AN: Chapter One, guys. Sorry for the delay; my internet was absolutely bonkers. Thanks to starangel07, kurochan, anonymous, and Twighunter for reviewing!

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon


Predilection

dizziified // limguine at livejournal . com


"What the hell is this shit?" Kunzite cussed, pulling at the material entrapping him.

It was day two of the new school year and all the fourth years were in the Dome for the
biannual physical. Everyone had on their physical attire—black racerback bodysuits for
the girls and knee length ones for boys.

"You didn't have them back at Walden?" Andrew asked before bending forward to reach
for his toes.

"Obviously not," Zoicite droned, disdainfully eyeing his suit.

"It's made out of AA-fibers," Andrew replied, still stretching. "Body conforming, light,
temperature resistant… oof! Pretty strong too."

"I feel naked." Zoicite always was a blunt one.

Andrew laughed at the comment as he hefted himself up. "You'll get used to it."

"Already am." Unabashed, Jedeite swung his torso, feeling right at home in his new suit.

Nephrite snorted.

Jedeite turned to the long-haired brunette, arms crossed. "Got something to say,
Nephles?"

Refusing to resort to childish behaviors, Nephrite just shook his head and turned away.
Jedeite decided to take it as a win and smirked.

"Thought so."

It was that moment that Darien chose to speak up. "Do you know who Serena Kingston
is?"

"Who doesn't?" Andrew guffawed.

Having lost interest in his bodysuit, Kunzite leaned over. "The ugly girl?" His words
caught the interest of the other guys and they all perked an ear.

Andrew furrowed his brows. "The ugly girl?"

"The hideous girl," Nephrite corrected.

Now Andrew looked just all out bewildered. "Serena Kingston?"

"Yeah," Darien nodded. Hadn't he heard him the first time?

Andrew laughed, shaking his head in incredulity. "You guys have a weird definition of
beauty."

Suddenly, a loud horn sounded, making several Dome inhabitants wince.

"Usagi!" the Dome instructor barked. "Elemental display, front and center."

The boys watched as a rather attractive girl walked to the center of the Dome, tying her
long blonde hair on the way. When she got to the center, she closed her eyes and took
a deep calming breath in and out, her forefingers on her lips and her thumbs on her chin.

Darien leaned closer, curious as to what her element was.

'Probably air,' he thought. Most girls like her had that element.

Needless to say, he was a bit startled to see that her eyes flashed white for a moment after she opened them again.

"What the…," Kunzite trailed next to him.

"Just watch." Darien peered over Andrew to see him staring at the "Usagi" girl intently,
an all-knowing smile gracing his features.

The girl parted her hands and a ball of white light floated above them. She gently blew
on the sphere and it floated forward to the instructor. Numbers flashed across the
screen of his Analyzer and when they settled, he grunted.

With that, the elemental sphere blinked out of existence.

"She's a light user?" Jedeite whispered, slightly awestruck.

Andrew nodded, still grinning. "The first in more than three hundred years—but that's not all."

All eyes turned back to the light user. While they had been chatting, she had closed her
eyes again and was now letting out a deep breath. Above her hands, something began
to crackle… something….

"Is that what I think it is?" Kunzite loudly whispered, just short of the volume of his normal voice.

The moment he said it, the sphere burst to life in an array of cosmic colors. It stayed in
its place, amoeboid in shape, until the girl blew on it as she had with her light sphere.

"She's an æther user," Zoicite mused. Nephrite took a side glance at Darien to find him
with a spark of intrigue in his eye.

"Who is she?" Darien asked, tone slightly urgent. All turned to Andrew expectantly.

The boy smirked. "That, my friends, is Serena Kingston—codename Usagi."

Jediete let out a low whistle, turning back to her retreating form. "Well if she's hideous,
I'd love to see what a fucking knockout looks like."

Before the others could audibly concur, Darien began to laugh—really really laugh. It
wasn't a chuckle or a snigger but a shoulder-shaking laugh that made barely any sound.

The transfers eyed him bizarrely and Andrew titled his head in curiosity.

Darien Shields never laughs—not like this anyway.

"Serena Kingston," Darien murmured when he came back to his senses, flashing his eyes over her form and drinking her in. "Hideous my ass."

The elemental was a bombshell—probably one of the most beautiful women he had
seen in his life. Thinking about what she had said the night before, he couldn't tell
whether she was humble or insecure or just very very blind.

But that didn't matter right now. All that mattered was that she was a light and, more
importantly, an æther user.

He shook his head, letting out a small chuckle. Fate really had a unique sense of humor.

"You okay?" Andrew asked, breaking Darien out of his reverie.

Darien nodded, reverting gaze away from the Serena, who was now carrying out the
agility portion of the physical. "Things are gonna be really interesting around here."


"Ooh my God!" Anne shouted, shaking herself as tingles ran down her length. "I'm still
trembling. That look was so…."

"Fucking hot," Rei filled in with a wicked smirk.

Serena rolled her eyes. "You guys are so lewd."

Mina snorted and brushed her off. "Whatever, Serena. It was totally hot and even you
can't deny that."

