The Softest Snow Flake 4
MoonKlutz
bunny@sailorscout.com
The Softest Snow Flake
Part Four
Oohhhhh! A Cliffhanger!  Eek!
By Klutz

        "I don’t know.  I just, don’t, know." He said tersely. This
was not how the day
was supposed to go.  There was a flash of light and a nearby tree
cracked in half, one sidefalling towards the two on the ground.
        "Run!" Darien screamed.  They both jumped to their feet and
threw themselvesback onto the ground a few feet away as the tree collapsed right
where they had beenlaying only moments before.
        "Darien?" Serena asked nervously.        "Yeah Serena?"
        "Are we going to die?" she asked.  He closed his eyes.
        "No." he said shakily. "No." he repeated, more firmly this
time.  "We won’t.
We’ll find shelter, or make it back to town.  Do you want to make a
run for it?" he asked
her, as another boom punctuated the tension that was almost tangible
and visible in theair.
        "Yeah, let’s try." She said shakily.  She gripped his hand
tighter and they stood
up, racing for the shelter of the now empty streets of Tokyo.  ‘There
has to be a storeopen, there has to be…’
        They made it to the streets just as a tree behind them and
too their left caught fire.
Gasping for breath and reeling from the adrenaline and lack of
oxygen, they crashed
through the doors of the arcade and fell to the floor panting.
        "Oh my god!  Darien, Serena, are you two alright?!" Andrew
cried out.  He was
beside them in a flash.  Serena managed to nod her head but was still
breathing too hard
to make any words come out of her dry throat.  The room seemed to be
spinning, andthen, it was dark.        "Serena?  Serena, are you ok?"
        Someone was calling her, she realized.  It was dark and warm
where she was.She felt comfortable.  ‘Such a strange feeling after…’ she trailed
off with a mental sigh.Yes, it was very nice here.
        "Come on Serena, speak to me!"
        The voice sounded worried.  Maybe she should answer?  She
smiled.  She liked
the voice, it made her happy somehow.  Slowly, light began to dawn on
the edges of the
darkness and her eye lids were raised open, slowly.  They seemed toweigh a ton.
        "Serena, are you ok?"
        There was a blurry head in front of her.  She tried to
focus.  It took a minute, but
finally everything sorted itself out and she could see clearly.  The
person was Darien andhe looked relieved.
        "Serena?" he asked again.  She smiled.
        "Hi Darien.  What happened?" she asked tiredly.
        "You fell asleep I think.  Must have been really tired from…"She nodded.
        "Yeah.  Did you sleep?"  He shook his head.
        "No, not really." She slowly got up and looked around.  She
was on a couch in thearcade staff room.
        "You take a rest.  I’ll be here when you wake up, ok?" she
offered.  He was too
tired to refuse, and fell to the couch, asleep before his head hit
the pillow she had been
sleeping on.  Serena turned and found a blanket on the ground.  She
must have thrown it
off while she was sleeping.  Serena smoothed it out and lay it over
him before sitting
down in a nearby easy chair and closing her eyes, half-asleep, halfawake.
        Andrew peeked into the staff room and smiled.  It was about
time those two got
along.  The last time he had checked Darien had been awake watching
Serena until she
woke up.  Now Serena was in the chair and Darien was asleep on the
couch.  He went
back outside and hung a ‘closed’ sign in the door, locking it.  No
way was he going to let
someone wake those two up, not when they were finally really getting
along.  He sat
down behind the bar with a cup of coffee and a newspaper, waiting for
them to catch upon all that sleep.
        When Darien finally woke up it was three in the afternoon and
he had a crick inhis neck.  He didn’t get up to fix it though because Serena was
asleep in the easy chair
and he didn’t want to wake her up.  He quietly got up and silently
draped the blanket over
her and went outside to the main room where Andrew sat reading anewspaper.
        "How is she?" he asked his friend.
        "Sleeping. I didn’t want to wake her up, she looked so
peaceful." He smiled,
remembering how cute she looked all curled up in the easy chair.
        "So you guys are finally friends?" Andrew asked, setting the
newspaper aside andfocusing on his friend.
        "Yeah, I think so.  We almost got killed out there, but we
helped each other
enough to get here." Darien said softly.  "I think we both would be
dead right now if itweren’t for each other."
        "So when’s the wedding?" Andrew asked, trying his best to
look serious.  Darienshead snapped up, shocked.
        "What?!" he whispered angrily. "We are not…"
        "I know buddy!  I know!  Just teasing you, yeash." Secretly,
Andrew smiledinside.  So Darien did like Serena!   Hmmm.  This was interesting.
Very, interesting.
        There was a yawn from the staff room door and a sleepy Serena
stood in thedoorway with a blanket draped around her shoulders.
        "What time is it?" she asked, rubbing sleep from her eyes.
Sun was peeking out
and the air had cleared more from the last time she had been awake.
        Andrew and Darien glanced at their watches at the same time,
looked up and said"About three in the afternoon." In exact sync with each other.
Serena laughed.
        "You guys are like twins sometimes." She said smiling.  Then
her eyes got large.
"Oh no!  Not three!  Bye guys!" She tossed the blanket up in the air
and smoothed herhair and clothes as she dashed out the door at light speed.
        "That is one crazy kid." Andrew said, shaking his head.
        "Tell me about it!"
        Serena ran through the now drying streets of Tokyo, heading
north to Cherry Hill
where Rei’s temple was.  They were supposed to meet there at three.
‘Don’t they think
I’ve done enough running today?’ she wondered and skidded up the
stairs of the temple,falling down at the top.
        "Ow." She muttered, and stood up again.  There was no one
around strangely
enough.  "Rei?  Reeeeeiiiii…. Where is everyone?" she called out.
Chad came out fromaround back.
