Title: Winter Snow
Author: Crystal Saturn
Rated: G-PG 13+
Chapter: 7 -Helping Hands Part 2
Last time on "Winter Snow"…
"Are you crazy? She'll find out my identity!" Darien said a bit quietly, blushing madly
"Well she's bound to find out sooner or later! And besides, aren't you dying to find out who she really is?" Crystal added
"Well… yeah, but what if she doesn't like the real me?" Darien asked getting self-conscious.
"Calm down! Calm down, trust me big bro… she's totally head-over-heels in love with your alter ego AND the real you. She just doesn't know that your alter ego IS the real you." Crystal said, as they both walked into their apartment. As soon as Darien started to breathe normally, he then remembered…
"Wait, TOMORROW IS FRIDAY!!!"
[Meanwhile- With Mina and Serena]
"Wait up Serena!" Mina called after Serena
"But the shop's gonna close in 2 minutes!" Serena yelled back
"It's Thursday, the shops are open for an extra 2 hours remember?" Mina asked
"Oh… yeah, whoops!" Serena smiled sheepishly
"Anyway, I was wondering. If I arranged a date with someone for you, would you go?" Mina asked coyly, nervously playing with a lock of her long blonde hair.
"What? A blind date? I'm not so sure about this. Why do you ask?" Serena raised an eyebrow, uncertain about where this topic of conversation was going. She didn't like the sound of this at all. Mina was notorious for bad blind date set ups. Serena was sure this would be one of those, and was determined not to fall victim to the 'Goddess of Loves' schemes.
"Well, because you've got a date this Friday night." Mina said abruptly, smiling as innocently as she could manage.
"Mina! With who?" Serena felt her face flush a bright red, partially in embarrassment, but mostly in anger.
"Um… Tuxedo Mask."
"TUXEDO MASK?! How did you manage that?!" A gasp of air caught in the back of Serena's throat as she began to blush profusely. For a moment, she thought she could've fainted.
"I've got my ways…" Mina giggled, giddy at the thought of being awarded the honor of being the best matchmaker in town. "You're going to a fancy/formal restaurant for dinner, with him, at 7."
"Oh my gosh!" Serena said excitedly "But what if he doesn't like the real me?" Concern and rational thinking suddenly reared its ugly head.
"Trust me, he'll like the real you as much as you'll like the real him." Mina smiled, trying the best to reassure her friend. Serena's breathing slowed as the attempted to calm down. It wasn't long before her train of thought led her towards a rather important fact.
"Wait…TOMORROW IS FRIDAY!" She froze in mid step as both her, and Mina, began to walk into the shopping mall. "Oh Mina, I need to get a dress and shoes and I need to do my hair and… and… and…" Serena grabbed Mina by the shoulders in desperation and began to shake her.
"Calm down girl! You're hyperventilating!" Mina giggled. "Listen, how about we get all that stuff and then tomorrow, I'll come over your place and help you get ready, OK?" Mina sorted out.
"Oh Mina! You're the best!!!" Serena gave Mina a giant bear hug.
Meanwhile, Andrew, who had been left in charge of bookings and reservations, was stacking the last of the chairs in the empty arcade. The Crown had closed early because there weren't any customers. Business has slowed right down lately. Andrew decided that this would be a great time to organize where Serena and Darien would be dining the next afternoon.
"Hmm, The Comet Café sounds cool…" Andrew pondered to himself. "I'll make them meet in the rose gardens, outside the café" Andrew cackled wickedly. "I'd LOVE to see the expressions on their faces when they realize that they're gonna spend the night with each other."
[The Next Day- After School…]
"Serena! Wait up!" Mina yelled after her blonde friend.
"Hurry up Mina! I'll be late for my date!" Serena rushed home, sprinting past the arcade, where, inside, Crystal and Andrew were talking about this afternoon.
"So do you think that they'll last long in the same room together?" Andrew mused out loud.
"I don't know Andy, but Darien pinky promised me that he'd go…" Crystal said wriggling her pinky. He smiled at her innocence.
"Well in that case, but how are we gonna get them to confess their feelings for one another?" Andrew asked thoughtfully
"Oh, I've got a few tricks up my sleeve…" Crystal smiled, evilly.
"Oh?"
"Yeah…I may not have mastered ALL of my powers yet, but I DO have a spell that will work." Crystal beamed. "It will make the people affected, say what they are thinking, no matter what. Kinda like a truth serum." Crystal explained.
"Hey, that's really good!" Andrew admitted.
"Well, Andy, I gotta go help Darien get ready for tonight. Bye!" Crystal waved
"See ya later! Good luck!" Andrew replied. "Well guys, I really hope this does work." Andrew sighed to himself.
Soon, Crystal arrived at the apartment to find Darien in a frenzy.
"Great, Crystal… Where have you been?" Darien asked, rushing around.
"Just… talking" Crystal replied
"Well what do you think?" Darien presented himself. He was clad in his traditional basic tuxedo mask costume minus the accessories and cape.
"You look…" Crystal looked at Darien, trying to pick her words wisely, careful not to shatter his precious male ego. It was either his nervousness or his obsessive compulsive perfectionist disposition that compelled him to groom himself to the extent of not having a single strand of hair out of place. Either way, it irritated Crystal to no end. She tried to overlook it and concentrate on the rest of his presentation, but found it difficult to do so. Before long, she had her hands running through his immaculate, mannequin-like hair, messing it up a little and styling it out of the 80's.
"CRYSTAL! What did you do!? It took me forever to get it just right!" Darien boomed.
"I'm sorry Dare, it was just annoyingly perfect. It was horrible, and besides, you look much better like this anyway." Crystal defended herself, pouting a little. Darien frowned slightly, before shrugging it off, leaving it in the hands of his little sister.
Time went by, as Darien prepared for his big date and soon it was time for him to leave. Darien stood before Crystal with a broad smile across his face.
"No, No, No…" Crystal frowned
"What?" Darien's smile faded
"You're missing something" Crystal scratched her head, trying to remember what Darien was missing. Darien just stood there awkwardly, not quite knowing what to do. He wasn't much of a dater or a social butterfly. "I've got it!" Crystal broke the deadly silence, suddenly repossessing Dariens' attention and causing him to jump in fright.
"What?"
"You're missing…" Crystal took a single red rose out of the glass vase on the coffee table, trimmed it down to size and placed it in Darien's tuxedo pocket. "This" she ended. Darien smiled, giving his sister a quick hug of appreciation before running out the door to his date.
[Meanwhile- At Serena's Place]
"SERENA! Will you hold still?!" Mina yelled, chasing after the nervous and excited Serena.
"I'm sorry Mina, I just can't wait!" Serena said beaming with joy.
"Well you're going to have to stay still if you want to look good for your date!" Mina said, getting annoyed. "Ok, you're done!" Mina smiled, putting the rest of her hair pins down. "All set and ready to go" Mina smiled at her latest triumph. Serena wore a stunning silver, low cut slim dress that clung on to her curves perfectly.
"Thank you so much Mina!" Serena thanked her best friend.
"It was nothing. Ok wait, you're missing something!" Mina frowned
"What? What!" Serena began to panic
"This…" Mina placed a silver bracelet with a little silver moon dangling charm around Serena's wrist.
"Perfect" She smiled, and Serena was off, to her date.
Crystal Saturn
