"Love Waits for You" by Stormlight ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter Twelve ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ Three a.m. ~~~~~~~~~~ The beeping of her communicator woke Serena from a deep sleep in which she'd been dreaming that she had been dancing with a handsomely-dressed Darien, who was gazing into her eyes with adoration. In fact, he'd been just about to kiss her when that blasted device finally managed to bring her back to reality. More than a little annoyed, Serena snatched it from its place on her bedside table and turned it on, glaring at the image of Sailor Mars that filled the small screen. "WHAT?!" she snarled. "It's about time you woke up! I've been calling for ten minutes, Meatball Brains!" Mars snapped, ignoring Serena's glare. "Get your tail out of bed already! We have a bit of a pest control problem at the Royal Crown Hotel!" "So call the exterminators," Serena growled. "We ARE the exterminators, you dope!" Mars retorted, and the screen went blank. "Why can't we have mutant cockroaches and jumbo-sized sewer rats like NORMAL cities?!" Serena grumbled as she untangled herself from the sheets and climbed out the window. After running a safe distance down the street, she paused and threw her hand into the air. "MOON PRISM POWER, MAKE-UP!" she yelled, and in a flash of light and a few twirls later, Sailor Moon had taken her place. Using her extra stamina, she took a leap into the air that landed her on a nearby roof, from there bounding easily from one building to the next until she came within range of the brightly-lit hotel. Sailor Mercury was just arriving, she noted smugly, pleased that, for once, she wasn't the only one who was late! "Hey, Mercury! Ready to kick some Nega-butt?" she called out cheerfully as she caught up to her pal. "I wish the Negaverse would choose more appropriate times to attack the world," Mercury replied grumpily, and Serena grinned. Apparently even perfectly-composed Amy wasn't THIS much of a morning person. The two girls crept into the hotel, heading for the ballroom, where faint shrieks drifted through open doors. The site that greeted them was horrible. Bodies littered the floor, all decked out to the nines, completely drained of energy, and in the center of the huge room the other two Scouts were busily dodging blasts of energy from a hideously disfigured youma. "How come I never get invited to any of these fancy balls?" Sailor Moon complained as she eyed one of the expensive evening gowns-the very one she'd tried on at the mall all those days ago-enviously. "Quit whining and get over here and HELP us!" Mars bellowed from across the room as she dodged a particularly nasty blast that left a hole the size of a Mac truck in the wall. The hotel was gonna have some pretty expensive insurance disputes after this little fight was over... Sailor Moon smirked. "SOMEBODY sure is cranky without their beauty sleep...and believe me, you need all the help you can get!" she hollered back...then yelped and ducked as a "stray" firebolt hissed past her head. "HEY! WATCH IT!" "Soorrry!" Mars sang, sounding not at all in the least repentant. Sailor Moon growled, then prepared to give the speech. Mercury had already joined in the fight, but as leader, Sailor Moon felt she had to let the Negaverse know what was coming to them. "For daring to ruin this lovely party...AND for destroying my beautiful dream...I WILL PUNISH YOU! I am Sailor Moon, and YOU are MOON-DUSTED!" "Very impressive. Shut up and FIGHT, already!" Mars snapped, barely dodging another attack as she released one of her own, which missed. "Great aim, Pyro!" Sailor Moon taunted, removing her tiara. "Now watch a pro do it! MOON TIARA MAGIC!" The glowing disc flew from her hand, arching gracefully toward the youma...who calmly sidestepped it and continued to pound the living daylights out of Jupiter. "NOW who's got lousy aim?!" Mars sneered as she rushed to help poor Jupiter. But Sailor Moon wasn't done yet. She narrowed her eyes and concentrated on bringing the tiara back around, boomerang style. It might have worked, had the youma (literally) not had eyes in the back of its head. Once again it sidestepped, and Sailor Moon nearly screamed in frustration as she concentrated on bringing it around yet AGAIN! "Hold still, will ya?!" she yelled impatiently. "I can't keep this up forever!" "I'm SO sorry," the youma sneered, and leaped to attack, claws extended. Sailor Moon shrieked, not sure which way to dodge, but suddenly something warm and solid slammed into her, knocking her out of the way. She landed with an "OOF!" as Tuxedo Mask landed on top of her. "Are you okay?" he asked, his face so close to her own that she could see the deep blue of his eyes through the white mask. "I-I'm fine," she stammered, momentarily forgetting where she was. Then he moved off of her, giving her a wonderful view of the youma hurtling at them full-speed-ahead, and her wits