Hey everyone! Well this is part one of my first romance 'Caribbean Cruise.' 
I was inspired by Alicia Blade, who is the best romance writer! If ya 
haven't read her work go do so now! And if I've borrowed ideas from her I'm 
sorry! It's sort of hard to separate the ideas when I dream and daydream her 
work all day and night!
I'm sorry if this doesn't make the Aug. 22 update. My frikken brother got 
pissed at me and turned off the power and I hadn't saved. Well there went a 
number of hours of work. Sigh. Oh yes chapter 4 of stalker of moonlight 
should be out next week if I'm lucky!  Well please let me know what you 
think! Now on with the story!
Title: Caribbean Cruise-part 1
Author: Selene Terra (moon_princess_77@hotmail.com)
Rating: PG-13 (a bit of language)

Serena bounded up the steps to the temple an advertisement in hand. "Hey 
Raye! Ami! Mina! Lita! Check this out!" she called. She skidded to a halt in 
front of her four friends holding out the paper. Raye took it and read it 
out loud. " FM no. 10 Radio presenting: The first Annual St. Joseph's 
Hospital Date Auction. Ladies and gentlemen, come to the auction and place 
bids on our mysterious dates. Our announcer will tell you all about these 
people and at the end of the night you could be dining with your dream date. 
And that's not all one lucky couple will win a wonderful weeklong Caribbean 
Cruise aboard the MS Volendam! 15 other couples will win dinner at 5 of the 
most exclusive restaurants in Tokyo! All the fun starts at 7:00pm on Sunday 
Aug. 1." Raye looked up at Serena. "And your point is? We can't afford that 
sort of thing."
	"No silly, I'm signed up to be one of those 'Mysterious dates' and I want 
all of you guys to be one too. Molly said she'd be one too! The hospital 
needs a few more women, come on it's for a good cause. The money raised will 
be used in the pediatric ward, which really needs new stuff in it."
	Then Amy spoke up. "Yes you guys it really needs it. I'll do it I guess, 
cause I was already thinking of doing something to help out there. Mom was 
talking about how big this event was going to be and I was thinking of doing 
some behind the scenes work, but if they really need people to be the dates 
and if all of you will be one I suppose I don't mind."
	"Count me in!" Mina piped up.
	"Yeah me too," said Lita.
	"But don't you think your parents would object…mppphh," Artemis started to 
argue before Mina put her hand over his mouth.
	"Ignore him."
	"Well that settles it," Raye announced. "We'll all sign up for this. I 
don't think our parents or grandpa will object to this seeing as it's for 
charity."
	"Well I've gotta book it! I'll be late if I don't hurry. Don't worry I'll 
sign you all up while I'm there! See ya!" Serena yelled as she dashed down 
the steps of the temple heading for the hospital.
	"But Serena!" Luna yelled after her. "What about…" but it was too late as 
Serena dashed around a corner. "…the meeting," she finished sighing.
	Serena dashed around the corner at top speed thinking only of getting to 
the hospital in time for her shift. She didn't notice Darien coming in the 
other direction and she smashed right into him, sending herself flying as 
well as him. Darien looked up to see his blond goddess sitting dazed on the 
ground in front of him.
	"Hey meatball head, why not try to watch where you're going next time, 
before you kill an unsuspecting person doing that." As he said the words 
inside it was a whole different story. 'Oh wow, her legs are gorgeous.' Then 
he mentally hit himself. 'Snap out of it man, she's 7 years younger than you 
are. But that doesn't mean she still isn't gorgeous. Oh wow her eyes are 
just too beautiful when she's angry and how her face flushes up…' He was 
brought to the real world when Serena got up in a huff and sped down the 
street again. "Leaving so soon Meatball head," he muttered dejectedly, 
getting to his feet. "But I know it's because you really can't stand me. Why 
am I always so mean to her?" Then he continued walking down the street.
	Serena stalked down the street, fuming. "The nerve of that jerk Darien. Why 
is he always so mean to me? I just hate him," she muttered, then glanced at 
her watch. "Oh shoot, I'm gonna be late for my shift if I don't hurry!" she 
yelped then took off at a dead run, this time with out anymore mishaps.
	Serena dashed into the hospital only a minute or so late. Managing to catch 
the elevator right away, she rode to the third floor and dashed to the 
volunteer lounge. She burst through the door startling Mrs. Samson.
	"Oh goodness Serena is it time for the next shift to start already? I've 
been in the back room organizing files and I haven't heard anyone else come 
in." She checked the sign in list after Serena had signed in. "So you're the 
last one on the shift to come in." Serena blushed.
	"Well before I get going can I have the list for the volunteer dates for 
the auction? I've convinced my friends to do it with me."
	"Ok here it is. Do you have recent pictures of all of you?" Mrs. Samson 
handed her the list, to which Serena added all six names. Then she rummaged 
through her purse coming up with 5 photos.
	"This one is Raye Hino," she said holding out a picture of Raye in her 
Shrine Maiden robes. "And this is me and Amy Anderson." She handed over a 
picture of her and Amy on their shopping trip. "And this one is Lita 
McCormick, this is Mina Southerland, and this is Molly Baxter" She finished, 
handing pictures of Lita baking cookies, Mina flashing a 'V for Victory' 
sign and Molly at her mom's store to Mrs. Samson. Then she clipped on her 
volunteer ID badge and raced out.
	 Darien stopped by his apartment to change out of his suit before hitting 
the arcade. Even though Serena wouldn't be there, it was best to keep up 
appearances besides he wanted to talk to Andrew. He entered the arcade and 
headed over to the crane game, plunked in his money and looked for the 
elusive tux doll. Finding it, he grinned for in his arms was a Sailor Moon 
doll. He directed it towards the couple took a deep breath then dropped the 
claw. Too slowly it closed over the two dolls and rose, the Sailor Moon doll 
nearly dropping, but managing to stay inside the claw. Then they both got 
dropped in the retrieval bin. He let out his breath and looked inside the 
bin. Again the sailor moon doll was in tux's arms. 'I guess she likes it 
there,' he thought. 'It's too bad that even how much Tux likes her there's 
only room for Serena in our love.' Then he grabbed the dolls and headed over 
to Andrew's counter.
	He slid onto the stool and ordered a chocolate shake and Andrew came over 
to chat.
	"So I see you finally got your Tux doll AND a sailor Moon one too. This 
must be your lucky day."
	"Yeah she was laying in his arms so I got them both in one try. I was 
pretty amazed. Speaking of amazing, when I was walking home, not even to my 
apartment yet and none other than Meatball Head runs me down. I wonder where 
she was goin so fast. Doubt it was home to do her homework. I would've 
thought she would be here plunking quarters into that Sailor V game."
	"Nah she volunteers at St. Joseph's hospital on Thursdays and she lives in 
the other direction Darien." Darien stored those bits of information safely 
away as the conversation turned to Rita's birthday. After it was decided 
that Andrew should get her the amber ring he saw at the OSA-P, Darien left 
the arcade.
	"Hi Kaylee!" Serena smiled at the pale, wan girl in the hospital bed.
	"Hey Serena!" Kaylee said, brightening at Serena's arrival. She grabbed the 
rails to sit up and Serena crossed over to the bed.
