Author: Hikari
E-mail: Machi_NO_Tenshi@Excite.Com
Story: Tenderly
Part: Chapter 8
Rating: R


PRE-NOTES:
	I have decided to write a little note here 
today because of the time that has passed since I 
wrote this and since its posting time.  I have to 
tell you guys that I have almost gone through the 
impossible to get this to you and I seriously hope 
to get some *MAYOR* feed-back.
	Also, to the people that are waiting for
the first Chapter of Geisha... don't worry.  Now 
that things are getting back to normal, I'll soon
be able to send it out.
	A million thanks to Princess Little Serenity,
because, if it hadn't been for her idea of the Mac
being able to accept Microsoft Word and TXT files...
this story would have not come to you so soon.
	And so, now I'll shut up and let you guys
read what you have waited for a long time to receive.


Chapter 8:

	'Two months have passed... yet everything seems 
*so* different.' Serena thought as she looked at the 
moving vehicles from the window of the taxi she rode 
on.  'I wonder if he's still waiting for me?'


		*/^.^\*  flashback */^.^\*


	A woman in her thirties, with thick black hair, 
round green eyes and a scar across her chin cried in 
disgust as she retold the story of her abusive husband...

	She had been married for three years and ever 
since the beginning of her marriage she had been 
forbidden to leave her home.  Her husband would lock 
her in the house and hide the telephone under lock 
and key.  He would instruct her on her daily duties 
and chores which she was to complete before his 
arrival.  His food was to be hot and on the table as 
he sat down.  She also had to change his shoes and set 
out his clothes both at night and in the morning.

	And if all this, or even one of the chores 
wasn't done to his standards, she would be punished 
in various methods.  His most common was the belt; 
he would strike her across her hips, legs and back 
(usually where people couldn't see her scars).  Other 
ways he had for punishing her where public humiliation, 
the diminution of her food rations, and verbal insults.

	The final result of his actions:  A submissive 
wife that bowed down before him.


		*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

	"I really did love him, you know."  Began a 
thin and pale woman, with light gray eyes and dark 
brown hair.  "And- I thought he loved me too."  She 
ended silently.

	"Go on, we're listening."  Encouraged the 
group leader.

	And so, the frail woman recounted her experi-
ence with her last lover.  A demanding man that thought 
of her as a mere 'play-thing' to be used and discarded 
whenever he wanted.  He had been the perverted sadist 
that, through his love of bondage and the extremes of 
pain, had turned her into the martyr of his sickening 
desirers.

	This, forever scaring her from any future 
relationships.


		*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


	"Hi everyone!"  Called a cheerful young voice 
of around eighteen.  "My name is Sarah and... This is 
the-" she paused as if to find her breath, the glee-
filled tone she had used before was now gone.  "This 
is the third time that I'm- that I've had to come to 
this camp."  Sarah bowed her head, her strawberry-blond 
hair coming down and covering her features from the 
groups wondering looks.

	"I-" Sarah's right foot began to move in a 
nervous manner back and forth.  "I tried to leave my 
boyfriend once again."  Her head shot-up in plead as 
her red, teary brown eyes looked around the room for 
comfort.  "I REALLY DID..." She sobbed.  "But he was 
so nice.  And he had promised me that *this time* he 
*would* change."

	"I was wrong."  She said as she shook her head 
from side to side softly.  "He just lied to me again.  
Like he always does.  And you know what?"  Sarah asked 
the group in a tone filled with disdain.  "Knowing all 
this, I still went back to him."


		*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


	Slowly, and with time, Serena had learned 
to trust the group of women she met daily in the 
sessions. Hearing their stories, their similarities, 
their differences, and their sad endings shocked her 
to the core.  The realization of how these women where 
just like her, made Serena think back and try to find 
out why she and these women suffered this fate.

	And since the best way to face things is to 
talk about them, Serena decided to finally tell what 
had happened to her and how she had gotten there.  
The latter, of course, had been a conclusion that 
Doctor Mendat had reached when he had heard the whole 
tale of her past.


		*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


	"Hi, my name is Serena Moyers and I'm twenty-
three years old."  She took a deep breath before 
continuing.  "I know I haven't said much every time it 
was my turn to speak, but, well...  I've been thinking 
a lot lately and I think I'd like to tell you all a 
little bit more about myself."

