Ok...I can't believe I'm writing this.
You are about to read EW 10b, the LAST
chapter in EW (other than the epilogue
anyway). I'm writing this on schedule, too.
Maybe the epilogue'll even make it here late
this month...oh whenever...it'll be soon enough
;). Happy Reading!

Sailor Moon belongs to lotsa people 
who can sue me if I don't write this, 
like Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha, Toei, 
Cloverway, etc., etc. Endless Waters 
and the original characters in it (not 
Serena and Darien!) belong to me.


Endless Waters by Tess. Chapter 10b
Posted 7-16-02


	What happened next seemed to occur in 
slow motion. Serena watched in horror as 
Darien's body sank deeper into the pool. 
She let out a piercing scream. Hardly 
hesitating, she jumped after him into the 
pool. Her eyes burned as she opened them 
in the salt water of the pool, frantically 
searching for Darien. When she spotted him 
at the bottom of the deep end, she struggled 
to swim towards him. Her hair swirled around 
her, impairing her vision. When she finally 
reached him, she lifted him up, thankful that 
he was lighter in the water. Getting to the top 
would be much harder than reaching the bottom. 
She desperately flung her arms and kicked her feet, 
flinging off her shoes. Inch by inch, she was 
making more progress to the top. She kicked harder 
and harder, until she finally took a huge gulp of
air as her head broke the surface. 
	She struggled to lift Darien's body out 
of the water and onto the deck, then rushed to 
get out of the pool herself. Praying that she 
would remember what she learned in health class 
her senior year of high school, she pressed 
her mouth to his and began CPR. 'Come on, 
Darien,' she silently pleaded, breathing air 
into him. 'You can't leave....you can't!'. 
Salty tears stung her wet face as she lifted 
her head for a breath of air and once again 
pressed her mouth to his. 'Darien! Please! 
Please!'. She lifted her head once more and 
was about to continue to CPR when she heard 
him cough. "Darien!" she cried out as his eyes 
slowly opened. 
	"Sere," he whispered weakly. 
	"Darien!" Serena flung her arms 
around his neck, holding him tightly.
	"Sere...what happened?"
	"Serena saved your life, that's what 
happened!" came Katie's voice from nearby. 
Darien gently pulled Serena away from him to 
look her in the eye.
	"McNoll knocked you into the pool 
when you were unconscious." Serena explained.
	"And you...you went in after me?" 
Serena nodded. It was now Darien's turn to 
hug Serena in an almost crushing, but sweet, 
embrace. "Oh Serena....you risked your life for 
me...thank you...thank you so much."
******************************
	Serena lightly knocked on the door to 
Darien's room. "Come in!" he called from inside. 
"It's open." Serena opened the door and stepped 
inside. Darien was lying in bed, his forehead 
bandaged, but other than that, looking perfectly 
healthy. 
	"Hey," she greeted quietly. "How are 
you feeling?"
	"Great. The nurse on the ship says 
I'll be fine by tomorrow."
	"Awesome."
	"Sit down," Darien offered. Serena 
sat down on the other pale yellow bed. "Do 
you know what happened to McNoll and Ernie? 
I've been trying to find out, but no one knows."
	"Mmm-hmm. They're actually both still 
on board, locked away in some room or something. 
That's why we're turning back to go to the US, 
and skipping out on going to Nassau."
	"And Wilson and Brickens? How are they?"
	"Wilson is still in the infirmary, and 
I think they're going to take him for questioning 
when he recovers. There's a good chance he won't 
spend time in jail like McNoll and Ernie though. 
And Brickens is doing fine, although I suspect 
that Katie had a lot to do with that."
	"Katie? What makes you say that?"
	"Oh, just that I saw them kiss 
outside of the infirmary earlier. Looks 
like they definitely bonded." Darien laughed, 
but then his face got serious.
	"We need to talk, Serena." She began 
to fidget with the bedspread.
	"I know...I've just been avoiding the 
topic." There was silence for a moment. "Why'd 
you do it, Darien?" Her voice cracked. "You said 
you loved me!"
	"I did, Serena, and still do."
	"But then why you'd have to go and get 
married?" A tear fell down Serena's cheek.
	"Oh Sere...I didn't. I'm not married, I 
never have been married, and if I ever asked 
anyone to marry me, it would be you." Serena blushed, 
but then regained her composure.
	"But...there was a newspaper article. It 
said that you proposed to Allison Bruner the year 
we-the year I turned 16."
