In the Buff
Chapter 3  "Everyone wants in!"

Rated:  PG  ^_^;;;

Disclaimer: heh heh heh, time to put to good use that new "hilarious
disclaimer encyclopedia" program I "bought" from that trustworthy man
in that dark alley....just a moment whilst I pop it into my computer...
.....fzzzt sputter smoke.....hmmmm....seems to be defective.....

AN's:  Thanks to alllll the wonderful people who e-mailed me about this
fun little fic!  Sorry I took so long with this chapter--writer's block!!

Thanks: Grace McMoon and Silver Bunny--ofcourse!  Love you guys and your kawaii fics!!
      And to all the wonderful authors whose aMAZING fics inspire me so (besides ofcourse, the 
aforementioned above):
	Meredith Bronwin Mallory, Lady Aurora, Loralei Fairhill, Suoh,
           Ashley (as always), The Rose Society, Fairy Blossom, 
		to name some recent ones, everyone's stories are so 
			great!  ^_~

Phew, long AN's, gomen people's, I'm a chatty nat-chan, I know!! *sweatdrop*

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Hmmmm, whence LAST we left our fav couple things all seemed well....a little
TOO well....bwahahahaha *nat-chan cracks knuckles*.

Serena and Darien lay peacefully side by side on the dock while Serena's
long golden hair dried beautifully in the sun.  Darien had his hands
tucked behind his head and they watched the few wispy clouds that drifted
by with lazy interest.

"I love days like these." Serena said softly.

Darien smiled.  He was glad they were friends now and he got to see this
side of her.  Hopefully, with time, the embarrassing incident would soon
be forgotten and he'd just never have to think of it again.
It would be a simple matter of avoiding any and ALL situations even
remotely akin to *that* one.  
First, no swimming.   That was easy.  
Second, no close personal contact.  That shouldn't be too hard either.
He breathed a sigh of relief.  Soon, this would all be in the distant past
and he'd never have to think about Serena naked again.
Though that thought did not comfort him as it should have and a funny part
of his brain (inspired by Grace McMoon's phenomenal Darien-inner-dialogue)
gave a suspicious snort of contemptuous laughter at the ridiculousness of
last thought.

~Hmmmm...~

But a glance over at Serena's peaceful face reassured him.
Everything would be fine.


Meanwhile.......on shore, everyone had gathered together and the talk
was turning rather.....insidious.
Truth or Dare had come up and besides Rei and Andrew wanting revenge (even
though the dare's had worked out for them, it was the principal of the 
matter) they were rapidly piecing together the night's events for themselves.

"Ha ha, you guys played Truth or Dare too??!!"

"Uh huh, except we upped the stakes a little."

"Really, how?"

"Anyone who didn't accept the truth or dare had to run into the lake,
naked!!!"

"Ha ha ha!  Did anyone have to?"

"Yup.  Darien!"

"He wouldn't answer the truth about his feelings for a certain blond..."

"Ha ha, Meatballhead had to jump in the lake naked too, *I* dared her to!"
Rei laughed, then stopped, as they all suddenly realized something.

"You don't suppose they...."

"It was around the same time..."

"He *was* awfully quiet when he came back..."

"So was she...."

"Hmmmm...."

"I think they...ran into each other...."

"I think they did more than that, Rei, you yelled about there being eels,
I bet she jumped into his arms!"  Mina proclaimed loudly and they all froze.

"Oh my gosh!  That's it!"

"Where are they?"

"Over there, on the dock, look!"

"Those two are SO in love, they just don't realize it yet!"

"It seems they've finally called a truce."

"I would've thought that would have been enough to bring them together."

"Oh Chad, really!"  Scolded Rei, "It just doesn't work that way, at least
not with THOSE two!  They need a real push in the right direction."

"What are you saying, we should throw them in the lake NAKED again?" Andrew
laughed, secretly thinking the idea wasn't half bad, and REALLY funny.

"Yeah really Rei, what more of a push could they get than that?" piped
Ken.

Lita shook her head, "You guys don't understand.  It's Serena and Darien."

"Actually, I think Andrew's idea wasn't far off.  If we keep forcing them
into awkward situations like that, they'll have to face how they feel."

"And it *would* be great revenge."

