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     *grumbles* back at school... only four more months to go... 
but the good news is I should have my own computer back within a 
month or so. *cheers* Thank you to all those who read the first part 
and liked it; that makes me feel a whole lot better. 
     Props go to the three musketeers (Sidnei, Ropa-chan and 
Starlite) I am always grateful for your friendship. ^_^
     I think I might have forgotten the disclaimer last time, but 
nothing's changed.  It's all implied now. ^_~ Enjoy!



"When you want it the most
There's no easy way out
When you're ready to go
And your heart's left in doubt
Don't give up on your faith
Love comes to those who believe it
And that's the way it is."

--Celine Dion, "All the Way"



Strangers on a Train
Part Two
by Sailor Elysia
rating: do you expect anything else from me?





     Their breaths were like puffy white clouds in the crisp cold air 
as they walked along the street from the train station to Serena's
home.  
Casting a sideward glance at him, she noticed that he was clutching his

briefcase tightly, and she couldn't tell if he was that way naturally, 
or if he was just uncomfortable with the situation he had suddenly been

put into.  "Do you think your company will be angry with you for 
abandoning your work like this?" Serena asked softly.
     Darien looked at her, coming out of his deep train of thoughts.  
Funny, he had been thinking the exact same thing, only she had voiced 
his thoughts for him.  He knew they wouldn't be exactly angry with 
him, just concerned with his sudden actions.  He had never been known 
to be spontaneous, and this would certainly raise a few eyebrows back 
at the office.  Speaking of which, he needed to do something about that

before it got too late.  
     "Thanks for reminding me.  I'll give them a call right now."  
Pulling out his cell phone from his coat pocket, he flipped it open and

auto dialed his number at the office.  Knowing it would automatically 
pick up his voice mail, Darien kept his pace up with Serena's, and 
listened carefully to the list of messages.
     The last message was the one that caught his attention, and he 
had to replay it just to make sure that he wasn't hearing things. 
"Darien, 
by the time you get this, you're probably on your way to Denver, but 
all the meetings you were scheduled to attend have been postponed; 
the corporate office decided to wait until after the first of the year.
 
Have a good holiday."
     Serena stared at him intently as he flipped the cover of his 
phone shut and gawked at the device he held in his hand for a moment.  
"Well, what do you know," Darien muttered as he slipped the phone 
back into his pocket and continued walking.  She couldn't take it 
anymore; if she had been a cat, curiosity would have killed her long 
ago.  Placing her hands on her hips, she asked, "Are you going to tell 
me or not?"
     Darien shook himself out of his stupor, and with a slight grin, 
faced the blonde-haired pixie who was beginning to look quite agitated 
by this time.  "I guess it wouldn't be fair to you to keep you in the
dark 
after all you've done to get me here.  That was my boss telling me that

the plans which put me on the train in the first place, have been 
postponed until after the first of the year."  He waited for her
reaction
     Lunging herself at him, Serena threw her arms around a 
surprised Darien and hugged him tightly.  "That's wonderful!  Now 
you can spend the holidays with me and my family and not feel guilty 
about skipping out on your work.  It has to be a miracle!"
     Frozen in his tracks, Darien wasn't sure what to make of the 
warmth surging through his veins as Serena hugged him.  He had not 
been this close to a woman and enjoyed it so much in a very long time; 
not since his favorite foster mother, back when he was nine.  Those 
tender memories came flooding back to him as Serena held him in her 
embrace, and he wished, just once, that he could have memories like 
that again.  
     He stepped away from her, sad to lose the comforting feeling, 
but it would have been much more awkward if he had stayed that way 
any longer.  "A coincidence, maybe, but not a miracle," he answered.  
Serena smiled impishly.  "What's the matter, don't you believe in 
miracles?"
     "Nope.  Haven't for a long time.  But I guess that all depends 
on what you would call a miracle."  Serena laughed, and poked him in 
the shoulder.  "Whatever you say, Mr. Non-believer, but my faith is 
still strong.  I think it would be a miracle if my family could get
along 
while we're all home."
     "What do you mean?  Doesn't your family get along?"  Now 
Darien was curious.  Serena hadn't said much about her family yet, and 
if he was planning to spend the next few days with them, he might as 
well know something about them so he didn't feel like a total stranger,

