All My Brothers – Part 4
By: Reba Jean, June, 2001
E-mail: rjean@ghg.net
Rating: PG13/R
Genre: Romance/comedy
Disclaimer: Characters are based on Sailor Moon copyright 1992 by Naoko
Takeuchi/Kodansha, TOEI Animation, English language adaptation
copyright 1995 by DIC Entertainment. This story is not intended for
monetary gain or tangible profit, but purely for entertainment of the
readers.
Notes: This is an alternate timeline / storyline. It references plot
elements from the manga, anime, and novels by Lianne Sentar based on
the anime, and is not totally consistent with any one of these. Names
are a mixture of English and Japanese(mostly like the translated
manga). Michiru and Haruka are a couple (not cousins as in Dic). Some
of the manga illustrations show a tuxedo mask transform as well as
sailor scout transform for Haruka, so I am taking the liberty of
inferring she has male as well as female forms for humorous purposes.
(Their relationship is their own business and the subject of many
fanfics by others).
Theme: "For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me."
Philippians 2:18
The days passed quickly, full of activity as Serena and her friends
planned her formal 'wedding' ceremony. Rei and Ami did most of the
organizing (and bossing people around). Lita volunteered to cater the
food for the reception. Serena's mother arranged to rent the chapel
and for the priest from her church to perform the ceremony. Michiru
and Haruka agreed to do the music. All the girls helped with
addressing and sending out invitations. The guys were basically
mystified at so much fuss over what Chad called a "rerun". They would
generally disappear when they saw Ami or Rei heading their way.
Serena decided to help Lita since she had so many evenings alone while
Darien was at work. It was also a sneaky way to get help improving her
cooking. Plus she got a great dinner without having to do much work.
She had improved a lot since she was younger, but was still far from
being a gourmet cook like Lita. She also had Lita help her learn to
balance a checkbook and about budgeting, since those were some of the
many classes she had slept through in school. She hoped that would
help cut down on Darien's teasing; he found too much ammunition
already.
Shopping for a wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses turned into an all
day shopping foray. "I'm tired and hungry. Can't we go get something
to eat now?" Serena whined to Mina, who was dragging her toward the
last bridal shop in the pricier end of the Harajuku shopping district.
"If you had picked any of the dozen dresses that I liked, you wouldn't
still be looking," replied Mina.
Molly entered the conversation, "This is the last one, Serena. You've
just got to pick something. They have a lot of resale stuff too. It
should be the most fun!"
Lita, Ami, and Rei trailed behind looking in the windows of the stores
they passed. Bringing up the rear was Michiru dragging a stubborn
looking Haruka along behind her. "I don't know how I ever let you talk
me into wearing a dress! You know I hate dresses," complained Haruka
to her companion.
The store they entered was the largest one yet. Row upon row of
formals and bridal wear were on either side of the entrance. Toward the
back was a sign next to a doorway that read: "SALE! Rental Returns,
Unpicked Up Layaways, Resale Items". Molly spotted the sign
immediately, "Oh, look! Lets start back there!" and began moving toward
the sale room. Ami, Rei, and Lita also started in that direction.
Mina was pulled to a halt by Serena's sudden turn the opposite
direction. She was staring at a dress on the manikin in the wedding
gown display near the window. "I want that one," said Serena as she
pointed to what was one of the most expensive looking dresses on
display. Tier on tier of lace and net on the full white satin skirt,
hand beaded with designs on the form fitting top and sheer long
sleeves, and a lower cut front toped by sheer beaded netting was what
had caught her eye. The full-length elaborate veil had similar designs
on its lace and net construction.
Mina said, "Finally." She went over and checked the tag and gulped.
"Uh, Serena, you better take a look at the price tag before you decide
for sure. It's a designer."
Serena flippantly replied, "Price is no object. Darien said I could
have whatever I wanted. This credit card doesn't have a preset limit
anyway." She drifted over to where Mina was holding up the price tag.
"Wow," she commented as she read the 1,000,000 yen (about $10,000 U.S.)
price. She waved over a clerk, "I need to try on that dress in a size
3 please." The girl, who worked on commission, practically ran over
when she saw which dress interested Serena.
The other girls were busy in the back room pawing through the piles of
sale items in a true bargain hunter's frenzy. Haruka looked at Michiru
and groaned, "There is no way I am going to look through piles of
stuff. I hate shopping! I'm going outside and read, just come get me
if you find anything." She started back out toward the front of the
shop, thumbing through her latest Road Race and Track magazine. Not
watching where she was going, she crashed into a mobile rack of evening
gowns and knocked it over.
Michiru came back out to help her pick up the fallen items. Smiling
evilly, she held up two matching dresses in cotton candy pink. They
looked like a Little Bo Peep costume with poofy sleeves and skirts.
"Aren't these just adorable and they match too. They would be
perfect," said Michiru.
Haruka gave a strangled scream, "No way! I will never wear something
like that. You're crazy!" She backed away and rammed into another
rack, setting it swaying. She caught the rack as it tipped toward the
floor and a dress caught her eye. "Hey, come look at these. They're
not too bad." She was looking at dresses of similar cut in different
colors. A plain sleeveless top flowed into a full-length skirt. She
kind of liked one in grays and silvers shot through with silver and
gold threads. There was a similar pattern in aqua and sea green that
would be perfect for Michiru she thought.
Michiru looked over the dress her partner had picked out. "I like
these too. Let's get them."
Haruka looked at her and said, "You get them. I'm going outside to
wait for the others. I can't stand this place any longer." She
escaped out the door and Michiru returned to the sale room to see if
the girls had found anything.
