Title:  Serena and Darien:  Much Ado About Nothing,Part Three
Author:  Saritaluv
Rating:  PG
E-mail:  saritaluv@yahoo.com
	Helloooooooooooooooooo, people!  Here it is, Chapter
Three of my VERY long and rather complicated story! 
As always, thank you, Alicia Blade, for your
suggestions!  (Otherwise this thing would never get
posted!)  Alicia, let me ask you a question.  How do
you manage to write so many GOOD stories and still
manage to give out good suggestions to five millionother people?
	Okay, this is coming REALLY slow.  I hate to tell
you, minna, but school’s started and the only time I
have to write is on Sundays, limited to about an hour.
 One hour a week ain’t a lotta time, sugah.  (ß Gomen,
but I’ve sorta adopted Suthun vernacular in my
writing).  Community service (this is BIG!), fencing,
singing, flute, yearbook, HOMEWORK, I think I’m
drowning here.  So, I know you readers would love to
see more of my story, and I’m TERRIBLY sorry about how
slow this is coming, I only ask you to bear with me!
	I’m working on the "trapping" part right now.  I’m
having a blast writing that one and it turns out it
might be the longest chapter of them all (and how can
a chapter get any longer you ask?).  That’s chapter
five.  This is only chapter three folks.  Gomen.  Let
me warn you, the next two don’t follow the plot line
exactly, they’re more for fun.  ‘Kay?  ‘Kay.
	You’re probably tired of hearing me blab.  Okay, on
with the story!

Standard disclaimer:  You don’t need to hear me go
through it again, do you?  So please, don’t sue.  I’m
only an eighth...no now ninth! grader.  This was
merely for my own (and everyone else’s) satisfaction. 
If you’re out for money, TOUGH LUCK!  This fourteen
year-old doesn’t have ANY!

~CHAPTER THREE~	

Their noses brushed, but still Darien did not stop
his advance.  His eyes were slowly closing...hers
too...He tilted his head, bringing his hands up to the
sides of her delicate face, her hands playing with his
hair…their lips brushing so close...	Serena stopped herself.  
‘You started by wanting revenge, and now you’rewanting to kiss him!’
	Darien cursed himself.  What was he doing?  That was
the second time that evening he had almost lost
control.  Which was something he found himself doing
more and more often around Serena.
	Both halted, centimeters from each other’s mouths. 
Serena cleared her throat and pulled away, denying
anything that had happened within the last tenseconds.
	"Well," she said smugly, "So the great Darien Chiba
doesn’t think I’m such a ditz after all..."
	She walked away flippantly, her meatballs bouncing
along with her.  Darien stared after her a mild state
of shock.  His arms were still out, as if she were
still there.  They were suffering from the lack of
warmth that had occupied his arms just a moment ago. 
He felt a tingling sensation run up his spine and
sighed unconsciously.  His mind was working furiously
to absorb all that had happened within the last twominutes.
	He surprised her...she threw herself into his
arms...she told him that he was handsome...he told her
that she was beautiful...they almost kissed...they
almost kissed...they almost kissed...then she stopped,
turned away, and told him that he must think more of
her than she thought...was she smug?  Did she mean toembarrass him like that?
	He was so preoccupied that he didn’t notice two pairs
of eyes that had watched the transaction below them
with great interest.  Amy and Charles had stopped
their conversation when they heard a muffled scream.
	Looking below them, they saw someone whispering in
Serena’s ear, with an arms around her waist and a hand
clamped over her mouth.  They pulled apart and then
Serena launched herself into the guy’s arms.  
	Now if that wasn’t enough to make someone’s head
spin, the man that Serena threw herself into wasDarien!
	And the biggest clincher of all...they had almost
KISSED!  Almost, was the key word.  They didn’t.  But
they were so VERY close.  They both halted at the same
time.  Serena said something and skipped away, leaving
a VERY dumbfounded Darien behind.  He stared after her
for a few seconds.  Then, shaking his head, he walked
off in the opposite direction.
