Disclaimers: I do not own Sailor Moon and never will. Naoko Takeuchi and Bandai and Cartoon Network and all them own Sailor Moon. I am also not getting any money or whatever from writing this fanfic so PLEASE DON'T SUE ME! PLEEEEAAAAASSE! I DON'T LIKE BEING BROKE!
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Hard Times
Chapter 3
A New Life
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Serena looked out the window at ther beautiful blue ocean.
`So blue and deep, like his eyes.' she thought. Then, `Get a grip
Serena. He doesn't like you he likes Ann, the lowest of the low,
the empress of all bi-' her thoughts were interrupted when an old
lady sitting next to her spoke.
"So, dearie, why are you going to America all by yourself?
You look mighty young to be traveling alone." she said. The lady
had long, white hair that reached down to her wasit and only a few
wrinkles around her eyes when she smiled. She didn't look more
than thirty but for some odd reason Serena knew that she was much
older. "By the way, my name is Joanna Homecomings." she added,
sticking out her hand.
"Hi, ny name is Serena Tsukino." Serena said, shaking Joanna's
hand.
"So when are you going to answer my first question?" Joanna
asked, staring expectantly at Serena.
"It's a long story." Serena admitted.
"It's a long plane ride. We've got plenty of time." Joanna
said, leaning back in her seat.
"Okay, here it goes. There is this guy at home named Darien.
I just adored..."she began and told her all about how much she
loved Darien and then how seeing him with Ann had made her heart
break. She told Joanna about when Alan had kissed her and how she
had avoided them both after that. Then she told her about the
fight between her and her friends, ending with," ...and when my
family died in a car crash I just couldn't take it anymore. So I
packed all my stuff and some of my family's stuff and and all of
the money in my family's and mine bank accounts. The next thing I
knew I was at the airport buying a ticket to America and boarding
the plane. Now here I am." Serena finished.
"Oh you poor dear. How terrible. Well, since you don't know
anubody in America why don't you stay with me?" Joanna offered.
Serena shook her head. "Oh no, I wouldn't want to impose."
she said.
"But where are you going to stay? If you're thinking of an
apartment then you're crazy. You'd never get one at your age.
And there's another problem if you did get one; how would you pay
the rent for it? You'd never be able to get a job that would pay
enough money for rent and other neccessities." Joanna said,
pointing out all the little details that Serena had forgotten.
"I see your point." said Serena. "Alright, I'll take your
offer."
"Yeah! Now I'm gonna have some company in that big house of
mine. This makes me soooo happy." Joanna said blissfully.
"I warn you though. I eat a ton of food." Serena said.
"Oh, that's alright. I can afford it. I am a multi-millinaire." Joanna said, waving it off as if it was nothing.
"Whoa, you are?" Serena said, amazed. Then she started asking
questions a mile a minute, all about how the house was like and if
she had ropes of pearls and diamonds at her house. The two talked
as if they were family that hadn't seen each other in a long time
for the rest of the trip.
---^_^------^_^------^_^------^_^------^_^------^_^------^_^---
Amy, Raye, Lita, and Mina had all gathered at Raye's temple.
"You know, I feel guilty about how I treated Serena." Raye
admitted.
"Yeah, me too." Lita said.
"So do I." Amy agreed.
"Me too." Mina said. "I think we should go over to her house
and apologize for our behavior. Besides, Ann isn't that good of a
person to hang out with."
"Yeah, I vote that we all go over there and say sorry." Lita
said. "All those in favor say `I'."
"I." everyone said at the same time.
"Okay then, let's go over there right now." Amy said.
But later, when they got to Serena's house, they didn't find
anybody. The house was dark and empty. They turned on the lights
and Raye went to go look in the kitchen. She didn't find a Serena
but she did find a note. She read it as a deepening expression of
horror filled her face. "Guys, come quick!" she yelled out.
"What? What is it?" they all asked. Raye just pointed to the
note, her eyes starting to become bright, her hand to her mouth.
The girls read the note. This is what it said:
Dear Whoever-finds-this,
I have run away. It is to another country and since I know that there are a lot of countries in the world, most of 'em pretty big, don't bother coming after me. Don't worry, I'll come back someday. Also, you don't have to tell my family. They're the reason why I'm gone. Them and other people. They died in a car crash. Please don't worry about me. I'll do just fine.
