Her Choice - part 3 by Annie-chan --------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello again, and welcome to ?Her Choice' by none other than. . . Annie-chan! Yeah yeah yeah, whatever Annie. Just rambling I see. No, I really do have something important to say: I make a few snide remarks in my fic, these are shown with <> marks around them, just so you know and don't get totally confused. This is rated PG-13 because of the 2 or 3 swear words I put in (oops) but it should be rated PG. Oh well. Sailor Moon is not mine, so don't sue me, please? And now, the main even! The alarm rang loudly in Serena's ears. Trying to subconsciously ignore it, she pulled the covers over her head and rolled over away from the irritating, penetrating sound. A few moments later the door to her yet-to-be-furnished room cracked open, and a blond head poked in. Needless to say the face that went with the head wasn't smiling. "Serena, if you aren't going to get up, why do you bother setting your alarm?" her roommate asked annoyed. She only attempted to moan an answer. "Yeah, that's what I thought!" Mina answered angrily slapping the ?sleep' button for her lazy friend. "You'd better get up soon anyway Serena, Darien will be here in two hours, remember?" she said, adding, "But since you woke me up you'll be sacrificing the good bathroom for a while." Serena attempted to roll over but only succeeding in moving her groggy head enough to give Mina a good glare. "Mina, go away! I'm trying to sleep." "Fine. But not before I open your curtains," she said with a devilish grin. Serena buried her head deep within her pillows as her now ex-friend let the morning's bright rays into one side of the room, and than the other as she opened the windows on both sides of the room. Pausing for a minute at the second window, Mina cranked it open. She took a deep refreshing breath as she listened to the sounds of the street far below. The alarm went off again, shaking her out of her momentary trance. Serena saw her opportunity to win back the bathroom for the morning and jumped out of bed with surprising speed and ran into the bathroom. Mina was left to stare at an empty bed. She turned as she heard the door to the bathroom slam and ran out of her friends room and over to the shut door. Banging on the door, she called to her. "Serena, that's no fair! Open the damn door! I'm telling you, open the door!!" Serena innocently answered inside, "Mina, I think the alarm is going off again, could you turn it off?" Mina let one final assault on the door fall before she angrily left to turn off the alarm grumbling to herself. A sigh was heard on the other side of the door. Serena walked over to the white porcelain sink and filled it with water. She dipped her hands in and splashed the cool water over her face. Eyes still shut tight, she fumbled for a towel, and, finding one, she quickly dried her face off. She looked at herself in the mirror. ?Poor girl,' she thought to herself. ?So beautiful, so alone. What are you going to do today, princess? Are you going to cheat on your prince, or find him . . .' Mina banging on the door interrupted her thoughts. "Serena, if you're going to steal my rights, at least use them! Serena? Serena! Damn-it, listen to me!" "God Mina! I heard you the first time! Not a morning person, are we?" "Ha-ha-ha," she answered as dryly as possible as she made her way to the less desirable, very cramped bathroom connected to her room. ?Jeez, what a bitch. She needs to lighten up,' she thought as she shed her flannel pajamas. Making her way across the cold linoleum, Serena let out a sigh. She sat on the edge of the bathtub that appeared to be more like a Jacuzzi, and turned the golden faucets. ?Gosh, I wonder what I'm going to wear tonight, I don't have any fancy things, ugh! This bites. Today is going to awful,' she thought as the bathtub started to fill up. ?How long do I have to get ready, anyway?' Looking around the room, she found a pink clock sitting on the counter surrounded by pink and burgundy decorative soap hearts. It was so like Mina, she had to laugh. Seeing she still had a good hour and a half to get ready, she let her eyes wander. The entire bathroom was decorated in pink and burgundy, from the rugs and towels to the pot a large fern was held in. A very large window let in enough sunlight to light the room with a soft glow. Turning off the water, she slipped into the hot bath. Still tired from being so rudely awakened by Mina, she let her head rest on the edge of the bathtub, and let her body be fully enveloped by the reassuring warmth of the water. The warmth of the suns rays shone on her closed eyelids, and she began to think of Darien. There was something about him, but what? Sure he looked like James, but that had nothing to do with it. ?Darien, he's something different,' she began, ?He's so nice to me. But does he like me? I think I'm starting to get a crush on him, but I can't do that to James. My god, what if I fall in love with him? What will I do? I can't just leave James, I can't. What will people think? Now wait a second, get a hold of yourself, girl. You don't even know if he feels the same way about you. But, you'll soon know . . .' Once again she opened her eyes to look at the clock. ?Hum, an hour and