Title: I Cannot Believe You
Author: Fifi
E-mail:fidelia_ho@hotmail.com
Website: www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Springs/9276/
Rating: G

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Chapter 2
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One by one, all of Serena's friends returned to Tokyo. Their education completed, they all found
jobs in their hometown and settled down. To celebrate their successive completion of school life, 
they all decided to head down to the arcade for lunch. 

Stepping into the building, Serena scanned the room and sighed with relief when she didn't find 
'him'. She headed towards their usual table and joined in her friends' conversation. 

"Give me a break, Seiya. You couldn't beat me in a race even if I gave you a head start."

"Don't give yourself too much credit, Haruka. You're not that good."

"Oh yeah? If I'm not that good, who won all those gold trophies on my mantle? Certainly not 
Michiru."

"Ha! Petty awards."

"Not so petty when you don't have them, eh? Seiya?"

"I can sing."

"So can I."

"Will you two quit it already. Who cares!" exclaimed Michiru.

"Yeah, it's not like you can be as manly as Seiya anyways, Haruka." 

Everyone around the table sniggered. Just then a sophisticated young man approached their table.

"My, there sure has been an increase in this crowd since I can last remember," began Darien.

The four girls who were acquainted with him sat there with their mouths open. Serena glared at 
him with annoyance.

"What are you doing here, Chiba?"

"Just visiting Andrew." He glanced at the owner of the arm which was around Serena. 

Haruka spoke up. "So, who are you?" 

"Darien Chiba."

"More specific please?" Seiya asked. He didn't like the look of this man.

"Serena's ex-boyfriend." Darien smirked as he watched the effect it had on Seiya, not to mention 
the newcomers. 

A devious look overtook Haruka's face. "Her ex-boyfriend, eh? So where've you been all this time? 
I haven't seen you around here. I can't imagine Seiya has seen you either."

"I just came back from studying abroad. So, you've moved on, I see." He stared intently at his 
ex-girlfriend. 

"Nothing that should concern you. Aren't you here to see Andrew?"

"He's not here yet." Turning his attention to the inner senshi, he spoke. "So, how have you 
been?"

Before they could answer, a girl came out of nowhere and attached herself to his arm.

"Here you are, Darien! Are these your old friends?" She offered her hand to Serena who took it 
warily. "Nice to meet you. I'm Tiffany."

The disgruntled blonde mumbled, "Serena."

Everyone watched the newcomer with suspicion. Then Tif spoke up with curiosity. 

"Hey, are you three the Three Lights?"

Seiya, Taiki and Yaten all nodded their heads. She clapped her hands together in delight. 

"Oh, I love your music! May I have your autographs?"

Haruka crossed her arms and said with the authority of their personal secretary, "Even better! 
You can have dinner with Seiya Kou!"

Tif's smile grew even wider as she started thanking Haruka profusely. Seiya stared daggers at his 
opponent as the tomboy made time and place arrangements. Then he said nonchalantly, "You're 
coming too, right, Serena?" Turning towards Darien, he looked at him meaningfully. "I never go 
anywhere without her." He watched the latter narrow his eyes, and revelled in his resentment. 

Darien put his arm around his friend and said, "Of course, I'll be coming along too. Besides, 
Serena and I have much to catch up on. Right, Serena?"

Raye stood up from her place and placed her hand on the table. "Of course, she'll go. She 
wouldn't want to be anywhere else!"

"Great!" Darien exclaimed. "Come on, Tif. We still have to finish off a few errands." He took off 
before Serena could voice her refusal. 

Mina asked, "Hey, wasn't he here to see Andrew?"

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That evening, the two couples met at the Western restaurant Haruka had arranged for them. Serena 
sighed as she remembered Haruka's bright face that afternoon. "Don't worry. The best for the 
best! Besides, I'm a regular there, so enjoy yourselves," she had said. What was she thinking, 
Serena thought to herself.

Settling into their seats, they exchanged words for a while till the silence overtook them. Tif 
was never one for silence so she started up a conversation with Seiya who always loved his 
admiring fans. While the two spoke about their nonsense, Darien racked his brain with various 
conversation starters. Much to his pleasure, the waiter arrived for their order. Of course! Food, 
what else to talk about with Serena?

'Chef's Choice' was Seiya's order and Tiffany had a steak well done. 

"I'd like the House Lamb, please."

"I'd like the same," said Darien.

As the waiter walked away, Darien planted his seeds.

"I remember you always loved chocolate when you were younger, Sere. Do you still indulge 
yourself?"

"What's that supposed to mean, Darien? Please, my name is Serena, use it."

"Uh oh," thought he. "That came out wrong." Clearing his throat, he tried to recover himself. 
"Well, what I meant was, that is..."