	"Now where's that calendar!!" Serena chirped. "We have lots of days to 
count off!!"
	"Yup! Here it is," she said, pulling a Sailor Moon calendar and pink pen 
out of the drawer. Together they crossed off the day and counted them off.
	"OK now there's 10 days to your birthday and 6 days to your operation." A 
sad look drifted onto Kaylee's face.
	"Serena, what if I die during the operation? I don't wanna die before I'm 
seven."
	"Oh Kaylee, you won't die! Didn't you tell me that Dr. Anderson was 
removing your tumor? She's the best doctor in all of Tokyo AND she's a Mom 
too. Mom's don't let kids die I promise. And when your birthday comes we'll 
have a party with ALL of your friends and my friends Lita Raye Mina and Amy 
will come too. Amy is Dr. Anderson's daughter and one of my best friends. 
And Lita is the best cook in the world so she'll bake you the best chocolate 
cake in the world Kay? So don't worry about the operation. Your Mommy and 
Daddy wouldn't have let them do it were it not safe. Promise."
	"Pinky swear?"
	"Pinky swear," Serena answered linking pinky's with her and shaking just as 
Kaylee's parents walked in. Serena excused herself and walked back to the 
volunteer lounge. If she didn't hurry she would be late for dinner. 'I think 
I stayed a bit long with Kaylee, but it was worth it. Now all she has to the 
party and boy will she ever be surprised when her favorite super heroine 
shows up to wish her Happy Birthday!
	Serena dashed into the house yelling "Mom I'm home! What's for dinner?"
	"Chicken. Hurry up and wash, we're sitting down to eat now," Ilene called 
back. Serena quickly washed then bounded to the kitchen table. She sat down, 
quickly filled her plate, and shoveled a few bites in her mouth then decided 
she couldn't keep her news bottled up any longer.
	"Guess what Mom and Dad! I signed up to be one of the people to be 
auctioned off on a date at the St. Joseph's date Auction!" Silence met her 
news. Finally Sammy broke the silence with a wisecrack.
	"Who would PAY for a date with you Serena! I bet they'll have to pay 
SOMEONE to bid for you!" Ilene gave him a warning look as Serena glowered at 
him from across the table. Finally Keith recovered from his shock.
	"ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!!" he roared. "My daughter will not be going on a date 
with someone she doesn't even know!"
	"But Daddy, it's for charity. It's totally harmless!"
	"Darling," Ilene broke in. "It's for a good cause so calm down. I'm sure a 
respectable man will bid for Serena."
	"Come on Dad, all my friends are signed up too!"
	"And their parents are letting them do this?"
	"Yes."
	"And it's only one date?"
	"Yes Dad."
	"And you'll take money so I can come pick you up if you feel the slightest 
bit uncomfortable?"
	"Yes I'll take some money. But enough with the third degree Dad! I can take 
care of myself!"
	"You're ONLY 14! Still my little girl!"
	"Keith I don't see what's wrong with it. It IS for charity and of course 
we'll go so we can see the gentleman who bids on Serena," Ilene stated 
firmly.
	"Fine, but I still don't like it," Keith finally gave way. Serena sighed 
and shot a grateful look at her Mom. Sometimes her Dad could be a tad bit 
overprotective.
	That night Keith said to Ilene: "I really don't like the idea of Serena 
going out with a stranger. We haven't made a major charitable contribution 
this year so I want to bid for Serena."
	"Well I suppose it would be a good place to support and you'll feel much 
better about the whole thing, but take into consideration Serena's feelings. 
She'll feel quite embarrassed that her father won a date with her when all 
her friends are having an adventure with total strangers. Take another look 
at it but I guess I can't stop you from doing what you chose. You're to 
stubborn." She poked him then rolled over and fell asleep.
	"I don't care," he whispered. "I don't want my little girl to get hurt."
	The next afternoon when Darien got to the arcade Serena was already there, 
bubbling her news to Andrew. They both laughed at her Dad's antics then she 
got some tokens and headed over to the Sailor V game. Darien strolled over 
to the counter and sat down.
	"So what was so funny?" he asked.
	"Serena was telling me about her dad's reaction to the fact that she had 
signed up to be one of the people to be auctioned off as a date at the St. 
Joseph's Date Auction this Sunday." Suddenly Darien remembered about the 
announcement that had been faxed to the office. He smiled internally. This 
would be the perfect opportunity to get into Serena's good graces. Smiling 
he left the arcade to check out the latest total of his savings account. He 
never had really checked it much after he bought his car, just put money in.
	Finally the big day arrived.
Serena got up late, and showered, putting on a nice outfit and some makeup. 
Then she walked over to Raye's temple where they had all, even Molly, 
decided to meet and walk to St. Joe's when it was time. Finally 5:45 rolled 
around and they headed to the hospital. The dates had to be there an hour 
early to verify information and get settled before everyone came. About 20 
men and 40 women wandered around. An organizer came over to the group and 
directed them to the last of 6 curtained booths holding 10 chairs each. In 
the booth were three other women ranging from 22-29. They all sat down in 
the order of the number they were given. Raye was 54, Molly: 55, Lita: 56, 
Mina: 57, Amy: 58, 59 hadn't showed up yet and Serena was 60. The organizer 
ran information by all of them and was talking to Amy when 59 showed up. It 
was Miss Haruna. She looked as surprised as the other girls did.
"Miss Haruna?" Molly, Serena, Amy and Lita all chorused in shock.
	"Girls what are you doing here?" asked an equally shocked Miss Haruna. 
"You're too young for this sort of thing!"
	"Bu…but you're a TEACHER!" Serena sputtered then blushed at what she was 
implying. Miss Haruna narrowed her eyes.
	"And just what is that suppose to mean?"
	"Ummmm…nothing! Forget I said anything!" Serena answered with a nervous 
giggle. The organizer looked from one to the other during this exchange then 
shrugged her shoulders and continued asking Amy questions. Finally people 
started coming in, till the room was jam-packed and all of the bidding 
paddles were gone. Serena's family, Raye's grandpa, the other scout's 
families and Molly's Mom with some other people who are about to become 
familiar were in the crowd.
	The announcer started off the evening with the guys up for grabs. All 20 
were quickly auctioned off after the announcer did a small description of 
each person. Then it was the women who were up for grabs. The night went on 
with a few bidding wars, which the most expensive went to $475. Most of the 
people were auctioned off in the $200-$300 range. Keith and Darien were 
hanging off the announcer's every word, trying to figure out which one was 
Serena. Finally the announcer came to the last booth. Interest was peaked as 
men who hadn't bid yet decided that they'd better start trying to get their 
date. Both of Serena's bidders were about to pull out their hair at this 
point with worry and frustration. Three women went by, all bid on by men 
getting desperate for a date, all ending up in the $375 to $420 range. 
Finally Raye's description was read.
	"Lady number 54 is one of our youngest this evening. She has long black 
hair and purple eyes and stands at 5'2". She is a priestess at one our 
city's Shinto temples and enjoys music, comic books and martial arts. 
Bidding starts at $50."
	"50," yelled an old man, and a 4 man bidding war broke out. It finally 
ended with the same old man bidding $425 to win Raye.