Sayonara,
Serena Tsukino
When the girls finished reading the note they each looked at
each other with identical expressions of worry and hurt.
"I wonder who those `other people' who made Serena run away
are. I'd really like to know, that way I can punch their lights
out." Lita said, a look of anger on her face.
"Guys, I think those other people are us. When we had that
big fight with her we really hurt her feelings." Raye said, looking
even sadder and much more angrier with herself. The other girls gasped, then looked down at their feet.
"Well, I guess we should tell all of her friends about this."
Mina said sadly. The other girls nodded their heads and trudged
out of the kitchen and into the family room, where the phone was.
"Who should we call first?" Amy asked, picking up the phone.
"Darien." said Raye. The others gave her quizzical looks.
"I thought that those two hated each other." Lita said,
lifting an eyebrow.
"I heard her say in the Crown Arcade this afternoon that she
loved him." Raye told them.
"She does? But they're usually at each other's throats. How
could she love him?" Amy asked.
"Well, duh, she was trying to hide her feelings. And I bet
Darien likes her too." Mina, the love goddess of the group, said
knowledgfully.
"Oh."
"Does anyone know his number?" Amy asked, the phone still in
her hand. Everyone shook their heads. Amy took out the phone book
that was lying underneath the phone. "Here, Mina, look up his
number." Amy said, handing her the book. Amy waited expectantly
while Mina looked it up.
"Eureka! I found it. It's 776-8328 (`protect' in phone
language)." she said.
"Thank you Mina." Amy said as she pumched in the numbers. She
then waited while the phone rang.
Finally the phone was picked up. "Hello, may I ask who I am
speaking to?" a male voice said on the other line.
"Hi Darien, it's me, Amy, Serena's ex-best friend." Amy said
a little sadly.
"What do you mean `ex-best friend'?" Darien asked.
"Serena and I and the others all had a fight. We ended up
spliting up, Raye, Mina, Lita and I together and Serena by herself.
Anyway, what I wanted to tell you was...," Amy hesitated for a
moment.
"Yes, go on." Darien prompted, interested.
"Well, we found a note in her kitchen that says she ran away
to another country. Her family died and I guess that was just too
much for her to handle so she ran away." Amy said, her voice
starting to crack.
"NANI???!!!" Darien yelled into the phone.
"Yep, it's true. And the rest of us think that we also helped
with her running away. I'm sorry Darien, I just can't talk about
it anymore. I'm gonna put Raye on the phone." and so saying she
gave the phone to Raye and ran into Serena's room, crying.
"Hey buster, about this afternoon, why didn't you go after
her?" Raye said, taking out all of her anger at herself on Darien.
"Nani?" was the confused reply.
"When Serena told you that she loved you and then ran out of
the arcade crying, why didn't you go after her, you damn fool?" she
said, barely keeping herself from yelling. She didn't get an
answer. "Well?"
"I, I was afraid of what I'd say." he said quietly.
"You were afraid of what you'd say?" Raye asked increduously.
Hearing this, Mina grabbed the phone.
"You mean you were afraid of revealing your true feelings
toward her and so you let her get away? You're such a fool
Darien!" she yelled into the mouthpiece.
"Mina, is that you?" Darien asked, surprised.
"Yep, it's me alright. And now that I've yelled at you I'm
gonna give the phone over to Lita that way I can go find Ann and
strangle her. Here you go Lita." and with that Mina gave the phone
over to Lita and stomped out the door.
"Are you gonna yell at me too?" Darien asked, bracing himself.
"No, my friends have done enough of that. Instead I'm just
going to let you think about how much you've hurt her. You let her
get away. You let her slip through your fingers. And you are part
of the reason why she ran away. You broke her heart when she saw
you kiss Ann. You shredded it when you started to go out with Ann.
And when it was just beginnning to heal, you shattered what little
was left of it by not going after her, showing that you truly did
not care about her at all." Lita said, her voice void of emotion.