fifteen minutes.' And with that, Serena began to prepare for what could be the most important, or the most devastating day of her life. The doorbell rang at twelve sharp. "Serena! Girl, he's here!" "Uh, could you get it please Mina?" Serena called from her bedroom. "I'm still getting ready!" Mina sighed as she got up off her warm spot off the couch and turned off the television. "That was my favorite episode of ?Bishoujo Senshi' too," Mina pouted as she went over to the door. She opened the door and faced the intruder. "Hello Darien, nice to see you again," she said as she looked longingly at the television. "Hi Mina, is Serena ready?" "I'll be there in a minute!" she called from within. "I know, why don't we watch TV while we wait for her?" Mina asked energetically as she pulled him into the living-room and turned the television back on. Darien sat down, slightly frightened by Mina. "Ok Darien, we can go now," Serena said as she emerged from her bedroom. His eyes widened. She looked absolutely beautiful. She was wearing an old-fashioned pink sun dress that hugged every curve and ended at the knee. The pattern was made by classic gingham checks that lent charm to the dress. The neck-line was formed by a single thick strap that lead from one side of the front of her dress to the other, going around the back of her long neck, leaving her back basically uncovered. Her hair was done in her usual pig-tail type fashion, with pink ribbons wrapped around her ?meat-balls'. She went to the front door, picked up her cute white purse and began looking through it, making sure all that was needed was there. "So," she said, looking up, "Where are we going for lunch?" Darien stood up and swallowed. "Uh, it . . . it's a surprise." She smiled broadly. "Oh, I *love* surprises," she said sweetly as he opened the door for her. "Bye Mina, I'll see ya later!" "Have fun girl!" Mina called after Serena as Darien shut the door behind them. "This is great Darien, I've never eaten here before. You know, James always ends up taking me to the same restaurants over and over. It gets *so* boring." "Yeah, no problem, Serena." "What do you call these again?" "In America, they're called cafe's." "Cafe," she said, trying to get used to the strangeness of the word. "I always enjoyed cafe's as a teen; I looked for one for a long time when I first got to Tokyo. I actually found this one on accident, but I love being out here in the sun. Don't you?" "Yeah, it's so nice," she commented. The sun shone dappled spots on the ground, being interrupted by the foliage on the trees. A light spring breeze blew carelessly through the leaves, bringing the light scent of flowers to the cove they were seated in. "You know, Serena, I'm really glad you said you'd go with me. It was you I wanted to go with. You always seem bring out the best in me." She giggled and looked down at her hands in her lap. The very visibly blush on her cheeks brought a smile to his face. He decided to go on. "Did I tell you how pretty you look in pink?" he innocently asked. She only giggled harder as the flush on her cheeks deepened. "Your check, sir?" They both looked up the waiter who interrupted their flirting. "Uh yeah, thanks," Darien said with the smile still on his face. Taking the check from the waiter he set it on the table and pulled out his wallet. He took out one of his many credit cards and handed it to him. "Do you accept this?" "Yes sir, we do," the waiter said and left with it in his hand. Darien gazed across the table at the smiling vision for the short period of time that the waiter was gone. When he returned, Darien offered his arm to Serena, who graciously accepted. "Where are we going now?" "Shopping for tonight. My date is going to be the best dressed woman there, or my name isn't Darien Chiba." They wandered in and out of stores trying to find the right gown chatting all the while. They didn't know where they were going, but they didn't really care. Both enjoyed being with the other so much that the world around them was of no concern. After walking down awkward back streets a while, they came across an acentric shop that had beautiful dresses worn by content manikins advertised in the window. "Oh Darien, can we go in there?" "Whatever my lady wants, she shall receive." She gave him a grateful peck on the cheek and proceeded to drag him into the store. The woman at the counter smiled as they walked in. She got up from the table she was sitting at with tarot cards spread across and, brushing black hair out of her face she began walking towards them. The charms on her deep red dress made jingly noises as she moved. "I've been waiting for you," she told them. They both gave her bemused looks. She continued, "I have your dress waiting in the back. I'll go get it for you." After she left, Darien leaned down and whispered in Serena's ear, "Do you know her?" "I've never met her before in my life," she said through clenched teeth. The strange woman re-entered the room with a dress cradled in her arms. "Now, go try this on. The dressing room is right through here. By the way, Serena, you can call me Rei." Serena, who had begun walking to the dressing room stopped dead in her tracks and turned swiftly around. "How did you know my name?" "Uh, I uh . . .I heard