"After the Battle"

 Author's Note:  The whole Sailormoon gang seems to make 

such a rapid recovery after each battle!  What if they were really 

sore and even sick afterwards?  I started this fan fic with that 

thought and went from there!



Andrew is polishing the counter when Darien enters.  He is moving 

very slowly, limping slightly and gripping one arm tightly.

He hobbles up and slowly lowers himself onto a stool with great 

effort.

"Are you alright Darien?"  asks Andrew with concern.

"Peachy."  smiles Darien sarcastically, "Took kind of a nasty fall, 

down my stairs."  

"Have you been to a doctor?  You seem like you're in pretty bad 

shape!"

"Naw, I-"

They are cut short by the entrance of Serena.  She too is moving 

slower, as though she were sore.  She manages to lift herself up 

onto the stool, but looks utterly exhausted by the effort.

Andrew frowns,  "Serena?  Are you alright?"

She smiles weakly, "Oh just peachy,"  she jokes-and Darien 

starts, "I had kind of a bad fall-nothing new for me I know, but 


this one really hurt."

She looks over at Darien who is too sore and exhausted to even 

tease her.  Ofcourse, they're both lieing.  They've just been 

through a particularly nasty battle and are still recovering.

"Wow-both of you?  That's a coincidence."

They just look at each other.

Darien finishes his shake and rises slowly to leave.  Serena 

watches after him as he silently limps his way out the door.

"Wow, he must be in serious pain if he won't even tease me."  she 

says with concern.

Andrew sighs, "Yeah, and the worst of it is-I know he won't let 

anyone help him.  He's always so stubborn when he's sick."

Serena smiles wryly, "Why am I not surprised.  Doesn't he even let 

his family visit and look after him?"

Andrew suddenly looks sad, "Darien doesn't have any family."

"Wh-at?"

"His parents were killed when he was really young.  He grew up in 

an orphanage and then got his own apartment."

Serena's eyes widen, "Oh....."

She looks sadly back at Andrew for a moment, then thinks of 

something else, 

"What about a girlfriend?  He must have a girlfriend took look 

after him....right?"

Andrew smiles and shakes his head, 

"Nope.  Girls try, I have to admit, but, actually, you're the only girl 

who really gets any reaction from him."

They both laugh, "That's ironic!"  she says.

Finishing her shake she gets up to leave, her aching muscles still 

protesting, but her spirits feeling better.


She makes her way down the street and suddenly spots Darien 

ahead of her.  

How could he be moving so slowly?  He left ages before I did!

She begins to catch him up when he suddenly falls, unable to make 

it any further.

"Darien!"  she cries out with concern to her fallen enemy.

She falls down to her knees beside him, 

"Darien!  Darien?  Can you hear me?"

His eyes open a little, everything is hazy and out of focus. 

Who's calling my name? 

"Meatball head?"  he manages weakly, 

She never notices the nickname, "I'd better get you home!"

His eyes open wider at this, " No, I've got to get to work-"

"No way!  You are waayyyy to sick to work Darien!"

She manages to get him to his feet and swings one of his arms over 

her shoulder supporting him as best she can.  She's a lot stronger 

than she looks, he will reflect later, realizing how far he was from 

home when she found him.  

They finally reach his apartment and stagger in.  She gets him to 

his couch and sits him down.  

Remember everything you learned in first aid class, pleeeeaaasse!  

She manages to free him from his jacket with great effort, then 

noticing the glazed expression in his eyes she feels his forehead.  

"You're burning up!"  that's the last thing she says and in a flash 

she has remembered everything about first aid class, and the 

countless times her mother looked after her.  

She rushes out and roots through his cupboards until she finds 

something for his fever.  She brings him water,

"Here, take this.  Nice and easy, there you go."

She puts a concerned hand on his arm and he flinches.  It's then 

she realizes the fever is a result of other injuries.  Carefully she 

unbuttons his shirt and slips it off.  His arm is badly bruised and 

cut-and poorly looked after-his ribs are black and blue.  

She cleans his arm and wraps it, then his ribs with some gauze she 

finds in his bathroom cupboard.  Then she gently wraps him a 

blanket and lays him down on the couch.

