AN: Yow! I'm soooo sorry, minna-chan! I've been slacking MAJORLY in 
this story! So I HAVE to write another chapter. But I haven't been 
completely slacking off. We have a new layout for eternal princess dot com, 
and I'm working on an extremely long Sailor Galaxia story. (what can I 
say? I'm a rabid animamates fan!) Anyways, that's been what I've been 
writing on lately, but since it's only about ten pages so far, I think 
it's hardly done. It will be one long story. ^^' plus I'm working on a 
mini-shrine, AND I just got my first job! Enough excuses though, there's 
no excuse for me. ^^ Thanks to Alicia Blade, she's really helping me 
pull through this story. Also VERY special thanks to Sailor Starlite, my 
Mamo-cloning partner. Well, enough of that, time to write more! Almost 
done with this story! ^_^ Standard disclaimers...
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Magic Tricks
Mako-chan
Part 8
Breeze13@hotmail.com
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	Serena gently tugged my arm. "Darien!" she giggled, "WHERE are we
 going?"
	I put my lips on her own to silence her.
	"mmm..." she melted.
	If there's one thing I am, it's smooth. I took her hands again and led
 her down the steps of my apartment building. Serena stumbled a few 
times, 
but just blushed a bit.
	"Darien?" she laughed, "it would be easier if I didn't have this 
blindfold on..."
	I smiled, even though I knew she couldn't see, and said, "because if 
you see, you'll spoil the surprise!"
	Serena shook her head, and said, "oh, all right!" she wagged a finger
 in the general area of my face, "but you KNOW that I'm a klutz WITHOUT 
the 
blindfold!"
	Smiling, I said, "but you're the cutest klutz I've ever seen!" 
	A woman who had been standing nearby reading a paper snorted a
 bit and said, "hmph!" she then ate a piece of chocolate and whipped 
around. 
	I could hear her a mumbling a bit to herself, saying, "and what's 
wrong with ME?" but I ignored it.
	Serena giggled, "what was that?"
	I shook my head, "just some strange girl..."
	She laughed, "can't I get this blind fold off?"
	"Just a couple more steps and you can take it off."
	She sighed, "oh, okay."
	Grinning, I opened up the door of the limo I had reserved. The only 
way I actually got it at all, was because I had to write a note to the 
manager 
downstairs and have THEM get me one. I didn't want Serena to hear it 
and spoil
 the surprise. Though I wrote the destination down as well.
	Leading her in, I felt her gasp at the smell of the leather. Once the
 door was closed, and the dark windows were covered further by shades, 
I 
allowed her to take off the blindfold.
	"Darien!" she cried, "is this a LIMO?!"
	Laughing, I said, "yeah, it is. But the surprise is AFTER the ride."
	Serena giggled happily like a baby almost, then she stopped all her
 movement. "Oh... my... gosh... I thank my god for the bounty of which 
I am
 about to receive."
	"Serena?" I asked, bewildered.
	She then opened up the mini-fridge and shoved an apple in her 
mouth.
	"mm...." she said, savoring the flavor.
	I shook my head, "Serena, I'm glad that you haven't lost your 
appetite."
	She giggled, "well... can you blame me? All I've had is those 
pancakes today!"
	I sighed, "Serena, you ate seven of them."
	She shook her head, "so? If you hadn't eaten the other three, I 
would've been full!"
	I laughed, "you are certainly an individual."
	She sat up straighter, "thank you."
	I sighed teasingly, "I wasn't sure that was a compliment, Sere!"
	She giggled, "well, remember what happened last time you offended
 me! I kicked your butt in pillow fighting!"
	I snorted, pretending to be indignant, "hey! I thought I won the
 pillow fight!'
	She rolled her eyes dramatically, "I suppose I can forgive you, after
 all, we ARE in a limo." Curious, she leaned over to the blinds, gently 
touching
 the edge of them. "hmm..." she said.
	Laughing, I snatched her hand away and kissed it, right in her palm. 
	She moaned a little, "Darien.." suddenly, in a sudden sweep of 
movement she was in my arms.
	Suddenly, Serena's wrist watch began beeping insufferably. I sighed,
 "Sere..."
	She moaned, "oh..." sighing, she picked herself out from my arms,
 "I'm sorry Darien. My... pager... um... wrist.. pager went off."
	I shook my head, "I didn't know they made such things!"
	She giggled, nervous, "welllll... it's a brand new.. um, prototype.
 Very expensive." She looked around the limo, "um.. can we stop 
somewhere...
 you know, so I can answer?"
	I grinned, "no need, there's a phone in here."
	She groaned, then looked at our wrists, "oh no!..."
	"What's the matter Sere?" I asked, point blank.
	She sighed, "it's nothing. Well, let's see um, (gulp) who it is." 
Gingerly, she flipped open the lid. Her friend Raye's face shown 
inside. I was
 impressed, even if Raye DID have a tendency to hang all over me.
	"they even have camera's inside? That's pretty cool, Serena.. but I
 wouldn't call it a pager."