	"Well, well, well," was all that Charles could say. 
Amy quite agreed with him.  A silence fell over the
two as they were preoccupied in their thoughts.  Then
Charles broke the silence.
	"Amy?" he asked.
	"Yes?"  She lifted her beautiful blue eyes to him. 
Charles found himself leaning forward.
	"What did you think of what just happened?" hewhispered.
	She shook her head in wonderment.
	"I thought that they hated each other.  But when they
were so close...I realized that...they’d be so perfectfor each other..."
	She stopped abruptly when she realized that Charles’s
warm brown eyes were only inches from her own.
	"Amy?  What would you think if we followed Serena and
Darien’s example, only...we...finish it?"
	She gasped slightly in pleasured surprise.  Charles
completed his advance and a repeat of an earlier
performance (except that it was finished) occurred.
	It was a brief kiss, but tender and gentle.  Amy and
Charles broke away, before staring into each other’s
eyes and starting forward again...
	They were interrupted by loud cheers.  Serena’s gang,
Raye, Mina, and Lita as well as Andrew and Rita were
clapping and giving cat-calls.  
	"Congratulations, Charles," Andrew grinned.  "You’ve
managed to get the girl!  Now what are you going to doabout it?"
	Charles smiled back shyly.
	"Wait until the prom.  Could I have the honor of
being your escort, Miss Mizuno?" he asked.
	"Of course," Amy blushed.
	"But prom night’s so far away..." Charles saidwistfully.
	A sly smile touched Andrew’s face.
	"Not if you have something to pass the time with," hesaid.
	Seven heads turned towards him quizzically.  
	"If something occupies your mind completely, time
just flies by, doesn’t it?" he asked.
	"Sure," Charles said, not understanding what Andrewmeant.
	"Well, I have a task in mind that would definitelyoccupy our minds completely."
	"And what’s that?" Lita asked.
	"Getting Serena and Darien together by the Valentine
Formal!  What do you guys think?"
	The remark drew blank looks from everyone.  Finallythe words clicked in.
	"Brilliant!" Lita exclaimed.  "I was thinking the
same thought myself earlier.  Don’t you think thatthey’re meant for each other?"
	The others were still registering Andrew’s previous
statement.  To everyone’s surprise, however, it wasAmy who spoke out first.
	"Quite frankly, I agree with Lita.  Besides," a
wicked smile forming on Amy’s face, "You’ll never
guess what I saw a few moments ago."
	The wicked smile was not a usual sight on Amy’s
normally calm and composed face.  But it looked goodon her.
	"What?" Mina asked.
	"I saw Serena and Darien...in each others arms
and..."  Amy drew out their suspense.  Everyone but
Charles was hanging on her every word.  He smiled backat her.
	"What?" Raye asked.  "Get on with it?" she snappedimpatiently.	"They were..."
	"Yes?"
	"About to..."
	"WHAT?!" everyone screamed at her.  This wasn’t like
Amy AT ALL!
	"KISS!"	Six jaws fell open.  Eyes were round with wonder and
disbelief.
	"No way!" Raye cried.
	"Yes," Amy smiled complacently.	"OH MY GOD!"
	"Well, they’re certainly headed in the rightdirection," Lita grinned.
	"Listen," Andrew said, drawing the people around him,
"I’ve got an idea.  But you have to keep quiet about this..."
	John Battamaki sat on the school bleachers outside to
figure out a way he could make Mr. President
miserable.  He had one idea that was food for thought.
 Charles Fujimatta was head-over-heels for thatblue-haired freshman, Amy Mizuno.
	Now what had he heard about Miss Mizuno?  Right, that
she had an IQ of about 300 (it was estimated), an
excellent chess player, kind of shy, several gradesabove her age level…Hmm…
	Now, Charles was an excellent student also.  He
wasn’t at the top of his class, but he was an
excellent student nonetheless.  But wasn’t he
struggling in science?  An evil idea took place in the
jealous vice-president’s head.  If he was struggling,
he could definitely use a little help...