	In the booth it was buzzing with excited murmurs. There were definite 
advantages to being in the last 10. They heard an another 4 man bidding war 
break out for Molly, resting on $425 again. Then a 5 man bid war broke out 
for Lita, resting on $465. Serena was buzzing between her friends and the 
other three women, congratulating them on the awesome bids they were 
generating.
	Darien was getting impatient. He had sat while Raye, Molly and Lita had 
been auctioned and was waiting for Serena. He perked up at the next 
description.
	"Lady number 57 also one of the youngest, has blond hair and blue eyes. She 
loves volleyball, ice cream and hanging with her friends. Even at 5'2" she 
has been a model for the popular super heroine Sailor V. Bidding starts at 
$50." 'Damn too tall and the Sailor V thing- that must be Mina,' Darien 
thought. Even if Darien was disappointed Mina wasn't.
	From behind the curtain covering the booth the girls listened at the 10-man 
bid war for Mina, ending up at $490. Serena barely kept from squealing as 
she gave Mina a hug and whispered congratulations to her. Mina looked most 
shocked, but recovered as Amy's description was read. A 7 man bid war broke 
out resting on $480. Serena was grinning ear to ear in happiness for her 
friends.
	Mrs. Samson, who was recording the final bids that evening, stared at her 
calculator in shock. She had just finished punching in Amy Anderson's final 
bid and the total staring back at her was way over what they were expecting 
to get especially on the first one! $17 155 stared back at her. 'Oh my 
goodness, look at this! We expected 15 000 at most! And already we're here 
and there are still two more women to go! Oh my, they're going to be so 
pleased!' then she turned her attention back to the auction.
	Darien grinned, Serena would be next, but his grinned started to fade, as 
it was not announced that she was one of the youngest, then disappeared 
completely when it was announced she had long wavy red hair. 'Damn it where 
is she!' he thought. 'If I've missed her there goes my chances forever!' 
Dimly he heard the bidding start. 'Where are you Serena?'
	Miss Haruna bounced excitedly in her seat as a huge bid war went on for 
her. As the bids got higher she bounced out of her seat and started jumping 
around the booth. (AN: Basically a longer form of what she did in Ep.2 -Talk 
radio when her letter was read on the air!^_~) When a little old man finally 
bid $500 she collapsed in her seat smirking. 'Now I've beat out everyone in 
the whole auction! Wait till the faculty hears about this!' All the girls 
and the three women looked at Miss Haruna strangely. 'Yup,' Serena thought, 
'she's defiantly done it this time. She's totally nuts.' She sighed and 
prepared for her turn. 'I'll probably get $200 at most. I mean everyone's 
probably got the date they wanted already and besides who'd want me?'
	Darien was squirming in his seat. 'This had better be her. This had better 
be her. This had better be her,' he thought over and over again. Keith was 
also squirming with worry. 'I better not have missed her. I better not have 
missed her. I better not have missed her,' he thought over and over again. 
Just then the announcer started again.
	"Now we have come to the end of our mystery dates, Lady number 60! She's 
one of our youngest and defiantly our shortest, standing at only 4 feet 11 
inches." Darien and Keith both sat up straight. They hadn't missed her after 
all. "She has long blond hair and blue eyes. She likes shopping, video 
games, ice cream and she's a wonderful volunteer here at St. Joseph's 
Hospital. Bidding for this caring Lady starts at $50."
	Before Darien could open his mouth, Keith's voice rang across the room.
	"50"
	"75" Darien replied. 3 other men quickly made more bids before Darien 
called out $200. A few more men made bids before Keith called out $400. Then 
guys started dropping out. Darien replied with $450.
	"$460." Keith answered. 'That guy isn't going to get my little girl- he's 
too old!'
	"$475." Darien countered. 'What is it with that guy? He's sitting with his 
wife and kid biding on a teenager!' Then it hit him. 'They must be her 
family.'
	"$490."
	"$500."
	"Hey Dad," Sammy commented, "That guy's pretty persistent. Maybe he's 
Serena's boyfriend, but don't you think he's a bit old?"
	"WHAT!! Serena is too young to have a boyfriend! $700!" he yelled. The room 
started to buzz with conversation.
	In the booth Serena was listening to this in shock. Then she heard her Dad 
bellow about her being to young for a boyfriend and sighed, totally 
embarrassed. 'This is pathetic! My DAD is bidding on me! I'm so 
embarrassed!'
	Darien was getting mad. 'Not even her Dad can take this chance away from 
me!'
	"$800." Serena started to shake in the booth.
	"$900." Sammy stared at his dad in shock. 'That's it! Dad's gone crazy! I 
KNOW we can't afford that!' Ilene leaned over and took away the paddle.
	"You get stuck with this one, and you sleep on the couch for 2 months," she 
hissed. "And if you bid again you sleep on the couch for a year!" Keith 
gulped and looked at his angry wife. But they needn't have worried. All jaws 
in the room dropped as Darien's patience ran out and named the bid to end it 
for all.
	"$1500." Silence descended on the room. In the booth Serena gave a little 
scream of shock and got glassy-eyed. All her friends gathered around her 
dumbly patting her shoulders and knees in their shock. The announcer dropped 
his gravel with a thud.
	"What?" he whispered.
	"You heard me." Darien stated calmly. "1500."
	"Ames," Serena whispered. "Did I hear right?" Ami nodded, unable to speak. 
"Holy Shit," Serena muttered under her breath.
	Mrs. Samson was shocked as she dumbly punched the number into the 
calculator. $19 155 was the outstanding total. After checking the total 
again, she wrote it on a slip of paper and brought it up to the announcer.
	The announcer recovered from his shock enough to say: "Going once, going 
twice, sold to the young man with paddle number 83. Well ladies and 
gentlemen, that tremendous bid ends off the bidding part of our evening! Now 
our newly made couples will meet each other in our love booth!" He indicated 
a booth with huge windows facing the crowd divided down the middle and a 
huge heart shaped doorway in the wall that divided it covered in a red 
velvet curtain. "The winning bidders will come up to the side opposite the 
booth that our mystery dates are in and we draw away the curtain so you can 
see your date! Now lets get started!" Again they started with 1 so it was a 
long wait for Darien.
	Serena sat surrounded by her friends, shaking the whole time people were 
meeting each other. Molly's Mom hooked up with a Prof. from the University 
of Tokyo and Ami's Mom with one of her colleagues. Other nice couples were 
formed including the pairing of Akane Tendo and Ranma Satome. Akane's father 
was so happy with the match he ran around crying and hugging anyone who came 
within 3 feet of him. Finally the announcer came to Raye. She entered the 
booth and the curtains were drawn back to reveal a little old man, as short 
as he grandpa, with hearts in his eyes.
	"Hello my dear my name is Happosai and I run the Anything Goes School Of 
Martial Arts," he said drawing her out of the booth. "I should love to see 
you in a tight and revealing sparring uniform and a bikini so how about we 
spar a bit then go swimming?  What do you think my soon to be bikini clad 
goddess?" Raye stared in shock at the perverted old man. 'He's worse than 
grandpa!' She was saved by a male voice.
	"Don't worry about him. I'll make sure he stays a gentleman. Oh yeah, I'm 
Ranma and this is Akane," he said indicating the girl next to him who sort 
of resembled Amy.