He's so delirious with fever he doesn't even realize she's there.

She finds his phone book and looks up his work number.  She dials 

the number and waits.

"Hello?  This is Serena Tsukino-a friend of Darien---'s"

I don't even know his last name!

She cleared her throat, trying to sound mature, "I'm just calling to 

tell you he is very ill and cannot make it into work today.  Alright 

then.  Thank you very much.  Bye."

She hangs up the phone and returns to Darien.  He is sleeping now, 

his fever must have dropped a little.  She gingerly brushes his 

forehead and he does something that stings her heart far more than 

any nickname ever could.  He jumps.  

He's not used to being touched.  It actually made him jump!

She can feel her heart breaking for him.  This quiet, serious young 

man who has been nothing but mean to her, and never had anyone 

to love and care for him.  She keeps stroking his forehead until the 

tense, uncomfortable expression on his face relaxes and he 

surrenders to it's soothing effect.

She keeps herself busy while he sleeps, preparing soup and tea.  

Finally, he wakes up to the aroma of vegetable soup.

For a moment he freezes in terror.

Where am I?  Home!  How did I get here?

Serena comes around the corner with the tray of soup and tea.

"Serena!"  he is so surprised to see her he forgets all about the 

nickname.

"Hey, you're awake."  she says.

"How long have I been out?  What time is it?"  he asks dazedly.

"About four hours.  It's-"

He interrupts her, "What's going on?  What happened to me?"

"You didn't look after your arm and you got sick with a terrible 

fever, that's what happened."  she finds herself reprimanding him.

He mutters something she cannot hear.

"How do you feel?"  she asks, setting the tray down on the table 

and kneeling down next to him.

He frowns as though the question were foreign to him-which it is.

"I don't know....better I guess,"  then he recovers himself and his 

reserve returns, "Yeah, I'm fine, really.  I-"  He pulls himself to a 

sit too quickly and gets dizzy.

"Whoa..."

Serena steadies him against the arm of the couch, her hands on his 

shoulders.

"Sure you are."  she says sarcastically.

His eyes focus again and he takes a deep breath.

"Really, you can go home.  I think I'll live."  

Not to be dissuaded, she lifts up the tray and sits it carefully on his 

lap,

"No until you eat."  she commands.

He stares curiously at her a moment.  But he is too tired and 

feverish to argue.  He eats obligingly and is sipping the last of the 

tea when she rises to leave.  She clears the tray away and puts on 

her coat.

"I have to go," she says with regret-still worried about him, "Rest 

up and get well soon!" she says sincerely, "I'll try to check in on 

you tomorrow morning before school."

He tries to sit up a little more and sound cold, "That's really not

necessary." 

But she ignores him and walks back over, placing a hand on his 

forehead, 

"Hmmm, you still have a fever."  She picks up the pill bottle and 

shakes it in front of him, "Two of these, every six hours until your 

fever's gone.  I've left you some water and I got you to take some 

about four hours ago.  Okay?"

She heads for the door, "Just don't try to get up tomorrow and run 

a marathon!"

Then she's gone.

He stares after her in disbelief.



Serena heads home in the dark.  Passing by the arcade she finds 

Andrew just locking up.

"Serena!?  What are you doing out at this hour?  Haven't you even 

been home yet?"

"Oh Andrew, I don't even have time to explain!  I gotta get home, 

my parents are going to kill me!!"

"Wait!  Wait!  I'm walking you home!"

They walk home and Serena explains what happens while Andrew 

listens in disbelief.  

Who'd of thought she'd do something like that after the way those 

two fight!  She's going to get in so much trouble for this!  

And she does.  Her parents ground her for a month without even 

giving her a chance to explain.  But she manages to leave early the 

next morning-an hour before school-to check on Darien again.

She raps at the door but no one answers.  

He's probably still sleeping.

She opens it and creeps softly in.  Sure enough, he's sleeping on 

the couch.  She tip toes over and checks his forehead.  The fever is 

almost gone.  She makes tea and brings it over.  Touching his 

forehead lightly she murmurs gently,

"Darien....Darien?"

His eyes drift open slowly, then widen,

"What are you doing here?!"  he says, startled, still feverish and 

half asleep.