	The dance ended with nothing spectacular.  There was
short speech about the bravery of the school
president, leading the senior class through perilous
weather to safety on the slopes of Mount Fuji, blah,blah, blah...
	There was the polite clapping of course.  Charles
kept his head and modestly thanked the school in"recognizing his efforts."
	Friday night.  Serena and her gang were spending the
night at Raye’s temple and planning on going
trick-or-treating the next day.  Raye found Serena
pigging out by the buffet table (surprise, surprise)
and took her and the others home.  They winked at each
other at the brilliant plan that they had devised.
	Darien drove home in his red sports car.  The mask
was discarded and he stared out onto the deserted
road.  His mind was replaying the events of the past
evening.  All in all, it hadn’t been a bad night.  It
wasn’t as bad as he had expected.  Especially when heand Serena almost…
	He wrenched his thoughts away from her.  Whenever he
thought of Serena, pleasant shivers went throughout
his body, and it wasn’t from the cold either.
	‘Funny,’ he wondered, ‘I wonder why other girls don’thave that effect on me.’
	Because they were so...annoying.  Giggling their
high-pitched giggles, smiling their fawning
smiles...they were his worst nightmare.  There wasn’t
anything that they wouldn’t do simply for a glance intheir direction.
	Serena was different.  She regarded him as if he was
simply another person in her life, not someone she
felt as though she had to impress.  Perhaps, because
she stayed so distant from him, he felt attracted to
her, wanting to close the distance...
	‘Oh, so you’re admitting that you’re attracted to her
now,’ he thought.  Sighing, he ran a hand through his
ebony hair.  Who wouldn’t be attracted to her?  She
was bubbly, vivacious, caring, giving...and down right gorgeous.
	He got home to his nice apartment.  He had a
part-time job as a medical assistant in Tokyo Central
Hospital, which paid him rather nicely.  And the
apartment came as almost a gift.
	Taking the elevator up to the twelfth floor, he
opened his door and walked in.  He glanced at the
message machine and realized that it was flashing,
indicating that someone had called.  He pressed thebutton.
	"Hiya, Darien," came the tinny recording of Andrew’s
voice, "I know that this is kinda on short notice, but
I’m wondering if you’d like to go trick-or-treating
with Rita, Charles and me.  The arcade let me go, so I
won’t be handing out candy like I do every year. 
Since this is the first time I’ve gone in a million
years, I want you to come too.  The last we went
trick-or-treating together was when we were boys!  So,
I’ll see ya around seven o’clock tomorrow at the
arcade?  You’re not getting out of this one, bud. Talk to you later."	BEEP!
	The message ended.  Darien groaned.  He did NOT want
to go trick-or-treating.  He felt rather ridiculous
doing things like that.  He had always been pretty
much a loner since he was very young.  He didn’t like
dressing up.  He had always felt self-conscious. 
Except, of course, when he was Tuxedo Mask.  He never
felt that he quite fit in with the rest of the world. 
As though he was lacking something that no one elsehad.
	He groaned as he pondered about what he was going to
wear.  He sighed.  Perhaps he would cheat and go rent
a costume.  That would be much easier than trying to
pick out something from his vast, yet scanty wardrobe.
 (Gomen, that’s an oxymoron!!  ^_^)
	He pulled off his clothes and folded them nicely,
putting them back where he had gotten them from
before.  Smiling at his immaculately clean apartment,
he climbed into bed where he fell asleep, though notsoundly.

@}----}-------

...It was the dream again.  He stood
beneath a beautifully carved ivory balcony, below a
young woman.  She was almost completely in shadow,
only the delicate profile of her face and some of herwhite dress showed.
	"Tuxedo Mask..." came her silvery voice from theshadows.
	He turned.  For once, he voiced a question that hehad dared not ask before.
	"Who are you?"	No reply came.  Her shadow was on the ground before
him.  Somehow it looked oddly familiar, especially thehair.
