concentrated.  She didn't have near 
the strength Onyxious had, but she knew that if she tired hard 
enough, she would be able to achieve a high enough level that she 
could enter Serenity's dreams.  It hadn't taken her as long as she 
thought it would to locate her dream frequency, which indicated 
that she was most likely asleep right now.

Zoisite let herself flow into unconsciousness and felt her body 
leave the dimensional plain, and float up.  With a grin, she found 
the energy she was looking for, and slipped soundlessly inside it.

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

There was cheering and shouting when Zoisite reached Serenity's 
dream.  (AN: She doesn't know she's Serena, remember!)  She 
blanched in disgust as she watched what she was dreaming.  'Her 
wedding day!  How disgusting!' she thought.  Just as Serenity and 
Endymion were about to kiss, she waved her hand and banished the 
image.

"What happened!?" Serenity cried out as she looked around 
frantically, but saw nothing.  Then it hit her, this was a dream.  
"Wait, if the dream has ended and I'm still here wondering what 
is going on that means-"

"That means, that I'm here and I'm going to kill you!" Zoisite
announced as she made herself visible and charged at Serenity, who 
was still in a wedding dress, with a crystal spear.

Serenity screamed and ducked out of Zoisite's way and the warrior 
landed with ease on the ground in a crouching position.  "Make this 
easy on your self and just give up!" she yelled to the young girl 
as she stood and faced her.

Sere shook her head, fear wasn't evident in her eyes.  "This is it, 
Zoisite?  Our final battle is in a dream because you can't beat me 
in the real world?  Fine then!"  She reached into the air and her 
broach appeared in her hand.

"MOON CELESTIAL POWER!"

Sailor Moon raised her head and brought out her Star Wand.  'Mother, 
why aren't you here?' she thought to herself, remembering the other 
times when Onyxious had done the same thing Zoisite was.

Zoisite put her cane in position again.  "Don't worry about your 
mother bothering us, I put up a block so none of your friends can 
interrupt this battle!  One of us isn't going to leave here alive, 
Sailor Moon," Zoisite sneered.

With determination shining brightly all around her, Sailor Moon met 
Zoisite's gaze.  "And it will be you."

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

Darien awoke in a cold sweat, something he had actually grown 
accustomed to a few years back.  He could feel in his veins, hatred 
and malice...he could feel it inside of him.  But it wasn't a part 
of him this time.  No.  It was coming from his other soul.  
"Serena!" Darien screamed as he jumped out of his bed and ran for the 
telephone.

"One ring, two rings, three rings, four rings..." he chanted as 
though it would make the phone ring faster.  There was the click of 
a phone picking up and Darien became more anxious.

"Hello this is Tsukino residence!  And since I'm not as annoying as 
my boyfriend is, this is not going to be like his answering machine!
Leave a message and we'l-"

Darien slammed the phone down.  No one was home, but he could still 
feel that energy emanating from her.  Holding up a rose, Darien 
transformed in an instant.  He didn't know what was going on, but 
he'd be damned before he just stood there and did nothing.  Pulling 
out his black communicator, he hit the "All Call" button and ran 
off to Serena's.

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

Rose and Tim had (finally) stopped kissing and were now on their 
way to drop Rini off at home.  Rini smiled at the way her aunt and 
Tim were holding hands.  They never changed, and she was always 
happy for that.  A sudden beeping came from both girls' wrists and 
their eyes widened.

'Not now!' Rose thought desperately.  Racking her brain for excuses, 
Rose came up with only one.  "We're late!" she squealed in her best 
Serena impression.  Kissing Tim's cheek quickly, Rose grabbed Rini 
and the two ran off, calling their good byes to him as they did.

"Why do they always do that?" Tim asked himself.  "It's like 
they're..." he trailed off and shook his head.  "She was just late, 
man.  Nothing to get excited about."  Blowing a kiss in the 
direction they had run off in, Tim turned and began to walk back to 
his own house, in hopes of solving the mystery that was Roseanna 
Shields.

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

The two girls were finally sure that they were out of site and 
opened their communicators to see Tuxedo Mask, and it looked like 
he was running.  "Dare?  What's wrong?" Rose asked, her voiced 
laced with panic.

