The Heart of the Matter
Summary: Five years after a very painful divorce, Serena gets an invitation… To her ex-husbands wedding.
Authors Note: Sorry about the delay, mid-terms are a drag! So thanks so much for all the reviews and I'm sure that I'll answer all your questions next time when I have more time! But keep sending the questions in! I promise I will answer them! So this isn't the most important chapter there is, but I think it's still pretty interesting.
I don't really know though, I wrote it… So I guess I'm forced to like it?! I have no idea what I'm talking about anymore, just ignore me!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything. I own… Riana, I think. xD
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Chapter 7: Riana
(Present Day)
Riana walked out into the lobby and sighed. She hadn't expected Darien to be so willing to take care of her sister. She was just walking past a bright green plant when she felt three pairs of arms reach out and grab her. A hand covered her mouth as she was taken before the green plant. She struggled against her opponents and closed her eyes. "Riana, calm down, it's just us."
Riana opened her eyes and felt all the arms release her, "What the heck?! You guys scared me out of my mind! What was that for and what are you doing here? Were you invited?" She looked at all of them, Lita, Ami, and Rei were all sitting before her.
"Nope we weren't, but that didn't stop us from coming."
"Where's Mina?"
Rei shrugged, "I think that she went somewhere up in Japan to model, I haven't heard from her in awhile though. I do actually worry about both of them. Mina's always-"
"Can we please stop worrying about Mina we'll call her later today, so where's Serena?" Lita questioned and Riana shook her head. She shrugged her shoulders slightly and crossed her legs in an attempt to make herself more comfortable.
"Well… I could tell you, but then you guys would worry, so I'm not going to say anything."
"You do realize that you're making us worry now when you just said that if you said anything it would make us worry?" Rei questioned and Lita and Ami gave her a confused stare. Riana shook her blonde hair and ran a hand through it.
"Ah, well… Oh gods, they're going to kill me if I tell you," She thought aloud for a second and then gave in, "She's up in my room with a fever and she's with Darien."
"She's with Darien?!" They all yelled in unison, making a couple stop walking. They both stared at the plant and Riana looked at them.
"Alice and Andrew! What a surprise, you might um, be thinking, um, what we are doing behind this tree. But there is seriously a good explanation for this." Riana said and looked at Rei, Lita, and Ami who were fooling around with Rei's cell-phone, "What are you doing?"
"We're calling Mina, even if she is modeling in whatever's town, she is needed here more then those stupid cameras need her." Rei mumbled as she pressed the phone to her ear. Mina's eyes widened and she looked over at Andrew who nodded his head slightly as they both tried to escape before her cell-phone could start ringing. They were only about a couple of feet away when Mina's phone started ringing. The tone was loud and bubbly and Mina bit her lip as Rei rose above the plant.
The phone kept ringing.
"Mina?!" Rei questioned and stepped forward. Mina lowered her sunglasses and let go on Andrew's arm. She smiled slightly at Rei, Lita, Ami, and Riana.
"Hey guys! What are you doing here?" Mina questioned and quickly placed her sunglasses carefully in her purse and smiled slightly. Rei's mouth hung open as she stood up and walked over to Mina. She grabbed a fist-full of her short shoulder-length hair and grimaced. Riana's eyes widened as she noticed that 'Alice' was really Mina. She glared at Mina, slightly upset that she hadn't told her.
"Mina?! What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were modeling up in Kyoto!"
"Erg, well you see… I was… I was just doing this because I was worried about Serena! I didn't want her to get into any trouble so I followed her without telling anybody. Please don't tell anybody, they will kick me out if they know that I'm not the real Alice Chiba."
Rei let go of her hair and threw her hands up, "This is just getting stranger and stranger! First I find out that Serena is with Darien, then I find out that you have come here 'undercover' to help out Serena when she needs it, and then… I find you with him of all people!" Riana nodded, Rei was right, this was getting stranger by the minute. Before Riana could say anything, Lita stood up from her place behind the tree and walked over to Rei.
"We'll talk about this later Rei, let's just go and find Sere."
Ami nodded," She's right, we should go…" She turned to Riana, "Do you know where Serena is?"
"Ami, I don't know if that is a really good idea, we should wait and see what happens. You guys should go see if you can get a room and then we'll go check up on Serena. I think that the huge problem here is getting a room. Darien and Jolene booked this whole place for their guests. I'm sure that Serena's okay for now." Riana lied and Ami nodded slightly. Riana exhaled gratefully, she always knew that Ami was the sensible one and that she would take charge of everything. Riana was still kinda ticked at Mina for not telling her, but that could wait for later.
Rei smiled wickedly, "Don't worry Riana; getting a room won't be a problem. We're just going to have to room with 'Alice' for now." Mina's head snapped to look at Rei. She looked at Ami, Lita, and then at Riana.
"… You are?"
"Is that a problem Alice?"
