Title: An Uneggspected Discovery Author: Erdric Calhar E-Mail: LunarEB2@aol.com Rating: PG Hiya All!! Time for the third, and maybe final, chapter in this holiday special :). I'm revising this story even as I go, so things could turn out any number of ways. Anyway, here's the story, the day of the egg hunt! As always, enjoy, and tell me whatcha think! An Uneggspected Discovery Day 3 As the morning sun rests low in the sky, I find myself at none other then the arcade. Sighing, I sip at my coffee once more as Andrew continues with his tongue lashing. "You lost them?!?! I don't believe you! A chance like this comes around for you and you LOSE the tickets???" I merely sigh without looking up at him as the previous night flows though my head. What happened to me is still a mystery, but I suppose it doesn't matter overly much, so instead I turn my thoughts to Serena. I smile at the picture without even thinking. So caring.. even to someone like me. She actually seemed worried about me last night, if only it hadn't been so late. Ah well, shouldn't ponder it too much, she is just Serena after... "Darian!!!" Andrew exclaims, bringing up my full attention. "Huh, wha..?" I completely lost track of what he's been saying for the past few minutes, and from the look on his face he knows it. With an exasperated sigh, he leans over the counter at me. "Either stop daydreaming and pay attention to me," he pauses, a wide grin spreading on his face, "or go turn the dreams to reality." He glances towards the arcade doors, drawing my eyes with his of course, and we both see a bright, bouncing blond enter the room. Instantly my mind swirls with confusion. Wait, she didn't get to go to the egg hunt, she apparently isn't going anywhere with her family, so she's stuck sitting in the arcade with us...and she's still this happy?? She waves joyously and hops over to us, taking a stool beside me. "Hi Andrew! Hi Darian! Happy Easter!" Andrew chuckles down at her whilst I sit staring. "Hey there Serena. So why're you so excited?" She rolls her eyes. "Because it's Easter of course! I'm happy just knowing my friends are having fun!" She crosses her arm, making the statement seem matter-of-fact. I can't help myself and a chuckle breaks from my throat at the image she creates. Adorable doesn't begin to describe it. "What's so funny Darian?" Glancing up I see Serena looking at me strangely, while Andrew grins slyly. "Well, you sounded so mature for a minute there Meatball Head," I pause slowly while her face heats, "you caught me a little off guard" I can almost see Andrew reach out to smack me, but I ignore him. "This coming from a college guy who still hunts Easter eggs?" she retorts, still glaring at me. Then suddenly she breaks off, eyes blinking in confusion. "Wait a sec...why aren't you at the egg hunt?" Her pull away from the argument takes me off guard, and I stutter for a response. "Well...I just..don't have the tickets anymore." Serena gasps. "What?!? Don't tell me Mister Organization lost them!?" "Of course not!" I fume at her, before blinking in realization of what I got myself into. My resolve breaks down and my angry face turns to one of a child caught in the middle of a lie. "I mean..." Serena's face has changed enough emotions to leave my head spinning. "But if you didn't lose them, what happened to them?" She once again looks on me with bewilderment across her features. Nice job Darian, just how do you get yourself out of this one? Lying to my Meatball Head seems out of the question, but to tell her the truth... "I..." I swallow roughly in an attempt to wet my now dry throat. "..I thre.." "Guess who!!" A loud voice comes from behind Serena, starling us both as hands cover her eyes. Looking up dazedly, I find Serena's friend Raye hunched over the blond. After nearly jumping out of her seat at the abrupt interruption, Serena's composure returns. "..Raye??" With that she reaches up to remove the others hands before turning in total surprise to the person in question. We were so wrapped up in our conversatin we didn't even notice the whole gang, guys included, standing nearby. Of course, Mina and Lina are missing, unable to come as expected. "Wha..what are you all doing here??" Raye rolls her eyes before placing her hands on her hips. "We're here to see you of course! Geez, you always have to be so dense Meatball Head?" Completely ignoring the taunt, Serena's face with surprise again. "You..gave up the hunt to see me??" Squeeling loudly, she throws a massive hug attack at Raye. "That's soo sweet of you!!" Trying, vainly, to gain any leverage with Serena's arms pinning her own to her side, Raye looks down at her friend. "Uhhh, yeah... I mean, we're friends right?" I chuckle at the spectacle before me. Mina bops up beside her blond friend. "Yep, and we decided that it just