"Yes? What exactly did you mean? You think I'm still a glutton? That I still run to the arcade, 
chocolate bar in hand, blow my money, and then run home for soap operas?"

Sheepishly, he waved his hands in front of him as if wiping off a mistake-bearing slate. "No, no, 
no! I was just trying to strike up a conversation. Please, Serena, try to be a bit more sociable?

"Sociable?" she grit out. "Don't give me that crap, Chiba. I'll be bad company if I want, so keep 
your words to yourself, because I'm not answering them." With that, she crossed her arms and 
looked towards Seiya and Tif who happened to be in involved in a serious conversation: how Seiya 
kept his hair.

Sighing to himself, he mentally groaned. "This is going to be more difficult than I thought. But 
then you couldn't really expect her to welcome you with open arms now, idiot!"

Minutes passed until their main dishes arrived. Time passed at an antagonizing slow pace as half 
the group ate their dinners in silence while the others ate in amiable pleasure. When it was time 
to leave, Seiya made the dire mistake of asking, "Hey, do you two want to come over for coffee?" 
Well, one couldn't simply refuse a host's offer, but before Darien could excuse himself, Tif 
exclaimed happily, "Of course! Darien and I would love to come!"

As the couples made for their cars, simultaneous thoughts of "I hate that guy, I hate that guy" 
passed through the minds of the two ex-lovers of the moon.
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As Tif entered his mansion, her eyes immediately lit up with glee.

"I can't believe I'm in Seiya Kou's house. Never in my imagination..." she rambled.

Her admiration and devotion of a fan flattered Seiya all the more. "Would you like to see the 
room where we keep all our records and whatnot? Maybe Taiki and Yaten are there."

Did he even need an answer? Temporarily forgetting about Darien's connection to Serena, Seiya 
called back, "You two make yourselves at home. Whatever you want from the kitchen, just help 
yourselves." 

Sighing, Serena threw herself down onto the couch. Why was she here? For no reason at all, she 
concluded. Darien took a seat from across from her and examined her with patient eyes. He smiled 
when she looked up which caused her frown to deepen. 

"Do you want to hear a story, Serena?" he asked.

"What do I look like? A baby?" she replied.

"I'm sure you'd want to hear mine."

"I'm sure I don't."

"Doesn't matter. I'm going to tell you anyway." He closed his eyes as he began. "When we were 
dating, I started to have dreams, but these weren't ordinary. They occurred every night." 

Serena picked up a magazine from the coffee table and began to flip through it.

"The dreams continuously warned me of your death which would happen if I did not leave you. It 
was for that reason that I broke up with you."

"Old story, Chiba. Got anything new?"

"What? I'm trying to be serious here."

"And I am too. You don't think I know about these 'premonitions'? I was stupid, but I wasn't 
ignorant of what went on around me. Give me more credit."

As she continued to flip through the magazine, Darien just stared at her, shocked beyond 
explanation. For years he avoided his home, his place beside his princess, and all along, she'd 
been experiencing the same dreams. This had to be some sick joke.

"Excuse me?" he finally asked.

"What is it now?" she asked, irritated.

"You've had these dreams, and you never told me?" he accused.

"Look who's talking! Mr. I-left-because-I-was-afraid-of-some-silly-nightmare! And to think, you 
were always the mature one! Hah!"

Darien drew back into the couch. Thoughts whizzed through his mind faster than he could account 
for. If she had known, and he had known, there must be some meaning. And furthermore, who the 
hell sent them the 'premonitions', as she called them. He crossed his arms, and looked straight 
at her, putting on a more professional façade.

"So, now that that's out in the open, we can discuss everything right out." He placed his index 
finger thoughtfully on his chin. "So, any ideas?"

She glared at him and his apparent naivety. Who could this be? In over the years they spent 
apart, did they become the other person? Oh, dear Serenity. "Darien," she began, using his name 
for once. "This is all over now. It's the past, and it has nothing to do with anything anymore," 
she explained as if to a baby.

It was his turn to stare at her awkwardly. "Serena, listen to yourself. Doesn't have anything to 
do with anything? Nay, my dear. It has everything to do with everything." 

Her silence prompted him to continue.

"Wasn't it you who kept on reminding me that we were destined to be together, ever since the 
beginning of time? Serena, without our union what would happen to the future history of the world 
if we didn't rule as we were meant to rule?"

"We make our own futures, Darien. Didn't anyone ever tell you that? We're royalty, we're not 
guinea pigs! I don't want to participate in a union in which I have no choice! Why don't you 
leave me alone like you did eight years ago! Please, why do you want to get together all of a 
sudden? Is there something in it for you? Tell me, please! So maybe I'll give it to you and I'll 
be left in peace!" She was already standing up and red in the face.

"Serena! Calm down! Don't you understand? I never stopped loving you, and the only reason I left 
was for your safety. You would have died!"