Molly was happily digging through a huge pile of unused returned
dresses when she found a box holding the colors of the rainbow. She
held up one dress that was a simple spaghetti-strap A-line floor length
gown in yellow silk. She waved over to Rei, Ami, and Lita. "Come look
at these. I love this yellow one. They're in rainbow colors: red,
orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, and indigo. It says you have to
buy the whole set. They're really cheap though, only 35,000 yen ($350
U.S.). They'd be perfect for bridesmaids dresses."
Rei was the first to come over and immediately grabbed the red dress.
She called to Ami and Lita, "Come see the blue and green. And if
Serena can get Setsuna and Hotaru to come, they could wear the violet
and indigo."
Mina came into the back room and told the girls to come see the dress
Serena was trying on in front of the mirror. She spotted the orange
dress. "Hey there's one in my color too! Great find Molly!" Everyone
seemed pleased by Molly's picks. These dresses were simple enough they
could actually wear them more than once. They didn't look like most of
the typical stupid bride's maid dresses. She added, "Let's take these
out and show Serena. We can gang up on her so we don't have to keep
looking for something else."
Serena was modeling the bridal gown. The rest of the girls were
arrayed in the dresses they had picked out. Lita dug out her camera
that she always carried in her purse and handed it to the salesclerk.
"Let's do a group photo of us all together. It's even one of the few
times I've ever seen Haruka in a dress that wasn't her fuku," Lita
exclaimed.
After everything was paid for and bagged to go, Serena had the final
word, "Race you all to the food shops. Last one there has to buy and
I'm starving. You know how much that will cost!" She scooted out the
door as the rest hit the bottleneck in mass and crashed into one
another trying to catch her. Shoppers dived out of the way as the herd
thundered down the sidewalks. They reached the closest food pavilion as
a group and were busily arguing who was in last place.
Mina spotted several of the guys heading their way. She pointed and
said, "Look there's Chad, Greg, and Ken. And last of all is Darien!"
Serena and the rest began laughing hysterically. She tossed the credit
card to him and said, "Last one here buy's and you're it. You can see
the bill from the dress shop after you buy us all dinner." She and the
other girls smirked at his confused expression. Just wait until he saw
the surprise Serena had waiting for him.
* * * * * * * * *
The gang had gathered for pizza at the Chiba's apartment instead of a
"rehearsal dinner". The vote on that had been unanimous. Rei finished
going over her list. "Everything is ready for tomorrow except flowers
and a photographer. We forgot those. I guess Chad can take photos if
no one has a better camera."
Darien said, "I've got a friend who's a florist. I can see what he can
come up with in the morning. Of course I can provide all the roses you
want." Haruka started fidgeting like she couldn't keep quiet any
longer. As she started to say something, Darien cut her off, "Don't go
there. Don't even start in on it. That's too much a cliché even for
you!" Her obvious disappointment at having her jokes at his expense
anticipated got almost as good a round of laughter as anything she
might have said.
"Here comes more pizza. Who wants some?" asked Serena as she carried
two large boxes of pizza from the kitchen to the party in the living
room. As she approached the coffee table to put down the food, she
tripped over Andrew's stretched out legs and feet. The boxes of pizza
went sailing. One headed toward Mina who caught it inches from the
floor. The second flew over the couch and into Chad and Rei sitting
together on the floor. Serena crashed onto the couch sprawling over
Darien, Ami, and Greg. "Wwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!" she screamed.
"Oof, get off me. You must weigh 150 kilos," shouted Ami as she tried
to shove Serena off her lap. Gregg looked down with interest as
Serena's head and shoulders landed on him, giving him a bird's eye view
straight down her blouse. He groaned as Ami slapped the side of his
head. Darien writhed silently in pain from the impact of Serena's knee
to his groin. Serena struggled to sit up, squashing Ami again in the
process. She crawled over toward her wounded lover, who whimpered and
drew up defensively.
"I'm so sorry. Did I hurt you?" she attempted to apologize but was
interrupted.
"You idiot Meatball Head!" screeched Rei as she stomped over toward
Serena holding a slice of pizza ready to throw. Chad leaped up,
grabbed her, and tackled her to the floor. "Hey it was an accident,
she tripped. You don't need to kill her this time," he said to Rei as
she struggled to resume her attack. As Rei calmed down, he picked up
the spilled pieces and looked inside the box. "Great, only three
pieces got wasted," he commented as he munched on the piece he took
away from Rei.
Andrew was howling with laughter at the chaos caused by the combination
of his big feet and Serena's klutz attack. "Way to go girl, put the
groom out of commission the night before the 'wedding'! Good thing
you've had plenty of time to sample the wares already," he teased
Serena. She was turning bright red at his raunchy teasing. Darien had
recovered enough to start paying attention to what was going on around
him and was getting one of his 'I'm going to kill you' looks. Andrew
noticed his expression and started to scoot away across the floor,
"Whoa Dare, I'm just kidding. Don't get mad!"
Michiru and Haruka were watching from across the room. Haruka, who
welcomed the opportunity to snipe at Darien, was thoroughly enjoying
the comedy in progress. She decided to stir the pot a little more
since her previous attempt had been blocked. "It's not like she'd miss
anything anyway. She didn't seem to care about 'that' back when she
had that crush on me. Even when she knew I'm female most of the time.
But on the other hand, maybe 'that's' all he knows how to do."
The crowd now had the opportunity to watch their host turn all sorts of
interesting colors as he looked from one source of irritation to
another, while attempting to control his temper or deciding who to
clobber first. The rosy hued Serena jumped in front of him. "That's
enough out of both of you. Just shut-up! Leave my 'baby' alone."