	"Thanks, I'm Raye," she answered. Suddenly her grandpa going to stand in 
the booth caught her attention. 'Gods I hope he didn't get one of my 
friends!' Then Miss Haruna came out of the booth. Raye facefaulted. "Excuse 
me please. I have to go make sure my grandpa behaves himself with Miss 
Haruna. He can be pretty perverted too," she sighed and hurried toward her 
grandpa and Miss Haruna.
	Serena sat in her chair shaking badly. 'Who would pay that much for me?' 
Then #60 was called and she stood slowly. She walked into the booth keeping 
her eyes down. The curtain drew away slowly. She started lifting her eyes. 
Black pants, white dress shirt and black suit coat, strong jawline. Then she 
totally looked at the face. Recognition flooded her confused and fearful 
eyes.
	"Darien," she whispered, then the shock was too much and she fainted dead 
away.
	Darien was expecting something to happen so when she fainted he lunged 
forward and caught her before she hit the floor. Electricity flowed up his 
arms. He stood with her in his arms as her mother rushed over to them her 
friends not far behind. He yearned to kiss her, to breathe life into her 
again, but he contented himself with holding her warm, light little body 
close to him while her mom fussed over her, trying to wake her up. He wanted 
to tell her to leave Serena to wake up when she was ready. That way he could 
hold her longer, but he held his tongue. 5 minutes of bliss for Darien 
passed while Ilene and all of Serena's friends worried over her. Only Mina 
noticed that Darien was enjoying this immensely. 'I'll have to keep an eye 
on this, see where this is going and give it a nudge or two in the right 
direction if necessary. This is gonna be perfect!' she thought grinning 
slyly. Just then Serena started to stir.
	Serena opened her eyes to see her mother's worried face hovering close by.
	"What happened?" she asked groggily.
	"You fainted dear," her mother replied. Suddenly Serena became aware of the 
strong arms holding her close. She looked up to see Darien with an odd look 
in his eyes, staring down at her.
	"Are you OK?" he asked softly. Serena nodded. Just then the announcer broke 
in.
	"Well ladies and gentlemen, it looks like that Miss Kennelworth has 
recovered from her little fainting spell. Now let draw for those dinners!" 
He made a big show of picking 15 numbers. Amy, Raye, Lita, Mina, Molly, Miss 
Haruna and Akane were among those picked.
	Serena looked up at Darien. "Could you put me down please? I've got friends 
to congratulate."
	"Are you sure you can stand yet?" he asked. "It's better to be on the safe 
side." He carried her over to her friends were sitting. 'Nuh-uh Meatball 
head! You aren't getting away from me that fast!'
	"Hey guys! Congrats on those free dinners!" she said from her spot in his 
arms, feeling kinda foolish but all warm and tingly inside too. She didn't 
know what it meant but it scared her. And again the announcer broke in.
	"And now it's time to draw for what you've all been waiting for, the 
Caribbean Cruise!" he rummaged around before pulling out a small slip of 
paper. "Ladies and gentlemen, I don't believe it! Number 60-Serena 
Kennelworth! Our golden couple has just won the cruise! Come up and claim 
your prize!" They both were stunned. Keith sank down in a chair in his 
shock.
	"Put me down!" Serena hissed, so he did, every nerve in his body 
protesting. He made do with wrapping a supporting arm around her little 
waist and guiding her to the prize table. He accepted the envelope 
containing the tickets and a brochure describing the trip from the 
announcer, returning his cheery smile. 'Oh man this is gonna be fun!'

	Serena and Darien walked outside to his car, his arm still around her 
waist. Somehow he had managed to convince he parents to let him drive her 
home. Reaching his car he opened her door, helped her sit then reached over 
and buckled he seatbelt. She blushed and he managed to keep from smiling 
till he was walking around to his side. He got in and started the car and 
drove her home. Except for the directions she gave him the car was silent. 
Finally they reached her house and Darien parked the car.
	"Serena we have to talk."
	"About what Darien?"
	"About this entire thing." He turned on the overhead light and pulled the 
envelope and brochure out of his pocket. He opened the brochure to the right 
page and handed it to Serena. "Read this. It's all about the cruise." She 
read it silently while Darien looked over the tickets. "Our flight leaves 
the Tokyo International Airport at 7:00pm Thursday. We go to Ft. Lauderdale, 
Florida. The ship leaves at 5:00pm on Friday," he stated. There was a 
silence for a moment before Serena spoke.
	"How old are you Darien?"
	"21. Why?"
	"I'm 14. That's a 7-year difference. Also doesn't it bother you that we're 
going on a cruise designed for people our parent's ages, not 14 year old 
girls and 21 year old guys?" She looked over at him and was surprised to see 
a sad look on his face. Instinct kicked in. "Darien are you alright? Did I 
say something wrong?! I'm sorry! Ok lets change the subject. Uhh…I know! 
Lets swap romantic stories! That always makes me cheer up!" she bubbled 
excitedly. "Umm…how my parents met was very romantic. You see, my Mom was…"
	Darien listened as his cheerful Meatball head described the romantic way 
her parents met. Then his mind drifted to thoughts of kissing her pretty 
pink lips, holding her petite body close to him and simply falling asleep in 
each other's arms. Even to kiss away all the anger she felt towards him 
would be a start. He was broken out of his fantasy by Serena's innocent 
question.
	"So Darien, how did your parents meet?"
	Serena looked over at Darien as she asked and watched as a sad look crossed 
over his face and stayed planted there firmly. Her eyes widened. "Oh Darien! 
I'm sorry! I did it again! Can you ever forgive me?"
	He put his hand on her shoulder. "Of course little meatball head," he said 
gently. "You had no way of knowing. See I was in a terrible car crash when I 
was little, to which I lost both my parents and all my memories. I have no 
known relatives so I was sent to an orphanage. I stayed there for 10 cold 
years, never making any friends, till I was 15. At that time I came to Tokyo 
and got a job as a delivery boy at the company that I work at now. So that's 
my life story. Thanks for listening. I guess my parents and lost memories 
are still are a major sore spot with me." Serena looked close to tears. 
Unbuckling her seatbelt, she climbed over to his seat sat in his lap and 
gave him a long hug.
	"I'm so sorry for bringing back those memories," she whispered into his 
shirt, tears beginning to fall from her eyes. She was surprised when his 
strong arms wrapped around her holding her close. He stroked her back till 
she stopped crying.
	"Shh little Meatball Head," he murmured in her ear. "It's Ok don't cry." 
She looked up at him, her blue eyes filled with tears. "You know, you're the 
first one I've told. Not even Andrew knows about how cold and friendless the 
years in the orphanage were. He just knows I spent 10 years in one." Her 
eyes widened in surprise and confusion.
	"But, why me?" she whispered. "I'm just the girl you love to constantly 
tease and we can never get along."
	"We're getting along right now. And I chose you well cause you're so nice 
to everyone who comes into the arcade, well except for me cause I'm really 
mean to you and I want to sincerely apologize for that. Serena can you 
forgive me for being a jerk? Will you let me make it up to you tomorrow, 
when I take you out? That is if you'll let me."
	"Of course! You're entitled to take me out if you want to. You bid that 
ridiculous amount of money on me so you could take me to a boring lecture if 
you wanted to! And yes I'll forgive you if you stop teasing me."