wouldn't be a holiday without the whole group! So we cooked up a full day of our own!" All their smiling and giggling dissolves into the background as I fade into my own thoughts, turning to sip from my classic coffee cup. "Why don't you go with them Dar?" Grinning slightly, Andrew winks down at me, but I merely wave him off. "Naw, things seem to of worked out well, and she's happy, which is all I care about." Setting down the now empty mug, I lean back and look up into my friends face. "Besides, I'm sure she wouldn't want me tagging along.." "Hey Darian!" That unforgetable, singsong voice calls. Turning my head, I watch Meatball Head pranch over to me. "Why don't you come with us?" ...My eyes don't blink for what seems like forever as I take in the question. She's actually asking me??? Of course, I can't let her know I'm shocked, so I paste on my cocky grin and raise an eye in her direction. "You're actually inviting me to go with you guys? Did I hear that right?" She rolls her eyes and sighs in annoyance. "Look, just say yes, I know you don't have anything else to do." That statement catches my attention, and I send a glance Andrew's way. He only turns and walks off, whistling softly as he does. Turning, I find my eyes locked with another pair of crystal blue. How on Earth could I possibly ever refuse her? "Well...alright. Guess it could be fun." "Great! Now come on!" She exclaims, grabbing my hand and dragging me from my seat in the process. Regaining, most of, my speech, I attempt to grasp what exactly is going on. "Hey Serena, just where are we going?" She smiles and winks at me. "Don't worry, I'll tell you when we get there." I grin, this could be a long day. "My friends put this whole plan together as soon as they found out I couldn't go on the egg hunt," Serena talked, almost mindlessly as we walked down the street. "This is gonna be sooo cool! I bet we'll have even more fun than at the egg hunt!" I laugh to myself just watching her. She talks so easily, openly and without hardly a thought to the matter. Now she's talking about school, then the mall, then her annoying brother... My mind eventually fades out of hearing range, merely enjoying the sight before me. "Earth to Darian!!" Blinking a few times, I realize a hand is passing in front of my face. Travelling down the arm I find the owner, Serena of course, place her hands on her hips and glareing up at me. "Are you ignoring me??" I glance down at her, feigning ignorance. "Ignore you Meatball Head? Never!" I pause only a moment to let her smile before continuing. "That's impossible, trust me, I've tried." A smack across the arm answers me and she stomps off to join her friends, leaving me trailing merrily behind. "Heh, I knew this could be fun." Before even a minute passes Serena is once again bouncing along side the group. "Ah! We're here all!" Lita calls out from the front ranks of our little marching squad. I'd been expecting any number of things, but...the mass of open landscape before me wasn't one of them. A lush, healthy pasture of grass and flowers occupies the main space, while a forest of cherry blossom trees rises off to the right, and a high, overhanging lakeside cliff stands tall over to the left. I'm stunned to say the least. "..wow..it's beautiful!!" Squeals the ever entergetic Serena. "But, where are we?" Hmm, she makes a good point. I know I've never seen this place before. "We're a little beyond the outskirts of the city.." Lita begins, but isn't able to continue as Amy breaks in. "..which is why it took us so long to reach here. Tokyo is a very large city, to be exact, it is..." "We get the picture Ames." Serena stops her short of a geography lesson. Wide eyed, she looks around again. "How long have you guys known about this place?" Raye shrugs. "Not very. It's rarely visited, people don't like coming all the way out here, and today we have it all to ourselves." She smiles widely. "Just as we planned. A perfect area for Easter egg hunting, and then some." She winks at Serena, who completely misses it in her 'ooh' and 'ahh' sessions. Sighing, Raye drops her head. I ponder Raye's act only a moment, then shrug it off. Serena's friend's always were a little strange. 