	"Allison Bruner? She's my third cousin!"
	"What? But my mom showed it to me. She'd 
cut it out and..." Serena trailed off, her eyes 
widening in realization. "Oh. My. Gosh."
*Flashback* (AN: bwahahahaha! The last chapter 
just had to have one...LoL)
	The phone in Serena's room gave off a 
loud ring. She covered her tear-stained face 
with her pillow, hoping that her mom or dad would 
answer it. It had been three weeks since the 
McAllister's had left, and she didn't feel like 
talking to anyone. It rang again. Again. 
"Sweetpea?" her father called from downstairs. 
"Can you get that?" Serena didn't answer, but 
reached over and picked up the phone. 
	"Hello?" she said hoarsely.
	"Hi!" said a chipper voice on the 
other line. "My name is Kirsten Summers, and 
I work for the Charlotte Printing Factory. I 
need to speak to Alice Lands about-" Suddenly, 
the woman was cut off, and Serena's mother's 
voice could be heard on the phone. 
	"Kirsten, darling, how are you?"
	"I'm fine, just wanted to talk to you 
about your art-" the woman was once again cut 
off by Mrs. Lands.
	"Serena, dear, hang up." Serena picked 
up on a note of something resembling panic in 
her mother's voice, but shrugged it off and hung up.
*End Flashback* (AN: At least it was a quickie.) 
	Now Serena realized why her mother had 
sounded so panicky. She'd paid that woman for 
printing out something. And Serena knew exactly
what that something was. Pain ripped at her 
heart from the realization that her parents, 
whom she loved even if they had their moments, 
had gone as far as to tell her that Darien didn't 
love her and was getting married. Even the 
quote at the end of the article, 'I can't imagine 
loving anyone else this much.' was fabricated by 
her parents. She'd spent four years believing that
Darien didn't love her, when he'd missed her as 
much as she'd missed him. Darien. Darien would be 
so angry with her. She'd been so cold and cruel to 
him. All because of a stupid lie. 
	Another tear ran down her face. "I'm such an 
idiot," she whispered, getting up from the bed. 
"I'm sorry, Darien, I'm so sorry!" Then she ran 
from the room.
******************************
	Serena kept running until she reached
her and Katie's empty room. She threw herself 
onto the floor and buried her head in her arms 
on her bed. 'I can't believe they did this...and 
I was so mean to him because of it!' "He's going 
to hate me so much when he finds out how stupid I 
was!" she sobbed.
	"No, I won't," came a familiar voice from 
behind her. She whirled around to see Darien standing 
behind her.
	"Wonderful," she sniffed. "Now I'm 
hallucinating." Darien chuckled and sat down next to her. 
	"You're not hallucinating. And I couldn't 
ever hate you."
	"You could if you knew how stupid I've 
been. I was so cold to you, Darien. All because 
my parents paid someone to write a fake newspaper 
article saying that you were getting married. 
I should've seen through it! I even talked to 
the woman from the printing company on the phone! 
I'm so stupid! I should've trusted you more, 
instead of trusting whatever someone told me!" 
she sobbed. 
	"Sere, you've done nothing wrong." 
Darien said gently, taking her hand in his. 
"All you did was trust what your parents told you, 
and there is absolutely nothing wrong with 
that. They're the ones who should be ashamed, 
not you. Not you in the least."
	"I should've been able to figure it 
out...put two and two together, but I was just 
so sad. I wasn't thinking straight. I only 
focused on you, and how much I missed you!" 
Darien placed a hand on each of Serena's shoulders. 
	"I missed you too, Serena. I missed 
you so much. And I forgive you. I forgive you 
for being cold and distant. I would've done the 
same if I had been in your position. But now 
that everything's cleared up, we have a second 
chance to be together. Brush away your tears. 
Now we can be happy."
******************************
	The next night was the last 
night on the cruise. It was formal 
night, and Katie and Serena were 
rushing around their room getting 
ready. "So, Serena, NOW are you glad 
that we came on this cruise?" Katie 
asked knowingly. "I saw you and Darien 
holding hands watching the sunset last 
night. So I take it you guys worked out 
your problems?" 
	"Really, it was just a big mix-up," 
Serena said happily, carefully applying mascara 
in the mirror. "He's not married." 
	"And so he proposed to you?" Katie teased. 
	"Funny. Besides, you're not one to talk! 
What about you and Brickens." Katie blushed.
