Okay, here's the next chapter! Again, FLUFFY. Consider yourself warned, and do NOT flame me about hating
fluff....
No long author's notes this time, I have nothing in particular that I want to say at this moment...if I do think of
something, I will write it at the end....yeah...
As usual, all disclaimers apply...(I hate writing these things, but oh well...) Y'all should know what I don't own...
Also as usual, thanks to those who reviewed, you people are awesome! Your reviews are what keeps me at it,
and it is because of you that I make the time at ungodly hours of the night to whip out chapter after chapter,
just so that I will never leave you hanging^_^!!
Now, here's the chapter!!
* * *
Seven weeks passed with nothing out of the ordinary. No attacks on any of them, no suspicious characters, no
assassin sightings. Zack, although enjoying the peace, felt uneasy. It was like the ominous lull before a storm,
and he and Amy remained almost neurotically vigilant.
He knew that this time, in the end, they would not just be killing off some of Demando's minions, but that they
would eventually enter a showdown with the crazed criminal himself. Amy knew this as well, although she, like
him, tried her utmost not to alarm Serena and Darien in any way. Although they hid it well, he could tell that
both of them were still rather shaken by the incident at the Chinese restaurant. They had made Amy tell them
exactly what had happened, and when informed that the assassin Peridot had wanted to break into Serena's
car, they had turned extremely pale, and asked him and Amy what did they think Peridot wanted to do. Amy's
speculation was that he had wanted to enter the car, hide in the backseat and then ambush her, and probably
make her drive to Demando's hideout. Had Amy been, well, NOT Amy, Peridot would probably have forced her to
open up the car door and then killed her and stowed her away in the trunk. Zack believed this hypothesis to be
reasonable, and was very glad that Amy was Amy and thenceforth be able to stay alive.
He and Amy were getting along far better now. Although they had had a somewhat unpromising start to their
acquaintance, both found that they could learn to get along with each other with time. To be sure, Amy, the
little wench, still insisted on calling him "pretty boy" and still gave him that prissy little frown every time that he
acted in a way that she disapproved of, such as pay personal compliments to that cute maid, Holly. And he, for
the life of him, did not understand why she was so bookish and serious at times, despite his best efforts to get
her to loosen up. But there were also times when he felt great contentment. She, despite her bookishness and
conservatism, was good company, understanding, witty, and nice to look at. She was a sophisticated, classy
woman, but had her adorable, girlish moments as well.
He remembered how, a week previously, he had just finished taking a shower, and turned the water off to hear
tinkling laughter coming from the parlor they shared. The laughter grew louder with time, and he had come out
to see what was so funny. Surprisingly, he found Amy curled up on the sofa, quivering with mirth, a COMIC book
out of all things, in her hands.
"Calvin and Hobbes, Amy? I'm surprised at you..." He had teased. She continued giggling, saying nothing. "Now,
what's so funny?" He had asked her.
Amy showed him the comic she was reading. The boy, Calvin, was looking whipped, his highly irate and scary
babysitter was yelling at him. It was amusing, but not THAT amusing. "She reminds me of Raye, why, even has
Raye's scowl!" Amy had explained, still laughing. She then proceeded to tell him stories about James' girlfriend
that made him fervently and repeatedly pray that his friend would not do anything to piss her off. Punctuating
her anecdotes with silvery laughter and dressed in denim shorts and a baby blue t-shirt with the word "Cutie" in
silver glitter on it, she looked just like a little girl. Gone was the jaded, sharply smart woman, to be replaced by
an innocent, lovable girl. She did not show this side of her very often, probably because it was a job liability,
but at times, the little girl within would show her face.
Today was such a day. It was Sunday, and everyone was having a lazy day at home. Darien and Serena had a
swimming pool, and after doing several laps (she not only looked amazingly sexy in a bathing suit but swum like
a fish) she had initiated a spirited water fight with him, blowing him raspberries whenever he missed her. Darien
and Serena had laughed and joined in the fun, and soon all four of them were laughing like a bunch of crazy
teenagers. It was now the afternoon, and the two of them were sitting comfortably in their parlor. Serena and
Darien were having some "alone time" somewhere. Amy, to his great disappointment, had changed out of the
nice blue and silver bikini she had on earlier, but her current garb still pleased him. Dressed in a white tank top
and khaki shorts, she was sitting next to him on the floor, body comfortably nestled close to his. She cocked
her head sideways to look at him, grinning impishly, "I think I won the water fight today."
"Is that so?" Zack smirked. "I guess I will just have to do something about that, don't I?" He started tickling her,
smiling when she squirmed and giggled and tried to break free. But he kept her where she was, and mercilessly
tickled her sides. She laughed til tears sprung to her eyes, and raised her hands in surrender. "Peace! You win,
Zack, peace!"
