Love Beyond Fate
By Scutter

I wrote this after reading Moonlight Midnight Glory, by Lady M. Harris.
The story inspired me as I was intrigued by the idea of a Darien who
was a little less elegant and noble than the one usually presented in
Sailor Moon, and though I know this is nothing like what happened in
the Silver Millennium, I thought it would be an interesting path to
explore. This is mostly mushy romantic stuff, so you have been warned.
I hope you enjoy it.
This is rated PG.

Note: This is not an original story line. It wrote this for the
characters, not the story, so don't get upset about it.

These characters aren't mine, they belong to whatever company/
companies made or own Sailor Moon. All the usual disclaimers apply, etc.

Chapter 3
Destiny Returns

The cool, grey walls of the long corridor seemed more oppressive than
usual this morning, as Serena was escorted to her mother's study. As
she entered the room, she saw not only the Queen, but also the four
Sailor warriors, standing at the side of the room. From their
expressions, it was clear that they were not happy. As she entered,
Queen Serenity looked up, anger flaring in her usually untroubled eyes.
Without speaking, she indicated the chair which stood opposite her,
and Serena sat slowly, apprehension stark across her features.
"I'm very disappointed in you, Serena," the Queen began, her tone cold
and dispassionate.
Serena blushed a deep red. Her absence at the ball had been severely
noticed, and Queen Serenity was using her anger to cover her fear -
fear that the King and Queen of Earth would call off this alliance due
to her daughter's inexplicable and inexcusable rudeness.
"Serena, where on the Moon did you think you were last night. It was
most embarrassing! Queen Deilia told me that Prince Darien was at the
ball, dancing, waiting for you. And you were goodness knows where!
This was supposed to be a diplomatic meeting. You know how important
it was. I can't begin to imagine what the King and Queen must think of
us, not to mention how Prince Darien must feel. And you didn't even
have one of the Senshi with you. Do you know how dangerous that can
be?"
Mina stepped forward at that. "Please, your Majesty, it was my
responsibility to stay with the Princess. The fault of that mistake
must fall on me."
"Silence!"
Mina blushed deeply. All the Sailor Warriors were feeling the barb of
the Queen's anger right now, as well as their own feelings of failure.
As well as being the Princess, Serena was their friend, and it was
their responsibility to protect her.
"Serena," Serenity's voice became softer again, though she was still
angry. "I have gone to great efforts to apologise to King Jonathon and
Queen Deilia, and we have arranged for you to meet Prince Darien this
afternoon. Mars. Jupiter. You will remain with my daughter until then
and see that she is there. Do not fail me again."
"Yes, your Majesty."
"And Serena?"
Serena looked up, tears forming in her eyes. She was genuinely sorry
for her behaviour. She took her duties as a Princess seriously, and
understood how deeply she had let everyone down.
"When you meet the Prince, you will apologise to him, and explain your
discourteous behaviour."
"Yes Mother," she whispered.
"Now return to your room, and see that you are ready on time."
Silently, Serena rose and went to the door, to be followed closely by
Rei and Lita, all three of them sullen and serious.
As the door closed behind them, they could hear Queen Serenity's voice,
 giving the inevitable lecturing to Princess Venus. Mars and Jupiter
cringed, and hurried after the Princess.

                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Darien, I was most shocked at your behaviour last night. You're not a
child any more. How dare you behave in such a ridiculous manner."
"I'm sorry, Mother. I . . ." Darien was apologising more to placate
his mother than because he felt any remorse. He was in the fortunate
position of knowing that no harm had been done to his alliance with
Serena, as he was certain she would not reject him when she found out
who he was, but his parents, of course, could not know that yet.
Queen Deilia was now pacing the room. "I'm glad you found the time to
show up at all, but you caused your father and me a great deal of
worry."
Darien raised his eyebrows at this, then quickly hid his reaction. <So,
she must have seen me there. Thank goodness.>
"As it happens, the Princess didn't show up at all. Queen Serenity was
quite overcome with worry."
Darien was surprised by this. <So where did she go after I left her
last night?>
"Anyway, the Queen spent a great deal of time apologising to me this
morning, an apology I felt quite embarrassed to accept, since you
behaved the way you did. Fortunately, we are still in agreement over
your marriage."
Listening to his mother, Darien suddenly had to rethink his position.
He was sure that Serena would accept him, but he had not considered
how Queen Serenity would react if she found out what had happened.
What if *she* rejected him instead of Serena?
But Deilia continued. "To avoid any further *incidents*, we have
arranged a meeting between you and the Princess this afternoon. If you
fail us again, the whole Earth may be in jeopardy. The Moon controls
more power than we can imagine. Please, Darien. Don't let us down."
Suddenly, Darien thought of Serena's speech to him last night. 'It is
my duty to protect my people, and so I would ensure an alliance to the
Earth for their sake.' He flushed at the thought, and felt how poorly
he compared to her compassionate nature. <Yes, Serena. It would be an
honour to meet you. I will not run away again.>
Taking his blush as a sign of remorse, Queen Deilia was finally
willing to cease her reprimanding.
"We'll be meeting in the Great Hall. I expect to see you there." With
that, she turned and swept out of the room, leaving Darien to dwell
over his own failings as a Prince.

