Title: Counterfeit Cupids Chapter: 1 "Unwanted but Very Good Dreams" Author: Confused Elder E-mail: carolyn.teinert@MCIWorld.com Rating: G (by my standards) Author Notes: Many thanks to Nana Dohmoto and Joy Woods for e-mailing me with your comments. They actually made this unenthusiastic girl enthusiastic. Thank you Alicia Blade and Lady Starra for posting this fic. Thank you most of all to Tiffany! I’m glad I have a friend who loves this stuff as much as I do. And Tracey, if your reading this, I hope you enjoy. Give my love to James and Dean. I love you! (To the non-Traceys: Tracey is my sister). Now on to the better stuff (I hope you agree). Disclaimer: Since I forgot to put a disclaimer on the last one, here’s a double: I do not own Sailor Moon and company. I do not own Sailor Moon and company. I don’t own Cupid either. However Herbert, Tibbles, Puff, and Fluff belong to me. If you do by chance want to use them, ask! Counterfeit Cupids: Unwanted but Very Good Dreams His princess was in danger. Screams filled the air. He searched frantically for those people being tortured, but the fog was so thick, he had no sense of direction. He did not even know which way was up and which way was down; his head was spinning. His princess’s cries for help pounded in his ears. He felt dizzy. His vision was clouding over; black spots were covering it. He stumbled blindly. His leg hit something hard, and he tripped. He tried to focus. The sight that lay before him was awful. It was a crumbling palace, and he had tripped over a gigantic fallen pillar. The air itself seemed dead; the screams were gone. The waters of what must have once been a magnificent fountain were filled with ash and mud and dead fish. The only sign of vegetation was some dry dead grass. Darien felt total despair. He was too late. But then a sweet voice filled the air. "Darien! Darien! I’m in here!" The voice of his princess was coming from inside the palace. He ran inside. "Where are you?" he called urgently. "Up here!" He followed here voice to a bedroom near the top of the palace. "In here!" she called.He opened a door to what had once been a beautiful bedroom. Now it was covered with dust and rubble. He walked to the high four poster bed and there, sleeping peacefully, was his princess. And for the first time in the thirteen years that he had been dreaming about her, he saw her face. All he had ever seen of her before was from the neck down. He had been able to see only that her hair was long and blond. Now he saw the familiar buns and pigtails. "Serena?" he breathed. The girl in the elegant white princess gown slowly opened her eyes and smiled. "Darien," she whispered. "You came." She raised her hand to his cheek. "Of course," he said, and lowered his head and kissed her. ************************************************************************************* The next morning Luna hopped into Serena’s bed to wake her up. Luna pawed at her saying, "Serena, wake up! Let’s not be late for the meeting at the temple. Serena!" Serena groaned and rolled over muttering, "Darien, don’t let them take me away from you." Luna stared at her in shock. "Darien? But I thought she hated the boy." Luna was puzzled. She gazed at Serena’s contented face. "It looks like a wonderful dream and I hate to wake you up from it but... SERENA!! Wake Up!" Serena swatted at her. "Leave me alone." "Serena! We’re going to be late!" Serena glared at her with groggy eyes. "Aw, but Luna, I was having a wonderful dream!" Serena said indignantly. "You can dream about Darien later! There is work to do!" Serena’s eyes went wide and her cheeks red. "How did you... I mean what makes you think I was dreaming about him?" "You talk in your sleep." Serena blushed harder. "Now get up and get dressed unless you’re looking forward to another fight with Raye," Luna commanded. Serena groaned as she got out of bed. She thought about her dream as she got ready. It had been about Darien, but strangely, she had enjoyed it. She saw them in a time and location that she could not place but seemed familiar. It was in a room of a magnificent palace that appeared to be on the moon. The moon? Serena questioned herself. And Darien had been dressed in some type of uniform with armor. He had been a prince; she was sure. And she had been a princess. Okay Serena, you’re being silly, she thought. They had been in love in her dream. Serena smiled a wide smile and blushed as she remembered the kiss. "And what are you smiling so big about?" Luna asked. Serena blushed and murmured, "Nothing." Luna smiled to herself. She knew why Serena was smiling, and Luna thought that even though they argued all the time, they would make a beautiful couple. Luna suddenly had a feeling of deja vu, but she shook it off. Serena had also dreamed that they had gotten married and had become king and queen of the earth. And to top it all off they had a daughter. Serena blushed again, but Luna did not see. After Serena was dressed, she headed downstairs still in a daze. She moved slowly around the kitchen making