Zack looked down at her. She was lying on the floor, her short hair tousled, her eyes dancing with merriment, a
rosy flush on her cheeks. She was a winsome little girl and a smart, sophisticated woman all in one, a wholly
enchanting creature, and he was in considerable danger of losing his heart and transforming him from the world's
biggest player to the world's most besotted whipped boyfriend. But at that moment, he didn't give a damn. He
smiled at her, and said softly, "Now, since I AM the winner, I think I'm entitled to some type of reward, don't
you agree?"
Amy felt her breath catch in her throat. Lord, did he have ANY idea of how that particular smile make her heart
jump to her throat? All she could do was nod tremulously, all the while thinking that that particular smile should
be illegalized.
Zack gazed deeply into her peaceful blue eyes, and proceeded to shower her forehead, eyes, nose and cheeks
with light butterfly kisses. Then, he pulled back slightly to look at her face. She was smiling up at him, a slightly
bashful but blissfully content smile. And he lowered his head to kiss her firmly on her lips.
He felt her sigh lightly against his lips, and then felt her slim fingers threading through his hair. Gods, the woman
was driving him insane, and he was loving every minute of it. After a few more kisses, he broke away, and said
to her in absolute seriousness, "Well, much as I hate to admit this, I think I actually owe that little bastard of a
Dominic Dark one for being his crazy psychotic murderous self."
"WHAT?!"
He chuckled at her shock, then lowered his lips to hers again, "Had he been just another nice, harmless guy, I
would never have met you." He felt her smiling when he kissed her.
~ ~ ~
Demando smiled cruelly at the redhead cowering in front of him. This Beryl girl was a silly, naive teenager with a
crush on Darien. She was shy, untrained, easily influenced and unnoticeable. Perfect. She had never even met
the object of her crush before, just seen him in a magazine. She knew next to nothing about him. Perfect......
He would send her to find out who was protecting Serena and Darien. Then, after she had given him the needed
information, he would promise that as soon as he got rid of Serena, Darien could be hers. And then, he would
kill her.
She was not an assassin, hell, she didn't even look like she could kill a fly. She was just a stupid, cowardly little
girl. No one would suspect her, or give her a second glance.
It was perfect.
* * *
There!! Now, I HOPE that was enough fluffyness to keep all you fluff-lovers satisfied! I promise more plot in the
next chapter......
Okay then, until the next chapter, have fun, and REVIEW!!!!!!
~Thalia
fluff....
No long author's notes this time, I have nothing in particular that I want to say at this moment...if I do think of
something, I will write it at the end....yeah...
As usual, all disclaimers apply...(I hate writing these things, but oh well...) Y'all should know what I don't own...
Also as usual, thanks to those who reviewed, you people are awesome! Your reviews are what keeps me at it,
and it is because of you that I make the time at ungodly hours of the night to whip out chapter after chapter,
just so that I will never leave you hanging^_^!!
Now, here's the chapter!!
* * *
Seven weeks passed with nothing out of the ordinary. No attacks on any of them, no suspicious characters, no
assassin sightings. Zack, although enjoying the peace, felt uneasy. It was like the ominous lull before a storm,
and he and Amy remained almost neurotically vigilant.
He knew that this time, in the end, they would not just be killing off some of Demando's minions, but that they
would eventually enter a showdown with the crazed criminal himself. Amy knew this as well, although she, like
him, tried her utmost not to alarm Serena and Darien in any way. Although they hid it well, he could tell that
both of them were still rather shaken by the incident at the Chinese restaurant. They had made Amy tell them
exactly what had happened, and when informed that the assassin Peridot had wanted to break into Serena's
car, they had turned extremely pale, and asked him and Amy what did they think Peridot wanted to do. Amy's
speculation was that he had wanted to enter the car, hide in the backseat and then ambush her, and probably
make her drive to Demando's hideout. Had Amy been, well, NOT Amy, Peridot would probably have forced her to
open up the car door and then killed her and stowed her away in the trunk. Zack believed this hypothesis to be
reasonable, and was very glad that Amy was Amy and thenceforth be able to stay alive.
He and Amy were getting along far better now. Although they had had a somewhat unpromising start to their
acquaintance, both found that they could learn to get along with each other with time. To be sure, Amy, the
little wench, still insisted on calling him "pretty boy" and still gave him that prissy little frown every time that he
acted in a way that she disapproved of, such as pay personal compliments to that cute maid, Holly. And he, for
the life of him, did not understand why she was so bookish and serious at times, despite his best efforts to get
her to loosen up. But there were also times when he felt great contentment. She, despite her bookishness and
conservatism, was good company, understanding, witty, and nice to look at. She was a sophisticated, classy
woman, but had her adorable, girlish moments as well.