	"Thank you. You have magnetism, Serena that makes people respond to you and 
trust you. And that's another reason I told you. You have child like 
enthusiasm and innocence which draws people." 'He thinks you're a child 
Serena, so squash your hopes right now! He's just going out with you so he 
doesn't have to listen to you yell at him the entire cruise! You're too 
young and stupid and clumsy for a sophisticated guy like him. Time to go in 
Serena before you say something stupid.'
	"Well I'd better get in before my Dad comes out here and kills us," she 
said, opening the door and stepping out of the car. He did too, closed the 
door and walked with her up to the front door.
	"Can I pick you up at 6:00 tomorrow?" he asked.
	"Sure that would be fine."
	"Dress up alright, it's pretty formal, no ball gowns or anything but a nice 
dress. Kay?"
	"Yup I've got something that will work. Goodnight."
	"Goodnight." She slipped inside and shut the door as he walked back to his 
car. She leaned on the inside of the door and sighed. 'I can't let anything 
I feel for him escape. He'll only hurt me I know. It'll give him lots to 
tease me about.' Then she headed up to bed stopping briefly to say goodnight 
to her parents.
	The next day at exactly 5:59 Darien's car pulled up in front of the 
Kennelworth house. Serena quickly fixed her necklace, picked up her handbag 
and tugged on her dress. It was long and white with spaghetti straps that 
crisscrossed down her back and tied at her waist. The dress itself was to 
her feet and had a slit to mid thigh running up one side. When the doorbell 
rang she hurried down the stairs. As much as she wanted to make an entrance, 
she had to save Darien from Dad's third degree.
	Darien gaped as the vision running down the stairs. Ilene noticed the 
expression on his face and giggled, but Serena was to busy looking for her 
dad that she didn't notice.
	"I sent him out to buy some more filter bags for the vacuum 15 minutes ago. 
See I saved him from the third degree," Ilene said to Serena.
	"Thanks Mom, you're the greatest," Serena said gratefully. Then she turned 
to Darien, who handed her a dozen roses he pulled from behind his back.
	"For you," he said, presenting them to Serena who blushed and took them to 
the kitchen to put them in water. The second Serena was out of earshot, 
Ilene turned to Darien and looked him in the eye.
	"Now Mr. Shields could you please explain why on Earth you bid so high at 
the auction. I was ready to muffle my husband at 700 and when he said 900 I 
gave him the ultimatum."
	"Well first, please call me Darien and well I'm not really sure why I bid 
so high I guess I just wanted to get a new start with Serena." Ilene looked 
at him skeptically.
	"Uh-huh," she said showing she was clearly unconvinced. Then she looked him 
in the eye. "But that means…Oh you're THAT Darien!" she finished with a sly 
smile. Darien didn't have time to question the remark cause Serena came back 
into the room. He directed a questioning glance over her head at Ilene but 
she just shook her head, that smile still plastered to her face.
	"So Darien where are you taking Serena and when will you have her home?"
	"Well I've got reservations at the Spring Plaza Restaurant, then I have 
tickets to 'The Phantom of the Opera.' It'll go to around midnight so I 
should have her back shortly after." Ilene nodded approvingly and Serena's 
eyes shone. 'The Phantom of the Opera! Wow! Wait till the girls hear about 
this!' she thought. 'I like this guy,' Ilene thought approvingly. 'He has 
taste. I hope Serena keeps him around.'
	"Ok you two get going! Even Keith doesn't take this long to get vacuum 
bags!" Ilene said as she shooed them out, closed the door and started 
laughing. "It looks like he likes her as much as she likes him! Now if only 
those stubborn fools would realize it or at least let him hear her talk in 
her sleep soon!" she said to herself chucking as she shook her head.
	Darien thought about Ilene's cryptic comments as she drove to the 
restaurant. "Serena, do you know someone else named Darien?"
	"No, why?"
	"I was just trying to figure out something your Mom said. It's nothing but 
have you mentioned me before the auction like how much of a jerk I was?"
	"Well I might've mentioned you once or twice," she said nervously. 'Where 
is this going? What on EARTH did mom say?' 'What on Earth did Mrs. 
Kennelworth mean?' he thought. Both of them puzzled over this till they got 
to the restaurant. Darien started to get out but noticed Serena going for 
her door.
	"Hold it Serena. Tonight you get treated like a lady." Serena blushed. 
'That look is in his eyes again.' She sat waiting for him to open her door, 
feeling that same strange warm and tingly feeling that confused and 
frightened her. She ruthlessly squashed it down. He opened her door and took 
her hand, gently pulling her to her feet. After closing her door and handing 
the keys to the valet he offered his arm to her and she accepted it, walking 
carefully into the restaurant with him. She didn't want to have a klutz 
attack and embarrass him in a fancy place like this! He opened the door for 
her and they walked toward the maitre' d.
	"Reservation for two under Shields please," Darien told the man.
	"Of course sir, right this way," he said leading them through the crowded 
restaurant to a secluded room with to walls sporting floor to ceiling 
windows over looking Tokyo Harbor. Potted plants were everywhere and a 
charming two-person table, with long candles lighting the dim room, was in 
the center of the room.
	"Oh Darien, it's lovely!" Serena exclaimed turning around in a circle to 
take in the whole room.
	"I trust it meets expectations sir?"
	"You heard the lady. We like it very much," Darien replied. Before the 
maitre' d could move, Darien was guiding Serena to her chair and pulling it 
out and seating her. They ordered and sat taking in the view. Well Serena 
looked out the window at the harbor and the nearly set sun while Darien 
studied Serena. The candlelight and setting sun flickered over her face, 
hair, neck and the amount of skin revealed by the modest neckline. The light 
flickered over her creamy skin and the soft makeup she had applied. He 
longed to kiss every inch of that creamy skin and those little pink lips 
curved in a soft smile. Her hair glowed like a sunbeam and he itched to 
stroke it. And the way her dress flowed, not clinged, but flowed over her 
curves was enough to make any guys top dead in his tracks and take a second 
look, then a third and a fourth, a fifth…Gods he put the ring on her finger 
right now to claim her as his. Well he could start now to try and win her 
love.
	"Hey Serena?" She turned to look at him. He had that look in his eyes again 
and it sent shivers down her spine.
"What?" He smiled at her with his melt your heart smile.
	"You look absolutely beautiful tonight," he said softly. Serena was shocked 
out of her mind as she blushed bright red and nervously twirled a lock of 
her hair around her finger. 'Does he really mean it?! Oh Gods I've dreamed 
of this moment for so long, could he possibly like me too?'
	"You look quite flustered Meatball head," he chuckled.
	"Me…beautiful?" she squeaked, shock written over her face. 'Stupid girl! 
You just gave yourself to his teasing! Stupid, stupid girl!' Darien shook 
his head in wonder.
	"Not just beautiful Serena. Absolutely gorgeous. You are easily the most 
gorgeous girl in Tokyo," he said. Serena looked close to tears. 'He's 
teasing me again. I knew it! The moment I got my hopes up he hurt me by 
teasing me and dashing them. Learn your lesson girl it's an important one. 
Why can't you ever learn?' She covered her face with her hands.
