~Chapter 1~

"But I want to go!" Rini whined. "It's supposed to be the best restaurant around here!"

Darien laughed and squatted down to her level, meeting her eye-to-eye. "Don't worry, Rini. I'll take you there some other time." He heard Serena very audibly clear her throat and added, "And I'll make sure Serena comes with us."

Rini soon acquired a disappointed expression. "But I don't want Serena to come... She'll just embarrass herself in front of everybody."

Serena growled and said, "Look you little fungus, I'm your future mother! Now's your chance to get into my good books before you're born!"

"Okay, okay. You two settle down," Darien instructed. "Listen, Rini, there's something I need to do, and Serena has to be there."

She pouted and asked, "Can't I be there, too?"

He chuckled. "It's nothing you would be interested in. I'm just going there for a business discussion. It wouldn't be fair to keep you sitting still that whole time."

Finally, the little girl gave up and wordlessly walked back into the house. After he heard the door close, Darien stood up only to find his girlfriend fuming.

"Darien! You told me we were going on a date!" she yelled.

"Relax, Serena. This is a date," he assured her. "But I also need to take care of some business."

Although she trusted him, it was difficult to understand how a date could also be a business thing. It really wasn't fair that he was roping her into his job. He knew she couldn't sit there listening to him talk about whatever it was he was he was going to talk about. It would be horrible torture... Just sitting there... Doing nothing... And if he got too into his little "discussion", he would completely ignore her! That wasn't a date, that was abuse!

Nevertheless, she got into his car. He was being gentlemanly, opening the door for her and closing it once she got in, but it wasn't convincing enough. Dates, jobs, they just didn't mix! But geez, it must be one important business meeting. Poor guy looked really nervous.

In around half an hour, they arrived at Takumiki's, one of the best restaurants in Tokyo. One reason for its popularity was its location; it was positioned on top of a hill that overlooked most of the city. At night, it was the most beautiful scenery because the city was covered with lights of all colors. So at night, it was at its busiest. But even if you came during the day, their food was amazing. They always used the freshest of ingredients, and they had an untainted record as one of the very few places that never made anyone get sick. None of their food ever went bad. Plus, they always seemed to have just the right combinations of sauces.

Serena already knew what she was going to order. She'd heard their grilled chicken was a specialty. Plus, it was one of the less expensive items on the menu, so she wouldn't be making Darien spend as much money. Well, not on the entree at least. But when dessert came around, it would be all on him. But hey, he said it was a date, and on a date the girl got to be entreated to food that she didn't have to pay for. He could think of it as punishment for bringing her along on a business meeting under the cover of a promised romantic evening.

Darien led Serena to the table he reserved. It was an awfully small table... Strange... Well, maybe not. It looked like a two-seater, but maybe he was meeting up with his boss or something.

She noticed that the table they were sitting at was right next to a big window. Fancy. But really, the view was just perfect.

"Wow, this is great, Darien," she said, despite how mad she was at him. After all, he was paying for her meal.

"I thought you might like it," he replied.

"So when are these other people coming?" she asked, masking her anger.

He laughed lightheartedly. "There are no other people, Serena. It's just you and me."

Hold on, wait... "But I thought you said you had some business to take care of."

He smiled. "Yeah. My business is with you. I wasn't lying, but I wanted Rini to stay home tonight."

"Why?" she asked skeptically. "You always drag Rini along with us."

"Well, I know you've been wanting to spend time with me, just the two of us together, so I decided to make this special for you," he answered.

She blushed and smiled back. He was right, she had wanted to spend time alone with him. But he usually brought Rini with them, date or not. Most of the time Rini disturbed her time with Darien, and he seemed to have caught that she was getting sick of it. So he'd planned a special night, making sure it was perfect. And making sure Rini wasn't with them, but he also made sure he didn't hurt her feelings. And technically, he hadn't lied.

It was amazing that now Serena was twenty years old, yet pretty much the whole time, she and Darien hadn't had all that much time to themselves. Rini interrupted a almost each time. It was only when she got sick that they could have any alone time.

A waiter came by their table. "Hi, I'm Oliver, I'll be your server tonight. Can I get you anything to drink?"

While Serena debated between a chocolate milkshake and a glass of water (time never changed anything about her), Darien took his chance to order.

"I'll just have a coke," he said.

A glass of water was refined and kind of ladylike. But, uh...nobody ever accused Serena of being too ladylike. Actually, nobody ever accused her of being even a little ladylike.

"And for the lady?" the waiter, Oliver, asked.