This was enough to bring down the house. Anyone who wasn't already
laughing at the Chiba comedy duo joined in.
Ami slyly added, "Between the comedy teams of Rei & Serena, Serena &
Darien, and Darien & Haruka, you two will never need a court jester in
your palace."
The doorbell rang. "I'll get it; I'm already up," said Serena. As she
opened the door she saw her mother outside in the hallway. "What's up
Mom, I thought you said you weren't coming over tonight."
Her mother said, "I've been working on you father for the past two
weeks. He's finally realizing you are gone. He came over to
apologize." She looked around, "Kenji, where are you? Come back!"
His back was disappearing into the doorway to the stairs. "Well I got
him this far at least. I had better go catch him before I lose my ride
home. We'll see you tomorrow."
Serena woke early the next morning anticipating "her day", that her
friends had worked so hard to accomplish. She was glad it wasn't the
"real" thing; she would have been so nervous it wouldn't be much fun.
She looked over at her sleeping companion. They had plenty of time;
the festivities weren't until that afternoon. She could take the time
to wake him up more pleasantly than the alarm clock. She rolled him
over, straddled him, and leaned down and began kissing him. "Hey," was
all he managed to say as he responded sleepily in kind. As she broke
away briefly, Serena smiled and said, "Morning, love."
Serena laid her head on Darien's chest as he hugged her close. "I like
this a lot better than being hit on the head with a pillow," he told
her.
"Then you'll like the rest of what I have in mind even better," she
told him and proceeded to show him exactly what she meant.
Late that morning, near lunchtime actually, they finished up breakfast
and were doing the cleanup together in the kitchen. Darien commented,
"I called my friend with the florist shop last night and his crew
should be just about finished. I need to go over and see to any last
minute changes and add in a few extra roses. I think you'll like what
they've done."
"I'll see you over at the chapel a little later then," she answered.
Serena arrived with Mina, who had picked her up on the way to the
chapel with the wedding dress and the bride's maid outfits. They
wandered around the hall. It was beautifully done in a muted pastel
rainbow of colors. One hue blended into the next starting at both
sides as you entered the chapel and joined at the top behind the stage.
If less tastefully done, it could have looked silly. Flowers of all
kinds were all around with a large number of roses and forget-me-nots
scattered throughout. More were draped and twined about a trellis-like
structure on the stage.
Darien came over and handed Serena a multi-colored bouquet of roses.
She told him, "It's beautiful. You and your friends have done a great
job. Thank you. I love you so much."
He pulled her close and kissed her. "I love you too. This was just a
little thing I could do for you." He pointed over to one side where a
little old couple were adding a last few items of decoration. "That's
my friends, the Tanaka's. They've been like grandparents to me since I
started going to their shop about the time I met you."
Mina, Serena, and Darien went into the reception room off the main
chapel. Lita was supervising the buffet set up. She moved over to
guard the table with the cakes when she saw Serena's expression.
"That's for after the ceremony. You'll just have to wait. I thought
about two chocolate cakes with the way you two love chocolate, but
thought it would be prettier with a white multi-tiered bride cake and a
chocolate groom cake."
Serena looked over the rest of the table and giggled. "That's a joke,
right?" she said when she saw some of the decorations. There was what
looked like an Easter display with bunnies, baby chickens, and eggs
around the cakes.
Lita grinned, "Yup, Andrew came up with that. I thought it was so cute
I let him leave it there."
Serena commented dryly, "You forgot the turkey to represent him, then."
Serena saw her mother, father, and a man carrying camera equipment
enter the chapel. As they approached, she looked at Darien and smiled
nervously. He stepped forward and said, "Welcome Tsukino-san," with a
bow of the proper degree for a family elder. Kenji raised an eyebrow
slightly and offered a nod, "I understand a photographer is needed. My
colleague was willing to come and help." Thanks were offered round and
the traditional politeness, which had served even enemies for
centuries, allowed the "unpleasantness" between the young couple and
her father to be "forgotten".
Serena and Mina adjourned to the ladies' dressing room to start getting
ready. Rei, Molly, and Ami were already there. Rei commented, "It's
about time you two showed up. Keeping the tradition of being
fashionably late as usual. I'll have to go snag Lita too, she won't
leave the food a minute earlier than necessary."
A bright flash came from the mirrored wall behind them and they all
whirled to see what was happening. Setsuna and Hotaru stepped out from
the surface of the mirror. "Show off," sniffed Rei.
Molly gaped, "They must be Sailor Scouts. I didn't know you knew any
of them, Serena."
"Yeah, I do. It's a secret though. Don't tell anybody about them,"
Serena answered Molly.
Serena ran over to Setsuna and Hotaru, "Great, you were able to come.
I'm so glad. We have dresses for you both."
"Wouldn't miss it," answered Setsuna. "I have a message here from Rini
and the King and Queen for you," she said as she handed Serena a roll
of paper. Serena ripped open the paper.
"All our love and best wishes for you both," was signed with a drawing
of a smiling bunny holding a rose. Scribbled writing beneath it said
"Have fun and don't fall down," Love Rini. A P.S. added below, "And
all my stinky brothers say they love you too." Serena looked at
Setsuna with a puzzled expression. "How many is 'all' anyway?" she
asked.
Setsuna smiled in reply, "You know I can't tell you that. You'll just
have to wait and see for yourself."
Finally everything was ready. The music was provided by Michiru and
Haruka as planned and was lovely. Everyone remembered their places and
no one fell down, not even the "bride". The ceremony actually started
on time, which was a good thing because it seemed to last forever. It
was long, even though the priest said that since it really was a
rededication of the couple's vows, he could skip the instruction part
of the ceremony.