'Course, I'm not really one to talk... "Yaay! Can we start?" Practically begging, Serena tugs on Lita's arm, mainly I think because she was the closest victim. The guy near Lita, Ken I believe it was, chuckles at the scene. "Yes, all the girls can go look since us three hid them." He gestures to the two guys next to him, Chad and Greg. I know very little about any of the three. Serena bounces in glee and takes off running. The others, after a moments hesitation so as not to get run over, dash off in different directions as well. Laughing, I lean against a tree as the other guys chat about whatever. I enjoy merely watching my little Meatball Head. After a time, the other girls have managed to find about two or three each, while Serena, much to her infinite frustration, has failed to find any at all. Concentration and play never mix well for her. When a few more minutes pass, Ken calls out, waving all the seekers back. Raye and the others have anywhere from two to five each while Serena, excitement dimmed, obtained none. "Ooooh, I can't find anything!" Serena whines, sounding cute to my ears, as anything else from her does. Amy walks over and clasps Serena's sholder. "Don't worry, you'll find some," she soothes reasurringly. Suddenly, her eyes come up to mine. "Hey, why don't you help her out Darian?" I blink in surprise. "Yeah, there's no reason for you to stand around doing nothing." Lita cuts in. "Especially since you didn't hide any of the..." she glances back to Ken, who it seems is the leader of the hiders group, "..how many eggs were there?" He grins. "A lot more than you've collected." She scowls at him and he scratches his head nervously. Boy, those two are an odd pair. "So hey, come on ang get back out there!" Chad rings in. I raise an eye at the shaggy hair and...interesting speech. Well, he's certainly a different addition to the group. Then suddenly I'm being yanked by the hand. "Yeah, come on Darian! I'm sure we can find some together!" Grinning, I think what I dare not speak. I'm sure we could do anything together... I shake my head quickly. Man this girl gets to me! Still, if I'm going to help her, I'll have to actually pay attention. "Alright, how about we start with the cherry blossom area?" She nods vigorously, and I lead her into the beautiful trees, still holding her hand. We wander through the trees for who knows how long, Serena's eyes constantly swinging this way and that, even dragging me here and there when something catches her eye, only to sigh and shake her head. After a few minutes, I could see she was losing confidence again. I myself had been marking eggs along the way to help her with later. "Darian! We still aren't finding anything!" She sighs while I smile at her, my gaze catching briefly on her pouty lips before shaking my head clear. "Okay, let me show you something..." I pull her over under a low hanging cherry blossom tree, the pink blooms brushing her hair while I duck under them. "Now look up into the branches, what do you see?" She peers at me quizzically, before turning her face skyward and smiling, beginning to speak even as she carreses a bloom with her soft hands. "Beautiful pink cherry blossoms," she turns back to me, "of course." I grin slightly, enjoying her very gaze. "And what are you looking for?" Blinking, questions are obvious in her eyes. "A different colored egg?" The words come out with such innocent ignorance, and I repress a chuckle. Instead, I merely reach up and shake a branch above our heads, gently of course. At first she giggles as fallen blossoms swirl around her, then a solid object falls toward her, which she catches in surprise. She gazes in wonder at the pink oval object. A plastic egg. Then she glances back up at me with a bright smile, and I can't help but smile back. "Now tell me why you didn't find that before." Her face lights with realization. "Because I was looking for something out of place, not blended in." She smiles and I can see her ready to start bouncing again. "So now we can find more!" Without warning she bounces toward me and into my arms, throwing one of her famous hugs at me. "Thanks Darian!" Surprise hits me first, as the girl does the same, but then fades to pure joy. Maybe I am getting somewhere after all...Just then a large, fully bloomed cherry blossom floats down towards up and I gently pull it from the air. She looks up as she feels my movement. "Your reward." I say, grinning as I intwine the blossom between the strands of her golden hair. Gasping slightly, she reaches up to touch it softly, then rushes off to a nearby spring. Looking into the clear waters, she smiles at her reflection as I join her. "It's beautiful Darian..." she says so softly it's hard to tell the statement was even for me to hear. "It suits you well," I say, gazing into the still waters as well. She blushes slightly, smiling nonetheless. "Thank you Darian," quickly she jumps to her feet, "now let's go find those eggs!" She throws her arm forward at the declaration and I can't help but get caught up in her enthusiasm. "As you say, princess!" I jump up next to her as she dashes off in excitement, then realize what I'd said and stand in mute shock as time seems to stop. Staring at the image before me, I suddenly realize how much this beautiful young girl resembles the princess in my dreams. But...that's not possible, for this girl, however angelic, is most certainly real, not a dream. As