"Please, Darien, if Serena ever comes back, apologize to her. If
you don't, she will forever be scarred." Lita quietly put down the
phone and walked into Serena's room where Amy and Raye were.
---^_^------^_^------^_^------^_^------^_^------^_^------^_^---
Darien put down the receiver. `How could I have caused her
this much pain?' he thought. `I always thought that she hated me.
I never dreamed that she had a crush on me. And when she yelled at
me and told me that she loved me I thought that she was just
joking. But she wasn't and now she's completely destroyed.' Darien
walked out onto his balcony and whispered, "Oh Serena, wherever
you are, I hope that you can hear what I'm about to say now.
Please forget about me. Find someone who is worthy of your
innocence, your purity, someone who can appreciate all of your
splendor. For I am not that one." And he took a deep breath and
stood looking up at the crescent moon.
---^_^------^_^------^_^------^_^------^_^------^_^------^_^---
Hundreds of miles away, Serena was getting off of her plane in
the United States of America. `It's a good thing that I learned
how to speak and read in English.' thought Serena as she looked
around her.
Joanna came out after her. "Come along dear." she said in an
orderly kind of voice. Serena followed her outside. There a limo
was waiting for them, a man in a tuxedo standing outside the door,
waiting.
"Arthur! Arthur, over here!" Joanna yelled out to him. The
man, `Arthur', walked over to them.
"Welcome home, madame." Arthur said, bowing. "And who is your
beautiful young friend?" he asked curiously.
"Hello Arthur. My friend's name is Serena Tsukino. I'll tell
you how I met her along the ride home. In the meantime, could you
please go get our bags? We'll wait in the car." Joanna instructed
Arthur.
"Very good, madame." Arthur said, bowing once again. He then went off towards the baggage claim area, looking very odd in a tux
among all the other people around him.
"Who was that?" Serena asked Joanna.
"Oh, he's just my butler. His family has been serving me for
a long time. He may be very old, but he's still a very strong
man." Joanna told her.
"So, tell ME about YOU, Joanna. I told you my story so now
it's time that you tell me about yourself." Serena requested when
they had gotten into the car. But Serena never got to hear about
Joanna for just then Arthur came back with their luggage and
started to load it into the trunk.
"Maybe some other time dear," Joanna said kindly, "Tomorrow.
I'd tell it to you now but I did tell Arthur I'd tell him all about
you along the car ride. And you'll probably want to spend the rest
of the day exploring my house, like all of my other guests do."
Serena agreed to this and along the ride to Joanna's house
Joanna told Arthur exactly what Serena had told her on the plane.
"And so you see Arthur, that is why she will be staying with us for
a while." Joanna finished up.
"Aaahh, madame, could I please ask Miss Serena a question?"
Arthur asked.
"Of course Arthur, fire away." Serena said.
"Could you please show me some Japanese money?" he asked.
"Of course Arthur. But why?" Serena said, a little curious.
Joanna answered for Arthur, "Arthur just loves to collect
foreign moneys."
"Okay. Now, Arthur, I have a request to make of you." Serena
said to Arthur.
"Yes?" Arthur said.
"Please don't call me `Miss Serena'. It sounds too formal to
me. Just Serena would be fine." Serena said.
"Okay, Serena." Arthur said.
A couple of hours later Arthur went through a pair of large
gates. They were made of gold and had stars and moons all over
them. In the very center was a single red rose. Behind the gates
was a huge mansion. It was made entirely of red brick, but you
could tell only if you chipped away some of the white paint. The
house was a four-story house, with gigantic windows everywhere. On
the top floor there was a balcony. The porch was huge, with
hanging baskets full of roses hanging from the porch roof and
flower pots with roses along the rail. The road leading to the
house curved around a large fountain with a mermaid sitting on a
rock, a blue rose in it's hand. Yellow roses were planted all
around it.
Serena gasped. It was all so beautiful! Joanna saw her
reaction and laughed. "This is nothing compared to the inside of
the mansion." she told her companion.
When they pulled up in front of the mansion, Serena got out
and stepped on to the porch. The scent of the roses was heavenly.
Arthur went ahead of her and opened the door for Serena. "Welcome
to Madame Joanna's abode." he said. Then he went back to the car
to get the luggage.