which was kind of ironic, because in all reality, he was.
     Shrugging her shoulders, Serena replied, "Oh sure, under 
normal circumstances, but even with the three of us all out on our own 
now, my father still tries to maintain his patriarchal status. 
Basically, 
he's always trying to tell us what to do, and it causes some tension 
between all of us."
     "You know, you haven't told me much about your family yet.  
What are they like?"  She smiled.  "That's right.  You do need some 
background information, don't you?  Well, for starters, there's my 
mother and my father and three kids; myself and my two older 
brothers."
     "Brothers?"  Darien cut in.  He gulped.  Where there were 
older brothers, there was usually trouble for him.  A puzzled look 
crossed Serena's face, but she made no mention of his curious 
expression.  "Yeah, Tal's four years older than me, and Ricky's two 
years older.  Both of them are married now, and Tal's got a five month 
old baby girl who I haven't seen yet.  So I'm really excited to get 
home."
     Darien gulped again.  "Anything else I should know?"  She 
shrugged.  "I don't know, but I'm sure you'll get along great with
them.  
Both of them were on the football team in high school, but they're just

big softies now."
     That's what he was afraid of.  Two brothers, both of them very 
strong and very capable of tearing him apart.  He remembered the boys 
that would come over to play with the children in his foster home, and 
how they would tease him to no end.  What hurt the most was that they 
never let him play.  It wasn't that he was smaller than they were; he
just 
didn't fit in.  And that's the way it had always been.
     "You know, now I'm not so sure about this," he wavered, and 
seriously started to consider going back.  Serena grabbed his arm, and 
gave him a bright smile.  "Oh no you don't, you can't back out now!  
Besides, we're almost there!  Look!" she said, and pointed to a large 
house on their left.
     Darien's first impression was amazement.  The house looked 
no more than five or six years old, and was tastefully decorated for
the 
Christmas season.  Cascading icicle lights hung all around the outer 
trim of the house, and a beautiful pine tree was framed in the living 
room window for all the world to see.  "Looks like Mom and Dad 
didn't waste any time," Serena whispered under her breath.  "Oh, are 
they going to be surprised when we come through that door.  Come 
on!"  Grabbing Darien's hand, they jogged across the street and up the 
driveway of the place she loved to call home.
     With Darien right behind her, she twisted the doorknob, and 
being careful not to bump the enormous wreath hanging on the front, 
Serena pushed open the door to reveal the front hallway and staircase, 
all decorated with a beautiful garland.  They stepped in, and shut the 
door behind them.  Looking up, Serena smiled and tugged on Darien's 
arm.  "Never fails.  Every year...Be on the lookout."  She pointed to
the 
arch connecting the hallway and the kitchen where a fresh sprig of 
mistletoe hung.
     "Who's here?" a distant voice called from the kitchen.  Serena 
got a huge grin on her face, and started jumping around like a
five-year 
old would on Christmas Eve.  "Mom?"  Darien watched on in 
amusement as Annie Cardon bolted from the kitchen and latched on to 
her youngest child and only daughter.  "Serena, sweetheart!  What a 
wonderful surprise!  I didn't expect you until tomorrow. Was the train 
ride all right?  Where's the rest of your luggage?"
     Disentangling herself from her mother's grasp, Serena 
grinned.  Her mother never changed, and she was glad of that.  
"Everything was fine, and my luggage is still at the station.  I'll go
pick 
it up later.  I decided to surprise everyone by coming home early.  
Speaking of surprises," she said, turning to where Darien stood behind 
her, "I want you to meet Darien, a friend of mine.  He doesn't have 
anyone to spend the holidays with, so I invited him to come here."

     Annie smiled brightly, and stuck out her hand.  "Welcome to 
our home, Darien.  I hope that you'll enjoy yourself while you're
here."
     Darien took Annie's hand, and shook it firmly.  "Thank you 
for letting me be a guest in your home, Mrs. Cardon."  With wide eyes, 
Annie glanced over at Serena.  "Well, he's certainly a polite one,
isn't 
he?" She turned back to Darien and smiled warmly at him.  "Please, 
call me Annie, everyone does."  She walked back into the kitchen, with 
Serena and Darien following closely behind.  "You two are just in time;

take your coats off, and you can help me frost the Christmas sugar 
cookies that I just baked.  Then later on, you can take them around to 
the neighbors."
     They shrugged off their coats, and put them away in the 
closet.  As they sat down at the table, Serena whispered, "See?  I told

you my mom would like you.  You have nothing to worry about."  
Darien smiled back, even though he still had many doubts.  Only time 
could tell what the rest of her family would think of him, and that was

what worried him most.