time begins again and I find myself lagging behind, I recall a statment I heard somewhere before.. She's so perfect, perhaps I did dream her into life. The afternoon from there on was one exhausting dash after another. Still, somewhere along the way, as Serena quickly got the hang of this hunting thing, she wrapped her arms around one of mine to pull me off toward a possible egg, and so we added another item into our growing collection. After that she didn't let go, and I found myself holding tight to the girl hanging on my arm. Eventually we heard the loud call as Ken summoned us back for an egg count, and I somewhat reluctantly led her back out to the meeting spot. As we come in sight of the others however, she quickly releases my arm and dashes towards them, but not before snagging my hand and almost making me drop our whole egg stock. We make quick progess across the field and Serena still seems to beam with energy and life. I swear, this girl never gets tired. "Hey Serena!" Her friend Lita calls out as we approached, then turns to me and gives a low whistle. "Wow, looks like you did a lot better this time!" "Yep! Darian here can come in handy at times!" She says with a giggle. I feign a hurt look. "Hey, I resent that!" She only giggls again and drags me over to where the others are dropping their eggs. I pile ours between us and the three guys proceed to count the whole lot. Ken nods after conferring with the other two, then turns to all of us. "Well, looks like you've found almost all of them, but I believe there's still one more out there." Lita's face shows disbelief as she crosses her arms. "And just how would you know that one is left with all the ones here?" She points a finger at him. "Maybe YOU miscounted!" He shakes his head while waggling a finger. "Nope, I know one's missing." He smiles and winks at us all. "It's a special egg." Serena's eyes go wide. "What do you mean 'a special egg'?" The curiosity in her is boldy evident, bringing yet another smile to my lips, as everything about her seems to. He leans back and shrugs. "Won't know until you find it." A loud sigh comes from the girls around us and I realize that he had them all going, not just Serena. "I asked Lina to hide it for us after we'd finished with the main eggs. Guess she did a good job since none of you found it." He paused for another moment, then continued. "Well, since none of us hid it, we're all going to go out to look for it. In pairs this time." He nods over to Greg, who smiles somewhat nervously back. "Okay, the pairs will go like this," Greg says, bringing attention around to him, "Lita and Ken, Raye and Chad, Amy and myself, and Serena and Darian." He looks around the group. "Any questions?" Not a word. "Okay, then let's go!" And so each of the other three groups headed off their separate directions, while Serena surprisingly stayed put. "Hey Serena, what's wrong?" I glance down at her in concern as she snaps out of her reverie. "Wha..? Oh," she shakes her head, smiling, "nothings wrong, I'm great in fact!" She looks up at me with a bright smile as if to prove her point, and indeed, as her eyes lock with mine, I see a somehow dreamy look on her face. I shrug. "Well, ok then. So do you wanna go hunt for the last egg? The others already started looking." Her mouth goes wide in a gasp. "Oh No! Come on, let's go before they find it!!" With that she snags my hand again, taking off in a direction of her choosing. I chuckle to myself, now that's the Serena I know. She ends up leading us into a large garden of wildflowers, where we slow our pace to actually look. Our group had been out here most of the day, and now dusk is threatening to overwhelm the sky. With the beautiful sunset slowly approaching while we walk in a field of flowers with only nature's sounds around us, I felt like walking on air. We continue mostly in silence, and after a few minutes I give in to the urge and wrap my arm around her waist. I didn't know how she'd react, and for a moment she didn't. Before long however, I felt her head resting against my shoulder. The egg hunt soon faded from my mind. Time passed as we continued our slow walk, passing through fields of this forest and that. I noticed a slight chill in the air, but no cold could reach me this close to her. Still, I eventually felt a shiver run through the one beside me. "You cold?" I whisper, not wanting to disturb the atmosphere around us. She hesitates a moment, then nods ever so slightly. "A little.." Looking around I see a stump resting near a bed of, you guessed it, wild flowers. As I lead her to the stump and we sit down, I look wonderingly at the roses, which seem a little too healthy to be wild. Moving my arm around her shoulders, I hold her close, attempting to keep her warm. She merely rests quietly in my embrace. "..Darian? Can