The inside of the house was like the inside of a palace.
Stars were painted on the roof. Vases decorated with stars and crescent moons filled with roses of every color were everywhere.
Red carpet was on the floor, and in the very center of it was a
rose encircled by a crescent moon.
"Here, let me show you around." Joanna said to Serena, walking
ahead of her. Joanna showed Serena the dining room, the family
room, the living room, the bedrooms, the game room, the servants
quarters, the kitchens, and the library. Each room was more
grander than the last. Even the servants' rooms had elegant carpet
and queen sized beds. The kitchens were installed with the latest
in cooking technology. The library was filled to the ceiling with
books, and no two bedrooms were the same. Some had canopied beds,
some had king sized beds with lots of fluffy pillows. But Serena's
favorite room was the game room. Inside the game room there was
every game imaginable. There were three T.V.'s and comfortable
sofas to sit on and chat. All in all, the house was splendid.
"I thought only palaces were allowed to be this grand an
elegant." Serena said to Joanna when she had finished showing her
around.
"Well, I guess this one was an exception. But here, I have
one more room to show you." said Joanna. Joanna took Serena up
three flights of stairs to the fourth floor. She led her to a room
and opened the door.
Inside was the most grandest room of all. The bed was a king
sized bed with sheets that had the same design that the carpet in
the front hall had; a huge rose encircled with a crescent moon.
The sofa across from the bed had little stars and moons all over
it. A T.V. was to the right of the bed, as was a little table with
three chairs around it. At the opposite end of the room from the
door was a set of glass doors. Serena went to the glass doors and
opened them. Outside was the huge balcony that Serena had seen
from the gates.
"I can't believe you're letting me stay in this room." Serena
said in disbelief. "I'd have thought that you sleeped here."
"Nope, I save this room for speacial guests." Joanna said to
Serena as she walked up next to her. "The view's wonderful, isn't
it?"
All Serena could do was nod and take in the fresh air. `At
last, the perfect place.' Serena thought with happiness. `A place
where I can get away from all my troubles.' Serena took in another
deep breath of air and smiled. `I think I'm gonna like it here.'
---^_^------^_^------^_^------^_^------^_^------^_^------^_^---
So, did you like it? Did you hate it? (I hope not.) I'll post more up later.
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Hard Times
Chapter 3
A New Life
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Serena looked out the window at ther beautiful blue ocean.
`So blue and deep, like his eyes.' she thought. Then, `Get a grip
Serena. He doesn't like you he likes Ann, the lowest of the low,
the empress of all bi-' her thoughts were interrupted when an old
lady sitting next to her spoke.
"So, dearie, why are you going to America all by yourself?
You look mighty young to be traveling alone." she said. The lady
had long, white hair that reached down to her wasit and only a few
wrinkles around her eyes when she smiled. She didn't look more
than thirty but for some odd reason Serena knew that she was much
older. "By the way, my name is Joanna Homecomings." she added,
sticking out her hand.
"Hi, ny name is Serena Tsukino." Serena said, shaking Joanna's
hand.
"So when are you going to answer my first question?" Joanna
asked, staring expectantly at Serena.
"It's a long story." Serena admitted.
"It's a long plane ride. We've got plenty of time." Joanna
said, leaning back in her seat.
"Okay, here it goes. There is this guy at home named Darien.
I just adored..."she began and told her all about how much she
loved Darien and then how seeing him with Ann had made her heart
break. She told Joanna about when Alan had kissed her and how she
had avoided them both after that. Then she told her about the
fight between her and her friends, ending with," ...and when my
family died in a car crash I just couldn't take it anymore. So I
packed all my stuff and some of my family's stuff and and all of
the money in my family's and mine bank accounts. The next thing I
knew I was at the airport buying a ticket to America and boarding
the plane. Now here I am." Serena finished.
"Oh you poor dear. How terrible. Well, since you don't know
anubody in America why don't you stay with me?" Joanna offered.
Serena shook her head. "Oh no, I wouldn't want to impose."
she said.
"But where are you going to stay? If you're thinking of an
apartment then you're crazy. You'd never get one at your age.