                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Serena was fidgeting.
She had been waiting in the Great Hall for nearly half an hour,
periodically shifting between pacing, staring out the window and
fidgeting.
"Serena! Stop it, please!" Mina cried, sounding quite distraught. "If
you touch your hair one more time, I'm going to have to redo it. Now
please, sit still."
Serena leapt up from her seat, and began pacing again. Mina sighed.
All four Sailor Warriors, as well as the Queen, Serena and a handful
of servants waited in the Great Hall for the arrival of the King and
Queen of Earth, and of course, Prince Darien.
They were due to arrive any minute, and Serena was getting more
agitated by the second.
<What am I doing? Can this really be the right thing? How can I
possibly know?> The trouble was, it was not Prince Darien who was on
her mind. It was the dark haired stranger from last night. He had
plagued her dreams all through the night, and she had woken with his
voice in her mind. Serena sighed at the miserable thought that,
because of her marriage to the Prince, she would never see him again.
The thought filled her with a kind of dread.
Then suddenly, the voice from last night echoed in her mind. 'You are
a truly noble spirit.' Remembering the man's praise with such clarity,
Serena closed her eyes, and relaxed slightly. Strange as it was, those
words were all the assurance she needed. But what if he had condemned
her for her actions? Would she be here now? She didn't want to consider
it. The concept clogged her mind and made it impossible to think
clearly.
Then, without warning, a loud fanfare sounded from beyond the door.
Serena spun round in shock, then turned to her four friends, pleading
fear in her eyes. Standing at attention, the four Sailors could only
give her a friendly smile, and a hopeful, sympathetic nod from Mercury.
The doors at the far end of the room swept open, and a servant entered,
bowing deeply. "Your Royal Highness, may I present their Majesties the
King and Queen of Earth."
King Jonathon and Queen Deilia walked majestically into the room,
greeting the Queen formally. Then Serenity turned to Serena. "King
Jonathon, Queen Deilia, may I present my daughter, Princess Serenity."
Serena skilfully erased all fear from her face as she came forward to
greet the King and Queen. "It is a pleasure to welcome you to our
Court."
Taking the cue from Queen Serenity, the servant once again called for
their attention.
"May I present . . . his Royal Highness Prince Darien."
Every eye in the room was at once riveted on the door.
Serena's jaw dropped. All four of the Sailor Senshi blushed. Queen
Serenity simply raised an eyebrow.
In the doorway stood a tall, dark haired stranger, with the bluest,
clearest eyes they had ever seen. A long, flowing cape hung about his
shoulders, and everything about his stance commanded respect and power.
"Wah! Any hotter and he'd be on fire," Jupiter muttered, under her
breath. Standing next to her, Mercury gave her a small kick. "Shh!" On
her other side, Mars joined in. "Yeah, but she's right. You go, girl,"
she said, looking at Serena.
In the back of her mind, Serena was aware that she must snap out of
her dazed stare, but she couldn't begin to think how. <It's him!> was
the only thing she could think with clarity. <It's him, it's him, it's
him.> Then, she froze in shock. <What on the Moon do I say to him?>
Queen Serenity was surprised by this young man. She had heard that he
was handsome, but she found that hardly an adequate description, as it
would have been inadequate to call her daughter merely beautiful. But
more surprisingly, when he came forward to greet her, his bow was
shallow, and he kept his eyes focused on hers, not looking at the
floor as was the Earth custom. Impressive . . . but where had he
learnt Moon customs?
"Queen Serenity. I am delighted to meet you."
Satisfied by this introduction, Serenity showed her approval with the
slightest of smiles.
"And my daughter," she signalled Serena to come forward, "Princess
Serenity."
Darien smiled shyly, suddenly embarrassed. "Princess Serenity. It is a
pleasure." He had noticed her shocked look when he came in, and was
suddenly unsure of how this beautiful, wild woman would react to his
unseemly behaviour.
Somehow - she could only imagine how - Serena managed to retain her
composure, and greeted the Prince with all the dignity she could
muster.
Then she felt her mother's stare, and remembered what was expected of
her, though she could almost laugh at the prosect now.
"Prince Darien," she began. "You must forgive me for my absence from
the ball last night. I hope you were not . . . inconvenienced."
Darien experienced a moment's confusion, then realised that this
apology was not for his benefit, but that of their parents, and he
levelled her a wile gaze. "Not at all, Princess. No apology is
necessary." He took her gloved hand in his. "The anticipation was
worth the wait."
She flushed a light pink as he raised her hand, kissing it ever so
gently.
"Madam," Darien said, turning to Queen Serenity, his cheeks colouring
slightly. "May I request some time alone with your daughter. Perhaps
we can . . . get to know each other better," he finished, looking at
Serena with eyes that sent blue fire down her spine.
Queen Serenity was surprised. She had heard rumours of the Prince
being quite wild and uncontrollable. She was impressed by his
impeccable manners, and amazed at the attentions he was bestowing upon
Serena. Had he truly taken to her so quickly? Studying him intently,
he struck her as a strong minded man, not one who could be won over
with mere beauty. What, then, was the attraction to her daughter? He
could not know much more about her than that she was beautiful - they
had only just met . . . hadn't they? The Queen also realised that her
daughter's reaction to this man was just as surprising. It was hard to
believe that just yesterday, she had been condemning the match whole-
heartedly. Serenity narrowed her eyes slightly.
Then she remembered the question. "Yes, by all means," she replied.
"Perhaps you could take a turn around the gardens," she said, in a
tone that made Darien look twice.
But he was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, and, smiling
graciously to Serenity, took Serena's arm, following the Queen out
into the garden.

