The next morning came as a shock to Amara. The drapes in her room had been drawn, and the sunlight had began to trickle in.
She looked to her left at Michelle, the sleeping porcelain doll in her bed. What did she do?
She didn't sleep with Michelle; no, she had refused to do that. After the kiss in the bathroom they moved to her bedroom, where Michelle ended up without clothes, but nothing came of it. Amara didn't have it in her. What was Michelle trying to acheive? They had obligations that they couldn't risk compromising with such actions.
Michelle slowly came out of her slumber, hearing the shower running in the connecting bathroom. She got up and went to open the door, but it was locked. Again.
Why would she have locked the door after what happened last night? Michelle sighed and slowly made her way downstairs, and put on a pot of water.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Serena walks up to Darien's apartment and rings the doorbell. No answer. She rings it again, three times. Still no answer.
"Darieeeen!" she shouts, "It's meeee!"
She waits; still no answer. Getting irritated, she lets herself in.
She walks into a sound of classical piano playing loudly throughout the living room. Sitting on the floor, she looks at the books on his table.
Her mind is boggled. Classical composers? What does that even mean?
"They must be some sort of college books!" she said to herself, looking around. All around the room are books and cds of things she has never even heard of.
Should she have heard of these things? Maybe it wasn't college stuff. Was she just oblivious to anything that has to do with smarts?
She deflates inside. Maybe she was just dumb. Everyone calls her meatball head, but maybe they should be calling her airhead. She obviously wasn't even near to being on Darien's level. He was so intelligent, so into his studies and the arts; all she was into was shopping and food. Did he think of her that way? Did he feel that the only reason to stay with her was because they were meant to be in the future? Did he actually, really like her?
She drops her cookies on the floor and begins to cry, and the door opens. Darien walks in. "Serena? What are you doing-"
He realizes she is crying and drops to his knees, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Serena what's wrong?"
He notices the cookies, and takes one. Serena's tears stop as he puts one in his mouth and begins to chew.
She can tell by the look on his face that they aren't very good and begins to wail again. "I can't even make nice things for you!"
Darien swallows, "They are nice! I like them! I love when you make me treats, Serena."
She stops crying. "You do?"
"Yes," he smiles, "everything from you is nice."
She smiles, wiping her face. "You mean it?"
"Of course I mean it silly. How about we get out of here? How's lunch and a movie sound?"
Serena jumps up. "Sounds great!"
Darien laughs, gets up, turns off his music, and they walk out the door together.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"And then he took you shopping? Wow Serena, you're so lucky to have a guy like Darien." Lita says. Mina nods. "One day I can see myself with a guy like Darien.. tall, dreamy, and selfless!"
"He only did it because it's the only way to get her to stop crying! Everyone knows she's a big baby." Raye spits.
Serena crosses her arms. "I am not!"
"Are too!"
"Are not!"
"You guys, we should really head over to Raye's to get to studying, we've been putting it off all day!" Amy pipes in, and Serena looks over at her.
"Oooh, Amy, watcha readin'?"
"Oh! Um, I'm reading-"
"Do you think you could teach me some stuff Amy?" Serena butts in, "Like, about science? And Lita," she gets up, putting her head on Lita's shoulder, "would you mind teaching me how to make yummy food like you? There's nothing like knowing how to bake a little!"
Lita is puzzled. "Uh.."
"Serena, are you alright?" Mina says.
"Absolutely! I'm just very interested in learning! Can't go wrong with being smart! So, how 'bout it guys? Mina, how about a little volleyball? Raye? You know a lot of stuff about different cultures, right?"
Mina's eyes widen. "Uh, actually, I have to bring Artemis to um.. his grooming appointment! Sorry! See ya later guys!" she grabs the confused Artemis and speeds off.
"Oh wow! I think I left the oven on! I have to go check!" Lita follows quickly. Serena looks over at Raye for her response.
"Actually, Serena, I think you would be better off doing something else, like playing video games. I'll see you around you two." She walks away, shaking her head.
Serena turns to Amy, who is still sitting on the bench.
"Well, Serena, if you are actually interested in learning about things, you really should try the library. It has plenty of information and books that we could check out for you!"
"Don't worry about it, Amy," Luna says, "this learning business won't last very long."
