Old Friends The Guardsman Chronicles, Chapter Seven by Rick Federle Azmaria paced back and forth, some of her warriors watching her nervously. She knew that the Negaforce had enough energy to make the transition to Earth and she knew it would when it was ready. It was absorbing energy as fast as it could, but wouldn't cross over unto it had fully healed from the damage it had taken several years before when Beryl had fought against the Moon Princess. The current estimate was that it would take at least another year before the Negaforce would be fully healed and ready to make the transition. Azmaria's last ploy to eliminate the resistance that the Sailor Scouts would present had been foiled by the timely appearance of Sailor Venus, who had exploited a hole in the force wall and forced Azmaria to drop it, causing the loss of another dozen of her rather valuable warriors. Warriors such as Hurricane, or those she had lost to the Scouts already, took time to train and Azmaria needed several months to prepare them for the next mission. Azmaria bit off a curse as she recalled the events of the last attack. If Beryl haddened had the bulk of the Negaverse army in her throne room when it collasped, she wouldn't be wasting so much time trying to eliminate the Scouts now. She continued to pace as her mind worked on the details of another plan. * * * "YAAHHH!!!" Serena yelled as she leaped up from behind the snow wall they were using as a barricade, a snowball in hand. Her yell was abruptly cut off as four accurately placed snowballs slammed into her, sending her flailing, landing in a cloud of snowflakes. "Man, we're getting creamed." Raye commented, glancing over at Serena, who was in the process of picking herself up off the ground. "And you had to get Susan involved, didn't you?" Lita glared at Amy, who just shrugged. Serena crawled over to where the other three were crouching behind the snow wall. "How bad is it?" Lita poked her head up and quickly pulled it back down. Four snowballs whizzed by where her head had been a second before. "They're just standing there waiting." "Inners verses Outers; whose idea was it, anyway?" "Yours!" The other three girls reminded her. Serena cringed. "Right, I forgot." She straightened back up in her crouch. "On the count of three we charge." The other three exchanged glances. "Come on, guys." Serena urged them, packing a snowball. They hastily began to pack snowballs as Serena began to count. "One, two, three, GET EM!" The four leaped to their feet, a flurry of snowballs crossing the space dividing the two groups as Serena and the others waded through the snow toward where the Outers waited. Curious onlookers hastily ducked whenever a stray snowball flew their way. The barrage abruptly stopped as a snowball launched by Serena crashed into the face of a black haired young man coming toward them. He wiped the snow off of his face. "Watch where you're throwing those, Meatball Head." "MUFFIN!" Serena yelled while the other girls turned in surprise while she ran to him, throwing herself in his arms, sending him toppling over in surprise while she covered his face with kisses. "I missed you, missed you, missed you." She got out between kisses. The other girls hastily averted their eyes for the moment. "I missed you, too." Darien reassured her after a moment, getting back to his feet, drawing Serena up with him. "Wasn't exactly the reception I expected." Darien commented. "I'm sorry." Serena apologized. "Did I hurt you?" "Not that I noticed." Darien kissed her once for reassurance. "We can go to the temple. We need to warm up and dry off anyway." Raye offered. "Thanks." They had shed their coats and were sitting in one of the back rooms of the temple where it was fairly warm to dry out. "How long have you been back?" Serena asked after everyone got comfortable. "I just got back." Darien answered. "Now, you want to tell me who's living in my apartment? And what's with the pictures of Mina? There must be five or six of them. I like her, but not that much." "You mean you don't know?" Amy asked. "No." Darien shook his head. "What!?" Raye yelled. "Serena, you were supposed to tell him!" "I'm sorry, Raye." Serena cringed back into Darien's arms. "I forgot." "You forgot!" Raye let off. "You'd probably forget your meatball head if it wasn't attached!" Susan laid a hand on Raye's shoulder to still her. "Never mind, Raye." Susan looked up at Darien. "We ran across a survivor of the Moon Kingdom several months ago. We needed some place to put him, so we ended up putting him in your place. We weren't sure if we could trust him at that time." Darien thought it over for a moment. "So, you rescued a survivor of the Moon Kingdom." "Actually, he rescued us." Michelle told him, drawing a glance from Darien. "He shows up just in time to blast this Negamonster to oblivion right before it could tear Venus to shreds." "And where is she?" Darien asked, glancing around. "I don't see Mina anywhere." "Probably out on a date." Lita snorted. "She spends more time with him than with us." Darien raised his eyebrows. "I take it that you still don't entirely trust him." "Lita doesn't." Alexandra put in. "The rest of us trust him." "Then who is he?" Darien asked. "His name's William. Formerly of the Imperial Moon Guard." "About Lita's height and my build? Dark hair?" Darien asked. "Yeah." Serena confirmed. "Know him?" "Yes." Darien told her. "What!?" Everyone else cried. "He was one of the Guard I knew from the Moon. I spent a lot of time with him, when I wasn't with you, Serena." Darien began to