"Of course you're right," he said, "It's my fault. How could you ever love someone like me? Of course you'd rather be with Alan. Of course you didn't want me to remember... You didn't want me to follow destiny,
because you didn't want me..."
"Darien, that's not true..." Serena began.
"I'm sorry, Serena," he whispered, "I'll stop bothering you..."
"Wait, Darien," she pleaded, tugging at his arm, "I didn't mean what I said.
He broke free from her grasp and jumped on his motorcycle.
"Goodbye, Serena," he said as the engine roared to life.
"Wait, please!" Serena begged, but he was staring straight ahead on the road. Then he stepped on the gas and sped off.
"Darien," she whispered in tears as he disappeared into the moon, "I'm so sorry..."
Sometimes
by Phantasy Star
Chapter Ten
"I'm Prince Darien, sworn to protect the Moon Kingdom!"
"Ah, Prince Darien, I've heard about you. You show great potential." The red-haired witch turned to Princess Serenity, "I can see why you'd hang on to him."
Serena gasped and hid deeper behind Darien's cape.
"How would you like to come to the winning side for a change?" Queen Beryl said to the prince, "Together, we'll be invincible!"
"Thanks, but no thanks," he spat, "Why would I want to join forces with a witch like you? All twisted and ugly and bitter."
Beryl's face became wretched with anger, "Nobody speaks to Queen Beryl that way!"
Suddenly, an invisible force lifted Darien off the balcony and into the air. He gasped.
"No, Darien!" Princess Serenity screamed.
"Princess, get away!" Darien cried.
"No, I want to be with you!" Serena answered.
"But you can't!"
To Darien's horror, Serena ran towards him and jumped off the broken floors.
"Serena!" Darien roared.
"Darien!"
Before she could reach him, a deadly evil power exploded around them and everything turned black.
***
Darien woke up drenched in sweat. He groaned and rubbed his head. Everything was coming back to him now.
'Serena...' he thought.
Just then, the phone rang.
"Darien Chiba," he said as he picked it up.
"Hey, it's Andrew."
"What's up?"
"I just wanted to remind you about that party tonight, the one the professor asked us to go to."
"Right..." Darien groaned, "I forgot all about that."
"I knew you would. Remember to wear a suit... and bring a date."
"Okay..."
------
Serena rested her head on her hands as she stared ahead at the chalk board absentmindedly. Around her, the others students were chattering excitedly. Miss Haruna was late again.
"Hey, Serena."
She looked up slowly, her eyes still dull.
It was Travis, the captain of the football team. It seemed that the entire female population of Juuban High was in love with him.
"Oh, hi Travis," she said.
"Listen, I was wondering if you'd like to go to the Winter dance with me."
"Winter dance?" Serena echoed, snapping out of her trance-like state,
"Oh, it's next Friday, isn't it?"
Travis nodded, "So, are you interested?"
Serena bit her lip.
"I..." she said softly, "I... I can't. I'm sorry."
"Hey, that's cool," Travis said understandingly, "Maybe next time."
Serena nodded, then looked past Travis to see Miss H. walking in.
"All right, class," she said, "Back to your seats. Today, we'll be talking about electrostatic forces..."
------
"That was a great party."
"Yeah," Darien said. He stole a glance at the beautiful brunette sitting beside him on the passenger's seat. Then he turned back to the road.
"So where do you live?" the girl asked softly.
Darien hesitated, "Just around here."
She looked away, disappointed, then decided to change the subject.
"Hey, isn't Cherry Hill Temple just up ahead? I wanna make a wish.
Can we stop there for a few minutes?"
"Sure," Darien said.
***
Serena shivered under the cold night air as she walked down the bottom steps of the stairs to the temple. Then she winced as a bright light flooded her vision. It was a red sports car that she was too familiar with.
She squinted to see a girl in the passenger seat. Serena was about to turn away when the car slowed down in front of her.
The brown-haired girl stepped out of the car and ran past her, up the steps to the temple.
Darien got off walked up to Serena.
"Hey," Serena said with a small smile, "Who's that?"
"My date," Darien answered, nonchalant, "She's going up there to make a wish. Praying about finals..."
"Oh," Serena said, feeling stupid, "I... I should get going."
"Yeah, it's getting late." Darien said, "Do you need a ride home?"
"No," Serena said quickly, "I... I can walk. You've got to drive your.
friend home anyway."
"Right," Darien said.
"Right."
They stared at each other for one more moment before Serena took a step past him.
"Darien," Serena said, find gathering enough courage to look him in the eye,
"I just want to say. I'm sorry... things didn't work out."
Darien stared into her eyes and for half a second, she thought she saw the deep feelings he hid so well.