There were several other shouts of the same phrase, letting Rose 
and Rini know that everyone else was listening, before Tuxedo Mask 
answered.  "I want everyone to come to Serena's house!  Something 
is wrong, I can feel it inside me."

"Onyxious?" Lita's voice suggested, a dark threat hidden deep 
inside her tones.

Huffing and puffing, Tuxedo Mask shook his head.  "It's different.  
But a threat just the same.  Hurry!"

His end of the line went dead and all across the city, the girls 
put away their watches.

"EARTH STAR POWER!"

"MOON PRISM POWER!"

Sailor Earth turned to Neo-Sailor Moon.  "Hurry, Neo-Moon!" she 
called as she started running.

Neo-Moon sighed and ran after her aunt.  'Mommy, please be alright!'

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

Hotaru closed the communicator and looked up at her comrades.  "I 
think we had best leave this discussion for a better time.  Our 
Princess needs us right now," she said in her usual quiet voice.

"I'm coming too!" Amara said as she reached for her pen.  Michelle's 
hand went to stop her, but the look in Amara's eyes said different.  
"I'm going, there is something wrong, I can feel it.  I think we 
all need to be there for the Prince and Princess."

Michelle moved back and brought her own pen out.  "Don't get 
yourself hurt, Amara."

Hotaru smiled.  "This is Amara Tenno we're talking about.  Trouble 
follows her everywhere!"  There was light laughter from the group
before they held their pens up and transformed.

"PLUTO PLANET POWER!"

"NEPTUNE PLANET POWER!"

"URANUS PLANET POWER!"

"SATURN PLANET POWER!"

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

Tuxedo Mask set down on Serena's windowsill.  With great ease, he 
opened the window and landed inside.  Standing, he could feel how 
much more powerful the vibes were and he ran to Serena's bed.  Sweat 
was pouring from her and her face was contorted in a way that 
showed she was in some sort of pain.

Tuxedo Mask scooped his love into his arms and held her.  He found 
a pulse and she was still breathing so that was definitely a good 
sign.  "Serena...wake up!  Wake up, Serena!"  Darien's eyes widened 
in panic as he didn't get a response.  "SERENA!  SERENA!"  Still 
nothing.  "Oh god...ONYXIOUS!" he cried in rage.

Tuxedo Mask heard loud footsteps and realized that the others were 
arriving.  And he didn't know what to say when they got there.

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

Zoisite and Sailor Moon stood at a stand still.  They had been 
attacking each other off and on for about five minutes now, but 
neither of them were gaining ground from the other.  Zoisite moved 
slightly and Sailor Moon held her wand up, ready for anything.  'I 
have to attack her!  If anything happens to me in my dream, it 
happens to me in real life."

"MOON TIARA MAGIC!"

The spinning discus moved around Zoisite, and missed her.  "I have 
never seen you throw something so off, Sailor Moon!  Loosing your 
touch?"

Sailor Moon smiled and moved her hand.  The Tiara boomeranged back 
around and wrapped around Zoisite, trapping her with its' powers.  
"You forget, Zoisite!  I have a few tricks up my sleeve, same as 
you!  Now let's see you get out of this!" she yelled as she held 
up the Star Wand.

"SILVER MOON STAR ATTACK!"

Zoisite paled and using all of her will, disappeared from the 
Tiara's grasp and reappeared behind Sailor Moon.  With a quick 
slash, she cut Sailor Moon across the back, causing a trail of 
blood to run down her legs.

Sailor Moon gasped and turned around as quickly as she could.  
Fighting back tears she desperately blocked Zoisite as she charged 
her, coming in for the kill.

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

All of the Sailor Soldiers had been there for only a few moments 
when the Prince's suspicions were confirmed.  Someone, most likely 
King Onyxious, was inside of Serena's dream and trying to kill her.

Tuxedo Mask had been holding Serena when warm, wet blood had begun 
to fall from her back.  In shock, he had nearly dropped her, but 
quickly set her down on the bed and had Mercury examine her.  A 
long gash appeared before their very eyes, and they knew their 
Princess was fighting for her life.

Saturn dropped her Glave and knelt next to her Princess' bed.  For 
a moment, she looked up and saw the tortured face of the Prince and 
future Princess.  With new determination she placed her hands on 
Serena's back.  'Princess, you can't leave us now!' she thought 
desperately as she healed her back.