Serena looked around taking in everything, all her family and friends
were there the way she had wanted them to be. She loved the dress she
had found, was happy with the decorations, and was especially looking
forward to the food. She looked at over at Darien; he looked really
good too. His expression when he first saw her in the wedding dress
had been priceless; all he could say was 'wow'. "This is what I wanted
the first time," she commented silently to herself.
Darien looked back over at her and grinned, "I heard that – I still
liked the first ceremony better, especially the look on your face when
you realized what had happened."
"You would. Any opportunity to tease me. And you're transformed; too
lazy to fool with a regular tux, huh?" she thought back.
"Who had time. Besides I'm ready for trouble this way."
Neither one was paying close attention to what the priest was saying.
"... and obey," Serena picked up on that phrase. "How did that get
there?" she wondered.
"Only in my dreams," commented Darien, adding, "You did say you wanted
a 'traditional' ceremony." They finished the vows quickly when they
finally noticed the priest looking at them expectantly.
As the formal grouping started to break up, Andrew commented to Mina,
whom he was escorting for the day, "Hey, they're still going at it. Do
you think they'll ever stop?"
Picking up the cloud of emotions lingering around the couple, she
smirked, "Nah, it will be a while. Let's go in the reception hall and
find some food. They'll be in when Serena gets hungry enough for
cake."
The reception proceeded with eating, dancing, opening of presents, and
the like. Darien reclaimed his wife from the swirling crowd. "One
last dance, Princess."
"Certainly, Prince. But why only one, I'm still having fun," Serena
asked.
"You need to change so we can go home and pack. We need to be at the
airport in two hours for check-in at security," He told her.
"Where are we going? I thought you said there was no money for a
honeymoon when you saw the bill for my dress," she squealed.
"I lied. I wanted to surprise you. You'll see where we're going when
you get to the airport," he answered.
"I hate you! I want to know now! I hate it when you won't tell me
things," she complained in an irritating whine.
"First you love me. Now you hate me. I guess I can't ever win. Oh,
well, I'll just get a refund on the tickets or maybe someone here would
like to use them instead," he teased.
"Don't even think about it, if you want to live that is," she growled.
Serena slipped through the crowd over to the dressing room to change
back into street clothes. She went out the side door to wait for their
get away car to pull up.
As the car came around the corner she saw the disgusted expression on
Darien's face. "They trashed my car, just look at it. I thought I hid
it where no one would find it," he complained. It was covered with
graffiti in various colors accusing the driver of various deficiencies
in skills. Labels proclaiming "just remarried for the fifth time" and
old shoes, trash, etc. tied behind it completed the look.
Serena said, "Well for once it wasn't Andrew pulling the joke. Believe
it or not, Ami and Melvin did the decorating while Andrew and the other
guys distracted you."
As he looked over the insults recorded on the hood he commented, "Well
this has Haruka's signature on it or I'll eat my cape."
"She was gone for a while. Maybe she did help," noted Serena.
"I'll leave the keys with the concierge and have them get the car
detailed while we're on vacation," he said as they approached the
parking garage at their apartment building.
"The staff here seems to do a lot of stuff for you. A lot more than I
would expect for someone renting one of the smaller apartments," Serena
speculated as the elevator took them up towards their apartment. "And
you've always been mysterious about money. Don't you think its about
time I knew more about OUR finances."
"Umm... uh, I knew you'd eventually be curious enough to call me on
it," he mumbled. "I'm not poor even though I sometimes pretend to be
just a working student. I work more for the experience than because I
really need the money. I mean, I'm still only twenty, after all. I
try to make enough to cover all my, uh, our living expenses without
hurting my grades. I've always had full academic scholarships all the
way through school, from grammar school to medical school. Most of
what I made modeling and from software royalties is tied up in
different investments. Actually I own quite a few shares in the
partnership that owns this building."
"But you only have a small apartment on one of the middle floors,"
Serena commented.
"The more apartments you rent out; the more money the partnership
makes. The penthouse apartments rent for the most money. If the
owners all lived up there, we wouldn't make as much profit," he
explained.
"We're going to need a bigger apartment eventually when our kids are
older," she remarked.
"When we do, then we can move to a bigger unit or have some remodeling
done," he answered.
"Anyway, what do I need to pack?" Serena changed the subject, curiosity
satisfied for the moment.
"You'll need your passport, camera, swimsuits, some tropical weather
clothes, and maybe a couple of nice dresses if you want to go somewhere
fancy," he told her.
The taxi deposited them at the entrance to the Tokyo International
Airport. They entered and headed toward the departure area. "Okay,
baka. We're at the airport. You had better tell me where we're going
right NOW," fumed the exasperated Serena. Tears were starting to roll
down her cheeks.
The smirking Darien pulled out a brochure and handed it to his angry
"bride". "Please don't cry," his countenance fell and took on a
slightly anxious look as she seemed about to start wailing. She
sniffled and started to read.
"For those who only want the best. Romantic getaways in the
South Pacific are our specialty. Custom itineraries. Departures
daily from Tokyo International and Kyoto airports. Sun, sand,
swimming, sailing, and shopping.
A honeymoon planned with you in mind, Serena Chiba. Four nights
in lovely Tahiti and two nights in lively Honolulu."
Serena quickly looked through the booklet and her tear-streaked face
broke into a smile. She reached up around Darien's neck and pulled him
down for her to kiss.
He pulled her closer and murmured an apology, "I'm sorry I pushed you
too far. Sometimes I just don't know when to stop teasing you."