Serena begged to differ.

"It was weird. I felt like he was going to eat me or something."

"I wouldn't mind if he did," Anne purred, her vulgar comment bringing out a bout of
laughter and shrieks.

Once again, Serena didn't get it; but she was pretty sure she was better off not
knowing what Anne had meant.

The transfers had been the last to take their physical and at first, everything was
normal. Kunzite used air, Jedeite fire, Zoicite water, and Nephrite earth. Darien Shields
was the last to go and that was when things got… different.

He used darkness... and æther.

And who can forget the look?

The moment he finished his elemental display, he turned to the girls and gave a look so
carnal, so "hot", that it sent shivers down their spines.

Well, most of their spines anyway.

Afterwards, he turned away and went back to finish his physical, as if nothing had
happened.

"Anyway," Serena started loudly, hinting for the girls to stop their fussing. When they
calmed down, she continued. "I never knew there was another æther user out there."

"Or darkness," Mina added. "He must be the first darkness user in like what, four
hundred years?"

"Three hundred," Rei corrected. "It's been over three hundred years."

She then turned to Serena, her expression somber. "He's strong—really strong.
Probably stronger than you."

"Oh, loosen up, Rei." Anne raked her hands through her red hair. "He's strong; big deal."

Rei shot Anne a stern look. "Shut up, Anne."

Anne chose to laugh it off. "Love you, too."

Letting out an aggravated sigh, Rei skillfully flicked Anne off. Turning to the other girls
she said, "I have to finish my summer homework. I'll be in the library if you need me."

"Oh, me too!" Mina quipped. "I have soooo much left to do. You'll help me, right Rei?"

Rei sighed, already walking away. "You better not have as much left as last time."

"I don't!" Mina cried indignantly, jogging after her. She turned to wave goodbye.

"Toodles, Serena, Anne."

"Bye." Serena waved back and turned to Anne. "Good luck."

"Later, babe," Anne said before slinking away.

Serena giggled. It was always the same. There were no classes during physical
examination days and they all took advantage of it. Rei finished the bit of homework
she put off over the summer and Mina tagged along, begging Rei to let her copy the
homework they had from the same classes. Anne went boy hunting and every year,
she came back to their dorm room with several love bites on her neck.

And what of Serena? Well, she went to the garden.


"So please tell me, tell me," Serena sang, her eyes shut as she gently pushed off from
the stone beneath her, adding momentum to the wooden patio swing.

It felt good to be in the garden; it was where she went to to get away from the world.
The garden was one of the only quiet places in the whole academy—no one really cared
for it with the common room and the game room around. Well, all the better for her.

"Tell me that I'm beautiful," she continued.

"You're beautiful."

Serena's eyes snapped open and her whole body jumped in surprise, nearly knocking
the whole swing over.

"Whoa there," Darien said as he steadied the swing by grabbing onto its side.

"Wha—what are you doing here?" she asked breathlessly, her heart beating
uncontrollably from the adrenaline rush. No one ever came to the garden.

Darien smirked. "Your friend told me you were probably out here."

"Did she?" Serena asked, bending her knees and hugging her legs as if to get as far
away from him as possible. He didn't seem to notice her discomfort because he sat
down beside to her… at least, she thought he didn't.

"He," he corrected.

"Excuse me?" He?

"He," Darien repeated. "Andrew Warren told me you always go out to the garden."

Serena blinked. Andrew Warren? "Who?"

Darien was clearly amused. "Too popular to know all your friends' names?"

"I don't even talk to boys," Serena snapped. "I only talk to Rei, Mina, and Anne."

Darien ignored her tone and grinned. "I guess that makes me pretty special."

Serena opened her mouth to retort but closed it again and turned away from him; it
was best to just ignore him and not egg him on.

She was wrong.

Darien didn't go away and he didn't even act disturbed by her silent treatment. He
gently swung them with one foot and they sat in a semi-comfortable/semi-awkward
silence.

"I was telling the truth," he finally spoke up after several minutes. She looked to him,
despite herself.

"You really are beautiful," he clarified, turning to her as he said so.

She guffawed at the cheesy line. But in all honesty, it didn't sound as tacky as it could
have been, coming from him.

"You probably say that to all the girls," she whispered, turning her head in place and
resting it on her knees. Her hair cascaded down from over her shoulders and covered
most of her face from Darien's view.

"Maybe," he teased lightly before falling into a more familiar, silent demeanor. He
leaned over and tucked her hair behind her ear, making Serena look up at him
questioningly.

The moment their eyes met, it felt like an electric current had run through both their
bodies.

Serena cleared her throat, effectively ruining the moment, and looked away,
uncomfortable with the feeling and not understanding it. "Um, so… you're an æther user,
too, huh?"

Darien nodded, accepting the blatant change of topic; he was a bit unsettled by the
spark as well. But unlike Serena, he knew exactly what it was—he was all too familiar
with it, really. The unsettling thing was that for the first time ever, he wasn't quite sure
whether he welcomed it or not.


AN : Review please, people :D