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Serena lie asleep in a bed. She had been lying there for quite sometime before she finally began to stir. She moved her arms over her face. Serena opened her eyes to see two blurred faces staring at her.

"It won't be long now," said a woman's voice. "Her body is accepting the dark energy quite well. She'll wake up very soon."

Serena did not comprehend what the woman said. She closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

***

"What?!" was all anybody could say. Darien had called everyone to meet at the Temple immediately. He had just told them what had happened to Serena.

Luna began to cry. "Oh, Serena! Not again!" Artemis tried to comfort her.

Amy was almost too shocked to type anything into her computer. Mina and Lita had tears in their eyes and were trying to think of why Saban and this strange woman would want to do this. Raye and Darien were standing. They were either in deep thought or total shock. Darien finally spoke up.

"We've just got to do something! I don't know how, but I have just got to get to Europa and get her back!"

Everyone else agreed with him, except Raye. She was still deep in thought.

Lita looked at Raye. "Hello?! Raye! Are you in this with us or not?"

Raye finally looked up. "I don't know, Lita."

Everyone was shocked. They could not believe that Raye would not want to help. They asked her why.

"Because of my vision. Remember? Serena was evil. She had the Black Moon insignia. She was fighting Darien."

"Well, we could get her back before they turn her against us," said Mina.

"What if they already have done that?" asked Raye. "I mean, what if we go up there and find her? She could already be against us and destroy us with the Silver Crystal. I don't know about you, but I would rather wait until we figure out exactly what those guys are up to before we try anything else."

Everyone looked down at this thought. Raye was right. They had to put their heads together and figure out what Saban and this woman were going to do.

Their thoughts were interrupted by sad noise. Everyone looked up to see Darien on his knees, crying. Luna walked over to him.

"It's all my fault!" Darien sobbed. "I should have been paying more attention! I should have protected her!"

Luna looked right into his face. "Now, Darien, listen to me. It was not your fault! There was nothing you could have done to protect her. Even you had transformed into Tuxedo Mask, you still wouldn't have been powerful enough to stop that from happening! Now, stop this crying and let's figure this thing out one step at a time."

Darien picked her up and hugged her. "Thank you, Luna," he whispered. He put her down and dried his eyes. "Sorry about that, guys."

"It's okay," everyone assured him.

"Okay, the first plan of action is deciding who will be leader of the Scouts until Serena is back with us," said Luna.

Raye jumped up. "Well, I think it should be me. Everyone knows that I have the leader's qualities."

"Wait!" shouted Lita. "What about me? I'm the strongest!"

"Hey, I was a Scout long before any of you were. I think I have the most experience!" Mina joined in.

All three of them began to quarrel about why they should be the leader. Amy, Darien, Artemis and Luna looked down and sighed.

"Oh, I hate it when they get like this," mumbled Amy.

"You'd think they could talk about this rationally," Artemis said.

"You think the Scouts could talk about something rationally?" Luna asked, not expecting an answer.

"This is a waste of time!" said Darien looking up at the quarreling trio.

"Be quiet, everyone! Please!" shouted Amy.

At this, Raye, Lita, and Mina stopped shouting and looked over at Amy.

"Now, if you would all calm down, I had a thought of who could be leader."

The three looked at each other. "Who?" they asked in unison.

"Well, I was thinking that Darien should be our leader."

Darien, as well as the rest of the group, looked at Amy in shock.

"Are you serious, Amy?" the three other Scouts asked.

"Yes, I am," she replied with a stern voice. "He knows Saban better than any of us and I think Darien would have a better understanding as to what Saban's next move would be."

Luna jumped to the table. "I agree with Amy. Darien knows Serena better as well. I think he would be perfect as leader."

"So do I," Artemis chimed in.

Raye, Lita and Mina just looked at each other, unsure of what to say. Finally, Lita and Mina spoke up at the same time.

"I agree!"

With this said, everyone looked up at Raye and awaited her answer. "Come on, Raye," Lita said. "What do you think?"

Raye stood there a few seconds, thinking. Without looking up, she finally said, "Okay, Darien can be the leader."

"All right!" the other Scouts exclaimed.

"Well, Darien," Amy began to say. "If you want the job, you're our new leader!"

Darien thought a moment. Am I up to this? he thought. Can I handle being leader of the Sailor Scouts with Serena being gone and everything?

He looked at everyone and smiled. "Okay!" he said.

"Great!" Luna told him. "Now, I want everyone to go home and get some rest. Tomorrow, we'll meet back here and try to figure out what Saban's next move is."