	The counselor smiled at Serena, trying to give 
her the courage she might be in need of.  "We are all, 
I'm sure, ready and willing to hear anything you might 
want to share."

	"Well then," Serena began again.  "I guess I'll 
start by my past...  were my psychiatrist says it all 
started."  Placing her hands on her skirt, she pulled 
the fabric nervously towards her knees.  "When I was 
very young, my dad and my mother got divorced.  I don't 
remember too much of him.  What I do remember were the 
men that came into my mother's life after him."

	 "The first man that took my father's place 
in the family was a very stern man."  Serena looked 
up at the ceiling.  "He loved perfection and demanded 
it from both me and my mother.  And I suppose that 
since he was the only one sustaining the family, my 
mother tolerated anything he did."

	Serena shut her eyes tightly as she recalled 
Michael.  His hard hands and his strong words.  He 
was the first of a long line of men who would come to 
abuse her and her mother.  He was the one that had 
started her on the path of this fate.

	She shook her head from side to side.  "After 
he left us- He had been several years with us and I 
suppose that my mother got used to that type of life-
style, because from then on it seemed like those where 
the only type of men she would attract."  Serena laughed 
at the last words she said, trying to lighten her whole 
story.

	"When I was about fourteen or fifteen, I had my 
first boyfriend.  He seemed the normal type of guy; you 
know- smart, funny, good looking... but he had his dark 
side.  He was very stubborn and always had to get his 
way.  That was when I lost my virginity."

	 "I don't know if it was rape, or if I wanted 
it to happen.  But I do remember being forced."  Serena 
licked her lips.  "It's funny...  when ever I think of 
him, I can see my first time but I can't hear any of 
his words."

	"Relationships like that came and went for me.  
So did my mother's.  I believed for a while that was 
those where the only type of men in the world."  Then, 
a bitterly sweet smile crept upon Serena's lips.  "That 
was, at least, until I went to college."

	A small tear slid down Serena's smooth cheek.  
"I met the most wonderful man I had ever known during 
my freshman year.  He was the embodiment of tenderness 
and he had seen in me something he had liked.  So we 
started going out and he asked me to be his girlfriend."

	"In the beginning, he would only hold my hand 
in his and lay soft kisses on my lips.  He would treat 
me as if I was made of porcelain.  At night, sometimes, 
I would sneak into his dorm and we would read to each 
other until we fell asleep."

	"He was a gentleman through and through.  He 
never pressured me into doing anything, and it was 
actually I who enticed him into having sex with me."  
Serena's voice wavered as she tried to wipe away her 
tears with her hand.  "I was me, unworthy in every 
sense, that had coerced him into giving up his inno-
cence for me."  She broke down at this point trying 
to suppress her sobs.

	Someone from the group handed her a tissue, 
and seeing that Serena was unable to take it, she 
began to help her wipe way her tears.  The woman was 
Sarah.  "It's alright."  She whispered to her in a 
soothing manner.  "Calm down.  Look at me."  She said 
as she raised Serena's face.  "You're not 'unworthy.'  
And if he decided to sleep with you was because he 
must have thought you were *that* special."

	"He was saving himself for his wife!"  Serena 
screamed as if Sarah and her were the only women there. 
"And then I left him, as if everything he had done or 
given me had been worthless...  I left him for another 
man, like those before him!!"


		*/^.^\*  end of flashback */^.^\*


	"Ma'am," Called the cab driver from behind the 
wheel.  "I said, 'We're here!'"

	Serena returned to the present.  She was 
sitting in the back seat of a yellow taxi, in front 
of Darien's apartment building.  Soon, the words 
spoken to her, finally reached her ears.  "How much 
do I owe you?"


		*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


	Riding in the cold elevator, Serena hugged 
herself.  Pretty soon she would see him again.  Could 
she face him?  Could she tell him her past?  Would he 
believe and accept the things she had to tell him?

	The elevator came to a stop.  The doors opened 
and she stepped out into the long corridor that would 
lead her towards Darien's apartment.  She took a deep 
breath as she raised her hand and rang the doorbell.  
She heard someone's footsteps approach, and soon the 
door opened before her.