"AND funny to watch too!"

"Guys, are you sure this is a good idea?  I mean, do you hear what you're 
all saying?"  Amy piped in, looking guilty.

"Amy,"  Warned Mina, "Play along or we'll have to let one what YOU revealed
in truth or dare!"

Amy blushed violently and wouldn't look at Greg, whose eyes had become alight
with sudden interest.

They nodded to one another in agreement.

"We need a plan."  Said Andrew.

"We need events that will force them together...."

"Hmmm.....how about a tug of war?"  Suggested Ken.

"Great!  Anything else?"

"We could just keep *accidentally* pushing them into one another too."

"Subtle, I like it..."

"How about for right now?  They look WAY too peaceful on the deck, I wanna
see some sparks flying!"

"Let's go for a swim and play some volleyball, we'll throw them in on the
way!"

"Great!"

They changed into swimsuits and the girls all tied up their hair before 
running for the deck, squealing.

"Volleyball!  Come on you guys"

And in a herd so thick and fast that neither Serena or Darien could ever 
clearly remember who it was that grabbed them and tossed them in, 
the couple were picked up and unceremoniously *dumped* into the lake, one
on top of the other.

"No!  Guys!  I'm in a dress!  My hair!  Ahhhhhh!"

"What the!  Whoever's got me put me down RIGHT NOW!  Ahhhh!"

*SPLASH!*

Darien was dropped in, he came up sputtering, only to be dunked again by 
the full weight of Serena landing on top of him.

*SPLASH!*

Even underwater he could make out her shriek of dismay.  And once again
they were tangled in hair arms and legs underwater before Darien pulled
her to the surface--trying not to hold her--afraid to let go.

~Not again.~  He thought, groaning inwardly.  Once again her slender
body was pressed to his--though thankfully with more clothes--but
after last night, his mind could fill in the blanks with striking clarity,
a fact that cause him to suck in a deep breath.

"Serena stop struggling!"

"My dress is tangled around my legs!"  She wailed, trying desperately
to free herself before she did something really wild like give in and kiss
the poor fool.

His arms around her, steadying her, he managed to push her onto the deck,
and then climb out after her.

She was a mess, her hair tangled and wet, trailing endlessly after her,
and her wet dress was up around her waist, her wet underwear exposed for all
the world to see.  And she didn't realize.

"My hair!!!"  She wailed, picking up the ends to examine them with dismay.
"Guys!  How *could* you!  Do you have ANY idea how much time it will take
to fix it?!"

The *guys* in question were all in the water waiting with amusement for her
to realize her underpants were showing.

Darien was looking bleakly at her, dripping wet himself. His eyes traveled
discreetly down to tell her...

She looked down, "Oh my gosh!"  She wailed, and hauled her dress down, though
it clung badly and was now transparent.

"Wow, *how* embarrassing for you two!" Rei said with a knowing air.

"Yeah, I can't think of anything MORE embarrassing except if you guys had
been NAKED!"  Said the ever tactful Mina.

"Mina!"  Hissed Lita, and they all sweatdropped.

Fortunately, the said pair never noticed, Serena was stalking off in one
direction and Darien in the other.

"Hey, wait guys!  Don't be mad!  Come back and play volleyball!"

Eventually they did.  Serena had her hair tied neatly up into an elaborately
braided bun and Darien had changed into swim trunks.

His bare chest revealed more battle scars from mosquitoes and Serena felt
pangs of guilt needle at her.  Before joining the group she scampered off 
again quickly.

When she came back Darien was sitting on the dock with his feet in, waiting
for her.

"Where'd you go?"

"Oh, nowhere, just er, forgot something in my tent!"

"Ready?"

"Yup!"

They climbed gently in, not running or being thrown for the first time on
this third trip in together.
Then they joined in the fun.  

Darien joined the boys team and Serena the girls and they bounced the ball
back and forth, laughing and carrying on.

But when it came time for Darien to serve, Ken discretely elbowed him so
his serve headed for Serena.  But Serena didn't see it coming in time and
it knocked her squarely in the head and she fell back into the water.

"Serena!"  Darien cried in panic and raced to her.

"A bit extreme Ken!"  Hissed Lita.

"I didn't meant for THAT to happen!"  Ken cried guiltily.