By: Reba Jean, June, 2001
E-mail: rjean@ghg.net
Rating: PG13/R
Genre: Romance/comedy
Disclaimer: Characters are based on Sailor Moon copyright 1992 by Naoko
Takeuchi/Kodansha, TOEI Animation, English language adaptation
copyright 1995 by DIC Entertainment. This story is not intended for
monetary gain or tangible profit, but purely for entertainment of the
readers.
Notes: This is an alternate timeline / storyline. It references plot
elements from the manga, anime, and novels by Lianne Sentar based on
the anime, and is not totally consistent with any one of these. Names
are a mixture of English and Japanese(mostly like the translated
manga). Michiru and Haruka are a couple (not cousins as in Dic). Some
of the manga illustrations show a tuxedo mask transform as well as
sailor scout transform for Haruka, so I am taking the liberty of
inferring she has male as well as female forms for humorous purposes.
(Their relationship is their own business and the subject of many
fanfics by others).
Theme: "For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me."
Philippians 2:18
The days passed quickly, full of activity as Serena and her friends
planned her formal 'wedding' ceremony. Rei and Ami did most of the
organizing (and bossing people around). Lita volunteered to cater the
food for the reception. Serena's mother arranged to rent the chapel
and for the priest from her church to perform the ceremony. Michiru
and Haruka agreed to do the music. All the girls helped with
addressing and sending out invitations. The guys were basically
mystified at so much fuss over what Chad called a "rerun". They would
generally disappear when they saw Ami or Rei heading their way.
Serena decided to help Lita since she had so many evenings alone while
Darien was at work. It was also a sneaky way to get help improving her
cooking. Plus she got a great dinner without having to do much work.
She had improved a lot since she was younger, but was still far from
being a gourmet cook like Lita. She also had Lita help her learn to
balance a checkbook and about budgeting, since those were some of the
many classes she had slept through in school. She hoped that would
help cut down on Darien's teasing; he found too much ammunition
already.
Shopping for a wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses turned into an all
day shopping foray. "I'm tired and hungry. Can't we go get something
to eat now?" Serena whined to Mina, who was dragging her toward the
last bridal shop in the pricier end of the Harajuku shopping district.
"If you had picked any of the dozen dresses that I liked, you wouldn't
still be looking," replied Mina.
Molly entered the conversation, "This is the last one, Serena. You've
just got to pick something. They have a lot of resale stuff too. It
should be the most fun!"
Lita, Ami, and Rei trailed behind looking in the windows of the stores
they passed. Bringing up the rear was Michiru dragging a stubborn
looking Haruka along behind her. "I don't know how I ever let you talk
me into wearing a dress! You know I hate dresses," complained Haruka
to her companion.
The store they entered was the largest one yet. Row upon row of
formals and bridal wear were on either side of the entrance. Toward the
back was a sign next to a doorway that read: "SALE! Rental Returns,
Unpicked Up Layaways, Resale Items". Molly spotted the sign
immediately, "Oh, look! Lets start back there!" and began moving toward
the sale room. Ami, Rei, and Lita also started in that direction.
Mina was pulled to a halt by Serena's sudden turn the opposite
direction. She was staring at a dress on the manikin in the wedding
gown display near the window. "I want that one," said Serena as she
pointed to what was one of the most expensive looking dresses on
display. Tier on tier of lace and net on the full white satin skirt,
hand beaded with designs on the form fitting top and sheer long
sleeves, and a lower cut front toped by sheer beaded netting was what
had caught her eye. The full-length elaborate veil had similar designs
on its lace and net construction.
Mina said, "Finally." She went over and checked the tag and gulped.
"Uh, Serena, you better take a look at the price tag before you decide
for sure. It's a designer."
Serena flippantly replied, "Price is no object. Darien said I could
have whatever I wanted. This credit card doesn't have a preset limit
anyway." She drifted over to where Mina was holding up the price tag.
"Wow," she commented as she read the 1,000,000 yen (about $10,000 U.S.)
price. She waved over a clerk, "I need to try on that dress in a size
3 please." The girl, who worked on commission, practically ran over
when she saw which dress interested Serena.
The other girls were busy in the back room pawing through the piles of
sale items in a true bargain hunter's frenzy. Haruka looked at Michiru
and groaned, "There is no way I am going to look through piles of
stuff. I hate shopping! I'm going outside and read, just come get me
if you find anything." She started back out toward the front of the
shop, thumbing through her latest Road Race and Track magazine. Not
watching where she was going, she crashed into a mobile rack of evening
gowns and knocked it over.
Michiru came back out to help her pick up the fallen items. Smiling
evilly, she held up two matching dresses in cotton candy pink. They
looked like a Little Bo Peep costume with poofy sleeves and skirts.
"Aren't these just adorable and they match too. They would be
perfect," said Michiru.
Haruka gave a strangled scream, "No way! I will never wear something
like that. You're crazy!" She backed away and rammed into another
rack, setting it swaying. She caught the rack as it tipped toward the
floor and a dress caught her eye. "Hey, come look at these. They're
not too bad." She was looking at dresses of similar cut in different
colors. A plain sleeveless top flowed into a full-length skirt. She
kind of liked one in grays and silvers shot through with silver and
gold threads. There was a similar pattern in aqua and sea green that
would be perfect for Michiru she thought.
Michiru looked over the dress her partner had picked out. "I like
these too. Let's get them."
Haruka looked at her and said, "You get them. I'm going outside to
wait for the others. I can't stand this place any longer." She
escaped out the door and Michiru returned to the sale room to see if
the girls had found anything.