"Yeah," Darien replied curtly, breaking their locked gazes, "I'm sorry too."
"I guess we're really... not meant to be together," Serena said, "Whether in the past or now. Things are never easy between us."
Darien didn't answer.
"I guess I should go then," Serena said, "I'll see you around."
------
Luna yawned and opened her eyes, waking from her nap. Her eyes darted to Serena's pink alarm clock and she blinked. Ten o'clock. Where was that girl? The meeting at the temple must have went late.
She jumped to the window sill, deciding to watch for her to come home.
Sure enough, the meatball-headed figure came into view, turning the corner on to the street.
Luna frowned in confusion. Had she been crying? About Darien again?
'Poor girl...' the black cat thought, watching as Serena sniffled and wiped a tear away.
Serena stopped walking and stared at the ground.
'Maybe I should go down and get her...' Luna thought.
Then, to her surprise, she saw Serena look up with a determined look on her face.
"Guys..." Serena muttered audibly, "Who needs 'em."
Luna grinned.
The girl was going to be all right.
------
Darien wandered aimlessly on to the balcony, not bothering to put on a jacket. He wanted to feel the cold wind against his body.
His eyes gave nothing away as they stared at the city below him.
"Serena..." he whispered into the night.
He gripped the railing tightly, as if for support.
"I... love you..." he said, as if realizing it himself for the first time.
Then he sighed heavily and took a step back, then retreated back into the apartment.
'Maybe we'll be together someday... Right now, no matter how much I care about you... it just doesn't seem like it's enough. It never seems to be enough...'
------
"Good night, Luna," Serena said as she turned off the light.
"'Night," the cat said and meowed.
Serena closed her eyes and turned to her side.
'I still care about you, Darien,' she thought, 'a lot. It may not be enough to you, but I do... Good night...'
She pulled her blanket tighter around her, and soon, she was dreaming about a certain masked hero.
EPILOGUE
Two weeks later...
"So we did it," Raye announced, "Finals week. All over."
The five girls sat around a round table at the arcade.
"And to think that we all did pretty well," Lita said, "Must be Amy's study sessions finally paying off."
"Oh no," Amy said, blushing, "We've just all worked hard this term,
that's all."
Serena smiled, "And now it's time to reward ourselves."
"Exactly right," Mina grinned, "Off the top of my head, I'm thinking shopping, swimming, sleepovers, and... hmm, what else?"
"Hey, you guys, look," Lita said with a dreamy sigh, "It's Travis and his friends."
Raye and Mina joined in with hearts in their eyes, as the school's most popular student sat down at a table next to theirs.
"Hey," Travis said to Serena and her friends.
"H... Hi," Raye said nervously.
Just then, the arcade doors slipped open again and Darien walked in,
followed by the same brown-haired girl from the other night.
To her own surprise, Serena didn't seem to mind. The brunette said something and Darien laughed. Serena's own face lit up when she saw him happy.
Then Travis walked over to their table and came up to Serena.
"Hey," he said, "I hope you won't find me annoying... I know you didn't want to go to the Winter dance with me... But the Valentine's Day Dance is coming up... I was wondering..."
He trailed off, and Serena looked up at him with a smile on her face.
"I... I'd love to," she said, blushing slightly.
"Great!" Travis said, his face breaking into a relieved grin, "I'll call you."
"Sure," Serena said.
A few minutes later, Serena and her friends paid their bill and walked towards the arcade doors.
Darien looked up from his table and his eyes caught hers.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey," she said back, "Enjoy your meal."
Serena followed her friends out and embraced the sunlight waiting on the streets.
"So, where to, girlfriends?" Mina said loudly, "The mall, the pool, my place?"
"Mall first!" Lita declared.
The five cheered and linked arms as they disappeared into the busy streets of Tokyo.
Serena smiled.
She was happy.
End
* Author's Final Notes:
I'm writing this Author's Notes about a week after I first uploaded the ending to this story so I know what I have to respond to. Well, first off, thanks for the nice reviews. For those of you seriously disappointed by the ending, I'm sorry and I'll try to explain myself. If you started reading the story from when I first uploaded it, the full title was "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough" but I shortened it because it was getting annoying. I hope that explains the ending a little, in terms of consistency of theme.
And guys, it doesn't mean they never end up together! Just not right now, because things don't always work out the way you hoped they would. Hmm, I don't know about the sequel. Maybe.
Anyway, thanks for reading. All feedback was appreciated.
Phantasy Star
April 11, 2004
P.S. A lot of my other fics have happy endings, so if you feel that bad, feel free to wander into one of the other ones...
* Updated Author's Notes:
Indirect sequel (takes place several years after Sometimes): The Good Guy, which is currently out. Please check it out!
Phantasy Star
June 22, 2009