Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or her characters, and have no right to it except as a long time fan.

A Second Chance

The Attack

Just keep going. Just pretend that you're late for school. Serena coached herself as she ran, her hair streaming behind her in twin ribbons, the skirt of her school uniform pressed against the front of her thighs and flaring out behind her in her hurry.

As she ran she could hear the mad cackling of the energy sucking enemy behind her. She wondered why she had to have the misfortune of getting that things attention. She hadn't even done anything! She'd been minding her own business, shopping to try and distract herself from the sad situation between her and Darien, when this thing suddenly came out of nowhere and attacked. She hadn't been its original target. She had seen it attacking and was preparing to retreat and call for help before transforming, but the thing had seen her first and had immediately headed for her since everyone else it had attacked was already down for the count.

So here she was running for her life and hoping that Amy had already detected the enemy and had contacted the others and was on their way. She didn't know how long she could keep this up. Right now the only things in her mind were to keep her distance from the thing and try and lure it away from other civilians.

There was a corner coming up that she didn't think she would take since the turn would slow her down, but it looked like the decision was being made for her. She felt a hot pain in her right side so intense and so sudden that it knocked her off her feet. Serena released a small scream as she fell to the ground, her fast momentum from her run causing her to slide on her now bleeding side and roll onto her back and again until she was on her stomach. The rolling having taken her slightly around the corner she had decided to avoid and nearly into the street. She didn't pause though once she slowed, she couldn't afford to. She immediately scrambled to her feet and began to run as fast as she could, so focused that she hadn't seen the two people that were paused on the sidewalk.

— o.0.O.O.0.o —

Darien and Rini paused in their walking as they heard a slight scream and saw Serena suddenly roll and slide across the sidewalk in front of them before quickly getting to her feet and running pass them as if she hadn't even seen them.

"There she goes again." Rini began with a look that was a cross between disappointment and irritation. "Why is she always doing this? Why can't she just leave a place early so she doesn't have to go running…" She continued.

Darien heard Rini and normally he might agree with her a bit, but right now he had a bad feeling. A very bad feeling. Just then his bad feeling was justified as they suddenly heard laughter coming from around the corner, and moments later a lavender skinned white haired monster came speeding around the corner laughing and shouting after Serena. It wore a sleeveless skin tight body suit all the way down its legs, knee high- high heel boots, swords strapped to both hips and daggers attached to each forearm. Its narrow eyes were a dark pupil less red, its long hair reached the small of its back, and its forehead adorned with a black upside down crescent moon.

Darien quickly pulled Rini into his side and up against the wall they had been walking next to as they watched the monster speeding after Serena. Darien's heart sank. Why hadn't Serena transformed? She must have had a good reason. He had wondered why she didn't react to them before she ran pass them, and now it was clear that she most likely hadn't even been aware of their presence. That in itself let him know just how serious her situation was. She was always aware of her surroundings even when it appeared that she wasn't. He knew she was.

"Come on Rini. Let's get you out of here." He said as he took her hand and began to walk fast. It was just his luck that he had been taking her home. It was the perfect timing. Now he wouldn't have to worry about making an excuse about why he needed to disappear suddenly. Besides, he needed to get her away before she spotted the smear of blood on the ground and became even more scared then she already was.

He needed to hurry up. He had a bad feeling that Serena needed him and he didn't want to take any more time then was strictly necessary. Especially since he knew that she was already hurt.

— o.0.O.O.0.o —

Serena ran until she reached what looked like a large walking park. There was large areas of grass and trees and walking paths at a bit of a distance from where she was. There was a steep grassy hill where she stopped with a view of the ocean and she wondered where she was. The area she was seeing wasn't familiar and she realized that she had run so hard that she hadn't really been paying attention to where she was going.

She turned around sharply as she heard the mad laughter of the monster after her. She breathed nervously through her mouth as the monster got closer. If only she could transform she could fight and protect herself, and maybe even defeat the thing without having to wait for the others. But she couldn't. She couldn't risk the enemy finding out who she really was and coming after her family. She would have to do her best to avoid being injured, or at least being injured too badly before help arrived. She hoped help would arrive soon.

Suddenly Serena was throwing herself to the side to avoid an energy ball. She realized her movements were jerky as she tried to avoid getting hit because of the wound on her side. It was still bleeding, her blood slowly covering the slight burn mark on her white uniform shirt, and it hurt terribly. She knew that she would just have to deal with it in order to survive.