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Riana slid the key into the door and pushed it open slightly. She closed the door quietly behind her and walked into the bedroom. Her eyes widened as she suppressed a gasp. Serena was sleeping comfortably on Darien's shoulder and his arm was around her waist. His eyes were closed as Riana walked over to feel Serena's forehead. Serena's fever was gone and she was back to normal. She sighed in relief; she didn't really have the time to take care of her sick cousin. She giggled slightly and then her thoughts drifted to Jolene, what was Darien doing?! He had a fiancé! He shouldn't be sleeping with her cousin! She felt her blood boil as Serena's eyes snapped open. She wiggled out of Darien's arms and quickly got out the bed. There was a beautiful blush spilled across her pale face. She looked at Riana for help and Riana just shrugged. She threw her a jacket and then grabbed her arm as she led her out of the room. Before leaving, Riana left Darien a note that she had taken Serena up to her room. Riana leaned against the wall and suppressed her laughter.
"Oh my god Rini, what the hell was that?" Serena questioned, she was clearly feeling much better then before. Her blue eyes searched her cousins' features, but she wouldn't break. She just looked at Serena before grabbing her hand again and walking to the elevator, praying that they wouldn't see Rei, Ami, Lita, or Mina. "Rini!" Serena exclaimed as they were safely alone in the elevator.
"What?" Riana questioned and bit her bottom lip.
"Tell me what the hell that was!"
"What what was?" Riana questioned as a smile broke across her features. Serena threw up her arms in disbelief as they reached Serena's floor. Riana reached into Serena's damp clothing that had been striped off her body and found her wallet and the hotel room key. She walked towards her room, Serena trailing slightly behind her.
"Riana, don't play dumb with me. Why the hell was I in Darien's arms…?!" Serena questioned angrily as Riana pushed open the door and waved Serena in. She closed the door and locked it behind her. She didn't think that anybody was really going to come and break into the room, but she wanted to be safe. Seiya looked up from his place on the couch.
"Ah, so you finally decided to come back. Huh Serena?" Seiya asked and she collected herself as she sat down besides Seiya. She buried her head in his shoulder before looking up as Riana placed herself in front of them on the coffee table. She grabbed the remote out of Seiya's hands and flicked off the television.
"I'm only going to say this once… You got it Sere?"
"What?"
Riana crossed her arms, "I'm only going to say this once." She repeated.
"But technically you just said it twice because you just repeated your-"
"My god! Do you want to know why you were in a bed with your ex-husband or not?!" Riana questioned and watched as Seiya's eyes widened and he looked down at Serena as if to ask her if this was true or not. Serena wouldn't look up; her eyes wouldn't meet either of theirs.
"Okay… Tell me."
"Are you sure that you don't remember anything from this afternoon?" Riana questioned, her eyes getting soft just as her voice did. She coaxed her cousin to tell her what had happened, because honestly, she didn't even understand what had happened.
"Not really, I just remember that Alice forgot to meet me for lunch or something like that and then it was raining." Serena said and shrugged, "I can't really remember anything else from that, and all I remember is waking up in Darien's arms and seeing you standing over us."
Riana laughed slightly, "Yeah, sorry about that."
"That's alright, I'm glad that I woke up and you're the first person I saw and talked too, because honestly I really don't think that I could take facing Darien after that." Serena said and rested her head on Seiya's shoulder. She sighed and blinked curiously at Riana.
"So tell me the dirt cousin." Serena said and arched an eye-brow at Riana. Riana sighed and brushed back a piece of her hair before starting her story.
"Well, I don't really know much Sere, just that I was talking to one of the guests to Darien and Jolene's wedding and then Darien came in to the hotel with you in his arms and said that he had found you on the streets. I told him that he should go and put you in my room because it was closer and then he went and I told him I would come up later to check up on you. I came up and he was still there, I really did expect him to leave by then. I offered to look after you and he said that it was okay and he would do it and that I should go back and work with the person that I had been working with." She inhaled deeply, "And then I went back downstairs, met up with a couple of people… Then went back up to check on you and that's when I found you."
Serena furrowed her brow slightly, a crease forming between her eyebrows, "Ugh! I'm such an idiot, I remember that I stayed out in the rain because I was feeling really down and I didn't feel like coming back to an empty hotel room. Then I remember Darien was talking to me. I hope I didn't do anything too embarrassing. I probably made such a fool out of myself!"
"I don't think that's possible Serena." Seiya chirped in and Riana smiled at them. She really did hope that Serena would come to her senses and decide that Seiya was the right one for her.
--
Riana was sure that she was going to be late.
Not only late, but killed for being late. She wasn't sure how she had lost track of time, but she had gotten caught up talking to Serena and Seiya, that she had totally forgotten about the rehearsal before the rehearsal. She had to talk to Darien and Jolene about the wedding and then they would rehearse. She walked into the grand room and found Darien and Jolene sitting at a smaller table, muttering things to each other. She sat down in the chair across from them and smiled nervously.
"I'm sorry that I'm so late, I lost track of time while talking to Serena and Seiya." She watched Darien's eyes flicker and then shift uncomfortably. "Well they say you know, time flies when you're having fun." She proposed and Jolene nodded her head.
"It's alright Riana; I probably would have done the same thing."
Riana nodded her head numbly and then forced a smile. "So… Um, shall we start?"