	"He has a first name you know."
	"Really?" Serena asked sarcastically.
	"Yup. Nick. Nick Brickens." Serena 
capped her mascara and turned to Katie.
	"All right, enough of that, how do I 
look?" Serena wore a long royal blue dress 
that flared out slightly at the bottom. The 
straps were thin spaghetti straps that 
criss-crossed on her back and tied in a 
small bow on the small of her back.
	"You look awesome, Serena. Darien'll love it."
	"That's not why I'm asking!"
	"Oh it is so! Anyway, how do *I* look?" 
Katie wore a long, light pink silk dress. Her 
silky, dark brown hair was elegantly curled and 
reached her shoulders.
	"Awesome, Katie. Nick'll love it," 
Serena mimicked, and then dodged the pillow that 
Katie threw at her. She laughed.
	"You look great, Katie."
******************************
	The party after dinner was on the main 
outdoor deck. A stage surrounded by tiki 
torches was set up by the pool and a DJ was 
playing music on it. Since the boat wasn't 
going to Nassau, not only did everyone get a 
refund, but all the drinks (AN: You have 
to pay for soda and other non-alcoholic drinks, 
except tea and lemonade, and alcoholic drinks on 
cruises, or at least on the one I went on). were 
free that night. 
	When Katie and Serena reached the deck, 
Katie immediately spotted Brickens and went to him. 
Serena saw Darien too, but he was talking to some 
crew members so she decided to find him later. 
Besides, there was something on her mind. 
Something important that she needed to 
think about, so she slipped away towards 
the back of the boat. For a minute Serena 
just closed her eyes and rested. The cool 
night sea breeze tickled her face as she 
sat down on a hammock, and she could hear 
the chatter and music of the party in the 
distance.
	Suddenly, the other side of the 
hammock was pressed down, causing Serena 
to gasp and fall...directly into Darien's 
arms. She breathed a sigh of relief and 
turned her head to the stars above. 
	"Hey," she said quietly.
	"Hey. What are you doing back here?" 
Darien asked gently. 
	"Just...thinking."
	"About?" Serena turned her head to Darien's.
	"Everything. This trip has been so 
strange, even terrifying at times, yet so 
wonderful all the same. I'm ecstatic about 
being with you again." She kissed his hand. 
"But there's just one thing troubling me."
	"What's that?"
	"Our parents. They don't want us 
to be together-you know that. They're not 
going to be happy when they find out." Darien sighed.
	"Sere, I understand what you're 
saying, but we're no longer 16 and 19. You're 
nearly 21, and I'll be 24 in August. We're 
adults now, and we can make our own choices. 
Besides, you remember why they didn't want our 
relationship. All because of a stupid disagreement 
that screwed so much up. But maybe we can show them 
how things really are, and get them to forgive each 
other." Serena smiled at him.
	"You're right. Thanks for helping 
me realize it." Darien opened his mouth 
to say something, but before he could speak, 
the notes of a familiar song drifted towards 
them from the party. The song, of course, 
was "Never Gonna Let You Go." The two smiled.
	"Serena, will you dance with me?" 
Darien asked. She nodded and stood up from 
the hammock.
Darien wrapped his arms around her waist, 
and she wrapped hers around his neck. He spun 
her around, fast at first, and then slower and 
slower, until they were hardly moving. Serena's 
words from her first day on the ship came back 
to her and she smiled.
	'Right Katie. Me, Serena Lands, slow 
dance under the stars on a boat. That sort 
of thing only happens in books' Darien leaned 
up to Serena's ear and softly sang,
	"I'm never gonna let you go, I'm gonna 
hold you in my arms forever. Gonna try and make 
up for the times I hurt you so. Gonna hold your 
body close to mine, from this day on we'll be 
together. Oh I swear this time, I'm never gonna 
let you go." Serena laughed. It was all so perfect.
	"I love you, Darien," she whispered.
	"I love you too, Serena." Darien bent 
down and the two shared a long kiss, a symbol of 
their everlasting love.

THE END!

::sings::: Can you celebrate? Can you 
kiss meeee toniiight?? All right, I'm 
hyper. It's over! Kind of...there's 
still the epilogue. I know how badly 
all of you guys want to see what happens 
with their parents, right? ;) This chapter 
turned out pretty long, huh? Not to mention 
incredibly cheesy, although that last scene 
is a favorite of mine. I'll write all my 
mushy thank yous and stuff after the epilogue...stay tuned!
~*Tess*~