Amy's shoulders drop, disappointed. "Oh, alright. I guess I will see you later then, Serena. Goodbye Luna!" Amy walks away as well.
Luna jumps onto the bench. "You can't be serious, Serena. You barely even pay attention in school! How about you start with those grades before trying to learn anything else!"
Serena starts to whimper. "But.. I'm just not good at it. I'll never be good at anything!" she wails. Luna rolls her eyes. "Come on Serena, let's go home."
"No thanks Luna," she whimpers again, "I'll meet you there, I'm going to go for a walk."
"Where are you off to?" Amara asks, walking downstairs in time to catch Michelle opening the door, violin case in hand.
"Oh, I was going to go down to the amphitheater, maybe the gallery, play a little.. want to come?"
Amara smiles, grabbing her motorcycle keys. "I'll drive."
They arrive as the sun was at its highest, the rays beating down on the both of them. Michelle stands on the stage while Amara sits on a bench. She watches as Michelle takes the violin out of the case, places it upon her shoulder, and begins to play. The sound resonated throughout the amphitheater, filling Amara's ears. It made her think of the day she walked in on Kana playing the piano, and wondered if that was all she could play. Kana's piano would sound beautiful paired with Michelle's violin. She herself had played with Michelle before, and often did during her public concerts, but, that was different. Playing for the public and playing alone, privately, it was two different things. You could see someone's heart open through their music in private. Concerts were merely a performance, an act.
Michelle was beautiful. She looked like an angel, sounded like one too. She looked like porcelain, like she was fake. Like if you touched her, she would shatter into little pieces.
That kiss they shared, it wasn't their first. They had had many kisses, they had many experiences together before. They were once a couple, in a way, and very passionate with each other. They had a spark. Hell, they had more than a spark; they had fireworks. An explosion.
But, that was then. Then when Michelle wasn't so focused solely on gathering the three true pure heart crystals. Back when she didn't rant about how love didn't exist. That all started after she had gotten caught up in their mission, and let go of Amara.
Did Amara love Michelle then? Sure, she knew she did. Did Michelle ever love her back? That remained a mystery.
Did it matter now? No. It couldn't matter. They had more important things to worry about. Amara had to stop being so wrapped up in Kana, or try to, because it would eventually screw up the routine she had with Michelle. The flow that had fallen into would be ruined, and the world can't afford to have it's saviors be distracted.
Even if she wanted to be distracted.
She sighed. Maybe in the future. Maybe when, if they find the pure heart crystals, and stop the Silence in it's tracks, ultimately saving the world, maybe then she could focus on Kana. And, she would like to. Her past with Michelle has driven her more toward finding someone she could feel content with. Michelle made her happy, yes, but not in the way she needed. Sometimes she thought Michelle to be her soulmate, but most of the time, she knew she wasn't. If Michelle was her soulmate, she wouldn't be so interested in other women, right?
They both had jealous tendencies, but, never really acted upon them, and never said anything too much to each other about their jealousy. Little comments here and there about bringing strange women (or men, also, on Michelle's part) home, but nothing beyond that.
Michelle, still playing, looks up slightly, and nods at her, looking past her. Amara turns her head, looking behind, only to see Serena standing there in awe.
Amara smiles. Serena was a funny kid. Very innocent, and sweet, but it was all extremely comical. She was such an airhead.
"Wow!" Serena says, walking up to Amara, "You are amazing!"
Michelle smiles, "Thank you Serena."
"Could you teach me to play guitar?"
Amara laughs. "It's a violin."
Serena sighs, unresponsive, just looks dreamily up at Michelle. Amara liked the innocence in her; it gave her hope that people could be real in life. She was a genuinely kind girl, and genuinely interested in being friends with them. It made Amara happy to know that someone liked being around her.
Other than Kana. And, well, Michelle, as of late. That kiss, what was that? What was Michelle thinking? And though it made Amara happy to know Michelle had still cared, if she actually did, and wasn't just fucking around to get her mind off Kana.
Could that be what she was doing? Using their past together as lovers to her own advantage in order to get Amara's thoughts back on her and their mission?
Michelle wouldn't stoop so low; would she? She wasn't the type.
Amara should know better than to accuse her of such things. Though Michelle was desperate to keep her on track with her duties, she wouldn't stir emotions that way to get there.