Neo-Moon gripped one of her mothers' hands as tears fell from her 
eyes.  "Mommy, don't leave me!" she whispered fiercely.

The Outers stood by silently as they watched their Princess sleep 
in her death dream, while the Inners did their best to remain calm 
and not show their emotions.  They were all failing.  Even the 
Outers could pretend that this meant nothing to them and for a 
brief second, Earth swore she saw a tear fall from Pluto's eye.

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

Their weapons clashed together time after time as they attempted to 
out do one another.  Sailor Moon had managed to get in a few hits 
off of Zoisite, but nothing life threatening.  Sometime during the 
battle, she felt her back heal and could only pray that that was a 
good sign.  Sailor Moon did a back flip and landed a few feet away 
from Zoisite.

"SILVER MOON STAR FLASH!"

The white light blinded Zoisite and she screamed in pain, covering 
her eyes with her hands.  Sailor Moon didn't move.  It was now or 
never.

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

Beryl shook her head as she watched Zoisite's body.  She had been 
walking around the Dark Kingdom when she felt the strange energy.  
Wanting the knowledge of what was going on, she had found Zoisite 
kneeling on the floor in a trance.  "What a fool.  Well, King 
Onyxious would just love to hear that his soldiers are going behind 
his back."

"Actually, Beryl," King Onyxious said as he walked into the room, 
"I would like to know that.  What is our friend Zoisite doing?" he
asked as he studied Zoisite.  Then the wave of energy hit him and 
his eyes went dark.  "Zoisite..." he hissed.  "Going behind my 
back now to destroy Serenity, are we?"

Beryl looked at Onyxious strangely and blinked.  When she opened 
her eyes back up, he was gone.  "Well, well, well...looks like I'm 
down one rival," she chuckled.

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

Zoisite let out an enraged scream and charged Sailor Moon.  Her 
shoulder rammed the Soldiers' stomach and knocked her down.  Sailor 
Moon grabbed her stomach and tried to stand.  Zoisite kicked her 
in the chest and she felt hot tears coming to her eyes.  Zoisite 
kneeled down and held the spear at Sailor Moon's throat.  "Today's 
your time to die, Serenity!"

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

Sailor Saturn had long since stopped her healing powers and was 
resting.  Tuxedo Mask still held Serena whispering to her to fight 
and come back.  "Come on, Serena.  You can do this, I know you can!"

"Come on, Serena!" Jupiter yelled.

"Look!" Mars gasped as a red spot appeared on Serena's neck and 
blood began to trail down and stain her shirt.

"Sh-" Uranus swore loudly as she came closer.

With a groan, Saturn stood up and walked over to her Princess.  
"Saturn!  You can't!" Mercury protested.  "You're much too weak to-"

"I have to try!" Saturn argued with a tear in her eye.  "If I 
don't, who can?"

"I can," Tuxedo Mask spoke in a deadpan voice as he clutched 
Serena closer.

Pluto shook her head.  "Too risky.  Saturn should do what she can."

Tuxedo Mask glared at Pluto, but said nothing as Saturn began to 
heal Serena.  'Please, hang in there, my Love.  Hand in there.'

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


Zoisite laughed as she pushed the spear in deeper to Sailor Moon's 
throat.  "Long live...the Moon Kingdom!" she yelled as she lifted 
it up and prepared to stab Sailor Moon through her heart.

Sailor Moon closed her eyes.  'I'm sorry, Rini, Darien!  I love 
you both!'

Zoisite smiled evilly and as the spear ascended to the heart, it 
wasn't Sailor Moon who screamed, but Zoisite.  "Bad choice, 
*General* Zoisite!" King Onyxious' voice yelled as he walked over 
to the woman who was on the ground in pain due to the fact that 
he had just hit her with an energy blast.

Sailor Moon realized what had happened, and in a sick way, Onyxious 
had just saved her life.  She sat up and watched what was happening 
with interest and fear.

"King Onyxious!" Zoisite gasped as she tried to stand up.  "I can 
explain!" she begged.