And there's another problem if you did get one; how would you pay
the rent for it? You'd never be able to get a job that would pay
enough money for rent and other neccessities." Joanna said,
pointing out all the little details that Serena had forgotten.
"I see your point." said Serena. "Alright, I'll take your
offer."
"Yeah! Now I'm gonna have some company in that big house of
mine. This makes me soooo happy." Joanna said blissfully.
"I warn you though. I eat a ton of food." Serena said.
"Oh, that's alright. I can afford it. I am a multi-millinaire." Joanna said, waving it off as if it was nothing.
"Whoa, you are?" Serena said, amazed. Then she started asking
questions a mile a minute, all about how the house was like and if
she had ropes of pearls and diamonds at her house. The two talked
as if they were family that hadn't seen each other in a long time
for the rest of the trip.
---^_^------^_^------^_^------^_^------^_^------^_^------^_^---
Amy, Raye, Lita, and Mina had all gathered at Raye's temple.
"You know, I feel guilty about how I treated Serena." Raye
admitted.
"Yeah, me too." Lita said.
"So do I." Amy agreed.
"Me too." Mina said. "I think we should go over to her house
and apologize for our behavior. Besides, Ann isn't that good of a
person to hang out with."
"Yeah, I vote that we all go over there and say sorry." Lita
said. "All those in favor say `I'."
"I." everyone said at the same time.
"Okay then, let's go over there right now." Amy said.
But later, when they got to Serena's house, they didn't find
anybody. The house was dark and empty. They turned on the lights
and Raye went to go look in the kitchen. She didn't find a Serena
but she did find a note. She read it as a deepening expression of
horror filled her face. "Guys, come quick!" she yelled out.
"What? What is it?" they all asked. Raye just pointed to the
note, her eyes starting to become bright, her hand to her mouth.
The girls read the note. This is what it said:
Dear Whoever-finds-this,
I have run away. It is to another country and since I know that there are a lot of countries in the world, most of 'em pretty big, don't bother coming after me. Don't worry, I'll come back someday. Also, you don't have to tell my family. They're the reason why I'm gone. Them and other people. They died in a car crash. Please don't worry about me. I'll do just fine.
Sayonara,
Serena Tsukino
When the girls finished reading the note they each looked at
each other with identical expressions of worry and hurt.
"I wonder who those `other people' who made Serena run away
are. I'd really like to know, that way I can punch their lights
out." Lita said, a look of anger on her face.
"Guys, I think those other people are us. When we had that
big fight with her we really hurt her feelings." Raye said, looking
even sadder and much more angrier with herself. The other girls gasped, then looked down at their feet.
"Well, I guess we should tell all of her friends about this."
Mina said sadly. The other girls nodded their heads and trudged
out of the kitchen and into the family room, where the phone was.
"Who should we call first?" Amy asked, picking up the phone.
"Darien." said Raye. The others gave her quizzical looks.
"I thought that those two hated each other." Lita said,
lifting an eyebrow.
"I heard her say in the Crown Arcade this afternoon that she
loved him." Raye told them.
"She does? But they're usually at each other's throats. How
could she love him?" Amy asked.
"Well, duh, she was trying to hide her feelings. And I bet
Darien likes her too." Mina, the love goddess of the group, said
knowledgfully.
"Oh."
"Does anyone know his number?" Amy asked, the phone still in
her hand. Everyone shook their heads. Amy took out the phone book
that was lying underneath the phone. "Here, Mina, look up his
number." Amy said, handing her the book. Amy waited expectantly
while Mina looked it up.
"Eureka! I found it. It's 776-8328 (`protect' in phone
language)." she said.
"Thank you Mina." Amy said as she pumched in the numbers. She
then waited while the phone rang.
Finally the phone was picked up. "Hello, may I ask who I am
speaking to?" a male voice said on the other line.
"Hi Darien, it's me, Amy, Serena's ex-best friend." Amy said
a little sadly.
"What do you mean `ex-best friend'?" Darien asked.
"Serena and I and the others all had a fight. We ended up
spliting up, Raye, Mina, Lita and I together and Serena by herself.
Anyway, what I wanted to tell you was...," Amy hesitated for a
moment.