you guys talking on the way in, and he called you Serena," Rei said. Serena looked deep into her purple eyes. Those eyes, they seemed so familiar, but why? What mysteries were hidden in them? "Just try on your dress. We can talk later," she said, shoving the dress into her arms. Serena stood still, studying her for a minute before she remembered what she came to do and started off towards the dressing room again. She pulled back the purple velvet curtain and stepped inside the room. It had been built after the store had been, so two of the walls only went up part way; they were about a foot shorter than the ceiling. The two shorter walls were painted gold and red, making thick vertical lines that made the room look taller than it was. The wall opposite the curtain was entirely made up of a huge mirror that went from the floor to the ceiling. The colors seemed to play with each other and the mirror, and if you followed the stripes up the wall your eye was drawn to a huge mural painted on the entire expanse of the ceiling. It was intricately painted to look like a night scape. Serena had never seen anything like it; It was dark blue with gold and silver stars, each planet was carefully painted on, each constellation correctly represented, but none of these was what impressed Serena the most. It was the beauty of the silver moon that took her breath away. "You're staring at the moon, aren't you Serena?" Rei called to her. "Now stop gawking and put on that dress!" Serena rolled her eyes and proceeded to put it on. After the way Rei had acted, calling it ?her dress', knowing her name, the paintings, Serena wasn't surprised to find that the dress fit her *perfectly*. No, that wasn't what surprised Serena. It was that fact that the dress seemed so familiar, like she had worn it many times before. She quickly dismissed the thought and started to fidget with the skirt. "Come on, let's see!" Rei called excitedly. The purple curtain was parted, and out walked a princess, no, a goddess. "My God, Serenity, I've found you," Rei whispered to herself. At the mention of Serenity, Darien put his hand to his head. "Rei, what did you just say? About Serenity? Tell me why that sounds familiar; Was she a queen, or something?"He looked at Serena, his eyes wide. A light flickered on in the back of his mind. Was he crazy, or had he really seen her in that dress before? ?Darien, what's wrong with you? You've got to get a grip on yourself. Don't loose it, not tonight. Think about it later.' "She wasn't anybody important, she didn't even get a chance to be," Rei stated quietly. "Well," Serena said after a few minutes of uneasy silence, "What do you think, Darien? Is it all right?" "Of course, Serena. Whatever you want -- it looks perfect." Rei sighed as Serena once again returned to the silver and gold dressing room to change. She made her way to the cash register, and stepped behind the counter. She told Darien the price, and he paid her by shoving bills into her hands. He was obviously not paying attention to what he was doing, (he gave her twice the amount she asked for,) and Rei, being no fool didn't bring any attention to it. She quietly shoved the money in the cash register and, when Serena emerged again she was greeted by a *very* happy Rei and a dazed Darien. "Darien?" she asked, poking him in the side. "Darien, are you all right?" "Uh, yeah, just day-dreaming I guess." "Come back *any* time, you two!" Rei said happily. "If you ever need to talk about the future, or the past, just come to me. Believe me, I know more than you think," she said winking. Serena was still running around frantically trying to get ready when Darien rang the doorbell at 6. "The door is open ? I'll be out in a minute!!" Darien opened the door and cautiously poked his head in. Seeing all was clear, he entered the disheveled apartment guarding something carefully behind his back. He turned and shut the door quietly, than sat on the couch patiently waiting for his date. Picking up the remote off the end table, he turned on the TV, his back to the small hall that led to the bedrooms. "I'm ready!" she called to him. He smiled broadly and turned to face her. She twirled gracefully and asked, "So how do I look?" "Absolutely perfect. Here," he said, picking up his hidden treasure off of the couch, "I brought you something." She cooed and held it delicately in her hands. "Darien, I *love* roses! I didn't even know they were in bloom, how did you find one so perfect?" She cradled it gently as she walked into the kitchen, and started rummaging through cabinets to find a vase. She found a slender silver one and, after filling it with water, set it on the table so Mina could see it when she came home. "Well, roses are kind of a hobby of mine. . ." Darien started to say. "That is *so* sweet. Thank-you so much." They stood staring at each other for a moment before she spoke again. "Uh, I like your tux, it suits you. No pun intended." He just chuckled and held out his hand. She gingerly placed her small hand in his large gloved one, and they walked out the door, on their way to the ball. A sort of eerie silence fell over the crowds when Darien and Serena entered the ball- room. They were absolutely gorgeous, she in her white flowing gown, and he in his black