"Oh, I'll have a chocolate milkshake," she replied.

The waiter finished writing down the orders and said, "Your drinks will be ready soon." He went away.

"So, Serena," Darien began, "how are coming along on your studies?"

She laughed nervously. "Well, I'm sweeping by."

Yup. Not a single thing had changed. Heck, she hardly even looked older! Her hair remained the same, and Darien knew it would even after Rini was born. It was weird to know that they would be king and queen of the entire Earth one day. And as each day passed, they were getting closer and closer to that day. And to be honest, it was kind of strange knowing that they were getting closer and closer, again with each day, to Serena getting pregnant. And to Rini being born. It would be enough to push most guys away, but Darien knew their future, as did Serena. One day they would be a happy family instead of just a couple. And it was amazing to Darien that underneath all that goofiness and hyperactivity, Serena was a fun-loving, spirited, caring girl. Well, girl was an understatement now...sort of. Physically, she was a woman now. But...well...mentally, she was still that same bubbly high school klutz. In fact, she still tripped over pretty much everything. But it was part of her charm. She wasn't afraid to be herself, even if herself could be a little over-jealous sometimes. One day, Serena would change the whole world and make it a beautiful, peaceful place. And he would be right beside her when that happened.

They had their dinner and then a dessert, and then another dessert, and left the restaurant.

As Darien drove, Serena noticed he wasn't taking her back home. Or if he was, this wasn't the usual route. She kept quiet and waited to see where he was going. It took an entire hour for him to arrive at his destination. He parked his car on the side of the road and led his girlfriend to a bridge. The sun had almost completely set. It was almost nighttime, just the way Darien had planned it out. The sun itself couldn't be seen, but a beautiful orange glow was still cast. The water beneath the bridge reflected it and sparkled with the tints of orange. It was a really romantic setting, something he knew Serena would enjoy.

"Hey, Darien, not that this isn't nice, because it is, but why are we here?" she asked.

He stepped in front of her and got down on one knee. He reached into the side of his tuxedo and smiled nervously.

"Darien, what are you doing?" she breathed.

He pulled out a small white box with velvet coating. He opened it to reveal a silver ring with a elegantly crafted design around a circular diamond. The diamond, just like the water, reflected the soft glow of the fading sun and refracted the color into a thousand different colors. It was enveloped in pure beauty and looked like something straight out of a movie or a magazine or something of that nature.

"Will you marry me, Serena?" he asked.

She squealed in overwhelming delight and threw herself into Darien's arms. "Yes!"

He wrapped his arms around her and let out a breath he'd been holding for what seemed like forever. He was so glad she'd said yes. Even though he knew that eventually she would marry him, he had still been so nervous about proposing. At first he thought he hadn't done it right, making Serena angry at him by falsely implying that he was going to a business meeting. But seeing her now, so happy and excited, and probably feeling more loved by him than she ever had before, he knew he'd done it just right. This was the reason he didn't want Rini to come. Serena would be too happy and Rini would feel left out. Plus, it would've been too much pressure on him to propose right in front of their future daughter.

He smiled. Come tomorrow, this ring would be flaunted to everyone Serena knew. Tonight it would be seen by her family but tomorrow... Molly, Melvin, Rei, Amy, Lita, Mina...you name it. She would have so much fun basking in the attention of her friends and family. She would glow with joy. He couldn't wait to see how she was going to tell her friends. Her family was one thing; she would most likely burst inside and blurt out everything too fast for anyone to understand, then jump up and down, pointing to her hand. But her friends... She was probably devising a plan right now. Or maybe she was too excited, maybe she would come up with something later. If he knew Serena, she would try to make Rei envious.

"Oh!" Serena shot up, jerking herself from Darien's arms. "We're engaged now. I'm engaged now!" She looked at Darien. "Do you realize what this means?" She didn't give him a split second to answer. "I can finally pick out my very own wedding dress! I've always dreamt of picking out my wedding dress! I'll find something so amazing, so beautiful, that Rei will have to be jealous!"

Darien got up and listened to her babble on about what her dress was going to look like, what the wedding was going to look like, where the wedding would be, what the bridesmaid dresses would have to look like, and so many other things that showed just how excited she was. He didn't even have time to slip on her ring before she was tugging on him, insisting that they search through wedding dresses so she could find the perfect one before the wedding.

He couldn't help but laugh at how cute the whole scene was.

A/N

Okay, this chapter is short because mainly it's a prologue, kind of a little something to tell you what's happening and all. Please review! I would really love to see what you think of this story so far!