Thanks to all you people who reviewed! -
SilverRunningWater89,
mairz87 (great idea! I was thinking the same thing! But, unfortunately, can't do it because it wouldn't be "proper";),
Sorceress Usagi,
Hitomi (thanks! Yeah, I'm trying to build things up until a big huge moment, but I really have no clue when that will be or even what it'll be!;),
B. Bunny,
And Jo!
So sorry for the delay! But I've been revising all the chapters, and working on the (so far) 60 page day in Paris. That was going to be this chapter, but I decided it would be better as Paris's chapter and this chapter was good for chapter 6. Also, I've been vaguely planning the later chapters of this fic. Coming up in about six or seven chapters, there will be a major plot twist. A sacrifice will be made (no! not a human one!), hearts will be broken, but worry not! For those hearts shall be mended again. K, maybe I'm giving away too much here… I'll stop now and let you read. Just please, remember to review!
The group burst out of the train station, chattering and laughing.
"Hey!" Mina exclaimed. "How are we going to get to the hotel?"
"Mina, didn't you read the brochure? There'll be a travel agent here that'll show us to our cars and give us info on where to visit and all that. And there our guy is now!" Serena pointed to a man holding up a sign that read 'Hino Party'.
"Well, I couldn't see them." Mina said sulkily. "The sun was in my eyes."
"Mina, the sun set five minutes ago. Hey, there's our guy." Commented Chad, pointing to a guy who was holding up a sign that read 'Shields Party'. They all walked over to the guys.
"We're the Hino party." Raye introduced, pulling out her I.D.
"And we're the Shields party." Darien said, flashing his I.D.
"From now on, we'll be traveling as one party." Ami spoke up.
One of the guys nodded and jotted it down in a notebook. "Name of the party?" He inquired.
"Rose." Serena said. Everyone looked at her. "What? It's my favorite flower!" She declared indignantly.
"Fine." Darien said. "Rose it is."
"Umm…" One of the travel agents started. "We've run into a little problem. Not a big one, just a little one. We only have two cars."
"Well, two is enough." Ami said.
"They're both four-seaters." The agent said. "But, we also have a two-seater motorcycle."
"I call motorcycle!" Serena and Darien both said at the exact same time. They glared at each other. Before a fight could break out, Greg quickly interrupted.
"How 'bout you both get it, and flip a coin to see who drives? That's fair."
"Fine." Serena agreed.
Darien pulled out a coin. "Tails, I drive." He called.
"Wait a moment." Serena said. "I don't trust you. Let me see that coin." She pulled it out of Darien's hand and examined it. "Ah-ha! It's a two-headed coin!" She burst out laughing. "You called tails on your own two-headed coin! Were you born stupid, or did you somehow acquire that state of intelligence?"
Darien blushed. "I didn't know I even owned a two-headed coin." He muttered.
"Idiot." She said and pulled out a coin. "This has heads and tails." She said, holding it out for him to see. He nodded. "I call heads." She said and flipped the coin. It landed on tails. "Damn it!"
"Watch your mouth, Sere." Raye called from a car. While Serena and Darien were arguing, everyone else was putting away their luggage and getting settled in the cars. Serena had no other choice but to ride with Darien, since all the car seats were taken up.
"Hmpf." She walked over to the motorcycle and got on the back. She snapped on one of the two helmets she found. Darien got on the front and grinned back at her. She growled. He laughed, snapped on his helmet, and started the bike. "Do you even know how to get there?" She screamed as the bike shot out of the parking lot.
"Watch it, you're gonna break my eardrum!" He called over his shoulder. He waved a sheet of paper in his hand. "I've got the directions from that guy right here."
Unconsciously, she held him tight. "You're doing 75 in a 60 zone." She commented, looking over his shoulder at the speedometer. He slowed to 66. She looked behind them and couldn't see the other cars. "Are you sure you know where you're going?"
"Yeah." He said absently. "Turn right… or is that straight?"
"You can't even read your own handwriting?" Serena asked incredulously. 'What an idiot!' She thought.
"Hmmm…" He ignored her. "I'm pretty sure that says straight."