tuxedo. They perfectly complimented each other, like black and white should. "Uh, I think the table of honor is this way, Serena," Darien whispered shyly to her, while she was still gaping at the grandeur of the room. The marble floors were perfection, the snakes of black playfully teasing the mass of cream. Huge white marble columns ran from the floor to the ceiling, giving the room a Romanesque look. The domed ceiling was accented with enormous golden chandeliers, which gave off a glow that made the massive ceiling look like it was glowing from the inside out. Darien gently pulled on her arm, his signal to her to wake up and follow him. She snapped out of her trance, but kept looking at everything like an small child in a toy store as they made their way to their designated seats. She had been seated in between Darien and another important delegate from the company, who immediately tried to speak with her, in English. She wasn't that bad at speaking the language, and was fairly pleased with the way she was able to keep up with the conversation. After he left, she turned to Darien who was looking at her with interest. "Nani?" she asked. "Nothing. I just didn't know you spoke English, that's all." "Oh, is that it?" she said laughing. "I don't know *that* much, believe me. I just try to pick out key words and put it together in my head. English is such a strange language, isn't it?" He just laughed at her as he rose from his chair. "Care to dance, princess?" "Of course." He lead her to the center of the large marble floor as the reduced orchestra began to play another selection. The soft melody floated out over the people, blending nicely with the soft murmur of the crowd. Seeing the couple of honor dancing, many other couples left the tables that surrounded the perimeter of the room to dance as well. Serena and Darien didn't notice however, to them they were alone. ?God Serena, what are you doing? You aren't falling in love, are you? No, I can't. Not now. Not unless I know he feels the same way. And even then, what about James? After two years you can't just break up with him. What will you say, ?Sorry, sweetie, but I'm running away with your twin,'? No, I can't do that. But it's still nice to dream. . .' ?Down boy. She's taken, remember? Just stay calm and don't fall in love. Don't. But she feels so nice in my arms, so right. And what are you going to do when your done with your education, just drag her to America? To New York? I can't do that. She hardly knows English, and her entire education was in Japanese. Leaving her friends and family would break her heart, I can't do that to her. But it's still nice to dream. . .' As Darien brought a tired Serena back to her door, giggling could be heard from inside. "I suppose Lita's over, ne?" He said as she fumbled for her keys. He took the keys from her hands and unlocked the door for her. "Thanks. Do you want to come in?" He nodded his head and they entered the dark apartment. A blue glow from the television was cast upon the figures of Mina and Lita, who were laughing at the movie they had rented. Seeing them enter, their heads looked at them curiously. Lita's eyes immediately lit up. "Oh Mina, the dress is *just* like you described. You look *perfect* Serena. Darien, I can only say one thing for you: ggrrrr!" Serena and Mina both cracked up laughing and Darien dropped his head in embarrassment. "So what are you doing, you two?" Serena asked after her laughter had subsided enough for her to speak. "We rented this really funny movie called ?Wayne's World' a couple of minutes ago. It's so funny! I love dubbed movies, don't you?" Lita answered. Darien began chuckling at the thought of that movie being dubbed, and got curious stares. "?Wayne's World' is the best. I watched that movie all the time in high-school, but I've never seen the Japanese version." "So stay and watch!" Lita said. "I'm still in my tux, but thanks." "So go change and come back. It'll be fun. . ." He thought for a moment, and his curiosity won. "All right, I'll change and come back." Lita clapped her hands and gave him a *huge* smile. "We'll rewind it for you!" she said giddily. "Yeah, yeah. See-ya in a little bit than," he said as he walked out the door. Serena gave a sigh and plodded back into her room. A little bit later she emerged in her pink bunny flannel pants and a white tank-top. Coming back into the living-room, she flopped down on the couch next to Lita who started to laugh when she saw her. "Uh, nice pj's Serena." Serena only glared at her. "Oh shut-up. I'm tired and this was the first thing I pulled out of my box of clothes, ok?" "I think they're adorable, Serena," Mina said. She herself was in rather girlish pajama's: a long purple cotton chemise with gold hearts all over it. "Yeah, but I wouldn't trust your taste, Mina," Lita said, trying to encourage a fight, "Your pyjamas look like they came from one of Aphrodite's garage sales." "Oh yeah? Take this!" Mina said picking up a large pillow and hitting her hard with it. "You wanna go? I'll whoop your butt little girl!" Lita said accepting the challenge. War soon broke out between the two girls as pillows went flying. "God, what are you guys on? Jeez, it's 2 o'clock in the morning!" Serena said as she got hit with a stray