I ask you something?" The small voice surprises me a little, and I smile at her, though I know she can't see it. "Sure, what is it?" "Well..what made you change so much in the past few days?" Her question catches me off guard. I almost attempt to answer her, but she continues. "I mean, today you've been so nice and helpful to me, completely different from your usual tormenting self." An involuntary flinch hits me from the comment. "And the other night, you nearly got yourself hurt trying to save me. So, just...why?" Not once does she look up, content I suppose with the gorgeous scenery. Or maybe as nervous with the topic as I am, at least her not turning keeps me from having to compose my face so much. I take a deep breath, then let it out as I think of how to answer. "I can't really say, I suppose I just gained some control of myself." Finally, she turns at the statement, still siting under my arm, so our eyes aren't very far apart. "I never truly wanted to be your enemy, but whenever you came around, I seemed to lose myself. Just the sight of you seemed to bring that side of me out." She smiles wryly. "Well, it's nice to know I bring out the worst in you." I shake my head and wave my hand violently. "No no, that's not what I mean, it's just..." I realize as she sits waiting for an answer, that I can't explain this to her and keep my feelings completely hidden at the same time. I take a deep breath, for the second time this conversation, and look directly down into her eyes. "You bring out this life in me. I've always been calm and collected, if a little cold, but around you...I just can't help myself." She smiles the whole time, gazing right back into my eyes with a look that'd make me deliriously happy, if I weren't so nervous about her response. I shake my head ever so slightly, mainly to regain my speech. "I just wanted to be what you seemed willing to give me a second chance to be." Her arms fly around my waist as she snuggles into my arms. "I'm glad," is all she says. I run my hands through her soft, gold spun hair, merely thinking how lucky I am to be this close. Something catches my attention from the corner of my eye. Turning, I see, only a foot or two away, a small egg, nestled in amongst the flowers. I squeeze Serena's shoulder, catching her attention. "Hey Serena," she looks up at me and point into the flowers, to the egg, "look over there." She follows my arm to the flower bed and only stares for a minutes, but then I hear an intake of breath and she bounces out of my arms. "Oh! Darian, we found the last egg!" Rushing over, though careful not to tromp on the flowers, she scoops up shiny, violet egg. She runs her hands over it for a minute, then holds it up to me. "Look Darian, isn't it pretty!" She giggles as I take the egg. Grinning at her, I hold it in my palm. "It's gorgeous Mea.." I pause as my eyes study the egg. With it held in my open palm the light is able to reflect off it, and I can almost swear I see a shadow inside... "What's up Darian?" I tear my gaze off the egg to see Serena looking up at me questioningly. "I think there's something inside," taking the egg in both hands, I squeeze gently, so as not to break the egg, and try to pull the ends apart. After a minute of slowly increasing the pressure, the egg still refuses to open. I hold it up in one hand, looking at it in amazement. "Wow, strong plastic." "Here, let me try." Serena holds out her hands and I plop it into them. "Maybe.." she says as she struggles with the egg, "..it just needs..a woman's...touch!" With the last syllable, her hands slip off, flying wide with the momentum her pull provided. I quickly dash forward, grabbing her around the waist to keep her from falling. I look up to see our faces only inches apart. I can already feel her warm breath tickling my lips. I force a smile through my dazed feeling. "You alright?" She blushes, then nods. "Thanks Darian." I gulp, tearing my gaze from her face and helping her stand firmly on her feet. "Oh no!" I spin at her yell to see her looking frantically about. "Where'd the egg go?" I take in and let out a deep breath. Geez, give me a heart attack Serena. "Don't worry, we'll find it again." Just then she squeals, "Ah, there it is!" and rushes over to find it lying back in the flower bed. "Oh wow! Come look Darian!" Grinning, I walk over. Just about anything will enthuse her. "What? What is it?" Standing, she turns and holds her palms open, revealing the egg in her grasp. "Look, it opened a bit!" And sure enough, the middle seam has cracked some, but still has a ways to go. This things really starting to frustrate me. "Here, let me try something." I reach out to grab the egg from her hands. Surprisingly, as I grab the one end, she clamps down on the other. "No, wait!" As she pulls back slightly, the two halves