Quick Fics: A Serious of One-Shots by:
the nat-chan
#1. No Way
rated: sugary goodness of waff G
disclaimer: I can't believe I'm writing a brand new, original, SM Fanfic!
This is all Alicia's fault!
e-mail: natalie. notes: while I don't want to participate in the official drabbles on a
theme contest that Alicia is currently partaking in...one of her shorts in particular
inspired me to do my own little collection. I hope you enjoy them!
whose is the face in the mask?
Serena woke from her dream with a scream of horror. Her wide eyes
blinked rapidly to assure herself that what she had just seen had in fact
been merely a dream.
Her breathing was harsh, her hands balled the sheets and her hair was
in dizzying disarray.
That same nightmare again. She'd been having it every night since
Sunday. The Sunday she had foolishly let herself pray for something
she had longed to know for months. With the holidays approaching she
had thought it might be ok to ask for just one really important thing.
And a week prior to that she had fought a youma and narrowly
escaped its clutches by a daring sweep from Tuxedo Mask. He had
caught her up in his arms and carried her to safety only to be blasted
at again by the youma forcing him to throw them both to the ground.
And it was lying tangled up together on the ground, his breathing
harsh and close that she first felt that pang of familiarity. It had haunted
her for days afterwards and then she had realized, maybe Tuxedo
Mask was someone she already knew! Maybe he was someone
she liked in real life as well and who liked her too!
This thought had given her so much happiness that by Sunday it
had become her Christmas wish. She had gone to church with
her family and prayed with all her heart to know, who was Tuxedo
Mask?
Fate it seemed, had a cruel sense of humour because every night
since then she had dreamed of the handsome hero, dashing in,
sweeping her off her feet to some secluded, moonlit place and
telling her she was the only one for him. Every time like a fool she
would practically swoon and then lift gentle hands to pull off the
mask. And he would let her.
And every time the man behind the mask was...Darien Shields.
This was what prompted the blood curdling shriek that woke her
out of her stupor and back to reality.
"Thanks." she would mutter heavenward with bitterness. She
asked for a dream come true and instead got a nightmare.
No WAY was Darien Shields of all people Tuxedo Mask!
He was opposite to him in every possible way.
She would quickly list all the differences to firmly convince herself.
A girl could never be TOO certain when it came to Darien Shields.
For starters Tuxedo Mask was handsome. Darien Shields was
far far too evil to be considered even remotely attractive.
Tuxedo Mask wore a heavenly black tuxedo. Darien Shields
wore a green blazer that could never, under any circumstances
be considered heavenly in any way.
Tuxedo Mask always saved her from calamity and danger.
Darien Shields always showed up just AFTER a calamity
to laugh at her or taunted her into further disaster.
Tuxedo Mask said encouraging things to her at just
the right moments. Darien Shields did the exact opposite.
No, they just could not be the same people. She loved
Tuxedo Mask and despised Darien Shields. And that was
as it should be.
This theory began to slowly unravel that week though
as little tiny insignificant details began to present
themselves to the contrary.
Like the day she overheard Andrew agonizing over
what to bring to the airport to give Rita when she
came back into town and heard Darien suggest
roses.
Or the afternoon she caught him helping Andrew
sweep up between rushes and when he was done
watched him toss the short broom he had been
using with perfect, uncanny grace, back to its
place by the back garbage can.
Darien couldn't figure out what was the matter with her.
She'd been getting quieter and quieter all week. Thursday
she had walked in on him reading the paper with his glasses
on and when he had pulled them off to look at her she had
let out a half-frightened sound and bolted back out the doors.
The final straw for Serena was when Andrew installed a
dart board at the back of the arcade and she came in to find he
and Darien playing. Darien had hit three perfect bullseyes in a row,
his fingers tossing the darts with ease and...she had blanched
and left again.
Friday another youma attacked and once destroyed it
managed to explode in such a fashion that she was
saved again by Tuxedo Mask's clever catch and run.
He righted her a short distance away and turned to go
but she caught his arm, her eyes searching his face
with a half-fearful look instead of the glazed appreciation
he usually saw.
"What is it?" he asked with concern.
"Tuxedo Mask...do you--do you like my hair?"
She'd been thinking it over all week and thought, if she
was going to trip him up, this would be the way to do it.
Her hair was his one weakness.
Tuxedo Mask's eyes widened and he looked
distinctly uncomfortable as his eyes slid up to
her buns and then back to her face.
"I-I don't have any particular feelings either way
about your hair," he replied, "It's your skills as
a warrior I'm interested in."
To his surprise she broke into a wide smile.
"Keep fighting Sailor Moon, you are becoming
a great Warrior!" He smiled back and gave her
a charming wink of encouragement before
dashing off again.
"Thanks!" she said waving as he departed.
She was sure this absolute proof would dispel
the horrid dream. But it did not.
Night after night she pulled off that mask with
dreamy anticipation and night after night it was
wretched Darien Shields staring back at her.
She was utterly miserable.
But it was the afternoon before the Christmas
Party at the Arcade to raise money for the local
orphanage that finally did Serena in.
Darien had arrived early to help Andrew set up
and greet the local talents that were going to perform.
He knew he wouldn't get home again and so
had come dressed for the evening in, you guessed
it, a black tuxedo.
Serena showed up in jeans and a sweatshirt to help
out for an hour before heading home. She walked
in and stopped short. Both Andrew and Darien wore
black tuxedos but she did not see Andrew.
She saw only Darien Shields, in a heavenly black
tuxedo, and--were those ROSES he was decorating
with?
Darien turned to see her white, frozen face before
she suddenly pointed at him and yelled, "NO! NO!
NO WAY! I DON'T BELIEVE IT! IT'S NOT POSSIBLE!"
Then she sprinted out of the arcade at top speed.
All the way home fuming in her mind:
'Wasn't I good ALL year? I'm defending the world
from the forces of evil here! What did I do to
deserve this torture?"
Darien didn't see Serena again until much later
when she was chosen from the crowd by the Mayor
to help light the tree.
It was a beautiful tree, quite tall, and covered in
white lights that had not yet been plugged in.
Patrons had hung their donations in white envelopes
from the branches of that tree. They would be
collected later.
Serena and the Mayer brought up the electric plugs
together and then, with a buzzing sound, the tree
lit up in a dazzling display that made everyone ooh
and ahhh.
Darien strained his head over the crowd to see her
but she was silhouetted by the blinding light. He
was hoping the excitement of being chosen to
light the tree would make her act normal again
but then she turned, just a half-turn in that light
and her face came into view. For a moment
it looked serious and distant. For a moment
her white dress and the beads in her hair
caught the light like diamonds. For a moment
she looked remarkably like a very familiar and
haunting presence in his dreams.
Andrew watched all the colour drain from Darien's
face and heard him mutter, "No way..."