As time passed Serena ducked, dodged, rolled, tripped, and skid on the ground. She avoided being hit for the most part, but when she was hit it was painful and every time it would cause her to go slower and slower which made avoiding the hits harder and harder. She had a feeling that that was the whole point. This thing seemed to want her energy and she was making it more difficult then the other civilians had. It was probably enjoying the challenge.

Pain. Pain in the right side of her neck. She hadn't seen anything but she definitely felt it. It felt as if something had slice the side of her neck open. She could actually feel her blood flowing in a slow and steady pace down her neck and onto her shoulder, soaking the collar of her shirt. She could just imagine it spreading so that the blue darkened and the white lines began to turn red.

Serena was determined not to let it get to her and tried her best to push aside the pain and continue to stay out of harm's way, but she guessed that she must have been distracted enough to take a hit in her right side again. She screamed at the new burst of pain added to her previous wound, and collapsed to the ground on her left side from the force of the energy blast. Once on the ground she was blasted repeatedly by energy balls to keep her there from what she could gather through the bursts of pain.

She was so tired and in so much pain that she wasn't sure what she was going to do. Her arms and legs were littered with cuts, scrapes, and bruises. The long sleeves of her shirt were spotted with blood, the tops of the cuffs of her socks were red from trickles of blood spilling down her legs. She just had to get up and try to keep going.

Serena got to her hands and knees and pushed off her hands so that she was kneeling on the ground, but before she could get to her feet she gasped in pain and looked down only to see the point of a sword sticking out of the left side of her stomach. Then something else was stabbed into her upper back on her right side, and she knew that whatever it was it must have punctured something because she could suddenly feel her mouth pooling with her blood.

She was surprised that despite all the pain she was feeling, she was still aware enough to understand that her energy was being taken from her now that she couldn't get away. What was going to happen to her now? Was she about to die? Where were the girls? Why hadn't they gotten there yet? Could there have been an attack somewhere else that's delaying them?

Maybe Amy has told them that I'm with the monster and they think that I'm handling it. Serena considered as she coughed, blood trickling out of the sides of her mouth and down her chin.

Suddenly Serena heard shouts and yells and the next thing she knew she was being pushed away with enough force to send her tumbling down the steep side of the hill. She rolled for what seemed like forever to her tired and foggy mind before she came to a stop on a cliff-like space in the hill. She lay on her back, her head turned to the side giving her tired eyes a view of the blue of the ocean mixing with the blues and purples of the sky. She didn't even try to move. She knew that she wouldn't be able to. She just didn't have the strength. The little that the monster had left her with was flowing out with her blood and staining the grass beneath her.

At least I get such a nice view in the end. She thought as she tried to keep her tired eyes open and in focus to watch the view before her as long as possible. I never thought I'd die this way. Never thought I'd die without my Prince by my side. She thought with a sigh that didn't seem to leave her throat. She knew that he would be there to save her if he knew that she was in danger, but she hadn't transformed so he wouldn't have felt the pull to come to her and the girls had no way to contact him in enough time to be of help.

Still, Serena missed him and wished he was with her. She still didn't understand why he had broken up with her and it seemed now she would never know. Doesn't matter. I wasn't functioning right anymore anyway. I could never seem to get happy. She thought slowly, the sounds of the fight taking place at the top of the hill were muted to her ears. What's the point of staying if my Prince no longer wants me? She asked herself as her eyes began to close.

Just before they closed something dark entered her vision and she was surprised to feel something against her face. She laboriously pulled her eyes open, curious at what was disturbing what she thought were her final moments. She was surprised and happy to see Tuxedo Mask kneeling next to her.

"Serena? Serena!" She was surprised to hear him since she believed she wasn't processing sounds after she stopped being able to hear the fight. "Please! Just hang on. I'm going to get you to the hospital. Just please don't leave. Don't leave me yet." She heard him plead and was aware of being lifted and feeling a little warm. She blinked slowly down at herself and realized that he had wrapped his cape around her.

"Please, stay. This isn't how we're supposed to end." His voice seemed to whisper sadly and she blinked slowly up at him as she watched what she could see of his hair blowing. They must be moving for it to do that. Still, he said this wasn't how they were supposed to end. She was confused since she had been under the impression that they had already ended. But then he sounded so sad and he was pleading with her. It was enough for now. She would make an effort, but there was only so much her battered body would allow.

"I'll try." She tried to say but she wasn't sure if it came through or not as exhaustion overwhelmed her.