	"Tuxedo Mask," the voice said again.  "I am the MoonPrincess."
	"Princess!  Show me who you are."
	"Bring me the Imperium Silver Crystal, Tuxedo Mask,"
the ethereal voice said, repeating the demand that the
mysterious figure issued every night.	"First show me who you are!"
	The woman stepped forward.  Little by little, more
could be seen in the silvery-white moonlight.  Her
white dress, her arms, her neck, her face...

------{-------{@

BBBBBRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
	The alarm clock woke Darien from his dreams.  He
turned angry eyes at his alarm clock.  He had just
seen the Princess’s face, and that blasted clock just
shattered any remembrance of the dream he had.  Onlyher words lingered...
	"Bring me the Imperium Silver Crystal, TuxedoMask..."
	"Serena!  Wake up!  Serena!  SERENA!"
	Raye was futilely trying to wake up her friend.  The
slumbering girl slept soundly on through her friend’sattempts.
	"Just five more minutes, Mom," she mumbled.  "I
promise I won’t be late for school."
	"Serena, it’s eleven o’clock!  Get up!"
	"Five more...mmm...huh?" Serena asked, finallyopening her sleepy blue eyes.
	Raye rolled her eyes.  	"It’s about time you woke up, Serena," she yelled,
"Everyone’s dressed and had breakfast.  We want to golook for our costumes!"
	"Everyone’s had breakfast!" Serena yelled, jumping up
out of bed.  She tore out of the room and ranscreaming down the halls.
	"Leave some for MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"	A crash and a thud could be heard.
	"Ouch! WAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
	About half an hour later, Serena and her friends were
walking down the streets of Tokyo towards the costumeshop.
	"What do you want to be, Lita?" Mina asked her
friend.
	"I don’t know.  I kinda wanted to be a Victorian
lady."	"Ooh.  Amy?"
	"I was wanting to be a space girl."
	"Hey, I’ve got an idea!" Lita exclaimed.  "Let’s all
be girls from different time eras.  I’m a lady from
the Victorian era.  Mina?"
	"Um...how about a...what do you call them, a girl
from the American Revolution?"
	"Colonial?" Raye asked.	"Yeah!  That’s it!  A colonel girl!"
	Artemis rolled his eyes.
	"That’s COLONIAL girl."	"Yeah, yeah, whatever."
	"Raye?"	"I don’t know...Cleopatra?"
	"That’s good.  Serena!"
	"A PRINCESS!" she screamed.  "With a tall, pretty
hat, wispy veil, long, pink dress..."
	"Why am I not surprised?" Luna asked.
	Darien strolled down the streets.  The costume shop
should be just around the corner.  
	He had thought about what he was going to be all
morning.  Talking with Andrew, he found out what
Andrew was going to be.  He and Rita were going to be
the American gothic couple.  Charles was undecided,
but he was sure to find something.  Which left Darien
without a costume.
	"Oh hello!" the shopkeeper gushed as he entered the
store.  He winced.  She was a stout woman, in her
middle thirties.  She was the type that tried to look
younger by piling on a ton of makeup and fixing her
hair to match the current styles.  She also wore
tight-fitting clothes, which made her look more like ablimp than anything else.
	"What can I get for you?"
	"Um…" Darien said, a little uncomfortable.  "I was
looking for a costume."	"For what?  A party, a dance..."
	Darien winced again.
	"Um...I’m going trick-or-treating with my friend."
	He hoped he didn’t sound too stupid.
	"Oh sure, sure.  Listen, I’ve got plenty of costumesfor you!  Come here."
	She grabbed Darien’s hand and took him back.
	"How about this?" she asked.
	She held in her hand a "Hercules" costume.  Leather
breastplate, short, gladiator’s sword, a lion-skincape, and a helmet.
	"Well...uh..."	"Come on, honey, try it on!"
	Before he knew what he was doing, Darien found
himself trying on all sorts of costumes that the
shopkeeper had picked out for him.  Gladiator, cowboy,
disco-suit...you name it, he tried it on.