	"Don't tease me Darien, please," she whispered in tears. 'She actually 
thinks I'm teasing her?' Darien thought incredulously. He rose from his 
chair and walked to her and drew her up to her feet and cupped her chin in 
his hand.
	"Look at me," he commanded softly and she slowly drew her hands away from 
her face and opened her eyes to look at him. "I was totally serious," he 
continued. A tear rolled down her cheek and Darien couldn't stop himself 
from leaning over and kissing it away.
	Serena's eyes grew wide at the gentle kiss as wave of heat roared through 
her body. She clung to him quivering as she drowned in her raging emotions. 
Unsure of what to do, he scooped her up in his arms, which made it worse, 
and carried her over to a small loveseat surrounded by plants for privacy. 
He set her down and sat next to her one arm draped across her shoulder. 
Slowly the magnetism that drew them together on the sidewalk began to work 
again slowly drawing them together, Serena's mind screaming at her the whole 
way. 'You foolish girl! He's going to pull away and laugh at you for being 
so stupid to try and kiss him! He'll hurt you! Don't get any closer to him!' 
A voice broke in to their daze.
	"Sir your dinner is here! Sir?" Serena and Darien jumped apart. Darien 
emerged from the plants.
	"Thank you. Just put that one here and the other one there," he said, 
indicating where each plate went.
	"And can I bring you some champagne sir or some wine?"
	"No thank you. I'm driving and she's underage."
	"Very well then sir. Enjoy your dinner," the waiter said then left, closing 
the French doors behind him. Darien walked back to the plants surrounding 
the loveseat. He watched as she dug through her handbag, and not finding 
what she was looking for, dump it out. She picked up her eyeshadow from 
amidst tissues, a lipstick, coins, the locket she normally wore, a pink pen 
and a pink…calculator? He shrugged, then watched fascinated as she slowly 
applied the silvery-purple shadow over her eyelids. Then she put all of it 
back with the pen, calculator and locket on top. 'I wonder why she brought 
those?' he wondered, then chalked it up to female mystery. He walked into 
the little space by the seat.
	"Ready to eat?" he asked, getting her attention. She nodded eagerly and 
they ate quickly so they could get to the theater on time.
	By the time he was helping her out of the car at the theater she was 
bubbling with excitement and finding it very hard to walk carefully enough 
so as not to trip so she was going very slow.
	"Are you Ok Serena?" Darien asked. "Why are you going so slow? Are you 
hurt?" She blushed and shook her head.
	"I'm just afraid that I'll trip on my dress and embarrass you," she said 
shyly. He chuckled and withdrew his arm from her and wrapped it firmly 
around her waist. 	"Now pick up a bit of your skirt, no other side, the 
second you lift on THAT side the slit will open above where you're holding," 
he instructed as she blushed. "There, now lift it slightly. Now there's no 
chance of tripping…Don't worry about the slit, there's just a little bit 
more leg showing that's all," he said, the last part in answer to her 
dubious stare and indication of the slightly larger slit. Firmly he steered 
her towards the entrance of the theater.
	"We'll be sitting with my colleague Mr. Turney and three investors. My 
company is in charge of the technical aspects of the production, the sound 
system some of the special effects, that sort of thing so we're hoping that 
the performance will convince the investors that we're the company for them. 
I hope you don't mind sitting with them."
	"Nah, it'll be fun watching how adults do business. Besides, this is the 
Phantom of the Opera were talking about. I wouldn't care if we sat next to 
slobbering monkeys! I just love all of Andrew Lloyd Webber's music and this 
is the first production of his I've seen," she chattered excitedly. Darien 
gave the tickets to the usher and escorted Serena to their seats. Heads 
turned as they walked by and Darien pulled Serena closer as he saw some of 
the men start to undress her with their eyes. He sent icy glares to those 
defilers of her innocence. They arrived at their seats and greeted the 
people Darien had mentioned.
	"Why if it isn't the golden couple! And you two sure look the part!" a 
gentleman said. Serena blushed.
	"Well Mr. Winters, it seems you already know Mr. Shields and his date," Mr. 
Turney said. "And what's this about a golden couple?"
	"Oh I was at the St. Joseph's Date Auction last night and they were dubbed 
the golden couple. First that huge bid, then they one the cruise. Oh yes, 
congratulations on that you two. When do you leave?"
	"Thank you, we fly out Thursday night." Darien said then turned to 
introductions. "Serena this is Mr. Winters and that lady is Ms. Svenson and 
that gentleman is Mr. Parker and of course my colleague, Mr. Turney. 
Gentlemen, Ms. Svenson, this is my date Serena Kennelworth."
	"Nice to meet you all," Serena said and was greeted in return.
	"Well I for one can't wait to see what you've done with the show. It must 
be excellent if you can give out salaries to your employees that enable them 
to make such high bids so calmly," Mr. Winters commented.
	"So how much did you bid for Miss Kennelworth anyway?" Ms. Svenson wanted 
to know once they were seated and the lights were out. Serena was glad that 
the dark room hid her blush, she had been blushing too much tonight. But 
before Darien or Mr. Winters could answer, the overture started. Then they 
settled in to enjoy the show.
	When the intermission light came up, Serena turned to Darien.
	"This is so cool!" she exclaimed. He smiled at her.
	"I'm glad you like it," he said, then to the others said, "Ready to go out 
and talk?" They all stood and left the auditorium and into the lobby.
	"Excuse me a moment please," Serena excused herself to the washroom.
	"So how much did you bid for her?" asked Ms. Svenson, curious.
	"$1500," Darien said calmly and the 3 adults who weren't at the Auction 
just stared at him.
	"Yeah the last booth went for really high. In fact the lady who went right 
before Miss Kennelworth was the highest of the night so far with $500 raised 
in her name. A Miss H something…" Mr. Winters chipped in.
	"Haruna," Darien supplied. "She's Serena's teacher. In fact 5 of Serena's 
friends were in that booth too, 54 through 58."
	"Teacher?" questioned Mr. Parker. "How old is the girl anyway?"
	"14." All the adults seemed slightly uncomfortable with this at first, but 
accepted it right way.
	"It's not really surprising," Ms. Svenson said. "Couldn't you tell from her 
size? She's so petite. I don't think I ever looked like that. When I was 
that short I still looked like a child!" then the conversation drifted to 
business after everyone had laughed. A few more people from a partnering 
company joined them.
	Serena wandered around the lobby trying to find Darien again. Somebody 
moved and she could see him talking to a woman in a clingy red dress, who 
was laughing. Serena froze. 'Grow up Serena! You knew you were going to get 
hurt! He was just trying to make you look stupid! He's probably dating that 
woman and here you've been holding fantasies about him liking you! You're 
too young and klutzy and scrawny and a crybaby with weird hair! That woman 
is 10 times prettier than you'll ever be!' Before he could turn and see her 
there she slipped into the crowd to find the others. A few feet away she 
spotted them talking to a bunch of others. Quickly she walked over to them.
	"Wow I finally found you guys. It's so packed in here I was looking 
forever. Where's Darien?" she chattered, successfully hiding her feelings.
	"He saw some colleagues and went over to talk to them," Mr. Turney said.
	"Oh look here he comes," said Ms. Svenson. Indeed he was walking toward 
them with the woman in red, another in black and three men. He smiled when 
he saw Serena.