pillow. They ignored her, and kept fighting. A knock on the door caused her to rise, and she let Darien in. He soon looked like he regretted coming back as soon as he saw the battle in the living-room. "Oh, right. The movie . . ." Lita said before getting hit a final time by Mina. Lita grabbed the pillow from Mina's hands and started to hit her with it, then threw it limply to the floor. Darien flopped down lazily next to Serena who had already taken her spot back on the couch, replacing Lita. Lita was to busy to notice trying to find the ?play' button on the VCR. Finding it, she plopped back down on the floor, where the discarded pillow still lay. She turned around with amusement in her eyes, and said to Darien, "Nice pajama's," as sarcastically as was possible. "Same to you, Lita," he said with an eyebrow raised, "You look like you got attacked by a lime." Mina and Serena started laughing hysterically as Lita turned around defeated. She looked at her green cotton pj's with a lip sticking out as she pouted, trying uselessly to get Darien to apologize. Lita turned back around a last when she realized he wasn't going to, to slap leg before finally settling down. "I like you pajama's, Darien," Serena whispered to him. He smiled. He was wearing black sweat-pants and a white t-shirt with a faded American logo on the front. His feet, (complete with leopard-print slippers) proceeded in kicking Lita in the back, but she just ignored him, trying to send him on a guilt trip. It didn't work. The movie was twice as amusing to Darien in Japanese. It was nearing the end of the movie and he was the only one awake. He smiled at the three girls around him. Mina, asleep, was curled up on the couch, taking up half of it, hugging a pillow and drooling while Lita was softly snoring on the floor. Serena, who had been sitting close to him ever since he had to scoot over to let Mina put up her feet, had fallen asleep with her head on his shoulder. She had been really tired all night, and he was surprised that she was the last of the girls to go down. "If Benjamin were an ice-cream flavor, he'd be pralines, and dick!" Garth loudly exclaimed. Darien lightly began to chuckle, but soon stopped when Serena started to get a pained expression on her face. ?I wonder what she's dreaming about. What do princesses dream? She looks so cute when she's asleep; Like a child.' Soon, as her dream intensified, she started to thrash about. Darien, very panicked, tried to hold on to her wrists to keep her from hurting herself (, or him, ) and wake her up. She calmed down, still asleep, and began whimpering. She spoke softly, "James, why are you doing this to me? Darien, please save me. Darien, DARIEN!!" With the final word, she was awake, looking wide-eyed straight into the eyes of a shocked Darien. "Darien, it's you, isn't it? It's you! You're the one in my dream!" she said as she started to cry into his shoulder. Mina, who had been awakened by the commotion, tried to piece together what was happening before her. All she could do was stare at Serena who was attempting to talk. "I'm [snif] standing [snif] in darkness [snif] and there's someone there, and I try [snif] to call to him [snif], but all he sais is ?don't you know [snif] who I am?' And I try to yell to him - he looks just like James - but he just says it over and over, and I think [snif] Darien I think it's you!" He rocked her gently back and forth as she continued to sob into his shoulder. He put his lips on her head and kissed her golden hair. "Sh, now stop that," he said quietly, "All this for a dream?" "Darien," she said, looking up at him with red puffy eyes, "You don't understand. It's not just *a dream*. It's the same nightmare I've been having for the past year. It's so horrible, I feel so alone, so alone. . ." she said starting to cry again. She buried her head in his chest and sobbed. He turned his head as far as he could to look at Mina. "Why didn't you tell me?" he hissed through clenched teeth. "I didn't know, I didn't know," she said as tears started to fall onto her cheeks. The phone began to ring, but no one bothered to answer. Serena continued to sob into Darien's chest as he stood locked in eye warfare with Mina who was softly crying. If looks could kill, she would be dead. Finally the answering machine picked up. "Uh, hi Serena, it's James. I know it's like 3 there, but I had to call you. I love you so much, and I miss you, and I uh. . .I want to ask you something. But I don't want you to answer me now, not that you could, but uh. . .answer me when I get back, ok? Oh yeah, I still have to ask the question, don't I? All right, here goes. Serena, will you marry me? I'll be back in 2 days, so you can tell me then. I love you, bye." Oh my gawd, you can't do that! Well, sorry, but I can, and I did. The next part will be *very* interesting, with a little plot turn none of you see coming (except maybe Lauri who I told. . .). But I guess you'll just have to wait until next week to see who she chooses. Now you know why I called it ?Her Choice', ne? (Yeah right, like you hadn't figured it out already.) Oh well. One more thing, Wayne's Word is not mine, it is a Paramount Communications Picture. This is Annie-chan signing off. Once again my e-mail address is awoud@navix.net