As their feet came off the steps onto the grass, both Darien and
Serena were reminded with blazing clarity of the night before, and
both had to struggle to appear impartial. Leaving the King, Queen and
Serenity at the steps, they continued down the path, Darien
deliberately leading Serena on the route they had walked the night
before. He was soon to realise, however, what the royal definition of
*alone* was. Following at a distance, out of earshot but always within
sight, were a flock of people - the Sailor Senshi who naturally
accompanied the Princess, a handful of servants, and Darien's own
guardian, a strong but somewhat inattentive middle aged man.
"So, Darien," Serena said, saying the name with force. "It seems you
have a name after all."
"Ah! Princess, forgive me. I deceived you last night," Darien began,
after checking they were out of earshot.
"Please, Sir. You needn't call me Princess. My name is Serena."
"Serena," he repeated, the word melting off his tongue. "Well, then, I
suppose I should stop you from calling me *Sir*. It makes me sound far
too old."
Serena had to look twice to see if he was joking. Despite the apparent
humour in his voice, he walked with the air of a true Prince, upright
and confident, with none of the playfulness she had seen the night
before, and with a seriousness scathing his features. But one look
into his eyes made her understand. They glowed hotly and glittered
with fire and irony . . . Serena stumbled slightly, her knees feeling
truly weak.
Like a flash, he was there, catching her arm to steady her. She saw
him glance at the path, assuming she had merely tripped on a crack.
She flushed, quickly continuing the conversation.
"I hope I wasn't rude to you in the Great Hall. I was, quite frankly,
a little shocked."
"I hope that's not a bad thing. I know I behaved . . . inappropriately
last night, but I hope you can forgive that."
Serena flushed. "Your behaviour was only a mirror of my own. There's
nothing to forgive."
They fell into an awkward silence for a moment, both feeling the
pressure of formality chocking their conversation. But their minds
were any thing but silent.
<I wish I could tell you how much I . . .>
<She's so beautiful. If I could just say what I . . .>
< . . . so happy. But what do you feel?>
< . . . could love you. Will you let me?>
Suddenly, desperate to break the silence, Darien began again. "I was
surprised you hadn't told your mother where you were last night."
Serena's eyes opened wide. "You think I would tell her I was wandering
the gardens with a strange man in the middle of the night?"
"Please don't misunderstand me, Serena. I haven't told my parents
either. I simply thought that your mother seems like a very thorough
person. Not much escapes her attention."
They fell silent again, until Serena said, "I have said I don't hold
last night against you, but I do have one question."
Darien raised a black eyebrow. "Yes?"
"Why didn't you just tell me who you were?"
He shook his head. "How on Earth can you meet someone for the first
time, knowing absolutely nothing about them and say 'It will be a
pleasure to spend the rest of my life with you'? It's impossible. I
didn't want you to have any preconceptions about me. I guess . . . I
was afraid of what you'd think of me. I'm not exactly a conventional
prince, and some people find my ways . . . eccentric. But at the same
time, I didn't want to be *just* a prince. I'm all too aware of how
dull that can seem."
Suddenly, Serena recalled their conversation of the previous night. Her
hands flew to her mouth, as she realised how much she must have
insulted him. All her carrying on about the Prince being boring!
"I . . . I'm sorry. I was so rude to you last night! What must you
think of me?!"
"No, no Serena." He turned to her, taking her hand warmly in his. As
he did so, he was aware of the intrusion of dozens of pairs of eyes,
all wider than they had been moments ago. He stiffened, but did his
best to ignore them. "On the contrary, you paid me a great compliment."
Serena looked up at him, disbelieving. Darien smiled. "In fact, I'm
quite glad I *don't* live up to your expectations."
Serena basked in that smile for a moment, relieved that things were
beginning to relax between them. Then suddenly she looked up in alarm.
"What about me? You met me as the Princess, you knew exactly who I was.
What . . . what do you think of me?"
"Serena," he squeezed her hand. "I told you the answer to that last
night." Suddenly, he was very aware of one pair of eyes in particular,
watching him intently from over Serena's shoulder. The woman, one of