came rushing back. She rolled them both over, just as the youma struck, razor claws leaving deep gouges in the floor right beside their heads. Sailor Moon yelped and scrambled back, but Tuxedo Mask used the youma's proximity to bury a razor-tipped rose into its chest. It reared back, howling, clawing at its chest. Tuxedo Mask looked to Sailor Moon, opening his mouth to command her to dust it, but she was already moving. This time, when the tiara flew at it, the glowing disc connected, slicing the creature neatly in half before it crumbled into dust and vanished. * * * * * "Are we awesome or WHAT?!" Sailor Moon cheered later on from the roof of the hotel. "What a rush! But I'm beat, so I'm going home! See ya later!" "Wait!" Tuxedo Mask suddenly commanded gruffly, reaching out to grab her arm. "You can't leave yet." She looked up at him, surprised, and more than a little annoyed. "Well, if it isn't tall, dark, and obnoxious," she snorted. "And why, pray tell, is that?" He seemed taken aback at her sarcasm, but she was tired, and cranky, and more than a little afraid to face him in her weary state. He WAS Darien, after all...the Darien who had discovered her love poem about him... "I...we really need to talk, Serena," he told her softly, ignoring her disapproving glare at his use of her name while she was transformed. His voice extremely gentle as he added, "Please...can't you stay for a while longer?" Ohhh...this was NOT good! No WAY would she be able to resist him when he used that tone on her! Better he continue to act like a macho egotist; that was a little easier to get mad at! "I'm REALLY tired, Tuxedo Mask, so..." "Please," he pleaded, his voice a near whisper. Sailor Moon gritted her teeth against the urge to give in, knowing he was only trying to make her melt into a puddle, as probably every other poor sap did when he so much as glanced at them. She cast a pleading glance to the other Scouts, but they suddenly seemed to find the roof much more interesting than the little drama being played before them... She scowled. Some friends THEY were! She used her irritation to her advantage. "Look, I have school tomorrow, and I'm tired, so we can talk another time," she snapped, yanking her arm away from his grip. Or tried to, anyhow. He didn't let go. Now HE was mad! His eyes were practically smoldering, even through his mask. **What's HE got to be mad about?!** she thought resentfully. **I'M the one who's being harassed, here!** "Look," he growled, his patience at an end, tightening his grip on her arm even more. "You and I are GOING to have a talk! Even if I have to tie you to a CHAIR to do it, you WILL listen to what I have to say!" She stared up at him through wide eyes, her anger vanishing as uncertainty gleefully took its place, then turned to once again look at the Scouts. But she saw, to her dismay, that they had vanished! They had left her alone with him! How dare they do that to her! **Somebody is going to find something warm and squishy in their beds tomorrow night...** she thought sourly, then powered down. There was no sense wasting energy, after all. She couldn't escape from this guy even if she tried. Apparently taking her transformation as consent, Tuxedo Mask suddenly scooped a startled Serena into his arms, cradling her close and leaping from the rooftop. She squealed into his cape as she suddenly found herself airborne. "What are you doing? Did you suddenly revert back to a Neanderthal?! PUT ME DOWN!" she hollered. "Don't think that would be a good idea right now..." he retorted, sounding more than a little amused. Serena glanced over his shoulder, at the city that stretched far below them, and heartily agreed. She had known he could take inhumanly-long jumps in this form, of course-they all could-but apparently...he could also fly! What was he? Superman?! "When you put me down again, you'd better hope you have your will written up, 'cause I'm gonna kill you!" she growled, but to her extreme agitation he merely chuckled in reply. He finally landed, on a large balcony with a superb view overlooking the park, which was slowly growing lighter with approaching dawn. He gently set Serena on her feet and powered down into Darien, keeping his arms lightly around her waist, as though afraid she'd run off. **And where does he think I'm gonna run off TO?** she wondered sourly. "Where are we?" She tried to keep her voice as flat and uncaring as possible, but the truth was that she was actually dying of curiosity. From what she could see of the dark room behind them, it was somebody's apartment balcony they stood on...and she had a sneaking suspicion she knew whose it was. "My apartment." Bingo. "Um...and WHY are we at your apartment?" she asked suspiciously. Hero or not, she was not about to trust going into ANY guy's apartment at THIS time of night-well, morning, technically-without some sort of chaperone. She'd heard stories about things like this... **You dolt! This is DARIEN for pity's sake! He wouldn't even THINK of hurting you like that!