She threw her hands up into the air and started laughing. "Do you hear that?" she asked the 
ceiling. "He left me because I would have died! Darien, it was a dream. A dream, and dreams like 
the one we had mean nothing. Au contraire, Darien. The only way I could have died would be if you 
stayed. It was wonderful when you left. After getting over the initial shock, I had freedom to 
date whomever I wanted without an over-jealous boyfriend hovering around each corner. Don't ruin 
things again, Darien!" she shouted.

"I would understand if that dream occurred only once and only to me," he continued without taking 
her ramblings seriously. "But these occurred every single night. I had these dreams, and now you 
tell me you had these dreams. There has to be some reason behind that!"

"We were linked to each other then because of this 'bond'!" she emphasized with her fingers. 
"That's the most likely reason for these simultaneous dreams."

"Ah hah!" he shouted like a little child. "We were bonded. There is some meaning to that, Serena! 
You can't deny it!" 

"Argh! You are impossible! What happened to the reserved sophisticated Darien Chiba? In his place 
is a persistent child! What happened?" she asked, eyes flaring.

"I fell in love," he whispered.

"I'm sorry to say, Darien, but you realized that a little too late," she spat, uncaring of how 
hard her words sounded. "If you loved me enough, you would have stayed to protect me. Obviously, 
you didn't! I realize you meant well, but it backfired! My life is on track again, and I have 
Seiya! What of Tif? Dear God, Darien! Don't you realize what you're saying? I have a boyfriend, 
I'm happy." She pointed to herself. "You have a girlfriend, and you're obviously unhappy if you 
want to get back your ex-girlfriend."

"First off, she's not my girlfriend. She's just a colleague of mine. Secondly, you're just lying 
to yourself that you're happy. You don't love Seiya. Plain and simple." His pitiful eyes fell on 
her, hoping for some little effect.

"Since when did you become a mind reader, Darien? You're terrible at it!" she spat.

"So, is this how it ends? You won't even give me a chance to prove myself?"

"You've had your chances. It's Seiya's turn."

"You'll stay with him, even though you know you could never love him."

"Love it not something that is decided at first sight, Darien. Isn't that how it was with us? I 
hated you at first sight. You hated me. I'll decide whether or not I love Seiya. You're not me!" 
She held her head. "Please, live your own life. I'm tired of having to follow destiny and the 
like. I know you hate it too," she pointed out. "The gallant Darien who spits in Fate's face. You 
hate being told what to do, and so do I."

"But no one is telling me to love you," he begged. "I'm not doing this for the world, although 
it's a reasonable issue enough. I'm not doing this because our parents promised us together. I 
just want to love you." He paused. "I just want you to love me again."

Sighing, Serena plopped back onto the couch. "And what if I don't love you. Your leaving just let 
me realize that before it became too late. You're asking too much of me."

Darien opened his mouth to speak, but then voices came down the hall. Seiya and Tif were 
returning to the sitting room, so the two occupants grabbed a magazine and hastily began to scan 
the pages. When Seiya and the girl at his arm turned the corner, they were laughing about some 
nonsensical thing.

"Hi love." Seiya placed a kiss on Serena's cheek as he sat down next to her.

Sighing wistfully, Tif said, "You're so lucky to have such a great boyfriend."

Smiling widely, Seiya said, "Hey, hey! There's man right beside you!"

"Nah! We're just friends."

"Oh?" Seiya raised his eyebrows.

"I believe there's only one person out in the world for each person. I just haven't found him 
yet." She held her hands together and shared her thoughts with her company. "No matter what, 
through thick or thin, we'd find each other even after being separated." In conclusion, she 
sighed.

"So, you believe in the idea of soul mates."

"Exactly!" She winked in his direction.

"Hey Serena? Do you think we're soul mates?" Seiya asked. 

Everyone in the room waited in anticipation for her answer. She merely replied, "No Seiya."

For a moment, Darien's eyes lit up, while Seiya just stared at her.

"No one could love me." She looked down at her hands. "Even though people say they do, I won't 
ever believe them."

"I love you, Serena," Seiya said softly. 

"I can't believe you, Seiya," she said, smiling. Smile, she thought. Smile and people always 
believe you're saying the opposite of the sad news you say. 

"I love you, but you'll never understand the extent of my love."

"Oh, Darien! Don't you think that's just so sweet?" Tif looked over at Darien who was looking out 
the window. "Darien? Yoo hoo!!!!"

"Sure... sweet," he said, barely above a whisper.

Seiya wrapped his arm around Serena's shoulder and sat back. "Don't worry, man. You'll find your 
woman some day. Who knows? Maybe you know her and just haven't realized it."

You don't know just how much truth that holds, he thought. Although, I've known ever since I can 
remember...
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~end of chapter 2~