Title: Forget I Said That [Part 2] 
Author: W. Bymeeh
Rating: PG
E-mail: jhyunl@aol.com
Website: http://members.tripod.com/jayhyun/sm/

*Author's Note: I originally intended this fan fic to be a 
little sketch, but I appreciated everyone's comments 
telling me to continue it!  Let me know if you like 
it...Any suggestions would be appreciated.  I know where I 
want the story to go, but I don't know where I want to end 
it.  We'll see, eh?  

*Disclaimer: Characters aren't mine; don't take my story 
please!  =)   

			Forget I Said That
			    [Part 2]

	"So why should it matter if Meatball Head thinks 
Tuxedo Mask is ridiculous?" Darien muttered angrily as he 
stormed down the street.  "So what if she decides to laugh 
about him in front of all her friends?  I'll have you know 
that much of the female population in Tokyo is madly in 
love with him!"  
	'And now you're talking to yourself, Darien.  Oh, and 
you're forgetting that Tuxedo Mask and Darien Chiba are the 
same person, so stop acting like you're two different 
people.'  The thought only made Darien angrier.    
	Stepping into a dark alley, Darien kicked the bottom 
of the crumbling wall in frustration while continuing to 
vent.  "Geez, it's not like I *have* to help Sailor Moon 
and her friends anyway," temporarily ignoring the memory of 
the painful headaches he had before he realized he was 
Tuxedo Mask.  "And besides, I have a mission...and nothing 
is more important than my mission..." 
	Darien sighed and let himself slide down the wall 
into a sitting position.  His anger was gone now, and he 
only felt an inexplicable guilt come over him that he 
couldn't fight.  
	The guilt had bothered him many times in his 
encounters with the Sailor Scouts.  He had often been 
frustrated at his lack of power to help them in fighting 
youmas, only possessing the power to throw his roses at an 
unexpected moment.  The element of surprise was his only 
advantage against the enemy, so he was forced to keep 
hidden until it was absolutely necessary.  
	And as for always leaving them at the end...he 
couldn't stay.  He had to constantly remind himself of his 
princess and of his mission...otherwise he would crumble at 
the look in Sailor Moon's eyes when he once again told her 
that his mission was to get the crystals, and they should 
not get in his way.  He had to stay away, no matter what.  
That he wanted to find more about the mysterious golden 
haired sailor...it wasn't important.  It would be disloyal.
	'Disloyal?  Disloyal to just stay and talk to her?,' 
he thought wonderingly.  And yet he felt it was, to be 
anything more than the masked man who helped Sailor Moon in 
her time of need.  It would be betraying his princess.  
	He did what he did because he had to.  It didn't 
matter if he liked it or not, he simply had to keep himself 
from becoming too involved in their affairs.  
	It took incredible amounts of control to pull his act 
off...Darien seethed.  And then there was Serena, making 
fun of him in front of the entire arcade.  With a wilted 
daisy and a paper mask.  In retrospective, he thought it 
might be viewed as rather ludicrous.  But *she* didn't know 
what he had to go through as Tuxedo Mask.  It was constant 
torture; having to hold himself back from helping Sailor 
Moon...from staying behind afterwards.  From always having 
to concentrate on his mission and the princess that called 
to him.  
	He had supposed that most of the public were 
fascinated with his mysterious figure...but he had never 
guessed that some would think that his actions were simply 
stupid.  
	'She couldn't even guess at the effort I put into 
being Tuxedo Mask,' he thought.  He felt irrational anger 
at Serena for ridiculing him the way she had.  Granted, she 
didn't even know he was Tuxedo Mask...
	"ARGH!  Stupid!"  Darien felt fury rising in him 
again, but this time directed at himself.  "Why should you 
get angry if Meatball Head makes fun of Tuxedo Mask like 
that?  Why did you storm out angrily?  GREAT!"  Darien knew 
in the back of his head that the chances that anyone would 
make the connection from Tuxedo Mask to him were very 
slim...especially since it seemed so unlikely.  Him?  
Darien Chiba, Tuxedo Mask?  
	Serena would probably die from laughing so 
hard...she'd probably say, "No wonder Tuxedo Mask is so 
cold!  He's just like Darien, the jerk!"  Somehow, that 
didn't anger him; it merely made him sad.  He hadn't known 
that Serena despised his alter-ego.  He had wondered 
sometimes if she might have a crush on his other self, but 
had dismissed the train of thought before it led to 
something that he didn't want to dwell on.    
	'She said both of our egos are huge...how ironic,' 
Darien remembered.  Serena's 'Just like Darien!' echoed in 
his ears, and he gave a bitter laugh.  
	'She probably thinks I think Tuxedo Mask is so cool 
that I got angry when she made fun of him...' Darien 
decided, trying to reassure himself.  
	Deciding his identity was safe, Darien calmly walked 
out of the alley and back onto the streets, calm and 
collected once more.  Underneath his cool demeanor, 
however, he attempted to push away the bothersome feelings 
that his encounter with Serena had left him.  


*****To be continued?  Ack!******

This one's not as fluffy as the first one, but I wanted 
this fan fic to look at why Darien's such an ice cube 
sometimes.  Let me know what you think! 


W.Bymeeh  
Jhyunl@aol.com
http://members.tripod.com/jayhyun/sm/  
(hey, my homepage is always the first updated, so check it 
out!)