Molly was happily digging through a huge pile of unused returned
dresses when she found a box holding the colors of the rainbow. She
held up one dress that was a simple spaghetti-strap A-line floor length
gown in yellow silk. She waved over to Rei, Ami, and Lita. "Come look
at these. I love this yellow one. They're in rainbow colors: red,
orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, and indigo. It says you have to
buy the whole set. They're really cheap though, only 35,000 yen ($350
U.S.). They'd be perfect for bridesmaids dresses."
Rei was the first to come over and immediately grabbed the red dress.
She called to Ami and Lita, "Come see the blue and green. And if
Serena can get Setsuna and Hotaru to come, they could wear the violet
and indigo."
Mina came into the back room and told the girls to come see the dress
Serena was trying on in front of the mirror. She spotted the orange
dress. "Hey there's one in my color too! Great find Molly!" Everyone
seemed pleased by Molly's picks. These dresses were simple enough they
could actually wear them more than once. They didn't look like most of
the typical stupid bride's maid dresses. She added, "Let's take these
out and show Serena. We can gang up on her so we don't have to keep
looking for something else."
Serena was modeling the bridal gown. The rest of the girls were
arrayed in the dresses they had picked out. Lita dug out her camera
that she always carried in her purse and handed it to the salesclerk.
"Let's do a group photo of us all together. It's even one of the few
times I've ever seen Haruka in a dress that wasn't her fuku," Lita
exclaimed.
After everything was paid for and bagged to go, Serena had the final
word, "Race you all to the food shops. Last one there has to buy and
I'm starving. You know how much that will cost!" She scooted out the
door as the rest hit the bottleneck in mass and crashed into one
another trying to catch her. Shoppers dived out of the way as the herd
thundered down the sidewalks. They reached the closest food pavilion as
a group and were busily arguing who was in last place.
Mina spotted several of the guys heading their way. She pointed and
said, "Look there's Chad, Greg, and Ken. And last of all is Darien!"
Serena and the rest began laughing hysterically. She tossed the credit
card to him and said, "Last one here buy's and you're it. You can see
the bill from the dress shop after you buy us all dinner." She and the
other girls smirked at his confused expression. Just wait until he saw
the surprise Serena had waiting for him.
* * * * * * * * *
The gang had gathered for pizza at the Chiba's apartment instead of a
"rehearsal dinner". The vote on that had been unanimous. Rei finished
going over her list. "Everything is ready for tomorrow except flowers
and a photographer. We forgot those. I guess Chad can take photos if
no one has a better camera."
Darien said, "I've got a friend who's a florist. I can see what he can
come up with in the morning. Of course I can provide all the roses you
want." Haruka started fidgeting like she couldn't keep quiet any
longer. As she started to say something, Darien cut her off, "Don't go
there. Don't even start in on it. That's too much a cliché even for
you!" Her obvious disappointment at having her jokes at his expense
anticipated got almost as good a round of laughter as anything she
might have said.
"Here comes more pizza. Who wants some?" asked Serena as she carried
two large boxes of pizza from the kitchen to the party in the living
room. As she approached the coffee table to put down the food, she
tripped over Andrew's stretched out legs and feet. The boxes of pizza
went sailing. One headed toward Mina who caught it inches from the
floor. The second flew over the couch and into Chad and Rei sitting
together on the floor. Serena crashed onto the couch sprawling over
Darien, Ami, and Greg. "Wwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!" she screamed.
"Oof, get off me. You must weigh 150 kilos," shouted Ami as she tried
to shove Serena off her lap. Gregg looked down with interest as
Serena's head and shoulders landed on him, giving him a bird's eye view
straight down her blouse. He groaned as Ami slapped the side of his
head. Darien writhed silently in pain from the impact of Serena's knee
to his groin. Serena struggled to sit up, squashing Ami again in the
process. She crawled over toward her wounded lover, who whimpered and
drew up defensively.
"I'm so sorry. Did I hurt you?" she attempted to apologize but was
interrupted.
"You idiot Meatball Head!" screeched Rei as she stomped over toward
Serena holding a slice of pizza ready to throw. Chad leaped up,
grabbed her, and tackled her to the floor. "Hey it was an accident,
she tripped. You don't need to kill her this time," he said to Rei as
she struggled to resume her attack. As Rei calmed down, he picked up
the spilled pieces and looked inside the box. "Great, only three
pieces got wasted," he commented as he munched on the piece he took
away from Rei.
Andrew was howling with laughter at the chaos caused by the combination
of his big feet and Serena's klutz attack. "Way to go girl, put the
groom out of commission the night before the 'wedding'! Good thing
you've had plenty of time to sample the wares already," he teased
Serena. She was turning bright red at his raunchy teasing. Darien had
recovered enough to start paying attention to what was going on around
him and was getting one of his 'I'm going to kill you' looks. Andrew
noticed his expression and started to scoot away across the floor,
"Whoa Dare, I'm just kidding. Don't get mad!"
Michiru and Haruka were watching from across the room. Haruka, who
welcomed the opportunity to snipe at Darien, was thoroughly enjoying
the comedy in progress. She decided to stir the pot a little more
since her previous attempt had been blocked. "It's not like she'd miss
anything anyway. She didn't seem to care about 'that' back when she
had that crush on me. Even when she knew I'm female most of the time.
But on the other hand, maybe 'that's' all he knows how to do."
The crowd now had the opportunity to watch their host turn all sorts of
interesting colors as he looked from one source of irritation to
another, while attempting to control his temper or deciding who to
clobber first. The rosy hued Serena jumped in front of him. "That's
enough out of both of you. Just shut-up! Leave my 'baby' alone."