explain. "When I first got to the Moon, Serenity assigned part of her Guard to protect me. The first one of them was a guy named William. He had some rather unusual talents, even for a Guardsman, and I probably learned more about the Moon Kingdom from him than just about anyone else. He used to sneak me out of the palace so I could wander around more or less at will." Darien chuckled. "Never got caught, either." His eyes took on a sober look. "But what about Mina? What's he doing with her?" "They were in love on the Moon." Raye said. "Or so they say." Lita added. "Makes sense." Darien nodded. "I always wondered where he disappeared to when I was with Serena. Now I know." "So you actually know who this is, then?" Amy asked. "Yes." William's voice interrupted the conversation, drawing all eyes to the doorway where he and Mina stood, hands clasped. He spoke again when Darien looked at him. "Well met, my lord Endymion." "Well met indeed, William." Darien said as he let go of Serena, got up, and walked over to where Mina and William stood. He offered William his hand. "It's been a long time." William said as he shook the offered hand. "Yes." Darien agreed as the handshake broke. The trio sat down in the circle, Serena ducking back into the circle of Darien's arms. "Where have you been all these centuries?" William wrapped his arms around Mina's waist, resting his hands over her stomach as she leaned into him. His eyes darkened as he answered. "The Negaverse." Darien winced. "Must have been rough." "You have no idea." William stated. "Torture then solitary for a millennia." "How did you make it?" Darien asked. "My love for her kept me going." William patted Mina's stomach fondly, drawing a smile from her. "So, you're the one staying at my apartment, then." "Yes. I hope you don't mind a roommate for a little while." "You, my friend, no." "Well, I'm hungry." Serena interrupted. "Let's go eat." "Some things don't change." Darien said with a laugh, then kissed her. "You really do know him, don't you?" Mina asked as they trailed everyone as they walked toward the restaurant Serena had suggested. "Yes." William told her. "With all the pictures of Serena around the apartment, I figured that's who it belonged to. I couldn't see Princess Serenity with anyone but Prince Endymion." "And you didn't tell me." Mina pouted. "I'm sorry, I forgot." William apologized, stopping and taking her in his arms. He leaned down and kissed her. "Can you ever forgive me?" "Only if you kiss me again." "Done." The two broke off at the sound of someone clearing their throat. "William, I need to talk to you for a few minutes." Darien said. "Privately." "Of course." William agreed. "Go catch up with the others, love. We'll be along in a minute." Mina gave him a smouldering look. "I want the rest of that kiss later." "All right, now get." He smacked her playfully on the bottom and she gave a giggle then hurried after the others. "You really do love her, don't you." Darien asked after a moment, waving a hand in the direction they were to go to indicate they should start walking. "Yes, probably as much as you love Serena." William declared, falling in step with him. "What name do you go by, anyway?" "Darien." Darien supplied. "Tell me what happened. From the minute I disappeared into the ballroom up until about five minutes ago." With a nod, William told him about the Negaverse, how he had escaped and arrived on Earth in time to save Mina. "Quite a story." Darien said as William finished. "Yes." William agreed. "This time, though, we don't have to hide our love from everyone." "It's almost like the roles are reversed this time. Serena's father doesn't like me very much." Darien said with a chuckle. William nodded in agreement. "Mina's parents know she's finally seeing someone, but doesn't know who it is." "I'm surprised. I would have thought she'd drag you by to meet them." "What is she going to tell them? That's she's really a Venusian princess in love with a thousand-year-old Guardsman?" "She'll think of something." "I'm sure . . . " William trailed off abruptly, coming to a stop. "What is it?" Darien asked, turning toward him. Darien's head snapped in the direction they had been walking at the sound of a couple of explosions. Where the girls had already gone. "Serena." "Danger. Mina's in danger." William said as they broke into a run. The two ducked down an alley so they'd have time to transform before they got to the battle, starting their transformations somewhere in the middle. They skidded to a halt as they came to the scene of a battle. Walls had been blown out and in various places the street had been cratered. The two blinked in surprise. "What took you so long?" Sailor Moon asked as the Scouts turned to look at them. "Are you okay? What happened?" Tuxedo Mask asked as he took Sailor Moon in his arms. "I'm fine. We ran across a couple of Negawarriors out collecting energy and when we attacked them we were ambushed by a larger group." Sailor Moon explained. "Almost got us, too." Sailor Venus clarified as the Guardsman put his arms around her from behind. "I'm not hurt." She smacked his hand. "Just checking." He stated, all innocence. "I didn't see anything, but I wanted to be sure." "Tell me if this helps." Venus turned around, put her arms around his neck, then pulled his head down for a kiss. The Guardsman promptly interposed his cape between the two of them and the others. "Which reminds me." Sailor Moon began. She crooked a finger at Tuxedo Mask, who lowered his head toward her. "Welcome home." She said and kissed him.