Disclaimer: (sung to tune of London Bridge is falling down) "I-I don't own Sailor Moon, Sailor Moon, Sailor Moon. I-I don't own Sailor Moon, so please don't sue-e me!" Ok I don't own West Edmonton Mall, Fort Edmonton, The Blair Witch Project or any of the other thing I've mentioned in this story. (Hey has anyone ever heard the story behind "London Bridge"? it's creepy…)

Title: Lost in the Rockies, Chp.1

Author: Selene Seta-Terra (yes I'm still plain old Selene Terra…) [email protected]

Rating: PG

Serena was eating dinner with her family when her Mom brought up her idea for a trip.

"Guess who I got letters from today," Ilene asked the family.

"Who?"

"Well first I got a letter from my sister Tamara, telling me about the wonderful trip they took to the Canadian Rockies this spring when they went skiing. She said it's a beautiful country and that they'll defiantly go again next year. Then I got a letter from my old high school friend, Peggy. She's invited us to visit her and her family in Edmonton this summer. I was thinking that as soon as school gets out for the kids we can fly to Edmonton and visit with Peggy's family for a few days then rent a car and go to the mountains. It's really pretty in the summer to and we can do some hiking tours and all that. We can spend three days in Edmonton and four in the mountains, then fly back. It would be a fun vacation and we really haven't taken a big vacation in a few years. What do you think?"

"I think it sounds wonderful, honey. Imagine Fresh Mountain air, majestic pines, cold mountain lakes and streams and wonderful wildlife. It sounds fantastic. I'm all for it!" Ken said smiling.

"Sounds cool Mom! Then we can take pictures of all the cute little animals and show them to everyone when we get home! Oh this will be so wicked cool!" Serena enthused.

"Are there arcades in Canada?" was all Sammy wanted to know. Ken and Ilene sighed.

"Yes Sammy."

"What about shopping?" Serena wanted to know.

"Why of course! Where did you think West Edmonton Mall was! In Edmonton of course!" Ilene said.

"That sounds familiar. Where have I heard it before?"

"It's the biggest mall in the world dear. The one with the Amusement Park right inside and a waterpark and dolphins and tons of stores and movie theaters too." Ilene reminded Serena.

"Oh yeah that place! Oh how wicked cool! I can't wait to tell my friends I'm going shopping there!" Then Serena shoveled in the last bite and bounded up to her room.

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"You wanted to see me sir?" Darien asked his boss.

"Yeah Shields, you're aware of the talks about a partnership with Megasys in Calgary, Canada?"

"Of course sir."

"The board has been trying to come up with a suitable team to lead the actual face to face dealings with them. Considering your work on the Freeman account, We've decided to send you as the head of the team going to Calgary."

"Oh thank you sir. I won't let you down," Darien promised. The briefing continued and a while later, when Darien was back in his office, he finally let out his jubilation. "YESSS!!!" he shouted. Miss Rydell, his secretary, peered into his office.

"Are you alright Mr. Shields?"

"Of course Kate, why wouldn't I be?"

"Well I heard you yelling…" she trailed off. He grinned.

"I was just letting out a bit of excitement. Guess what Kate? I've been chosen to head the team going to Calgary!"

"How wonderful Mr. Shields! I'm very happy for you," Kate grinned.

"I'm happy too. Well I'd better get some stuff done so I can keep myself in the boss's good esteem!" he said giving her a brotherly wink before sitting down at his computer.

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"Serena, HURRY UP ALREADY!!! We're gonna miss our plane if you don't get your butt in gear!" Sammy yelled up the stairs.

"Yeah, yeah! I'm coming!" she hollered as she slammed her door and came flying down the stairs with a bunch of bags under her arms. She flew out the front door, tossed her stuff in the trunk and leapt into the car. Her mom shut the trunk and hopped in the front seat, nodding to her husband who peeled out of the driveway and down the street like a maniac. In speeds almost as high as the speed of sound they drove to the airport, inadvertently causing a couple of three car pile-ups. Reaching the airport, he parked the car in the place where you keep your cars while away, and they grabbed their stuff and raced into the airport. They zoomed through all the obligatory processes and through the boarding gate just as they were starting to close it. Once they were sitting in their seats her father turned to level a glare at Serena.