merely slide apart. We both blink in shock as the egg opens, and a perfectly formed, fully bloomed rose pops out into the air. To add to all that, the rose merely floats in place rather than falling to the ground. Tentatively, I reach out, grasping the rose, which comes into my hand as smoothly as if I'd picked it up off the ground. "Oh wow.." I mutter, holding this beautiful version of my favorite flower. "It's gorgeous.." Serena finishes for me. Glancing up at her wide blue eyes I see my chance...and decide it's time to take it. "I don't know how this rose got here, but I have to take it as a sign," I hold the rose out towards Serena, smiling as she gazes up at me, hesitant to take such a thing. "I call a truce between us and over this flower," I grin at her again as she slowly takes the rose, so gently you'd think it was made of glass, "a truce I think we both agreed on before this day ever even started." Sniffing it softly, she sighs, glancing back up at me. "I can't possibly take this, it's...it's too beautiful for me." She gingerly holds it back out to me. Walking forward, I clasp her hand around it, pushing her arm down in the process so I can move closer to her. "Nothing is too beautiful for you," she blushes softly at the compliment, and my control wavers. As we stand toe to toe, I slowly lower my face towards hers, watching her eyes close before mine do the same. Our warm breaths mix as I wrap my arms around her waist... "Serena!!" A loud call shatters the moment, bringing both our eyes open as we stare into the others only inches away. "Darian!!" The second call brings us fully around and I look away from her, stepping to the side while my face heats. A glance her direction as we wait for the shouter shows her to be in the same condition. Suddenly the others, a pair at a time, enter the clearing and I struggle to regain myself, pushing the last few minutes from my mind. "Ah! There you two are!" Lita says smiling as the others wave our way. "Hi Lita!" Serena chimes, walking forward a few steps to meet them. "Did you guys find anything?" Lita shakes her head. "Nah, not a one of us. How about you two?" She glances between Serena and myself, expecting a simple answer. "Well..." Serena answers slowly, pausing for a moment. Suddenly I realize that I've no idea where the remains of the egg went to. I imagine she's thinking the same thing. "No, not really." The others sigh. Raye looks up at the sky. "Hmm, guess we'll have to call it a night then. It's starting to get dark." I look around, once again shocked that I hadn't even noticed the light fading from the sky. Lita groans, snapping her fingers in aggitation. "Man, and I wanted to know what was in that egg too!" "I'm sure we can find out from Lina later, now we need to be getting home, our parents will be worried sick if we don't hurry." The ever thinking Amy says, pointing out the one thing I didn't want to hear. "Yep, well, come on guys, we can at least walk back to the city together." Raye starts walking off as the others head back to the road. Serena starts to join them, but I reach out, grabbing hold of her hand. She turns to look at me, tilting her head questioningly. "Hey Serena, since you like that rose so much, I thought you might like to go with me to see a full garden tomorrow," I pause, awaiting her reaction to the offer before realizing I haven't really asked yet. I send my quirky grin her way, hoping I have some effect on her by now. "Whaddya say?" With a dazzling smile she flies back at me, launching into my embrace so fast I'm surprised she didn't knock me over. Lifting her head, she sends one of her pure, crystal blue gazes into my eyes, bringing everything from a minute earlier right back to life. An instant later, our lips finally meet in a kiss I've been dying for. With her slim body fitting perfectly into my arms and her soft lips dancing with mine, all track of time was lost, and god knows what happened to her friends. When we finally, breathlessly break off, our eyes meet once more and I know, from this day forward, I won't be able to live without my Meatball Head beside me. As I walked her home shortly thereafter, we talked only rarely, reveleing in merely being so close. My thoughts swirled constatnly, but I think I came close to understanding how much this one girl means. Perhaps it's what I've been missing my whole life, something that defies understanding entirely. Maybe, just maybe, my heart has finally come to realize the true feeling...of love. All done!! Wow, I'm really sorry it took so long, I'll try to do better with any following fic's, promise ;)! Anyway, how'd you like the final chapter? You have to tell me what you think, your opinions may determine the existence of an epilogue...who knows? Well, thanks to all those who made it this far! Take Care!!!