"Well, it better, because we just passed the turn-off on the right." Serena commented. Looking up, she yelped. "Watch out!" A squirrel had darted out in front of them. Darien slammed to a stop, causing Serena to bang her head on his helmet. "Shit!"
"Ahhh!" Darien half-screamed sarcastically. "My ears! They're burning from the profanity! I'm scarred, forever stained for life!"
She rolled her eyes. "You act like you don't ever swear." He crossed his eyes at her. "Are you starting the bike, or are you gonna stay there with your eyes crossed like an idiot?" She asked him.
He turned around and gunned the engine. She screamed again at the speed. "Slow down, you speed demon!" She yelled, straining to make her voice heard over the whistle of the wind. Darien slowed down just a little. Serena looked around. She didn't see the cars behind them, and she saw no streetlights, or any signs of humanity. "Darien, STOP!" She bellowed in his ear.
He slammed to a stop again, but this time, he was the one who unceremoniously yelled the much-used s-word.
"Why the hell did you scream in my ear like that, woman?!?" He cried, rubbing the aforesaid ear.
"You idiot!" She screamed at him. He winced. She quieted down a little. "You've gotten us lost!"
"What!"
"Look around you, smart one! Do you see any signs of humanity?"
He looked. "There's a light… over there." He finally said, pointing to a faint glimmer in the distance.
"Well, c'mon then, idiot, let's go!"
He started the bike yet again. But this time, instead of roaring to life, the engine just turned over. He tried again, unsuccessfully. "Uh-oh."
"Uh-oh, what?" Serena asked worriedly.
"Oh, nothing, other than the fact the engine's not working!!!" He yelled. He got off and circled around the motorbike. "I don't see anything wrong." He commented. He knelt down and fiddled with some switches. "That should do it." He turned the key again. The engine turned over again. He knelt down, disconnected some wires, reconnected them, flipped a couple of switches, and pulled a small stone out from a nook in the wires. He tried to start the motorcycle again, again without luck. "Damn. This calls for drastic measures." He opened the compartment and took out a screwdriver and prepared to take apart anything he could.
"Wait a moment." Serena said. He looked up at her. She got off the bike and walked around it.
"What, you think you know what's wrong with it?" Darien asked jokingly. "If I couldn't figure it out, there's no way you could."
Serena didn't answer him. She was staring at one specific section. She took aim and gave it a good, hard kick. She turned the key. The engine roared to life. "You were saying?" She asked him with a smile on her face.
He opened his mouth… and closed it. He opened it again. This time she closed it for him. "Get on the back, idiot. I'm driving now."
Darien silently obeyed.
"Okay, here we go!" She tore along the road faster than he had been going. He had no breath to scream with.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Thank you again, ma'am." Serena said over her shoulder to the old lady. "We're sorry to interrupt you."
"No problem at all." The old lady said. "Mind you two don't get lost again now, hear?"
"Yes ma'am." Darien said with a smile as he got on the back of the bike. "Thanks again. Bye!"
"Good-bye!" Serena said.
"Bye now!" The old lady said as Serena sped away.
"Why aren't I driving?" Darien asked Serena.
"Because you'd only get us lost again, idiot."
"Is that my new name now?"
"Idiot? Yes. Now shut up and let me drive."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Where the hell are they?" Raye fumed. "They're over an hour late!"
"You don't suppose… they got lost on purpose, do you?" Lita asked suggestively.
"No. No. You should have heard Sere yelling at me for being nice to Darien on the train. He's the last person she'd want to get lost on purpose with. They're probably just regularly lost." Mina commented.
Just then, Serena and Darien walked in the doors. "Sorry we're late!" Serena exclaimed. "We got lost, because idiot here couldn't read his own handwriting."
"Hey, it was dark!" Darien said indignantly.
"Humph. Well, we're here, so have you guys checked into the rooms yet?"
"No, let's go right now." Raye said, walking toward the front desk.
"Yeah, we have to get a good night's sleep." Ami added. "We've got to be up by 5:30 tomorrow to catch the boat to Cherbourg."
"Oh, my beauty sleeeeeeeeeeeeep!" Mina wailed.
Next chapter… Serena and Darien get drunk and drift away from the ship!
~Lady Star