"Yes, go on." Darien prompted, interested.
"Well, we found a note in her kitchen that says she ran away
to another country. Her family died and I guess that was just too
much for her to handle so she ran away." Amy said, her voice
starting to crack.
"NANI???!!!" Darien yelled into the phone.
"Yep, it's true. And the rest of us think that we also helped
with her running away. I'm sorry Darien, I just can't talk about
it anymore. I'm gonna put Raye on the phone." and so saying she
gave the phone to Raye and ran into Serena's room, crying.
"Hey buster, about this afternoon, why didn't you go after
her?" Raye said, taking out all of her anger at herself on Darien.
"Nani?" was the confused reply.
"When Serena told you that she loved you and then ran out of
the arcade crying, why didn't you go after her, you damn fool?" she
said, barely keeping herself from yelling. She didn't get an
answer. "Well?"
"I, I was afraid of what I'd say." he said quietly.
"You were afraid of what you'd say?" Raye asked increduously.
Hearing this, Mina grabbed the phone.
"You mean you were afraid of revealing your true feelings
toward her and so you let her get away? You're such a fool
Darien!" she yelled into the mouthpiece.
"Mina, is that you?" Darien asked, surprised.
"Yep, it's me alright. And now that I've yelled at you I'm
gonna give the phone over to Lita that way I can go find Ann and
strangle her. Here you go Lita." and with that Mina gave the phone
over to Lita and stomped out the door.
"Are you gonna yell at me too?" Darien asked, bracing himself.
"No, my friends have done enough of that. Instead I'm just
going to let you think about how much you've hurt her. You let her
get away. You let her slip through your fingers. And you are part
of the reason why she ran away. You broke her heart when she saw
you kiss Ann. You shredded it when you started to go out with Ann.
And when it was just beginnning to heal, you shattered what little
was left of it by not going after her, showing that you truly did
not care about her at all." Lita said, her voice void of emotion.
"Please, Darien, if Serena ever comes back, apologize to her. If
you don't, she will forever be scarred." Lita quietly put down the
phone and walked into Serena's room where Amy and Raye were.
---^_^------^_^------^_^------^_^------^_^------^_^------^_^---
Darien put down the receiver. `How could I have caused her
this much pain?' he thought. `I always thought that she hated me.
I never dreamed that she had a crush on me. And when she yelled at
me and told me that she loved me I thought that she was just
joking. But she wasn't and now she's completely destroyed.' Darien
walked out onto his balcony and whispered, "Oh Serena, wherever
you are, I hope that you can hear what I'm about to say now.
Please forget about me. Find someone who is worthy of your
innocence, your purity, someone who can appreciate all of your
splendor. For I am not that one." And he took a deep breath and
stood looking up at the crescent moon.
---^_^------^_^------^_^------^_^------^_^------^_^------^_^---
Hundreds of miles away, Serena was getting off of her plane in
the United States of America. `It's a good thing that I learned
how to speak and read in English.' thought Serena as she looked
around her.
Joanna came out after her. "Come along dear." she said in an
orderly kind of voice. Serena followed her outside. There a limo
was waiting for them, a man in a tuxedo standing outside the door,
waiting.
"Arthur! Arthur, over here!" Joanna yelled out to him. The
man, `Arthur', walked over to them.
"Welcome home, madame." Arthur said, bowing. "And who is your
beautiful young friend?" he asked curiously.
"Hello Arthur. My friend's name is Serena Tsukino. I'll tell
you how I met her along the ride home. In the meantime, could you
please go get our bags? We'll wait in the car." Joanna instructed
Arthur.
"Very good, madame." Arthur said, bowing once again. He then went off towards the baggage claim area, looking very odd in a tux
among all the other people around him.
"Who was that?" Serena asked Joanna.
"Oh, he's just my butler. His family has been serving me for
a long time. He may be very old, but he's still a very strong
man." Joanna told her.
"So, tell ME about YOU, Joanna. I told you my story so now
it's time that you tell me about yourself." Serena requested when
they had gotten into the car. But Serena never got to hear about
Joanna for just then Arthur came back with their luggage and
started to load it into the trunk.
"Maybe some other time dear," Joanna said kindly, "Tomorrow.