	There he stood.  The tenderest man she had 
ever met.  Serena examined his features as if trying 
to engrave in her mind everything about Darien.  His 
deep-sea blue eyes.  His soft yet hard lips that formed 
a secretive and seductive smile.  The sharp planes of 
his face and his straight nose.  The tall, rough body 
that was hidden beneath a simple blue shirt and khaki 
pants.

	Unable to hold herself back, she threw herself 
into his embrace, holding his shirt as if it was her 
salvation.  Crystal tears slid from her eyes down to 
her chin, and she began to cry.  Could he be able to 
withstand what she was about to ask of him?

	Darien starred silently at the crying girl in 
his arms.  The sobs that rocked her body were scaring 
him.  Placing one arm around her waist, and the other 
in her hair, he began to caress her softly.  "Serena..."

	Upon hearing her name, Serena began to recollect 
herself.  "I'm sorry," she said as she wiped away her 
tears.  "It's just that I missed you so much."

	Something inside Darien filled with warmth.  
He led Serena inside the apartment and took her bags 
to their room.  Then, he sat next to her on the sofa.  
"How was camp?"


		*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


	After Serena had told him what had went on 
at the camp, she told him of her past.  Including her 
thoughts, feelings and fears.  But as her story came 
to a close, she searched within herself for the courage 
to say to Darien what she had concluded from the group 
*and* from her life.

	"I want to be honest with you Darien because 
you shouldn't have someone that lies to you."  Serena 
took a deep breath as she held his hand in hers.  
"Right now, I'm in a very unstable emotional state.  
And...  I don't think I'm ready for a relationship."  
She looked into his eyes.  "To be truthful, I don't 
know if I'll ever be."

	Serena cupped his cheek in her free hand.  "I 
really do like you.  Actually, I think you're the best 
thing that could have ever happened to me."  She 
lowered her eyes to his hand as she said softly, "but 
I don't love you."

	"I don't think I have any concept of what love 
is supposed to be, so I'm not capable of loving yet." 
A sad smile shaped itself on her lips.  "I would really 
like for our- whatever we have- to stay the way it is.  
But with no labels."  Serena began to rock herself 
slowly back and forth on the couch.  "I- I'm afraid to 
fall in love."

	Darien placed his arms around her and brought 
her in for a hug.  He held her gently, yet with under-
lying strength, as if afraid of loosing her.  He now 
finally understood where she came from and why she was 
this way.  "It's alright."  He told her.  "I understand 
what you're saying."

	He sensed the muscles of her body relax in his 
embrace.  And in that instance of complete clarity he 
knew he could not live without this woman.  It didn't 
matter if he could not label her as his girlfriend... 
as his wife.  He knew, somewhere deep within him, that 
someday he *would* be able to call her *his*.

	"I don't care if I can't tell the world of 
what we have."  Darien began.  "I just want you to be 
with me.  And if this is what it takes..." he said as 
he raised her head and looked into her eyes.  "Then 
whatever you say is what I'll do."

	Serena's eyes widened upon hearing his words.  
'Could this really be happening?'  Did he really just 
say that he would stand by her side and stick things 
out?  A painfully joyful smile spread across her face.  
She launched herself at him, encircling his neck and 
bringing his lips to hers.  She kissed him mercilessly 
and with passion, putting in it everything she felt.

	Darien's lips were curved in a smile as they 
kissed her.  He withdrew from them slightly in order 
to catch his breath.  Then, placing his mouth near her 
ear, he whispered softly.  "We shall face the future 
together." 


					?...The End...?		


@=6='=9=*=9='=6=@=8=8='=$=*=$='=8=8=@=6='=9=*=9='=6=@

Hikari's Notes:

	Well minna, this is it. The end of "Tenderly."
Did you like it? From all the e-mails I've gotten, I'd
say you have. You guys have no idea how much your emails
have motivated me to keep writing this.
	I want to take this moment to thank all of you.
And to apologize to anyone that might have e-mailed me
and did not get a response.
	I seriously do hope that no one ever has to go
through an abusive relationship, and if any of your
friends or family are in this position... please don't
give up on them and help them through it.
	Like a very wise Buta would say:  "Be a shoulder
to lean on.  It helps you deal with the pain."

ATT:  Hikari-chan.
AKA:  Machi no Tenshi.