Onyxious shook his head and a sneer spread on his face.  "You go 
behind my back, and try to do the one thing that I had specifically 
told you that I wanted to do.  That's high treason, Zoisite," he 
grinned at the statement.  "And you know what we do to traitors!"  
He raised his hand and a wave of energy came from it, and hit 
Zoisite, who crashed into the proverbial wall.

Zoisite spit out blood and again tried to stand.  "Please, your 
majesty!" she begged.  "I was only trying to get rid of our number 
one obstacle!  I meant no harm to the mission!" she backed away 
in fear as Onyxious only came closer, a murderous look on his face.

Sailor Moon gripped her Wand tightly and continued to watch the 
drama play out before her.  'This must be the same thing that 
happened after the Starlight Tower.  When Beryl killed her...it 
must have been just like this!'

Onyxious laughed.  "Oh, keep begging Zoisite!  It's fun to watch 
you squirm!" he exclaimed as he hit her again with more of his 
power.  Zoisite couldn't move anymore and closed her eyes, 
awaiting death.

Sailor Moon grit her teeth, knowing she was going to regret this.  
"NO!" she screamed as she stood and ran towards Onyxious.  With 
all her strength, she rammed into him and pushed him out of the 
way, making his last blast miss Zoisite by only inches.

"YOU!"  He turned to Sailor Moon and prepared to attack her.  
Looking into her eyes, he saw their defiance and smiled at her.  
"It doesn't matter anymore.  She's dead anyway.  Until we meet 
again," he was enveloped in a column of dark energy, "Sailor Moon," 
and disappeared.

Sailor Moon stood there for a moment, staring at the spot he had 
once occupied before going back to where Zoisite lay.  Kneeling 
down, she looked at the woman's face sadly.  Her breathing was 
ragged and slowly leaving her as she turned her head.  "Why...did 
you d-do that...fo...r me?" she rasped out.

Sailor Moon shook her head.  "I don't know.  All you've ever done 
is bring pain to my family.  But maybe everyone deserves to live, 
even you, Zoisite."

Zoisite laughed.  "No.  I would be better off dead, where I belong, 
and have belonged for years.  If you weren't my enemy, I would 
thank you, brat!"

Smiling, Sailor Moon nodded her understanding.  Zoisite still hated 
her, but was grateful for the gesture.  It was a step closer than 
she had thought she would come.  Sailor Moon watched as Zoisite 
closed her eyes and sighed her last breath out.  "Malachite..."

Sighing she watched as the "body" of Zoisite disappeared and she was 
alone.  She felt the pull of the real world and smiled as she was 
finally out of the dream and she woke up.

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

The Soldiers held their breath as Serena's eyes slowly seemed to 
flutter open and then closed again before she opened them completely 
and gazed around the room.  "What?  Am I awake now?"

Her only response was a very familiar pressure on her lips.  
Darien's lips.  'Oh yeah, definitely awake!' she thought as she 
returned Darien's kisses as quickly as she could recover.

Mars sighed and detransformed.  "Oh, I'd say she's doing alright!" 
she exclaimed as she wiped a tear from her eye.

"Come on," Earth commanded as she led the others out.  "Let's let 
them be alone for a little while."

Venus sighed as she watched the couple kiss and whisper things to 
each other.  "But this is like watching a movie!" she sighed.

"Yeah, a horror movie!" Raye rolled her eyes and grabbed Venus by 
the ear, dragging her out of the room.  The Outers followed, but 
their eyes never left the Prince and Princess until they were 
outside.

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

Tuxedo Mask stopped kissing Serena and detransformed.  "Serena...
you scared me again," he whispered to her, leaning his forehead 
against hers.  "You keep doing that."

Serena buried herself in Darien's arms and let two tears fall.  
"I was so scared.  I couldn't go anywhere, she wouldn't let me 
wake up."

Darien gave a start, "She?"

Serena closed her eyes and proceeded to tell Darien the story of 
what happened while she was in her dream.

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

Sometime later, Darien walked out of Serena's room and kept the 
door open.  Walking down the stairs, he found the others still there 
waiting for a report on their Princess's condition.  "She's asleep," 
he announced.  "If you want to go in, you can, Rini," he addressed 
his daughter.  Rini hopped off of the couch and was up the stairs 
before her father even finished the sentence.