This was enough to bring down the house. Anyone who wasn't already
laughing at the Chiba comedy duo joined in.
Ami slyly added, "Between the comedy teams of Rei & Serena, Serena &
Darien, and Darien & Haruka, you two will never need a court jester in
your palace."
The doorbell rang. "I'll get it; I'm already up," said Serena. As she
opened the door she saw her mother outside in the hallway. "What's up
Mom, I thought you said you weren't coming over tonight."
Her mother said, "I've been working on you father for the past two
weeks. He's finally realizing you are gone. He came over to
apologize." She looked around, "Kenji, where are you? Come back!"
His back was disappearing into the doorway to the stairs. "Well I got
him this far at least. I had better go catch him before I lose my ride
home. We'll see you tomorrow."
Serena woke early the next morning anticipating "her day", that her
friends had worked so hard to accomplish. She was glad it wasn't the
"real" thing; she would have been so nervous it wouldn't be much fun.
She looked over at her sleeping companion. They had plenty of time;
the festivities weren't until that afternoon. She could take the time
to wake him up more pleasantly than the alarm clock. She rolled him
over, straddled him, and leaned down and began kissing him. "Hey," was
all he managed to say as he responded sleepily in kind. As she broke
away briefly, Serena smiled and said, "Morning, love."
Serena laid her head on Darien's chest as he hugged her close. "I like
this a lot better than being hit on the head with a pillow," he told
her.
"Then you'll like the rest of what I have in mind even better," she
told him and proceeded to show him exactly what she meant.
Late that morning, near lunchtime actually, they finished up breakfast
and were doing the cleanup together in the kitchen. Darien commented,
"I called my friend with the florist shop last night and his crew
should be just about finished. I need to go over and see to any last
minute changes and add in a few extra roses. I think you'll like what
they've done."
"I'll see you over at the chapel a little later then," she answered.
Serena arrived with Mina, who had picked her up on the way to the
chapel with the wedding dress and the bride's maid outfits. They
wandered around the hall. It was beautifully done in a muted pastel
rainbow of colors. One hue blended into the next starting at both
sides as you entered the chapel and joined at the top behind the stage.
If less tastefully done, it could have looked silly. Flowers of all
kinds were all around with a large number of roses and forget-me-nots
scattered throughout. More were draped and twined about a trellis-like
structure on the stage.
Darien came over and handed Serena a multi-colored bouquet of roses.
She told him, "It's beautiful. You and your friends have done a great
job. Thank you. I love you so much."
He pulled her close and kissed her. "I love you too. This was just a
little thing I could do for you." He pointed over to one side where a
little old couple were adding a last few items of decoration. "That's
my friends, the Tanaka's. They've been like grandparents to me since I
started going to their shop about the time I met you."
Mina, Serena, and Darien went into the reception room off the main
chapel. Lita was supervising the buffet set up. She moved over to
guard the table with the cakes when she saw Serena's expression.
"That's for after the ceremony. You'll just have to wait. I thought
about two chocolate cakes with the way you two love chocolate, but
thought it would be prettier with a white multi-tiered bride cake and a
chocolate groom cake."
Serena looked over the rest of the table and giggled. "That's a joke,
right?" she said when she saw some of the decorations. There was what
looked like an Easter display with bunnies, baby chickens, and eggs
around the cakes.
Lita grinned, "Yup, Andrew came up with that. I thought it was so cute
I let him leave it there."
Serena commented dryly, "You forgot the turkey to represent him, then."
Serena saw her mother, father, and a man carrying camera equipment
enter the chapel. As they approached, she looked at Darien and smiled
nervously. He stepped forward and said, "Welcome Tsukino-san," with a
bow of the proper degree for a family elder. Kenji raised an eyebrow
slightly and offered a nod, "I understand a photographer is needed. My
colleague was willing to come and help." Thanks were offered round and
the traditional politeness, which had served even enemies for
centuries, allowed the "unpleasantness" between the young couple and
her father to be "forgotten".
Serena and Mina adjourned to the ladies' dressing room to start getting
ready. Rei, Molly, and Ami were already there. Rei commented, "It's
about time you two showed up. Keeping the tradition of being
fashionably late as usual. I'll have to go snag Lita too, she won't
leave the food a minute earlier than necessary."
A bright flash came from the mirrored wall behind them and they all
whirled to see what was happening. Setsuna and Hotaru stepped out from
the surface of the mirror. "Show off," sniffed Rei.
Molly gaped, "They must be Sailor Scouts. I didn't know you knew any
of them, Serena."
"Yeah, I do. It's a secret though. Don't tell anybody about them,"
Serena answered Molly.
Serena ran over to Setsuna and Hotaru, "Great, you were able to come.
I'm so glad. We have dresses for you both."
"Wouldn't miss it," answered Setsuna. "I have a message here from Rini
and the King and Queen for you," she said as she handed Serena a roll
of paper. Serena ripped open the paper.
"All our love and best wishes for you both," was signed with a drawing
of a smiling bunny holding a rose. Scribbled writing beneath it said
"Have fun and don't fall down," Love Rini. A P.S. added below, "And
all my stinky brothers say they love you too." Serena looked at
Setsuna with a puzzled expression. "How many is 'all' anyway?" she
asked.
Setsuna smiled in reply, "You know I can't tell you that. You'll just
have to wait and see for yourself."
Finally everything was ready. The music was provided by Michiru and
Haruka as planned and was lovely. Everyone remembered their places and
no one fell down, not even the "bride". The ceremony actually started
on time, which was a good thing because it seemed to last forever. It
was long, even though the priest said that since it really was a
rededication of the couple's vows, he could skip the instruction part
of the ceremony.