        "Oh hi Serena.  Rei said that if you came something urgent
came up at Molly’s.
Whatever that means." He said, shaking his head.  "Hey, do you knowwhat that….
Serena?" he asked, but she was already gone.
        Sailor Moon came to a halt in front of the OSA.P jewelry
store in downtown
Jubaan. There were sounds of fighting and pain inside that she winced
to hear.  Shepushed the door aside and stumbled inside.
        "Oh, no…" she whispered. They had hit Molly.  Again.Elsewhere…
        ‘Do I really feel that way?  I mean it’s just Serena.  Sure,
I really needed her
today, but that doesn’t mean I have feelings for her… Aside from
being friends, that is.
Ok, so she’s pretty.  Well, maybe more than pretty.  And so she’s
nice.  Well, really nice.
And so I think I love her… and oh damn.  I’m already a goner aren’tI?’
        "Are you ready to say yes yet?" Andrew asked, watching his
friend.  They had
been bored and started to play truth or dare, but now… Now Andrew had
asked him totruthfully, after thinking about it, say he didn’t have a thing for
Serena.  And he did.  Hehung his head.        "Ok."        "So say it!"
        "Fine!  I am totally in love with Serena Tsukino and I always
have been, are youhappy?"
        "Yup.  Now why don’t you go find her and take her outsomewhere nice?"
        "Andrew!  I can’t do that!"        "And why not?"
        "Because she doesn’t feel the same way…" he said sadly.
        ‘Hmm…. Looks like another job for Super Andrew!’
        "Moon Tiara!  Magic!"  Sailor Moon flung the disk at the
monster holding her
friend by the neck.  Molly was dropped to the floor hacking and
coughing as her attacker
turned to dust.  Sailor Mars glared at her from her spot on the floor
where she was tryingto stop the blood that was pouring out of her leg.
        "Nice job Spaghetti for brains, what took you so long?!  We
almost died, and
look!  That’s your best friend coughing up blood over there!" Serena
hung her head and
walked over to Molly. ‘I guess I have no other choice.’  She held her
hands togetherbefore Molly’s throat and concentrated.  She soon stopped coughing
blood, sighed andfell asleep. Rei watched dumbfounded.
        "Wha…?" Sailor Moon next came to her and did the same for her
leg, Mercury’sarm and left.
        She walked into the arcade, still as Sailor Moon and dropped
onto a stool near the
bar.  "Bartender, a milk shake." She said wearily.  Andrew and Darien
looked shocked,
but for obviously different reasons.  Never the less, Andrew managed
to get a milk shake
for her and slid it over to her.  "Thanks." She took a deep drink and
rolled her shoulders abit.  It had been way too long a day.
        "N, N… No Problem Sailor Moon." Andrew stuttered.  Serenasmiled at him
ironically.  Strange that Andrew would be so nervous around her.  If
he only knew…        Ten seconds latter Sailor Mars and Sailor Mercury came
inside, breathing hardand kneeled before Serena.
        "Princess!  I’m sorry, we didn’t know!  You probably had a
good reason for beinglate!" Rei exclaimed, bowing to her.
        "Why didn’t you tell us you were the Princess?" Ami asked,
also kneeling to her.
        "Oh get up.  I don’t want to be called Princess and I don’t
give a damn.  I never
wanted to be.  Just leave me alone for once!" She said angrily and
turned back to herdrink.
        "Princess?  The MOON Princess?" Darien asked incredulously.
"No, this can’t be
happening!" he exclaimed, eyes wide.  There was something in his
dream that made him
believe he and the Princess were once engaged, but he loved Serenanow!
        "What’s your problem?  You shouldn’t even know Darien." She
said, looking at
him curiously.  "As far as I know, you have no memories of your past
yet.  Besides, I
never wanted to be Princess.  Can we just forget this?" she whined to
no one in particular.
        Andrew watched the whole thing in shock.  What did Darien
have to do with the
three Sailor Scouts that were standing in his arcade?  And WHY werethey here?
        Ami and Rei were still kneeling before her and Rei shook herhead.
        "But Princess, we’ve been searching for you for so long!" Reiexclaimed.
        "Don’t call me Princess!" Serena screamed and promptly
disappeared from the
arcade, leaving only money to pay for the drink as a sign she had
even been there.
        "How much else does she know how to do?" Ami asked aloud.  No
one answered,but the two Sailor Scouts got back up and sat down at the counter.
        "Two cokes please." Rei said and hung her head.  "I shouldn’t
have said that,
should I?  She’s really sensitive all the time lately.  I wonder ifLuna knows?"
        Ami pulled her mini-computer out of her sub-space pocket and
let the visor slidacross her eyes.
        "According to my calculations she doesn’t.  This also says
that Sailor Moonknows how to get the Silver Imperium Crystal, but hasn’t yet.
Probably because sheknew I would pick up the energy signals.
        "What?!" Darien burst out angrily.  "She’s know this whole
time how to get it,
and I still get sent those stupid dreams?! I would’ve gotten an A on
my chem. exam if itweren’t for those dreams!"
        There was silence as everyone stared at the dark haired man
at the counter.
        "Oops. Um, did I say that out loud?  Iiiiiiiii’ve gotta go.
Bye!" He was out thedoor before anyone really realized what had happened.
        "Um, that’ll be Two-fifty please." Andrew said tentativly,
breaking the silence.        "Ami?  Where do we keep money in these outfits?"
Ha ha!  Bet you never saw THAT one coming!  Hehehee!  I am soooooevil! Oh well,
two parts so far in one week, you guys must be having a blast!  E-mail me!
Bunny@sailorscout.com or moonklutz@yahoo.com and visit me!www.geocities.com
Oh, I shut down the picture archives and I’m re-modeling, so don’tmind me….
Luvs ya!
~Klutz