Masked Mystery

Personal Dilemmas

Darien's POV

Lita slept through the entire afternoon and finally woke up around eleven that night. I was sitting in a chair waiting on the others to return from patrolling the area. She sat up with a confused look on her face. "Hey," I said.

She kept her eyebrows furrowed and said, "Uh... Hey."

I knelt down beside the couch, "How you feeling?"

She slowly stretched, and she winced, "I'm a little sore, but I'll live. Where is everyone?"

I shrugged, "I don't know. Out there patrolling somewhere. They made me stay behind... Again."

Lita smiled and stood up, "I'm sorry you had to babysit me."

I went to the kitchen and brought her a bottle of water and a sandwich. She scarfed down the food quickly and almost drank the whole bottle in one gulp. "So, do you remember anything?"

She ran her hand through her hair and puffed air out of her cheeks. "You know, not really. I remember being lock in some dungeon looking room, breaking out, and I remember starting the walk home, but honestly it's all kind of fuzzy." Looking at the wraps on both of her wrists she added, "Oh yeah, and I was chained up and got some life essence sucked out of me to make me weak."

"I'm sorry. I wish I could've been there to help when they took you..."

"Don't blame yourself. We made you stay behind. I'm glad you weren't there. They would've went for you."

The door opened and the other scouts entered. I quickly did a head count to make sure everyone was there. When they noticed Lita was awake, they all rushed to her and began hugging her and talking at once. She seemed to be a little overwhelmed, but she didn't say anything. She smiled, nodded to all their comments, and hugged them back. She told them what little she could remember.

"So there is about 20 or so left. We can handle that many, right?" Mina asked.

We all looked at each other. "Well, we will need EVERYONE to help us out. That includes Sailors Pluto, Uranus, and Neptune," Ami said as she looked at Rei. Rei nodded, but looked very irritated. I looked at Serena. She was staring at me, her eyes wide. I read her mind, and I raised an eyebrow. EVERYONE mean me too. She shook her head, as if reading my mind as well.

I crossed to Serena's bedroom. This isn't an argument I want to have in front of everyone. She followed me without saying a word until the door shut behind us. "No. Absolutely not!"

I sighed. "Serena... I have to do this. You guys will need all the help you can get."

She looked terrified and she did something I didn't expect. She fell to her knees and started crying, "Please, Darien...Stay out of this. I won't be able to repeat what happened before..."

I lifted her to her feet and said, "This isn't just about you." I could see the hurt in her eyes, but I kept going. "How fair would it be for me to stay home even though all my wounds have healed, and then send Sailor Jupiter back out there after she just escaped? She is no condition to stand up, much less fight. We both can't stay back. There is no way that you guys to do it with two people gone. I am going to do this. No matter what you say. This can't be about me avoiding getting hurt because you are afraid of losing me..." I finished and crossed my arms.

Serena's terror turned to anger, and her blue eyes hardened. "Is that how you see me? Self-centered and selfish?" I started to interject, but she kept going, and her voice grew louder. "I wanted you both to stay here, and stay safe! Did you think that I would make Lita go fight after what she has been through? That I would put her life in jeopardy again just to ensure your existence? Wow... I would hate to see how I look from your perspective. I mean, if you think that I am that shallow, how are you even standing to be with me? I wouldn't be able to handle me..." Tears streamed down her face, but she didn't bother to wipe them away. We stood there, and she glared at me until she finally stormed out of the room and slammed the door.

I sat down with my back resting against the wall. Did... Did we just break up?