	Her face turned a rose color. "Um... hi... Raye.. you.. um, remember
 Darien?"
	Raye snorted, "Serena, you meatball head! What are you doing with
 HIM? There's an emergency at the-wait, did you just said DARIEN?!"
	Serena nodded, quite cutely, I admit. I had the urge to stroke
 Serena's hair, but it had to wait. There was a chance that if we could 
see Raye,
 she could see us.
	Raye blushed a bit, then, in a lower tone, like I couldn't hear her, 
she
 said, "Serena, what are you doing with HIM, we have work to do 
today..."
	Serena held up our wrists absently, "I'm sure that you can handle it 
without me, this time."
	She nodded, gruffly, then said, "well, bye Darien!"
	After Serena had flipped the lid of the pager back, she seemed to sag
 into my arms. "Well, Darien, I suppose you're wondering what that was 
all 
about..."
	"mmhmm..."
	"And I suppose you expect me to tell you right now, huh?"
	"mmhmm..."
	"But you know what, I don't think I want to explain it. There's no 
right explanation for it, and I don't want to lie to you."
	"mm..."
	"instead...." she turned and kissed me, hushing any other grunts I
 had to her comments. I would've laughed at her method if it wasn't 
working
 so well.
	We broke the kiss off, and I said, "So, you want anything? The driver
 will get us anything we want if we ask..."
	She grinned, "nope, we've got food, and each other... what more
 could I need?"
	I laughed, "that sounded like a corney remark if I ever heard one."
	She smiled, "ANYTHING sentimental sounds corney!"
	I grinned, "Sere, have you always been this beautiful?"
	She stopped giggling,  "Darien?"
	I shook my head, "never mind."
The car began to slow down. We were almost to the destination. I 
grabbed an
 apple from the fridge and ate it, absently. I was jittery. In a few 
moments,
 Serena would see the big surprise, and I wasn't sure if she'd like it.
The car finally stopped it's trek, and I scooped Serena into my arms. 
Thrusting
 the door open, I continued to carry her out of the car and a few 
steps. I was
 watching ever movement on her face.
"Darien..." she gasped, her eyes in awe, "I.. can't  believe it."
I listened to the crashing of the waves, "believe it. I own this beach, 
Serena. 
I bought it a long time ago for way less than it's value, and now I 
finally have
 someone to share it with."
She smiled, "who's the cornball now?"
Grinning, I said, "all right, we're even now." I leaned over and
 kissed her.
She smiled, "Can we go swimming?"
I tugged lightly on one pigtail, admiring her golden strands, "sure."
She giggled, and unlooped her one arm from the jacket. She threw it in 
the
 car, and ran, faster than I had thought, surprisingly, down the shore.
Laughing with her, we plunged into the warmish waters. The sea water 
felt
 good. Serena smiled, "Darien, never in my life has anyone ever done
 something like this for me... thank you."
I nodded, "It's worth any price for you."
She smiled, and I laughed. Splashing her lightly, she grinned and sent 
a large
 wave at me. I went under, and, looping one arm around her (the one not
 connected, of course), I pulled her under the water as well, and 
kissed her.
 She melted.
I pulled her up, almost afraid that if I left her, I'd never see her 
again.
Serena sighed, happy. I shook my head and pulled her out of the water 
completely, the weight of her clothes bearing on me a bit.
I set her on the beach, on a blanket that the driver had set up while 
we were
 running around. I made a mental note to tip the guy big bucks later.
Opening up a picnic basket, I handed Serena a towel that lie on the 
blanket,
 and a sandwich.
She fell back on the blanket, forcing me to do the same. The sun was in 
the 
middle of the sky. She stared up at the eternal blue. "Darien.." she 
said,
 gesturing to the child's moon in the sky, "do you ever think of the 
moon?"
I nodded, "yeah, I do." I laughed, "every now and then I picture a 
princess
 living there."
She laughed, "a PRINCESS?!"
I turned to her, "what, is that so unbelivable?"
"Well... what does she look like?"
"Just like you!" I kissed her again.
She giggled, "My Darien..." I liked the sound of my name on her lips, 
as if the
 sound of a bell ringing slightly. I let her curl up into a ball in my 
arms.
We sat like that a long time. Neither of us speaking, but we were
 communicating somehow. It was like I knew when she wanted something,
 or when she didn't. When she felt cold, or warm. And somehow, I think 
she knew the same things about me.
The sun sunk down to the horizon. I was tempted to stay there, but I 
needed
 to go back home. Our clothes were dry now, if not very salty, from our 
romp
in the sea.
I saw that she was asleep. I picked her up, stroking her hair that had 
fallen
 long since from it's meatballs, and set her inside the limo. I urged 
the driver 
to go home.
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Not a very LONG chapter, but a sweet one, ne? Yes, I know, I know, I 
need to
 write a WHOLE lot more, I'm just really busy lately. A lot of things 
are 
happening right now, and believe me, I'm working to get it done. ^^ and 
yes,
 I WILL be updating eternal princess dot com some time in the future.
-Mako