Serena's guardians, had waist-length black hair, and fiery eyes.
Princess Mars, he remembered. Shooting her a dark look, he dropped
Serena's hand, and continued walking, somewhat faster than before.
Serena looked up in surprise before she followed him, a slight fear
entering her eyes. <Did I do something wrong . . . ?>
"I told you last night," Darien continued, trying to ignore the
intruding eyes, "you live with an energy that's irresistible. You have
so much love and courage . . . do you absolutely have to have so many
people following you around?" he asked suddenly, sounding quite
irritated.
Serena looked surprised. "Don't you have . . . guardians, or servants,
or something?"
Darien's mouth twisted wryly. "I've had one guardian for most of my
life." He glanced over his shoulder at the man. "He's never managed to
keep me in his sight for more than five minutes. A dedicated man, just
not to alert some of the time."
Serena's look faltered, then darkened. "It sounds like you run away a
lot."
Darien nodded.
"You seem proud of that." Darien's eyes deepened, wondering what she
was getting at. "Did you ever wonder if people would worry about you
disappearing?"
Darien was confused. "No. I always come back. I just need to get away
from it now and then."
"Have you ever wondered how that made your parents feel?"
He was genuinely baffled by this. "Serena, haven't you ever wanted to
run away?"
"Constantly. But it's not that simple. My mother would be frantic, the
Senshi would all get into trouble . . . it would cause so much trouble,
it would hardly be worth it in the end." She looked away, but he saw
the sorrow that brimmed in her eyes. <Oh, I wish I could be as free as
you!>
Darien felt her sadness as a blow to his soul. <If only I had your
compassion, Serena.> But despite his sympathy, his confusion won out.
"This isn't the fire I saw last night. You had a passion to live,
Serena. Last night, I was led to believe that you would take risks to
gain freedom, that you thought it was worth it. Where is that now?"
Serena refused to look at him. "Like you said, it's different here."
"But it doesn't have to be. You can change it." Suddenly, an idea
occurred to him. He reached out and touched her shoulders, turning her
to face him. "Come with me now. Away from here. Show me the real you."
"We can't!"
"Of course we can. It's easy, if you know how . . ."
"No, I mean, it's not proper!" She looked around wildly.
Darien shook his head. "Ah, Princess, I would never try to take
advantage of . . ."
"You don't understand!" She turned her back on him, hugging herself.
Her mind whirled in confusion. <How could I sneak away?! What would
they think? Where would we go?>
Darien's heart plummeted as her saw her pain. Gently, he reached a
hand out to her shoulder. "Serena, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset
you. I'm sorry."
Serena shivered. "You don't understand." <I want to come with you! I'm
just so scared. So scared.>
Darien fell silent, utterly baffled by her refusal. Then, slowly, an
idea began to dawn on him. Oh, he had been such a fool! He took a deep
breath, embarrassment filling him. "You didn't mean it, did you." His
voice was soft and angry.
Serena frowned. "Mean what? What are you talking about?"
"What you said last night, about wanting to marry someone like me. You
were just playing with me, weren't you. How ironic! I asked you what
you would do with a Prince you hated. But I never asked you what you
would do with a Prince you loved."
Serena's jaw dropped, the rush of emotion that inspired causing her to
blurt out, "Loved?! You arrogant, selfish . . . how dare you presume
that?"
Darien laughed bitterly. "Perhaps you're right. Perhaps you couldn't
have loved me anyway. But am I to believe that you actually want that
dull, restricted husband that you claimed you so despised? Either that
or you're just too scared to admit what you really want. You spend a
night of wanton excitement with me, then blush in horror and pretend
to be a *proper* maiden. What am I supposed to think of you?"
"Oh!," she cried, utterly distraught, tears filling her eyes. "How can
you be so cruel?!" With no warning, she gathered up her skirts, and
literally ran back up the path, followed by a flock of maids, servants,
and of course, the Sailor warriors.
Darien was stunned. <Cruel?> he thought blackly, as he watched her go.
<No, my sweet. It is you who is cruel, to leave me like this. To leave
me so in love with you. You, who denies me. You are cruel.>

I hope you liked it. Give me comments!!
d-boy@intercoast.com.au