"I'm just checking in on you."  she says softly, "I made you some 

tea.  Do you-"

"Serena, you can't just come into my apartment like this!"  he says

"I just wanted to see if you're alright!"  she cries indignantly, 

Of all the ungrateful.....!

"I'm alright!  See???"  he yells back.

"Fine!"  she yells, "See if I'm ever nice to you again!  Like you 

even deserved it in the first place!!"

She storms out, slamming the door behind her.



Only after she has left does he notice what time it is and realize she 

got up an hour early to check on him.

And only when his fever finally drops and he can sit up properly, 

does he notice the tea, and the leftover soup, and the fact that his 

shirt is off and his arm and ribs are bandaged.  

Serena did all this?  For me?  

Then the phone rings.  It's work.

Oh no!  They're gonna wonder where I was yesterday!  I didn't 

even call!

"Are you well enough to come in today Darien?  Your friend 

called in yesterday for you.  She said you were quite ill.  Do you 

need today off too?  I can find some one if you do, you've never 

missed work before...."  Darien doesn't hear the rest.

She called my job to let them know I couldn't go?  How did she 

even find the number?

He takes the rest of the day off to recover.  Cleaning himself up, 

and trying to piece together what happened.  His memory about the 

whole day is pretty choppy.

Finally, he heads out for a walk to clear his head.  As he passes by 

the arcade Andrew's head pops out the door,

"Darien!  Hey Darien!"

He follows him in.

"How are you feeling?  Serena told me what happened."

Darien frowns at him, "Wish I could remember.  I woke up this 

morning and she was standing over me-nearly scared me to 

death-"

"She must've left early to check on you.  What a girl!  Do you 

know she found you collapsed about two blocks from here and 

practically carried you home?"

Carried me home?  And looked after me?  Why meatball head?  

Why would you do that for me?

Darien looks at the time, "She should be here any minute."  he 

says, feeling less than great about his blow up this morning with 

her-though confused by the whole thing still anyway.  Why had 

she done so much for him?

"Not today,"  Andrew says, "She was grounded for a month for 

staying at your place so late last night." 

I frown, vaguely recalling.....Serena giving me pills, taking off my 

shirt, wrapping me up, making me eat soup, touching my 

forehead...?

How late did you stay Meatball head?

As though he can read Darien's thoughts Andrew says,

"She walked by when I was closing up last night!  She had just left 

your place."

Darien stands, unsure of what to do exactly, but having some idea,

"I'd better go...talk to her....I ....I wasn't very nice to her this 

morning...."

"Darien, you're never very nice to her."  points out Andrew.

"That's just teasing.  This is different."  he says simply and walks 

out.


The doorbell at the Tsukino house rings and Serena's mother 

answers.  A tall, handsome young man is standing with roses 

clutched in one hand at his side.  He flushes a little and says 

awkwardly,

"Hi....is Serena home?"

Serena's mother frowns, "Not yet, but she's grounded anyway-"

"I know, it's my fault."  he blurts out, "I-can I talk to you for a 

minute?"

She eyes him a moment then lets him come in.  

They sit down and Darien explains everything Serena has done for 

him.  Serena's mother is silent afterwards.

"It was...unbelievable of her to do all that for me Mrs. Tsukino.  

She even called my job and told them I couldn't come in.  And 

we're really not even..."  he flushes, "...friends.  I-I actually 

haven't always been the nicest person to her.  I tease her.  And still 

she did all this for me without a second thought.  It means a lot to 

me because-"

he stops a moment, considering whether to say more or not, but 

continues, "I don't really have any...family..or anyone that could 

have done that for me.  I just thought you should know that she 

came home late because of me and I feel very grateful to her."

Mrs. Tsukino flushes, "Well, I'm very proud of her, I must say.  

Ofcourse, I'm not going to ground her for that.  Thank you for 
coming to tell me this--?"

"Darien."

"Thank you Darien.  I'm sure you two will be better friends now."

Darien frowns skeptically.

"Why don't you head out and catch her before she gets home so 

you two can talk."  she suggests.

And he does.  As he nears the corner of the street she comes 

around the bend slowly, trudging unhappily.  

"Serena..."