"Not at the arcade today, meatball head?" Amara jokes. Serena looks at her, frowning. "I'm trying to broaden my horizons! Get smarter! Be talented! I'm sick of video games all the time.." she looks up at Michelle again, "I want to do stuff, like play violin."
Amara chuckles, knowing exactly how she feels. Oh, how she longs to do things too, like, have a life.
She stands up, and puts her hand on Serena's shoulder. "Good luck with that Serena. I'll see you later." and begins to walk away. Serena turns after her. "Where are you going?"
Still walking, Amara puts her motorcycle helmet on. "For a ride. Helps me think."
"How can you focus on thinking while driving that?" she exclaims, and Amara laughs, tossing one of her legs over the sides.
Without an answer, she hits the clutch and flies off.
Serena turns back around to Michelle, who has stopped playing. "Serena," she says lightly, "you should stick to what you do best, not try to do what everyone else does. You're a good meatball head."
Serena starts crying slightly. Michelle sits down on the floor of the amphitheater, her face aligned with Serena's.
"What's the matter, Serena?"
Serena wipes her eyes. "Well.."
she wails. "Darien is too smart for me and I wanna be good for him! And I'm just not smart like he is.."
Michelle chuckles. "Serena, you should never change yourself in order to be good for someone else. Darien should love you for who you are, braniac or not, and I'm sure he does."
Serena sniffles. "You think so?"
"Absolutely. You're a good kid, and I don't see any reason why someone shouldn't care for you."
Serena smiles, relieved a bit. Darien did love her, despite her immaturity at times, and she knew that. Even if she still did wish she was more mature and intelligent for him, he still cared despite all that.
"Serena," Michelle asks, "would you like to accompany me inside?"
She lights up. "Of course!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amara speeds around the backroads of town. She couldn't stay there, she couldn't watch Serena ogle over Michelle as if she were some sort of deity.
She was, sort of, in a way, perhaps a deity. She sure as hell looked like one. But she was driving Amara mad; she just couldn't be there. It wasn't jealousy this time, it was almost disgust. Michelle was so different toward other people than she was in private. That's alright. If she wants to fake who she is, fine, but Amara wasn't going to be around. She'll probably tell Serena she can be anything she puts her mind to, that everyone loves her regardless, stupid things like that, that you say to boost someone's self esteem.
Where was Amara's self esteem boost?
"So, Michelle, do you like, want to be a musician as a career?"
Michelle sighs. "I'd love to Serena, really. But, I don't really think I'm good enough to have it be my job forever.."
"WHAT! Are you crazy? You're amazing!"
Michelle chuckles modestly. "Well, thank you Serena, really. Actually, what I'd prefer to do the rest of my life is paint."
"Paint? You paint too? Wow, you're like Superwoman!" Michelle laughs again.
"I'm not, but thank you. I'd love to do these things, but I just don't think they'll work out. It's hard to plan for forever when your destiny may be something completely different than you once planned.." she lets her mind wander.
'Wow, she's so friggin perfect,' Serena says to herself, looking Michelle up and down. 'Her and Darien would get along so great.'
Then she stops and thinks for a second. Perfect, Barbie Doll Michelle, meeting her Darien?
Hm. 'I better make sure it doesn't happen. What if he likes her more than me?'
"Oh wow, are you Michelle Kaioh?"
Michelle and Serena look up.
"Kana!" Serena says, then thinks, maybe she didn't remember her. They weren't exactly friends.
"Hey, Serena," Kana smiles, "how have you been?"
She did remember! That was pretty awesome. At least she didn't just meet people and forget them, right?
"I'm great, just spending some time with Michelle here.. do you know her?"
Michelle and Kana shake their heads in unison. "Oh, no, we've never met," Kana scrambles for the words to say to her idol, "but I'm a huge fan of your work."
Michelle smiles sincerely. "Well, thank you. Always nice to know I have some fans out there."
Kana nods, enthusiastic. "I think you're incredible. I can't wait 'til your next collection."
Michelle blushes, flattered.
"Well, Michelle, this is Kana," Serena motions. "Kana, meet Michelle."
They both nod to each other. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Kana."
"You as well," Kana gives a toothy grin. "I'm honored, honestly."
"I'm actually surprised you two don't know each other already," Serena says, "through Amara."