Serena looked around taking in everything, all her family and friends
were there the way she had wanted them to be. She loved the dress she
had found, was happy with the decorations, and was especially looking
forward to the food. She looked at over at Darien; he looked really
good too. His expression when he first saw her in the wedding dress
had been priceless; all he could say was 'wow'. "This is what I wanted
the first time," she commented silently to herself.
Darien looked back over at her and grinned, "I heard that – I still
liked the first ceremony better, especially the look on your face when
you realized what had happened."
"You would. Any opportunity to tease me. And you're transformed; too
lazy to fool with a regular tux, huh?" she thought back.
"Who had time. Besides I'm ready for trouble this way."
Neither one was paying close attention to what the priest was saying.
"... and obey," Serena picked up on that phrase. "How did that get
there?" she wondered.
"Only in my dreams," commented Darien, adding, "You did say you wanted
a 'traditional' ceremony." They finished the vows quickly when they
finally noticed the priest looking at them expectantly.
As the formal grouping started to break up, Andrew commented to Mina,
whom he was escorting for the day, "Hey, they're still going at it. Do
you think they'll ever stop?"
Picking up the cloud of emotions lingering around the couple, she
smirked, "Nah, it will be a while. Let's go in the reception hall and
find some food. They'll be in when Serena gets hungry enough for
cake."
The reception proceeded with eating, dancing, opening of presents, and
the like. Darien reclaimed his wife from the swirling crowd. "One
last dance, Princess."
"Certainly, Prince. But why only one, I'm still having fun," Serena
asked.
"You need to change so we can go home and pack. We need to be at the
airport in two hours for check-in at security," He told her.
"Where are we going? I thought you said there was no money for a
honeymoon when you saw the bill for my dress," she squealed.
"I lied. I wanted to surprise you. You'll see where we're going when
you get to the airport," he answered.
"I hate you! I want to know now! I hate it when you won't tell me
things," she complained in an irritating whine.
"First you love me. Now you hate me. I guess I can't ever win. Oh,
well, I'll just get a refund on the tickets or maybe someone here would
like to use them instead," he teased.
"Don't even think about it, if you want to live that is," she growled.
Serena slipped through the crowd over to the dressing room to change
back into street clothes. She went out the side door to wait for their
get away car to pull up.
As the car came around the corner she saw the disgusted expression on
Darien's face. "They trashed my car, just look at it. I thought I hid
it where no one would find it," he complained. It was covered with
graffiti in various colors accusing the driver of various deficiencies
in skills. Labels proclaiming "just remarried for the fifth time" and
old shoes, trash, etc. tied behind it completed the look.
Serena said, "Well for once it wasn't Andrew pulling the joke. Believe
it or not, Ami and Melvin did the decorating while Andrew and the other
guys distracted you."
As he looked over the insults recorded on the hood he commented, "Well
this has Haruka's signature on it or I'll eat my cape."
"She was gone for a while. Maybe she did help," noted Serena.
"I'll leave the keys with the concierge and have them get the car
detailed while we're on vacation," he said as they approached the
parking garage at their apartment building.
"The staff here seems to do a lot of stuff for you. A lot more than I
would expect for someone renting one of the smaller apartments," Serena
speculated as the elevator took them up towards their apartment. "And
you've always been mysterious about money. Don't you think its about
time I knew more about OUR finances."
"Umm... uh, I knew you'd eventually be curious enough to call me on
it," he mumbled. "I'm not poor even though I sometimes pretend to be
just a working student. I work more for the experience than because I
really need the money. I mean, I'm still only twenty, after all. I
try to make enough to cover all my, uh, our living expenses without
hurting my grades. I've always had full academic scholarships all the
way through school, from grammar school to medical school. Most of
what I made modeling and from software royalties is tied up in
different investments. Actually I own quite a few shares in the
partnership that owns this building."
"But you only have a small apartment on one of the middle floors,"
Serena commented.
"The more apartments you rent out; the more money the partnership
makes. The penthouse apartments rent for the most money. If the
owners all lived up there, we wouldn't make as much profit," he
explained.
"We're going to need a bigger apartment eventually when our kids are
older," she remarked.
"When we do, then we can move to a bigger unit or have some remodeling
done," he answered.
"Anyway, what do I need to pack?" Serena changed the subject, curiosity
satisfied for the moment.
"You'll need your passport, camera, swimsuits, some tropical weather
clothes, and maybe a couple of nice dresses if you want to go somewhere
fancy," he told her.
The taxi deposited them at the entrance to the Tokyo International
Airport. They entered and headed toward the departure area. "Okay,
baka. We're at the airport. You had better tell me where we're going
right NOW," fumed the exasperated Serena. Tears were starting to roll
down her cheeks.
The smirking Darien pulled out a brochure and handed it to his angry
"bride". "Please don't cry," his countenance fell and took on a
slightly anxious look as she seemed about to start wailing. She
sniffled and started to read.
"For those who only want the best. Romantic getaways in the
South Pacific are our specialty. Custom itineraries. Departures
daily from Tokyo International and Kyoto airports. Sun, sand,
swimming, sailing, and shopping.
A honeymoon planned with you in mind, Serena Chiba. Four nights
in lovely Tahiti and two nights in lively Honolulu."
Serena quickly looked through the booklet and her tear-streaked face
broke into a smile. She reached up around Darien's neck and pulled him
down for her to kiss.
He pulled her closer and murmured an apology, "I'm sorry I pushed you
too far. Sometimes I just don't know when to stop teasing you."