I'd tell it to you now but I did tell Arthur I'd tell him all about
you along the car ride. And you'll probably want to spend the rest
of the day exploring my house, like all of my other guests do."
Serena agreed to this and along the ride to Joanna's house
Joanna told Arthur exactly what Serena had told her on the plane.
"And so you see Arthur, that is why she will be staying with us for
a while." Joanna finished up.
"Aaahh, madame, could I please ask Miss Serena a question?"
Arthur asked.
"Of course Arthur, fire away." Serena said.
"Could you please show me some Japanese money?" he asked.
"Of course Arthur. But why?" Serena said, a little curious.
Joanna answered for Arthur, "Arthur just loves to collect
foreign moneys."
"Okay. Now, Arthur, I have a request to make of you." Serena
said to Arthur.
"Yes?" Arthur said.
"Please don't call me `Miss Serena'. It sounds too formal to
me. Just Serena would be fine." Serena said.
"Okay, Serena." Arthur said.
A couple of hours later Arthur went through a pair of large
gates. They were made of gold and had stars and moons all over
them. In the very center was a single red rose. Behind the gates
was a huge mansion. It was made entirely of red brick, but you
could tell only if you chipped away some of the white paint. The
house was a four-story house, with gigantic windows everywhere. On
the top floor there was a balcony. The porch was huge, with
hanging baskets full of roses hanging from the porch roof and
flower pots with roses along the rail. The road leading to the
house curved around a large fountain with a mermaid sitting on a
rock, a blue rose in it's hand. Yellow roses were planted all
around it.
Serena gasped. It was all so beautiful! Joanna saw her
reaction and laughed. "This is nothing compared to the inside of
the mansion." she told her companion.
When they pulled up in front of the mansion, Serena got out
and stepped on to the porch. The scent of the roses was heavenly.
Arthur went ahead of her and opened the door for Serena. "Welcome
to Madame Joanna's abode." he said. Then he went back to the car
to get the luggage.
The inside of the house was like the inside of a palace.
Stars were painted on the roof. Vases decorated with stars and crescent moons filled with roses of every color were everywhere.
Red carpet was on the floor, and in the very center of it was a
rose encircled by a crescent moon.
"Here, let me show you around." Joanna said to Serena, walking
ahead of her. Joanna showed Serena the dining room, the family
room, the living room, the bedrooms, the game room, the servants
quarters, the kitchens, and the library. Each room was more
grander than the last. Even the servants' rooms had elegant carpet
and queen sized beds. The kitchens were installed with the latest
in cooking technology. The library was filled to the ceiling with
books, and no two bedrooms were the same. Some had canopied beds,
some had king sized beds with lots of fluffy pillows. But Serena's
favorite room was the game room. Inside the game room there was
every game imaginable. There were three T.V.'s and comfortable
sofas to sit on and chat. All in all, the house was splendid.
"I thought only palaces were allowed to be this grand an
elegant." Serena said to Joanna when she had finished showing her
around.
"Well, I guess this one was an exception. But here, I have
one more room to show you." said Joanna. Joanna took Serena up
three flights of stairs to the fourth floor. She led her to a room
and opened the door.
Inside was the most grandest room of all. The bed was a king
sized bed with sheets that had the same design that the carpet in
the front hall had; a huge rose encircled with a crescent moon.
The sofa across from the bed had little stars and moons all over
it. A T.V. was to the right of the bed, as was a little table with
three chairs around it. At the opposite end of the room from the
door was a set of glass doors. Serena went to the glass doors and
opened them. Outside was the huge balcony that Serena had seen
from the gates.
"I can't believe you're letting me stay in this room." Serena
said in disbelief. "I'd have thought that you sleeped here."
"Nope, I save this room for speacial guests." Joanna said to
Serena as she walked up next to her. "The view's wonderful, isn't
it?"
All Serena could do was nod and take in the fresh air. `At
last, the perfect place.' Serena thought with happiness. `A place
where I can get away from all my troubles.' Serena took in another
deep breath of air and smiled. `I think I'm gonna like it here.'
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So, did you like it? Did you hate it? (I hope not.) I'll post more up later.