"Now that young lady was way too close." Serena sighed and settled down in her seat preparing for the long flight ahead of her.

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

(Same day as Serena left, but later on in the evening)

Darien sighed as he relaxed in his seat on the plane. 'I'm glad the boss let me take some of that vacation time I never use after the talks are over to see the mountains. I wonder if they're as spectacular as everyone says?' he pondered, then his thoughts turned to the talks. 'Please let this go according to plan. This opportunity could make or break my career!' then he pulled out his laptop and started to work on some last minute details.

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

Serena yawned as they got off the plane in Edmonton. It had been like a whole day on the plane and she was stiff and bored out of her mind. A sudden squeal from her mother startled her and she was about to transform when she saw her mother running to hug a lady who waved franticly at them. Serena followed her mom, as did her dad and brother. The woman was surrounded by 4 others, which Serena guessed were her family. She was right. The woman was introduced as Carol, her mom's old high school friend and her husband Chris and three kids. The oldest was a girl with shoulder length red hair named Kirsty who was Serena's age. (AN: Ok, ok! I'm guilty! Yeah this is me, well in a way cause I changed my name. So sue me! Actually don't. This isn't a big part.)

Then there were two boys, one Sammy's age and the other was 8. The older one was blond, named Roger and the younger, also a red head, was Simon. They finished introductions and left the airport after they had gotten their bags. Serena and Kirsty struck up a conversation, which led to them making plans to see the new movie 'The Blair Witch Project.' They continued to talk all the way back to the city.

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

Darien flopped on to the bed in his hotel room. Tomorrow they would start the partnership talks with Megasys. He sighed, got off the bed and unpacked his suitcase. Placing the laptop on the desk. Phoning for a 7:00am-wakeup call he could finally go to sleep and wear off all that jet lag. As his deep breaths sounded throughout the room the clock clicked to 6:59pm.

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

(The next day, about 1:00)

Serena and Kirsty stood in line for the movie the next day. Finally they got their tickets and headed inside. After buying a ton of candy they walked into the theatre to get their seats. Managing to get good seats they opened the candy and chatted mindlessly while they watched the ads on screen until the movie started. As soon as the light went down they hushed and began to watch the dizzying film.

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

(Same time, at the Megasys building.)

Darien closed his briefcase after putting the rest of the papers inside. He had just finished giving a presentation to the heads of Megasys, who were smiling and nodding. He sat down and questions flew between the two company's teams.

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

(After the movie)

Serena stumbled out of the theatre, Kirsty beside her, both rubbing their temples to try and get rid of the headache the movie caused.

"Well," Kirsty remarked. "That was my type of horror, no gore, no cheap effects, just a plain scary story that is most likely gonna scare the crap out of me later when I wake up from the dream this will induce."

"Yeah, I don't think I'll be able to forget that last scene," Serena shivered. Then the car pulled up and they piled in with everyone else and headed to Fort Edmonton Park for the rest of the day.

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

(After all of his meetings are through, back at his room)

Darien sat at the desk in his room, attempting to work on an aspect of his power point presentation for the next day. He wasn't succeeding though, cause his thoughts for some strange reason were focussing on that bubbly blond meatball head. 'I wonder what's she's doing right now?' he thought. 'Oh yeah didn't Andrew say she was going on vacation this week?' he snorted. 'Don't fool yourself man, you know you asked the boss for the rest of the week off cause you knew she was going to the Rocky mountains this week. Now all I've got to do is find out where!' It was his plan to do some hiking while he searched for Serena, which wouldn't be too hard since he knew which part of the mountains she was staying in. Her face with unique hairstyle drifted across his mind and he got up and went out on the balcony to clear his head. It didn't work so her came inside and lay down and gave in to his overpowering thoughts of his little meatball head. 'The power point presentation is fine how it is anyway,' he dismissed.

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

The next two days flew by for both of them, with Serena doing a major shopping spree at West Edmonton Mall as well as spending a day doing all the attractions, the waterpark, seeing the dolphins, klutzing out on the rink, and having a ball at Galaxyland. She even went on the roller coaster, Drop of Doom and upside down ship at the insistence of Kirsty and of her friends back home. Darien was occupied with finishing up discussions and finished writing up the terms, signed the forms and faxed them to his boss. After 3 days in Calgary, Darien finally finished the talks and rented a car and drove to the mountains. In Edmonton, Serena was helping her family pack their rental car so they could make it to the inn that night to take part in the hiking trip they had signed up for.