"Yes, I think that would be for the best." Jolene said and stretched her arms across the table, her perfect hands falling on the folder that Riana had put out for this couple. She leafed through it and showed some of the things to Darien.
"So do you like what I have here?" She questioned, unsure of what they were mumbling to each other. Jolene looked up at Riana's words and smiled. She inhaled and placed one hand on the other in front of her on the table.
"Do you think…? That you could possibly get me purple roses?"
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"She really asked you to get her purple roses?" Serena questioned Riana as they walked together down the bright street. It was a day after the incident with Darien and Serena and they were coming back from lunch together. It was finally a day-off for Riana and she was glad that she got to spend it with her favorite cousin. Riana nodded her head sadly as the hotel came into view, "Whoever thought of purple roses?"
"I have no idea and I don't want to know, but now I have to go find a place that actually sells purple flowers." Riana shook her head. "I don't even know where to start."
"Well I think that it's a ridiculous thing to ask for purple flowers for a wedding at such a late time. I mean it's totally irresponsible." Serena teased and Riana shook her teasing off. "Well gosh, if you're not in a good mood you could have just told me."
"Sorry, I was just thinking."
"Thinking…? About what darling?" Serena questioned and Riana shrugged slightly as they detoured from going to the hotel and walked into one of the clothing stores near the hotel. Serena fingered a knee-length skirt with her pink nails and then shook her head, hating the contrast of the green skirt and her pink nails. "I don't know what I would wear with this color green. Probably pink, but then I would look like a watermelon… Anyways, what were you thinking about?"
"Just thinking about the wedding and stuff, it's in about a week and a half and there is so much still to be done! I don't know how I'm going to survive all the stress that I'm being put under." Riana huffed and grabbed the skirt that Serena had been lingering on, "Try it on, it'll look good on you."
Serena took the skirt gratefully and then nodded towards the dressing room, "Are you going to come with me?"
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Riana chewed at the inside of her mouth while she waited for Serena to get out of the dressing room. She really did hope that Serena would finally chose between Darien and Seiya and then Darien would have to chose between Serena and Jolene. But of course, it was clear that Darien had already made his choice. He wanted Jolene and there was nothing Serena could really do about it. Serena stepped out of the dressing room and smiled. She spun around to show Riana the angles. It looked absolutely breath-taking on her. It fell just above her knees and was slightly ruffled.
"You don't think that it makes me look fat… Do you?" Serena asked and looked at herself in the mirror. "I just don't want people to think I look fat."
Riana shook her head and suppressed a slight giggled, "Oh please Serena, you can't look fat. You're positively too slender to look fat."
"I don't think that you're right, but-"
"Of course she's right!" A voice called in a sing-song voice and they both turned around. Riana searched for the source of the voice and found her eyes landing on a man. He was tall with white hair and his eyes were searched Serena's body. Riana felt like getting up and walking over to Serena and standing between them. He had a smirk plastered on his face. "So we meet again Serena Tsukino."
"You know this man Serena?" Riana questioned and Serena nodded her head weakly. A smile breaking across her face.
"Diamond, I didn't expect to see you so soon." She turned to Riana and a blush crept to her cheeks, "Where are my manners? Riana, this is Diamond, Diamond this is my cousin Serena."
Diamond walked over to Riana and took her hand and lightly kissed it, "It's nice to meet you Riana." She jerked her hand back slightly and sent him a warning glance. He just laughed it off and walked over to Serena.
"What are you doing here? In a woman's clothing shop?" Serena asked, her eyes dancing slightly. Riana could tell that she liked this guy or maybe just was glad to see him for some strange 'Serena' reason. Riana shook her head as she listened to them chat. She would have to ask Serena about this later.
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"You like him?" Riana questioned as she carried a couple of her cousins' bags out of the store. Serena held the rest. A light blush was on her cheeks as she heard Riana's question. She shook her head as they walked back to the hotel.
"I don't know, he's kinda like a brother to me."
"But you bought all these clothes because he said they looked good on you. I didn't think you were the one to buy clothes just because a guy told you that they looked good on you Serena Tsukino."
"Well I didn't take you as the type to be so nosy, Riana Tsukino." Serena teased as the door was opened up for them. They walked into the lobby chatting about Diamond and how Riana probably wouldn't get another day off until the wedding was over when they walked into a group of four people. Riana's eyes went wide as a scream was heard through-out the hotel lobby.
"Rei, Ami, Lita…?! What are you doing here?!" Serena screeched as her eyes landed on her three best friends and the person she had known as Alice.
End of Chapter 7: Riana
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Ending Note: So what did you think? I'm sorry that this chapter wasn't a Serena or Darien chapter, I thought it would be nice to see what would happen if I put in a Riana chapter. Just to let you know this is probably the only Riana chapter that there is going to be.
So I have a question, who do you want to be the focus next chapter?
And…
Any characters that you would like me to put in that I haven't already?
Okay, well I promise to update again sooner and I'll make the next chapter longer then this one is! I really hope that you enjoyed this chapter and I would love to hear feedback about it.
Send in you comments please!
Which means…
Please review!