	"Good I was worried that you'd get lost in this crowd. Have you been 
introduced yet?" he asked, indicating the people who were in the group when 
Serena had walked up. She shook her head and he walked behind her, putting 
his hands on her shoulders. "Everyone this is my date Serena Kennelworth." 
He went on to introduce the rest of the people and Serena listened with 
interest to the conversations about the production. Then they went back 
inside the auditorium for the second half of the performance. This time 
Darien's arm went around her shoulders immediately.
	Too soon the curtain was falling and Serena and Darien as well as the rest 
of the theater were on their feet clapping. As soon as the applause died 
down enough to be heard, Mr. Turney turned to everyone.
	"We have backstage passes and stage passes so you can talk with the actors 
about working with the equipment and check out the equipment itself." Darien 
turned to Serena.
	"Want to meet Christine?" Her eyes shone.
	"Really?"
	"If you want to." She nodded and they walked backstage.
	Nephrite opened his eyes. 'The actress has reached her highest energy 
output. It's time to gather it.'
	Sarah Brightman removed her lucky locket. This had been the best 
performance of her career. Suddenly her locket began to shake and black 
shadows flew out of it as a red sign flashed ominously on it. The shadows 
formed a massive figure bending over her, drawing something from her. Going 
against years of training to preserve her voice, Sarah screamed as it drew 
away all her energy. Then she was tossed to the floor like a discarded rag 
doll.
	Darien was about to knock when a scream from inside shattered the peace of 
the faintly bustling hallway.
	"Miss Brightman?" he asked worriedly. The only answer was the thunk of a 
body hit the floor. Darien flung open the door to see the actress sprawled 
on the floor and the thing standing over her. Serena peered around Darien 
and they both recognized it immediately: a youma. Darien grabbed Serena's 
hand and dragged her down the hallway at full speed, around a corner and 
into the broom closet that was the closest door.
	"Stay there until I come back for you I'm going for help," he commanded. 
She nodded and he closed the door. She listened as he ran down the hall and 
as soon as he was out of earshot, she threw up her hand with her locket 
already out.
	"Moon Prism Power!" she yelled and transformed. Then she opened the door 
and followed the drained body trail to the scene. The youma was terrorizing 
audience members when she arrived, including the investors. 'Shoot! I hope 
Darien's company doesn't loose them because of this!'
	"Hey negasleaze! For interrupting my date with the dreamiest guy on Earth, 
I'm Sailor Moon, the champion of love and justice. On behalf of the moon I 
shall right wrongs and triumph over evil, and that means you! Sailor Moon 
Kick!" She slammed into the youma, knocking it down, but sending herself 
flying also. She slammed into a bunch of seats and went tumbling. She 
screamed and the sonic waves sent the youma screaming in pain, but nobody 
else was effected. Just then a barrage of roses embedded themselves in the 
youma and Tuxedo Mask appeared and smashed it with his cane. 'No speech for 
me today, I have to get back to Serena as soon as possible,' he thought. 
During this Sailor Moon had stopped screaming and was on her feet again.
	"Tuxedo Mask! It's mine now!" Sailor Moon called and he got out of the way. 
"Moon Tiara Magic!" she yelled sending it flying into the monster, which 
screamed, disintegrated then disappeared. Sailor Moon zoomed off, grabbing 
her tiara, which was still hovering in mid air on her way and bolted 
backstage. 'Please don't let Darien have come back already,' she prayed. 
Tuxedo Mask watched sailor Moon zoom off. 'Probably going to find her dreamy 
guy again. Well I'd better get back to my gorgeous girl before she thinks 
something's happened to me.' He thought as he ran to the spot where he left 
Serena.
	Sailor Moon flew through the halls coming to a screeching halt by the 
corner. She peered around it and seeing no one, but hearing footsteps coming 
from the other corridor coming off the hallway she dived into the broom 
closet and shut the door behind her. She took a gulp of air, leaned back 
against the shelf and concentrated on detransforming. 'Gotta make him 
believe I've been in here the entire time,' she thought and prepared 
herself. She finished detransforming just in time, because as soon as her 
dress appeared again he opened the door. Serena screamed and pressed herself 
as far into the closet as she was able. It must have been believable cause 
her took her in his arms and soothed her. Serena was pleased with her 
performance and wanted to keep it up but gave in to her wiser side. She 
flashed a trembling smile at Darien and pulled out of his arms.
	"Sorry I thought that thing was coming for me. Is it over?"
	"Yes Sailor Moon destroyed it."
	"Thank goodness. Can we just go home? I'm just so tired."
	"Of course," he said and wrapped an arm around her waist and they walked 
out to the auditorium. Darien caught Mr. Turney's eye and nodded toward the 
door, who nodded back and turned his attention back to Ms. Svenson who was 
busy babbling.
	"And we'll make dolls of her that say her speech and her attacks and all 
that. Oh I just loved that 'for interrupting my date with the dreamiest guy 
on earth' part! And Tuxedo mask dolls too and I wonder if there is any other 
sailors too? We'll get some people to do some digging into it. I wonder if 
there's connection to the English super-heroine Sailor V…" They walked out 
of earshot and Serena smiled to herself. 'I'll have to mention this to the 
scouts.'
	Darien parked in front of the Kennelworth house and got out and opened her 
door.
	"Don't worry about it Serena. Sailor Moon totally destroyed the monster." 
Serena smiled at him.
	"Thank you Darien. I had lots of fun tonight, except for the monster 
attack. I like this side of you. It's much easier to get along with you and 
even…" she stopped short kicking herself for nearly saying 'fall in love 
with you' to him. She rushed for words. "…talk to you without yelling at you 
or storming off." She finished with a small sigh at her recovery. "Goodnight 
Darien, thank you." She smiled softly and slipped inside.
	"Goodnight Serena. I'll see ya around," he said softly and stepped off the 
step and down the walk. She closed the door silently and leaned back against 
it and sighed, relieved. 'You made it through the evening without giving 
Darien an opportunity to hurt you. Good for you. Now you have to do it for a 
week.' Then she went up to bed.
	School dragged on forever the next day. She had called Raye and Mina on the 
communicators that morning to tell them about the meeting, and wrote notes 
to Amy and Lita.
	Finally school ended without Serena getting a detention for once, even 
though she had failed last Friday's test. Miss Haruna had been off in her 
own little world all day. She just delayed Serena for a minute after school 
and Serena came out looking quite confused. Then they headed to the temple.
	Mina had joined them and they were nearly up the stairs when the peace was 
shattered.
	"CHAD!!!" Raye yelled. "Stop singing already!" they ran up the rest of the 
stairs to see Chad cowering in front of a very angry priestess, albeit still 
in her school uniform.
	"Hey Raye!" Lita called. "I think he gets the message!" Raye sighed and 
walked toward her friends while Chad made his escape.
	"Hey guys! I didn't expect you so soon. Serena usually has detention right 
now."
	"Miss Haruna was in her own little world today and wasn't bothered by 
anything," Lita put in.
	"Yeah and she didn't even yell at me for failing my test, just told me to 
try harder next time. And when she kept me after school she made some 
confusing comments, giggled like a schoolgirl, patted me on the head and 
told me to enjoy my youth because I might not be as lucky as her," Serena 
added, puzzled. Just then Grandpa came out all spruced up.