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

Darien walked up to the counter in the inn he was staying in. A notice caught his eye about a hiking trip and something told him to sign up for it. He asked about it and the clerk produced a list for him to sign. While he was doing that he noticed a familiar name at the top of the list. 'Amazing her family has signed up for this too! This is great!' he thought. 'I'll just play surprised though. This is perfect!'

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

Serena was asleep early that night because the hike trip started early in the morning and even though she wasn't too happy about hiking, she was determined to have fun. With that in mind she fell into a dreamless sleep.

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

The next morning, bright and early Ilene shook Serena awake.

"It's time to get up Serena! Get your butt out of bed!" yelled an exasperated Ilene who had been attempting to wake her daughter for some time now. Serena finally sat up and with a grumble headed off to the shower. Ilene sighed and went back to packing her backpack. A few minutes later Serena came hurtling out of the bathroom and threw some clothes in her backpack, and like everyone else leaving room for group stuff. Then they all headed to the elevators. When it arrived on the main floor, about 10 people milled around the front desk, where a guide stood. Serena's breath caught as she caught a glimpse of a familiar head above the crowd. Darien heard the gasp behind him and turned around.

"YOU!!!????" Serena shrieked, staring at him in shock.

"It's nice to see you too meatball head," Darien commented drolly. Serena just continued to stare at him shaking her head.

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

The group had been driven out to the trail and supplies were distributed. Serena got some food and a tent to carry in her pack as well as a tarp on top. Her sleeping bag went with her dad. Darien also had some food as well as some pots and cups and his sleeping bag. Once everything was distributed, the guide called everyone to attention.

"Ok everyone! I'm Lynn, your guide for this backpacking/hiking trip. Now that we're ready to go, I'd just like to lay down some rules. 1. Don't stray from the group. 2. Leave everything as you found it and don't eat anything you see, even if it looks edible. 3. Leave the animals alone and don't try to get pictures of your self with them. And lastly I'm warning you know that we are in bear country, but they shouldn't be in the area we'll be hiking in, plus we'll be making too much noise and it will scare them away, so it's just a precautionary. Now lets hit the trail!"

The group set out on the trail, with Darien falling into step a few paces behind Serena. He watched the bobbing odangos and listened with half an ear to Lynn as she described the surrounding wilderness and the animals to be found in it. He grinned when he saw Serena slip earphones into her ears and listen to her music instead.

At three o'clock the group stopped at a stream to refill their water canteens and take a rest. Serena slipped of her earphones and sat on a rock. 'It's a good thing I brought my Walkman,' she reflected. 'That way I could escape fighting with Darien and watch where I was going!' She was just about to shrug off her pack when she heard a rustling in the bushes. Her curiosity caught, she crept over to see what it was. Darien noticed her leaving and followed. She parted the bushes to find to grizzly bear cubs wrestling in the underbrush.

"Aww, they're so cute!"

"Stay away from them Serena! If the mother…" his warning was cut off an angry roar and everybody's heads jerked up to the opposite bank where a large, angry mother grizzly bear was about to attack them to protect her cubs. The rest of the group scrambled to their feet, grabbing bags and children and running as fast as they could away from the bears, trying to find some trees to climb very fast. Darien grabbed Serena's wrist and started pulling her away from the three bears, in a dead run in the opposite direction the rest of the group had taken. They ran through the underbrush and up the side of the mountain, both pulling from their reserves of superhero stamina and speed. They dodged low branches and managed to jump over roots while the bear chased them. Gradually the sounds of pursuit died away and they slowed a little. Serena glanced over her shoulder, trying to spot the bear, but failed to spot the tree root in front of her. She fell heavily, her ankle giving a sickening twist beneath her. She cried out in pain and rolled quickly onto her back, before her pack squished her to death. She unbuckled it and shrugged it off so she could see what she had done, but Darien was already there, unlacing her hiking boot ever so gently as to not jar her ankle. He removed the tiny boot and folded down her sock until it was half off her foot. The feel of his hand tenderly touching her foot sent shivers down Serena's spine and she yanked her foot away.