     "Mom?"  A masculine voice was heard out in the front 
hallway nearly two hours later.  Serena and Darien were busily frosting

cookies as fast as Annie could get them out of the oven.  A large form 
filled the archway leading into the kitchen.  "Are you baking cookies 
again?"
     Annie crossed her arms, and smiled at her oldest child, 
pointing a spatula at him.  "What kind of question is that, Tal?  You 
know I'm always baking this time of year.  But they're not for you.  
They're for the neighbors."
     Tal turned his attention to where Serena and Darien were 
sitting at the table.  "Sere!  When did you get home?"  Serena jumped 
up to give her eldest brother a huge hug.  "Just a few hours ago.  Oh, 
Tal, this is Darien, a friend of mine.  He's going to be with us for
the 
holidays.  Darien, this is Tal, my oldest brother."
     Standing up, Darien shook Tal's hand firmly, and gave him 
the best smile he could muster.  He didn't seem quite as intimidating
as 
Darien had thought he would be.  Tal returned the smile.  "Well, any 
friend of Serena's is bound to be a friend of mine."  He turned to look

at his mother and little sister.  "I'll go get Michelle.  She's still
getting a 
few things from the car."
     Serena looked up from her frosting, a smile lighting up her 
face.  "Oh, and don't forget the baby!  Mom's told me everything about 
her, and I am so excited to see her."  Tal smiled, and left the kitchen
to 
bring his family in from the cold.  Darien watched him leave, a wistful

feeling harboring in his heart.  He and Tal were about the same age... 
he pictured himself in that place, with a wife and child... he could 
finally be happy... with Serena by his side...
     HOLD IT!  Back the truck up here!  Him... and Serena?  But 
he barely knew the woman!  Still... after getting to know her on the 
train ride, and then being in her home, it was like as if he had known 
her for years.  And that wasn't a bad thought at all.
     Serena's voice broke into his silent thoughts.  "Mom, where's 
Dad, Ricky and Sid?"  Annie finished peeking into the oven to see if 
her current batch of cookies were done yet.  "Oh, Rick and Sid took 
your father shopping; Sid was determined to make him get me 
something decent this year.  They should be back soon; then we can all 
sit down to dinner."
     The front door opened and closed again.  This time two people 
came into the kitchen, one held a baby wrapped in a blanket in her 
arms.  Michelle--Tal's wife of nearly three years--handed the baby over

to Tal, and quickly crossed the room to give Serena a warm hug.  
"Serena, it's so good to see you."  Tal came over to stand by his wife 
and grinned.  "Meet the newest member of the Cardon family."  He 
pulled back the blanket to reveal a sleeping baby girl.  "Serena, this
is 
your niece, Miriam.  Miriam, this is your aunt Serena."
     Serena let out a gasp of awe.  "Ohh, Tal, Michelle, she's 
absolutely beautiful.  Can I hold her?"  Michelle smiled gently.  "Of 
course, it's about time that you got to know her."  Tal gently placed 
Miriam into Serena's waiting arms, and she cooed at the sleeping little

girl.  Tufts of blond hair had been tied into a ribbon on her head, and

Serena could only guess that beneath her tiny eyelids, her eyes were as

blue as both of her parents.
     She nudged Darien with her elbow, and he looked down on 
the sleeping child from over Serena's shoulder.  "Isn't she beautiful, 
Darien?"  He nodded in agreement.  "Would you like to hold her?" she 
asked shyly, looking up into Darien's shocked gaze.
     "I--I don't know.  I've never held a baby before; I'm not sure 
I'd do it right--"  Before he knew it, Serena had delicately placed 
Miriam into his arms, and now his gaze was fixed on the little girl.  
"Incredible," he murmured.  He never thought he'd ever have this 
chance.  Even though the baby was not his, he could still imagine, if 
only for a moment, that he was a father.  "She's a little miracle," he 
replied, looking up at Tal and Michelle.  
     As he handed the baby back to her mother, Serena whispered 
in his ear, "So you believe in miracles after all."  With a smile, he 
whispered back, "I guess I do."







Okay, so it's not much development this time around, but I'm working 
on that.  School decided to invade my life again *sigh* so it's going
to 
be interesting to see how I can balance all this.  I'd love to hear
your 
comments, the addy is still ely_chan@yahoo.com.  Ja matta ne, minna!

Sailor Elysia
January 2000