"What happened?" Michelle questioned.

Sitting down, Darien explained everything as best he could, seeing 
as though Serena had been half-asleep during most of the 
explanation.

"So it seems we're down to just the three," Amara stated.

"Malachite, Beryl and Onyxious," Amy spoke quietly.  "We're close, 
you guys."

Hotaru nodded.  "It can't be that much longer before the final 
battle."

Lita half closed her eyes and her breathing became deep.  "The 
moment we always wait for."

"We have to protect them at all costs!" Mina declared.

"Right!"

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

Malachite burst into King Onyxious' throne room, breathing hard and
his eyes were cold.  "Where's Zoisite?!" he demanded.

Onyxious gave Malachite a questioning look.  "What do you mean?"

"Where is Zoisite!?" Malachite once again demanded.

Onyxious stood up and walked closer to Malachite.  Outside, his 
face was a mask of mild sorrow for loosing a warrior, but inside, 
he knew exactly how he could use Malachite's rage.  "I'm sorry to 
be the one to tell you this, Malachite.  But Zoisite is dead."  His 
eyes got wide as Onyxious continued.  "She went against my orders 
and tried to destroy Serenity, but Serenity destroyed her instead.  
It was a terrible battle, and Zoisite put up a good fight," he 
sighed and shook his head.  "What a pity.  She had so much promise 
too."

Malachite's eyes froze over with hatred as he absorbed this 
information.  "I see, King Onyxious.  Thank you for this 
information," he spat icily.

Onyxious nodded gravely.  "Of course.  And I'm terribly sorry 
about your loss," he told his general.  Malachite vanished from 
the room and Onyxious laughed.  "I hope he kills those Sailor's.  
It would make this much easier."

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

Luna watched as each of the girls left the Tsukino home with great 
reluctance.  The only one remaining was Rose, and Darien of course.  
Luna stood watch at the foot of Serena's bed and barely noted when 
Artemis came in and stood next to her.  "She's going through so 
much, Artemis.  It's not fair to her, or the girls," she said to 
him softly.

Artemis licked Luna's cheek, startling her.  "Cheer up, Luna.  
Serena can handle this.  If she can handle Raye for three years, I 
think she can handle this!" he joked lightly.

Luna looked at him strangely out of the corner of her eye.  "She's 
only suffering for Onyxious's own mistake.  They all are.  I need 
to go to Central and try and learn more about him.  We know so 
little, and anything would help about now."

"I'll go, Luna," Artemis volunteered.

Luna smiled at him and licked his cheek.  "Thank you, Artemis.  I 
don't want to leave her tonight."

Artemis nodded and watched as Darien came into the room, and kneeled
next to Serena.  Rini followed him in, having gone outside to say 
bye to everyone.  Rose stood as guard at the doorway, not really 
watching anything in particular, but her senses were fully alert.

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

Amara, Michelle, Hotaru and Trista sat in their car, which was 
parked only a few hundred feet away from the Tsukino household.  
"The next battle will be one based solely on revenge," Amara told 
the others.  "He won't care who killed her, but he knows whose fault 
it is."

Hotaru's gaze locked onto Serena's house and blew some hair out of 
her face.  "There is nothing else we can do.  We know that."

"Malachite..." Michelle whispered.  "I don't remember much about 
him."

"He was the most fierce of the Four Generals, and we have to be 
prepared for him.  We can't underestimate him."

Amara sighed.  "I have a bad feeling."

To be continued...

Just to let everyone know, I post everything a week ahead of time 
on my site.  So if you're reading this on ASMR, you could already 
be reading the next chapter to Truths, Family and Friends!  Am I 
smart or what?  *Brother yells: What!*  Shuddup, Tommy!

See ya next week, minna-chan.  Oh, and I also posted a fic that is 
only allowed on mine and one other site on my site this past week. 
Please, go and check it out!  *smile*  PLUS!  Ti'ana and I have, or 
will post the next chapter to our joint fic very very soon.  I 
wrote six pages of it, and she's written three.  It's about done!

Stef-chan

E-mail: stefaniecraig@hotmail.com

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

ICQ: 634674320
If you add me to your ICQ list, please tell me why, and who you 
are! ^_^