	"Ooh, I like this one," the shopkeeper said for the
billionth time.  He was in a genie’s outfit:  sequined
vest, baggy pants, turned up shoes, and a fez.
	"I like it a lot," she said flirtatiously, flutteringher eyelashes.
	"I like a man who can bare his chest," she said. 
Darien almost gagged.  He was only seventeen, and this
woman must be at least thirty-five!
	"Ooh, you’re strong," she said, running her hand overhis biceps.  	"Uh...no."
	"Okay, okay," the woman sighed in resignation.  "Howabout this?"
	She held a pair of green tights and a green tunic. 
Darien drew his brows together in horror.	"No!"
	"Why not?" the shopkeeper grinned wickedly.  "I think
you’d look VERY good in tights!"
	The look on Darien’s face must have convinced the
woman, for she put the costume away, chucklinggood-naturedly.
	"It’s okay, I was only teasing.  Oh!"
	She pulled out a dark blue and black suit.	"Put this on."
	She threw the suit at him and pulled out more pieces,
seemingly made of silver.  When he emerged from the
changing room, she attached the pieces on him. (Remind
you of the Prince Endymion suit?  It’s only fair,
‘cause I had Serena as Princess Serenity the nightbefore!  Well, kinda.)
	"It’s a ‘knight-in-shining armor’ costume.  What doyou think?"
	Darien slowly turned in the mirror.  He ran his hand
through his dark hair.  Not bad.  It had a
medieval-ish sort of feel, but somehow, much moreelegant and refined.
	"I...like it.  Thank you."	"Oh no, thank you," the shopkeeper grinned.  "I
haven’t had this much fun in years.  Here, take it and
have fun trick-or-treating!"
	She wrapped up the costume in a box and handed it tohim.
	"Oh, and before I forget, here’s the sword that goeswith it."
	Darien paid the lady and turned around...straightinto someone else.	SMACK!
	"Ow!" came a familiar voice.  Darien peered over his
package to find another pair of blue eyes.  And agolden meatball hairstyle.
	"Watch it, Meatball Head!" he said, irritably.
	"You!  Why don’t YOU watch where you’re going,Conceited Jerk!"
	They glared at one another, but Raye steppedin-between before the bout began.
	"Break it up.  Come on, Serena, we’re here for your
costume, remember?  Sorry to interrupt your pleasant
meeting, Darien, but we’re kind of busy.  I’ll see youlater!"
	"Bye Raye, girls, Meatball Head."
	Darien headed out the door and was walking down the
street when a certain statement Raye had said stuck inhis mind.
	"...I’ll see you later!"	What on Earth did she mean by that?
	Back at the costume shop, each girl was fitted and/or
finding their costumes.  Mina found hers first.  She
emerged from the dressing room before her friends.
	"What do you think?" she smiled.
	A white dust-cap thing was on her head, complete with
white satin ribbon that tied up in the front.  She
wore a white blouse and a khaki colored vest.  Her
skirt was a reddish-brown color, complete with a
white, frilly apron.  Around her shoulders was a dark
blue cape with bright red lining.
	All of the girls nodded their head in approval.  Raye
found hers next.  Everyone gaped when she emerged from
the dressing room.  It was basically a loose, white
sheet, draped cunning over one shoulder so that all of
the essentials were covered.  A golden snake arm
bracelet adorned her left shoulder, the one that was
not covered.  Around Raye’s waist was a belt, made
with gold and semi-precious stones, such as turquoise
and jade.  She looked stunning, and a little make-upwould definitely do the job.
	Serena’s princess costume was next.  It was pink
(surprise, surprise) and came down past her ankles to
flow in a train around her.  The neck was wide and cut
into a very deep V, but a white, lacy piece of
material went across to make her dress appropriate for
her age.  The sleeves were puffy and balloony by the
shoulders.  Right underneath the puffs was a gold
band, followed by the rest of the sleeve, fitted her
arms all the way down until her elbows (where another
gold band followed) and then flared out.  The hem of
her skirt, neck, and sleeves were lined with the same
golden band, and her waist pinched to a V.  The
shopkeeper found a matching hat.  A tall, conical
thing, with a wide golden band at the base in the
shape of a crown.  At the point, a light, sheer pink
veil came down gracefully to just below Serena’s butt.