She looks up, then her eyes narrow,  "Oh great.  Come to yell at 

me some more?"

He clears his throat, "Actually, I came to thank you for taking care 

of me and apologize for being such a jerk."

There, I said it.  Oh no, what's she going to say?

She looks at him a moment and he thrusts the roses at her, his blue 

eyes searching hers for a moment.

"Forgive me?"  he says softly.

She keeps watching him suspiciously.

He hasn't poisoned these roses has he?  He does look sincere....

"I couldn't even remember what had happened this morning.  After 

you left I realized everything you did, and Andrew told me the rest.  

You even called my job!  No one has ever done anything like that 

for me before.  Why did you do it?" He asks quietly.

She smiles, "Because you needed to be taken care of and I was 

there."  

She takes a step closer to him and pulls the roses from his hand, 

"Even if you are a big, mean jerk."  she's still smiling.

"Well, this mean jerk owes you one." he says smiling

"Well, I'd let you treat me to a giant chocolate sundae if I weren't 

grounded for life!"

He smiles, "Actually, I explained everything to your Mom and 

you're not grounded anymore." 

Her eyes light up in a most delightful way.  They make their way 

to the arcade slowly after Serena drops her bag and roses at home.

"You know,"  Darien begins awkwardly, "I still can't believe you 

did all that for me-after how I've teased you and everything..." he 

thinks of something else,
"Hey, you were all banged up yesterday too!  How did you get me 

home?"

She smiles, "Oh, it wasn't too bad. You're not as heavy as you 

look." she says and then realizing the implications of it, takes full 

advantage of them, "Fatso!"  then she takes off laughing around 

the corner.

"Fatso?!"  Darien laughs.

How many times have Andrew and Rita told me to gain weight?

He chases after her, rounding the corner only to be hit full force by 

leaves.  Serena laughs heartily.  

"Now," she says chuckling, "We're even."

"Oh really?"  he says arching an eyebrow and gathering leaves.

She shrieks and the fun continues.  There are plenty of leaves to 

throw and Darien and his poor ribs are at a definite disadvantage.  

Serena has him covered by the time they get to the street by the 

arcade.  

He finally catches her up, winded and a little sore.  Her hands are 

full of leaves but he catches her up in his arms, 

"No way!"  he laughs, "Not one more leaf!  I can't take it 

anymore!  Truce!  Truce!"

They both laugh and then stop.  Standing in the leaves, with Serena 

in his arms, a strange feeling comes over Darien.

Serena spies a leaf in his hair and giggling, stands on tip toes to 

retrieve it.  For a moment their noses are almost touching, 

"You have a leaf-"  she starts to laugh and then her voice trails 

off.  

His blue eyes aren't laughing, and he is flushing in spite of 

himself.

How did this girl end up in my life?  Why did she take care of me?  

Wait Darien, what you're really asking here is, Why did you like it 

so much?

"Thanks for taking care of me."  he says softly.

Then, to break the tension he adds, "Meatball head."

She smirks, "No problem....fatso."

He laughs softly and suddenly there is something endearing and 

sweet and genuine about him that tugs at Serena's heart.

Look at him.  This is the real him.  He's actually let me get close to 

him a little.

Blushing but determined, she leans up to kiss him on the cheek but 

he turns his head suddenly and she gets him on the mouth 

instead-and the sensation is far from unpleasant.  They linger for 

just a moment.  Long enough for Darien to hear his heart beat 

strangely.  Something about this girl was different.  

"Oh, I'm sorry,"  she gasps, turning red, "I was aiming for your..."  

she falters, "...cheek..."

"No, I moved, I-"  he stammered, then looking into her eyes a 

moment he lost himself, "Aw, who am I kidding?  That was 

amazing!"  

And he leans in to kiss her again but stops.

What if I'm the only one that enjoyed that?

He stops just a breath away from her lips and eyes her uncertainly.

She looks at him a long moment, considering.  His handsome face, 

his eager blue eyes full of fear and hope....

"Remind me to take care of you more often."  she smiles and 

stands on tip toe to meet him.

He wraps his arms around her and forgets everything else but that 

moment.  

Andrew is sweeping outside the store when he spots them.

Well, well, well.  Those two finally got together.  

He smiles.