** she scolded herself for her uncharitable thoughts. Still... "And exactly why are we here?" "Because it's private, and I need something to eat. It's nearly dawn, after all. Might as well make some breakfast, right? Do you like pancakes?" The incredulous look she cast at him made him chuckle. "Right. Stupid question," he added as he slid open the glass doors. "Well? Are you coming in or not?" Serena hesitated, torn between wanting food and wanting badly to make an escape before things got too serious and he remembered their "talk". She could see the front door from where she stood... She began calculating the speed at which she'd need to move in order to cross that wide expanse of carpet before he caught her and tied her to a chair like he'd threatened. "Want some hot chocolate? It's homemade." Well...there went that idea... "You always know JUST what to say to make me submit, don't you?" she complained as she marched in and sat down with a little "hmmph" on his dining room table. He grinned at her and ruffled her hair. "Call it a gift." "I can think of plenty of things to call it, but 'gift' isn't one of them," she grumbled, swinging her legs in the air, seriously tempted to "accidentally" kick him in the knee...or a little higher, maybe... "Well, anyhow, while I make the chocolate, how about we start our talk," he suggested, his voice carefully neutral. Panic immediately set in. **What'll I do? What'll I do?** she thought frantically. **I can't let him mention that poem! I don't want to know what he thinks of me! I...I don't want to hear that he doesn't love me!** Then an idea hit her that was so simple, she wondered why she hadn't thought of it before. Change the subject. "Look, Darien," she began in her best annoyed voice, "I know you're ticked off that I told Molly about me being Sailor Moon, but it was my choice, and it's really none of your concern, anyway. So drop the subject, already!" **Don't really do that now, though,** she pleaded silently. **Better THIS subject than THAT one...** Thankfully, the distraction-and the reminder that, yes, Darien was mad about that little incident-seemed to put any other thoughts aside for the time being. He looked momentarily startled, but then he frowned and turned away from the stove to face her, fists resting on narrow hips. "You don't even realize the danger you put Molly in by telling her this!" he scolded. "Remember what you told me? Well, it applies to her, too, you know..." "HA!" Serena seized upon his words. "And YOU aren't supposed to know, either, are you?!" she crowed, triumphantly pointing a finger at him. "You followed me and SPIED on me! If YOU weren't who you are, you'd be in as much danger as Molly, so don't you go yelling at ME, Jack!" "BUT I AM TUXEDO MASK!" he yelled right back. "WE DIDN'T KNOW THAT AT THE TIME!" "WHO CARES? I KNEW, AND THAT IS WHAT'S IMPORTANT!" "YEAH? WELL, I-" Their deafening bickering was suddenly cut off by the shrill ringing of the telephone, startling them into silence. Even the phone sounded pissed off. Darien picked it up after the third ring. "Hello?" he asked cautiously. "WILL YOU PEOPLE SHUT UP?! SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO SLEEP HERE!" Darien winced and held the phone well away from his ear as the caller continued to rant. Finally, he managed to say, from a distance of five inches, "I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Yamota. Th-the T.V somehow turned on and was turned up full blast. I-I'll have it looked at tomo...this morning." He slammed down the phone and heaved a sigh of relief. Serena was staring at him, her lips twitching slightly. He raised a questioning eyebrow at her as she began to giggle, then to outright laugh, doubling over and clutching her stomach with both arms. Slowly, as their absurd situation hit him, he began to laugh, as well, until both of them were nearly rolling on the floor in hysterics. **We are definitely losing it,** he thought as he calmed himself down, afraid his landlord would call again. "Well, that was...fun," he said, still chuckling a little. "Hold on a sec. I'll make breakfast. Then..." He looked at a still-grinning Serena over his shoulder, "...we'll talk about what I REALLY want to discuss with you..." Serena suddenly didn't look so amused anymore. "Don't go anywhere," he called, disappearing into the kitchen. He hurried to heat the water, knowing that every second counted. He doubted she'd leave with the promise of food, but still... *Click* He froze, his eyes going wide. That had sounded like... Forgetting the boiling water, he turned and raced from the kitchen. The table where Serena had sat was empty. So was the apartment...and the front door hung open slightly. He raced from the room and down the hall in time to see the elevator door close. "Serena!" he cried, slamming his fist into the wall in sudden fury. Continued...