French toast, occasionally bumping into things, but she did not seem to notice. Her family stared at her. "What’s wrong with Serena?" asked Mr. Tsukino. "She seems a lot more out of it than usual." "Yeah, and she’s up by noon, and it’s Saturday," said Sammy, Serena’s little brother. " She’s acting as if...," Mrs. Tsukino trailed off. "As if what?" questioned Mr. Tsukino. "Oh, nothing," she replied. She’s acting like she’s in love, but I can’t tell him that. He’d go crazy, she thought. Serena broke out of her daze to Luna pawing her leg. Serena looked down. Luna was nodding toward the clock. "Oh, no! I’m late! Raye’s gonna kill me!" Serena screamed. "Now that’s Serena," said Sammy as Serena ran out the door. His parents nodded. ************************************************************************************* Darien awoke to the phone ringing. He picked up the receiver on his bedside table and said in a groggy voice, "Hello?" "Darien, are you still in bed?" came Andrew’s surprised voice. "You didn’t forget our study session with the guys, did you?" Darien groaned. "No, I didn’t forget. I just overslept." "You oversleeping? I don’t believe it." "Well, I sorta had a weird dream. Anyway, what time is it?" Darien asked. "About 10:45. You were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago. So get up and get your butt over here." "I’m moving. I’ll be there in about twenty minutes," Darien said. "Okay. See ya’," and Andrew hung up. Darien groaned again as he got out of bed. He was surprised at himself because he actually felt anger towards Andrew for waking him from his dream. He was a little disturbed that he had actually enjoyed the dream. He had been trying really hard not to love Serena, but now he knew it was no use after a dream like that. It had felt so real and he knew it would haunt him for a long time if not for the rest of his life. He showered in under two minutes, dressed quickly, brushed teeth and hair, grabbed his keys, and headed out the door. ************************************************************************************* Serena raced down the street, hoping and praying that she would not run into anyone especially a certain tall, black haired senior. If she did, she knew that there was no way she would make it to the temple on time. She felt the butterflies in her stomach flutter when she thought about Darien. This is insane, she thought. She glanced at her watch and ran faster. Luna was trying in vain to keep up. "I’ll.... meet you... at the... temple," she huffed and she stopped to catch her breath. Serena kept running even though a horrible pain was spreading across her sides and stomach. She ran past the Crown Arcade, turned a corner, and ran right smack into Darien. "It never fails, does it Meatball Head? You just have to somehow hit me everyday," Darien said grumpily. "Shut up! I don’t try to, but you’re always in the way! And don’t call me Meatball Head!" Serena shouted. People were beginning to stare. Darien watched her flushed face and felt the temptation to kiss her. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind with anger and frustration. That stupid dream! Darien thought. Serena was having the same thoughts. It was hard for them to ignore the outrageous thoughts and feelings flooding their bodies, but as I said before, they are really stubborn. "If I were as klutzy and stupid as you, I don’t think I’d be able to stand myself," he said coldly. "If I were as mean and repellent as you are, I don’t think I’d be able to stand myself," countered Serena. ************************************************************************************* Tibbles laughed at the couple making fools of themselves on the sidewalk from the top of the lamppost where he and Puff and Fluff were sitting in ant size. Puff smiled as he concocted more plans to try to get the two together. They had made Darien sleep late so that he could run into Serena. Fluff, on the other hand, was nervous. "I don’t think the dreams worked," she said with a tremor in her voice. "Nonsense," replied Puff. "They’re tense. There is so much love and lust between them, and they are such passionate people that because of their stubbornness they have to find another outlet for it." Fluff looked at him slightly confused. "Basically our little friends are very stubborn, but very much in love. It is getting so hard for them to keep from showing their feelings that they are getting frustrated, and they are taking it out on each other," Puff explained. "Darien’s walking away! Not so fast buddy! Oops! Looks like you just had a klutz attack of your own!" Tibbles shouted excitedly. ************************************************************************************* Darien had just delivered a stinging comment about how pitiful and disgusting he found Serena and she was trying to keep the tears back when he made a move to step around her and tripped. He slammed into her, and he ended up on top of her on the concrete. And if that wasn’t embarrassing enough, his lips just happened to land on hers.