Darien's Secret by: Sailor SwiftHeart Rating: PG ~Prologue~ Darien was busy packing his belongings into cardboard moving boxes. Tomorrow was the day he and Serena were finally moving in together into their very own apartment. It was a big step in their relationship, but they were both certain that they were ready. By now, they were used to each other's annoying habits and decided that they could live with them. Darein smiled to himself. It was strange to him, thinking that he could actually now live with Serena's whining and eating habits. Mind you, she was now 18 years old, and wasn't half as bad as she had been 4 years ago, when they had first met. The memory made Darien laugh out loud. If it wasn't Serena's test papers falling on his head, it was her shoes! He remembered well how his nickname for her had annoyed her to death. "Meatball-Head". And that name had actually stuck. He still called her Meatball Head and Serena actually liked it. He also remembered the time he had found out she was Sailor Moon. And then he had revealed himself as Tuxedo Mask. It was something neither of them regretted. It didn't do much good soon after that when Darien lost his memory. That was around the time when Ann and Alan had appeared. A confusing time for Darien, he recalled. He'd had feelings then for both Serena and Ann. But that was quickly resolved. Ann was in love with Alan and they left to fing their home planet again. Darien regained his memories again, and accepted that he and Serena were destined to be together. Then came the dreams at night. The voice telling him to stay away from Serena. Darien had hurt Serena so many times, telling her that he didn't want to see her without a reason. He hated doing that to her because he DID want to see her and he cared so much. But at least that phase of his life was over. And now he was onto a new phase... and it sure looked promising. Darien was almost finished emptying his closet. The last thing he found was a box, way in the back labled, "Personal". Darien completely forgot what he had put in there that was so personal. He lifted the lid. He smiled at what he found. A whole pile of pictures from his modelling days. He had been about 18 years old when they were taken. He sure looked young. Darien dug through them and then found something very disturbing at the very bottom of the box. It was a magazine. And he had hidden it at the bottom of that box on purpose. A part of his past he wanted desperately to forget. But the memories flooded his mind and an unwelcomed blush crept into his cheeks as he opened the magazine and found a section all about him, with pictures and profiles and stories. "I can't believe I kept this," said Darien aloud, "I hated posing for these pictures. Even if the money was good." Darien was ashamed of the whole ordeal. He decided to throw the magazine away and never think about it again. But then something stopped him. He promised Serena that he'd have no secrets... that he wouldn't keep anything from her. Darien knew that if he threw it away, the fact that he hid it from Serena would haunt him for the rest of his life. Especially after making such a promise to her. "I have to tell her." Darien told himself, "As much as I hate it, I have to let her know about this." The fact that Darien had kept his recurring nightmare from Serena a few years ago, reminded him that there could be no secrets. Even if it was far in the past. Darien called Serena and told her to come over right away, because he had to talk to her. Serena wasted no time. She arrived 10 minutes after the phone call. Darien let her. She was worried. He could see it in her eyes and in her face. "Darien, what is it?" she inquired, sitting down on the couch, "Don't tell me you changed your mind about moving in together!" "Of course not, Serena," he answered, sincerely, taking her hands into his, "There's just something I haven't told you about my past life here on Earth. Remember how I promised we'd have no secrets?" he asked. Serena nodded. "Well, there is one thing that I have kept hidden for a long time," he said, "In fact, I even kept it hidden from myself. I found a box in my closet and I found this at the very bottom." He handed her the magazine. "And it snapped me back to a bad time in my life. A time I thought I had blacked out." Serena stared at the magazine, more shocked than anything. She flipped through it and wheh she found the section on Darien, she gasped. "Darien..... how could you.... I mean... WHY?" she managed to blurt. Darien sighed. "Listen, I am not exactly proud of those pictures, Serena," he declared, "It's just... back then... I needed the money." Serena said nothing. "I only did it that one time, for this issue." Darien added, as if that would make everything better. "I knew you were a model, but not THAT kind!" Serena raised her voice at him, "Do you know how many people have probably seen this?" Darien nodded, blushing with emabarrasment and shame. "I know your upset, Serena, but I was hoping you'd appreciate the fact that I was honest with you about this," said Darien, "And it's in the past. It's not like I'd go out and do this again. I would NEVER do that again." Serena's expression softened a little. "Can I at least hear the whole story?" she asked, "Please? No secrets, Darien, remember?" Darien nodded. "All right," he agreed, "The whole story." *** Stay tuned for Part One Email SwiftHeart: SwiftHeart@v-wave.com