	Everyone admitted that the dress looked good,
although it made Serena seem a little childish.
	Lita and Amy found their dresses last.  Lita’s was a
dark, almost black green strapless dress that hugged
her womanly figure until just below her knees and then
flared out in a bunch of black sheer material.  Black
evening gloves extended up past her elbow and halfway
up her upper arm.  A LARGE black hat with a green
satin ribbon and a lacy bow completed her outfit.  Her
accessories included a large ruby and diamond ring
(fake, of course), a black satin umbrella, and a pearlnecklace.
	"Wow, Lita," Raye said, "That looks really good onyou."
	Amy’s was a silver, metallic dress that almost looked
as though it were made of plastic.  It had no sleeves,
a wide, almost triangular collar (like something from
the Jetsons) and hugged her body until it ended only a
few inches underneath her butt.  Silver boots with
rings (like Saturn, only not as tacky) surrounding
them matched with the rings around her waist.  On top
of Amy’s head was a silver, Tin-man of Oz-like conicalhat, only shorter.
	The girls paid the lady and stepped outside.		
	It was approaching seven o’clock and Darien decided
it was time he headed toward the arcade.  He arrived
there early.  The sliding glass doors opened and he
stepped inside.  There was only Andrew and Rita inside
the whole arcade.  It wasn’t open for candy untilseven o’clock.
	They were already dressed in their costumes.  Andrew
wore a farm shirt and overalls and held a pitchfork in
his right hand.  At his left, Rita wore a solemn black
(and ugly!) dress, with her hair parted in the middle
and pulled back into a bun.  Both wore old-ish
spectacles on their faces, perched right on the end oftheir noses.
	"Why aren’t you dressed yet?" Andrew asked.
	"I will, I will.  I just didn’t want to feel like a
fool walking the streets of Tokyo in my costume."
	"Okay, well, shut up and put on your costume."
	Darien stepped into the restroom and emerged five
minutes later in his knight’s ensemble.
	Andrew and Rita’s mouths dropped.  For the second
time, Darien felt like an idiot.
	"Incredible!" Andrew exclaimed before Darien couldhead back and change.
	"You look great!" agreed Rita.
	"Yo, Darien," Andrew said, "What are you, into themedieval thing?"
	Darien shrugged.
	"I don’t know.  This is just what I came up with."
	A few minutes later, Charles walked in, wearing asamurai costume.
	"Hyah!" was his grand entrance.  Darien, Andrew, and
Rita turned around to see a samurai by the arcade
door, crouched with his blade at ready.	"Good, we’re all here," Andrew said.
	"Great, now can we get started?" Darien asked,anxious to get it over with.
	"Oh come on, Dare!  The shops don’t distribute candy
until seven!  And this will be our first stop anyway."
	Darien fiddled with his still unbuckled sword.
	"Aren’t you going to put that on?" Charles asked.
	"Sure.  Rita, could you gird this on me?"
	"Isn’t that task reserved for your lady?" Rita
grinned slyly, with a knowing glint in her eyes.
	"Huh?"	Rita shook her head.
	"With how smart you are, I can’t believe you don’t
know this.  A knight’s sword is supposed to be girded
on by the hands of his lady fair."
	"Well, um..."
	"And I think I know who Darien’s lady fair is!"
Andrew said teasingly, nudging his friend in the ribs.	"Huh?"
	Darien wasn’t really paying attention to their
conversation.  When Rita had mentioned, "lady fair,"
instantly, Serena’s face came into this thoughts.  Nothis princess, but Serena.
	‘Why?’ he asked himself.  ‘Why do I feel this way all
of a sudden?  What is this new feeling that’s cloudingmy thoughts?’