Darien scooped up the semi-conscious Serena and carried her back to shore.

"On second thought, good job!"  Lita winked and Ken breathed a sigh of relief.

Everyone watched after the couple with grins, till Darien looked back and
they immediately turned serious and worried.

"How is she?"  Called Andrew.

"She'll be alright in a minute!"  Darien bit out gruffly.

He settled back on the dock with the tiny blond in his arms *again* and
tried to revive her.

"Serena...Serena, are you alright?  Can you hear me?"

Her eyelids fluttered a moment and she tried to sit up, choking violently.
Then she collapsed against his chest, arms tight about his neck, still 
convinced that she was drowning.

He leaned her back a bit, "It's alright, you're on the dock.  Does your 
head hurt?"  

She looked into his guilty face and shook herself back to reality,
"No, no, I'm fine."

He checked her head thoroughly and she held her breath, his face was so close.
Finally, satisfied that he hadn't caused her any permanent damage, he
released her and they stood up awkwardly.

"Sorry I hit you with the ball, I wasn't aiming there at all, I don't know
what happened!"

"It's alright."  She looked out and the others had gone back to playing.

"Do you wanna got back and play somemore?"  He asked gently.

She was about to nod when the dock suddenly shifted a bit and she stumbled,
falling into him.

"Who-a!"

"Is this thing....safe?"  She asked, looking up into his eyes.  They were
nose to nose suddenly, as he leaned on the pole with the rope for support
and she leaned against him, hands on his chest.

Lost in the moment, wondering madly if it wasn't hope and--God help 
him--desire he saw in her beautiful blue eyes he surrendered to the sudden urge
to just kiss her.....leaning down...lips just barely brushing hers....

Lita happened to glance over, "Hey guys, look!"  She hissed, halting the game.

"Wow, that didn't take as much work as I thought it would!" Rei grinned.

But alas, the unsturdy dock gave a dreadful creak and collapsed at that moment,
terminating the kiss and all surrounding romance and sending our unfortunate
couple plummeting with matching yelps into the algae cushioned depths below.

"Who rigged the dock?"  Demanded a furious Rei.

Everyone looked at everyone else.

"Not me."
"Not me."
"Not me either."
"None of us did, it happened on it's own."

"Grrrrr....stupid fate."  Muttered Rei.

They stalked back to collect the sputtering and splintered pair and
help them to the camp where, with the late afternoon spilling into evening
they started a campfire and cooked up some burgers and chicken.

Mina glanced over at Serena and Darien as she and Rei barbecued and nudged
her fiery friend, "Pssst, hey look!"

Rei did and raised an eyebrow.

Darien was gently bandaging Serena's leg while she tried to clean his
scraped arm.  This in itself was innocent, but they were so tender with
one another that it was obvious they were in love.

Mina sighed.

But with their victims in bandages, nothing else romantic could be added to
the scene, so everyone gave up for the night and simply chatted and sang
songs to Ken's guitar till the stars were up before heading for bed.

The boys heading back for their camp exchanged conspiratorial words and
glances with the girls,

"Tomorrow, tug of war..."

"Tomorrow, the "nudging' begins..."

"Operation 'revenge and matchmaking' to reach full speed tomorrow!"

Darien lingered a moment with Serena, "How's your leg?"

"Better, thanks.  I can't believe the dock collapsed!"

"Yeah, I'm beginning to think you and I should just stay away from the
water all together." He said grimly.

She laughed, which helped dispel the tension and he found himself chuckling
as well, "Well, g'night Serena."

"G'night Darien.  Sweet dreams."

He smiled but shook his head.  Serena in his arms three times in twenty four
hours, once naked?  That almost-kiss on the dock?   Sweet dreams indeed. hmph.

But upon returning to his tent, he found two cans of her bug spray and some
fly paper, along with a little bug light already hooked up.  He smiled.
She was truly the sweetest person alive.

His dreams were sweet, and mostly innocent afterall....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~@

phew, there, all done!  I had enough threatening e-mail to...er...inspire
me...that's it...heheh...*sweatdrop*.....not that I'm *scared* of you minna..
...no no.....

Chapter 4 soon, promise!!!  ja, nat-chan ;p