He remembered how, a week previously, he had just finished taking a shower, and turned the water off to hear
tinkling laughter coming from the parlor they shared. The laughter grew louder with time, and he had come out
to see what was so funny. Surprisingly, he found Amy curled up on the sofa, quivering with mirth, a COMIC book
out of all things, in her hands.
"Calvin and Hobbes, Amy? I'm surprised at you..." He had teased. She continued giggling, saying nothing. "Now,
what's so funny?" He had asked her.
Amy showed him the comic she was reading. The boy, Calvin, was looking whipped, his highly irate and scary
babysitter was yelling at him. It was amusing, but not THAT amusing. "She reminds me of Raye, why, even has
Raye's scowl!" Amy had explained, still laughing. She then proceeded to tell him stories about James' girlfriend
that made him fervently and repeatedly pray that his friend would not do anything to piss her off. Punctuating
her anecdotes with silvery laughter and dressed in denim shorts and a baby blue t-shirt with the word "Cutie" in
silver glitter on it, she looked just like a little girl. Gone was the jaded, sharply smart woman, to be replaced by
an innocent, lovable girl. She did not show this side of her very often, probably because it was a job liability,
but at times, the little girl within would show her face.
Today was such a day. It was Sunday, and everyone was having a lazy day at home. Darien and Serena had a
swimming pool, and after doing several laps (she not only looked amazingly sexy in a bathing suit but swum like
a fish) she had initiated a spirited water fight with him, blowing him raspberries whenever he missed her. Darien
and Serena had laughed and joined in the fun, and soon all four of them were laughing like a bunch of crazy
teenagers. It was now the afternoon, and the two of them were sitting comfortably in their parlor. Serena and
Darien were having some "alone time" somewhere. Amy, to his great disappointment, had changed out of the
nice blue and silver bikini she had on earlier, but her current garb still pleased him. Dressed in a white tank top
and khaki shorts, she was sitting next to him on the floor, body comfortably nestled close to his. She cocked
her head sideways to look at him, grinning impishly, "I think I won the water fight today."
"Is that so?" Zack smirked. "I guess I will just have to do something about that, don't I?" He started tickling her,
smiling when she squirmed and giggled and tried to break free. But he kept her where she was, and mercilessly
tickled her sides. She laughed til tears sprung to her eyes, and raised her hands in surrender. "Peace! You win,
Zack, peace!"
Zack looked down at her. She was lying on the floor, her short hair tousled, her eyes dancing with merriment, a
rosy flush on her cheeks. She was a winsome little girl and a smart, sophisticated woman all in one, a wholly
enchanting creature, and he was in considerable danger of losing his heart and transforming him from the world's
biggest player to the world's most besotted whipped boyfriend. But at that moment, he didn't give a damn. He
smiled at her, and said softly, "Now, since I AM the winner, I think I'm entitled to some type of reward, don't
you agree?"
Amy felt her breath catch in her throat. Lord, did he have ANY idea of how that particular smile make her heart
jump to her throat? All she could do was nod tremulously, all the while thinking that that particular smile should
be illegalized.
Zack gazed deeply into her peaceful blue eyes, and proceeded to shower her forehead, eyes, nose and cheeks
with light butterfly kisses. Then, he pulled back slightly to look at her face. She was smiling up at him, a slightly
bashful but blissfully content smile. And he lowered his head to kiss her firmly on her lips.
He felt her sigh lightly against his lips, and then felt her slim fingers threading through his hair. Gods, the woman
was driving him insane, and he was loving every minute of it. After a few more kisses, he broke away, and said
to her in absolute seriousness, "Well, much as I hate to admit this, I think I actually owe that little bastard of a
Dominic Dark one for being his crazy psychotic murderous self."
"WHAT?!"
He chuckled at her shock, then lowered his lips to hers again, "Had he been just another nice, harmless guy, I
would never have met you." He felt her smiling when he kissed her.
~ ~ ~
Demando smiled cruelly at the redhead cowering in front of him. This Beryl girl was a silly, naive teenager with a
crush on Darien. She was shy, untrained, easily influenced and unnoticeable. Perfect. She had never even met
the object of her crush before, just seen him in a magazine. She knew next to nothing about him. Perfect......
He would send her to find out who was protecting Serena and Darien. Then, after she had given him the needed
information, he would promise that as soon as he got rid of Serena, Darien could be hers. And then, he would
kill her.
She was not an assassin, hell, she didn't even look like she could kill a fly. She was just a stupid, cowardly little
girl. No one would suspect her, or give her a second glance.
It was perfect.
* * *
There!! Now, I HOPE that was enough fluffyness to keep all you fluff-lovers satisfied! I promise more plot in the
next chapter......
Okay then, until the next chapter, have fun, and REVIEW!!!!!!
~Thalia