	"Raye I'm going out now. Don't wait up for me and make sure Chad washes the 
floor." He got in the car and drove in the direction the girls came from.
	"I wonder where he was going?" Mina said. "On a date maybe?" All the girls 
except Raye giggled.
	"Well unlike my date last night, Grandpa does know how to be a gentleman 
when he's on a date," Raye sniffed.
The girls looked at each other.
	"Ok Raye spill it. What happened last night?" Serena asked worried. Raye 
snorted.
	"Only that the old pervert kept making lewd comments about my figure and 
stole my bra!" Raye fumed. Jaws dropped.
	"Nani?!?!?*" four shocked voices stuttered. Raye sighed.
	"Yeah, I was way disgusted too, but I'm just happy that I never have to see 
him again. Now lets go inside so can spill about your dates." They all went 
to Raye's room, grabbing munchies on the way.
	Mina's date was a member of the executive council of Sony; Amy's was a 
doctor working at Tokyo General; and Lita's was the head chef in a fancy 
downtown restaurant. After their stories were spilled they all turned to 
Serena to spill about hers.
	"Well he took me to the Spring Plaza Restaurant for dinner and got this 
table with lots of plants by it and a cool view of Tokyo Harbor. Then we 
went to see 'The Phantom of the Opera.' And he introduced me to lots of 
influential people while we were there. And we were going to meet the 
actress who played Christine but…well that brings me to the other reason I 
called this meeting. Nephrite attacked the actress and I had to fight the 
youma along with Tuxedo Mask. And Luna, I think I've mastered the sonic 
attack. It didn't affect anything but the youma." The scouts looked at her 
shocked.
	"Why didn't you call us?" Raye asked, then another thought hit her. "Did 
Darien see you transform?"
	"There wasn't enough time to call and no he didn't. He put me in a closet 
and went for help then I just transformed and fought. I was joined by Tuxedo 
Mask right after I used the sonic attack, and get this guys! No speech! Well 
between us it was weak enough to use my tiara on pretty fast. Well as soon 
as I was certain that it was gone I was out of there so fast to get to the 
closet Tuxedo was actually the last one to leave the scene! He must of 
thought I was crazy, but I had to get back to the closet before Darien came 
back and I was just in time. It was sooo close; he nearly caught me 
detransforming. Now here's the best part! When we were leaving one of the 
investors we were sitting with was so wowed by the fight she's making dolls 
of me and you guys too if she finds out about you. So you might want to be a 
bit more public for the next few fights, but be careful where you 
transform." Serena warned. They nodded and conversation drifted elsewhere. 
Serena went home much later and for once in her life did all her homework so 
she wouldn't have detention the next day.
	Wednesday rolled in and school rolled out without a detention again. Miss 
Haruna was even worse today. As soon as the final bell rang Serena zoomed 
out and ran to the hospital to talk with Kaylee before the operation.
	"Yeah I know I can't be there for your birthday, but we'll throw another 
party for you when I get back! And I've got a big surprise for you when I 
get back!" Serena promised.
	"What kind of surprise?" Kaylee asked.
	"If I told you it wouldn't be much of a surprise now would it?"
	"Ok, but I'll miss you Serena."
	"Well besides sending you postcards, do you have an e-mail address?"
	"No."
	"Well let's set you up with one right now!" they logged onto the Internet 
and went to hotmail. She decided she wanted to be SailorMoon^_^@hotmail.com. 
They set up the account and put Serena's address in the address book. Then 
they headed back to her room so Kaylee could be prepped for the operation.
	"Don't worry," Serena whispered before she left. "You'll be fine and by the 
time you wake up there will be at least 1 e-mail from me. I'll swing by 
tomorrow before I leave and see if you're awake yet. Kay?" Kaylee nodded, 
her eyes shining.
	"Thanks Serena."
	"No prob!" Serena said cheerfully from the door, winking and flashing a 'V 
is for Victory' sign. "Just concentrate on getting better ya hear? I'll be 
back in no time with your special surprise!" Serena skipped out of the 
hospital leaving a much cheered up and more hopeful girl who was ready to 
believe in her own pending recovery.
Serena skipped into the arcade, searching for Darien. He was talking to 
Andrew, drinking a chocolate shake. She slid onto the stool next to his and 
Andrew's gaze slid to her then abruptly interrupted Darien who hadn't 
noticed her yet.
"Hi Serena!" he said a bit loudly. Darien looked up to see the giggling 
blond sitting next to him.
"Hey Andrew! Hey Darien! Did I interrupt you guys? Just finish up whatever 
ya were talkin about, I'll wait."
"Uh…that's Ok," Darien said quickly. "You go ahead."
"Well I was wondering if you knew if there would be Internet access on the 
ship."
"Well not on the ship but I'm bringing my laptop and cell phone. You can 
connect off those. May I ask why you need Internet access?"
"Well I promised to send e-mail to Kaylee, one of the girls in the hospital 
who is having an operation today and it's her birthday in four days too. I 
had to postpone the party and the surprise too since I was going on this 
trip and she's kinda bummed. And I need to keep updated on the situation in 
Tokyo and I don't think…" she broke off again, hitting herself for nearly 
blabbing about the communicators. The guys looked confused.
"You don't what? And what situation in Tokyo?" Andrew asked. Serena thought 
fast.
"I uh doubt I could pay for the long distance bills for the phones and I'm 
working with my friends on a school project, which students from a public 
school, that me, Amy and Lita, and students from a catholic school, that's 
Raye and students from an immersion school, that's Mina, work together to 
complete this massive project." This was all true except that it wouldn't 
start for another month or so.
"Well you can use my cell phone to make calls," Darien offered.
"Thanks Darien!" Serena squealed. "Well you guys I have to book it cause I 
gotta go finish packing!" Then Serena skipped out of the arcade.
The next day she did a short hospital shift, but Kaylee wasn't awake yet so 
she didn't get to say bye. Then she went home to a dinner all her friends 
and family was having for her. Then they all packed off to the airport.
Keith was still grumbling about the cruise as he put Serena's bags on the 
baggage conveyor. Ilene jabbed him with her elbow and mouthed couch? at him 
and he shut up. Serena hugged everyone goodbye and promised to send 
postcards. She was in the process of wheedling more money out of her dad 
when Darien showed up with Andrew and Rita. They watched in amusement as 
Keith gave way and handed Serena a pile of bills, which she shoved in her 
purse.
"Hey Serena we'd better get on that plane now," Darien said and she jumped.
"I didn't know you you'd arrived already! Hi Andrew! Hi Rita! Ooh you're 
right Darien we'd better get going!" She kissed her parents on the cheek, 
ruffled Sammy's hair and gave her friends one more hug before joining Darien 
by the boarding gate. "Bye!" she yelled and waved frantically. Then they 
disappeared from sight, through the boarding gate and headed towards the 
plane, looking forward to hitting the beaches of the Caribbean.
End of Part 1.
* nani means what in Japanese. I thought it sounded better! ^_^
Well Minna, I'm done part one! I hope you liked it! The next part should be 
out in a few weeks! Please e-mail me with comments! Please I need feedback!
Ja ne!
Selene