"I'll be fine," she said pulling herself to her feet, using the tree next to her. "Its just twis…" her sentence broke off as she put a bit of weight on it and it gave way with a flash of pain that sent her to the forest floor with a cry of pain.

"I was about to tell you it's more than twisted," Darien said reproachfully as he slid a hand behind her back and the other behind her knees and lifted the tiny teenager and was surprised at how light she was. "You don't weigh enough," he remarked as he crouched down again. "Anyway, pickup your pack and here's your boot. I'll check your ankle better when we get to the next clearing." Serena had been blinking in shock since the moment he lifted her and she finally got her voice back.

"Get real Darien! You can't carry me through the forest! Not to mention my pack and yours!" He smiled.

"Why don't you let me decide what I can And Can't do and just pick up your pack so we can get going. Unless you want me to leave you here for the bear…" he teased. Her eyes widened.

"You wouldn't…"

"Maybe I would," he baited, looking for a reaction.

"Darien you are THE most insufferable person I've met! Imagine, threatening to leave someone to the mercy of a huge slobbering rabid bear!" She fumed her face adorably red. He laughed.

"Calm down Meatball Head! I wouldn't, OK? Now can you please pick up your pack so we can be going? Besides all I think I have in my pack a pot but no food so unless you don't want dinner…" Serena's eyes widened at the mention of food and grabbed onto her pack with a sigh, pulling it onto her lap. "Good girl," he said as he straightened and began to walk.

Serena felt odd in his arms. That was the only word she could describe it with. She felt torn between feelings, like her head and heart were having an argument with each other. Her mind was screaming 'this is DARIEN we are dealing with here! Mr. Sarcastic Insulting Ego Man himself! We do NOT like this situation at all! We should walk by ourselves! Remember we are Sailor Moon, we shouldn't need to be carried!' But her heart on the other hand was saying totally different things. 'But doesn't this feel so RIGHT, so romantic! Besides he saved us from that bear! AND Sailor moon always has Tuxedo Mask to help her and he carries her exactly like this! He also didn't tease us for tripping! What about THAT!?' Serena sighed internally as the two continued to squabble and turned to watch the scenery. A few minutes later, they arrived in a clearing, with a small creek running nearby. It was here that Darien leaned her up against a tree and carefully lifted her ankle again. Although only 7 or so minutes had passed, it was looking quite swollen.

"Serena, I need to examine your ankle and it might hurt a bit. I want to you tell me when it does, OK?" She nodded and took as deep breath as he gently began to push and prod at her ankle very gently. A stream of pain shot though her leg and she yelped a bit.

"Sorry," he said then pushed one way and another streak of pain wormed up her leg and she cried out again. "Sorry about that Serena, but your ankle is most definitely broken. Hold on." He got a first aid kit out of his bag and took some gauze down to the stream. He came back with the wetted material and wrapped Serena's ankle before putting on the tensor bandage.

"I'm sorry that this is all I can do for you now," he apologized, sitting back.

"It's OK," Serena said. "Thank you for helping me." He smiled at her and she looked at her watch. "It's nearly 4:30. What are we going to do now?"

"Make camp I guess?"

Well Minna! How do you like my newest fic? This one should only be 2 or 3 chapters unlike Caribbean Cruise. I would appreciate comments and if you have any requests, I'll try to work them in somewhere. This fic was mainly fueled through memory of a killer hike my Dad took us on last summer when I started it. Oh man was it ever hot and long and steep! Well get in touch with me at [email protected]

Also, please visit my page if you are reading this from one of the first season only archives, as there is a new song fic there that I would really appreciate some feed back for, as it's the first I've actually finished. It's called Amazed by her and is a R season fic based on "Amazed" by Lonestar.

http://www.geocities.com/moon_princess_selene/

The London Bridge thing is that they used to wall up maidens in a newly built bridge so there would be a pure virginal spirit guarding the bridge from bad spirits and such, when they died. And there are these little holes in the pillars where the maidens could look out of until they died. Now how creepy is that? On this note, I want to wish you all a Happy Easter, although by the time most of you will be reading this, It'll be past Easter already, so I hope the Easter bunny in the Edmonton Oilers jersey was nice to you!

Selene Seta-Terra