Title: Winter Snow
Author: Crystal Saturn
Rated: PG 13+
Chapter: 15- The First Encounter
Last Time On "Winter Snow"...
"Dare, no!" Sailor Moon exclaimed "What has she done to you?" Darien closed his eyes as memories flashed in his mind. "Darien Chiba, she may have your mind, but your heart belongs to me." Tears streamed down her face as Beryl's evil laughter resonated within the empty hallways of her palace
"Please don't cry, Sere." Darien whispered as he brushed away her tears.
"WHAT?!" Beryl stood up, quite alarmed. It seemed like Darien had a split personality.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"I won't ever leave your side ever again." Darien added, layering more kisses on Serena's forehead and cheeks.
"Promise?" Serena looked up as another tear rolled down her face.
"I promise." Darien confirmed as their lips met within the passion of their warm embrace.
[Two Weeks Later]
Crystal jolted out of bed in a cold sweat. She had seen a vivid flash of Serena and Darien, but it had been too quick to notice anything in particular. Crystal felt bad vibes within the room. She knew that something was terribly wrong. Her thoughts were quickly surpassed as the sound of glass shattering onto cold, hard tiles echoed through the previously silent room.
"Darien" Crystal gasped as her pulse increased. She bounced out of bed and paused a few steps away from her door, cautiously waiting for any other sounds or movements. Her bare feet made a soft padded noise as she swiftly moved across the tiles of the hallway, towards Darien's room. She entered the already half opened door to see an empty bed, with the sheets all mangled together and messed up. One pillow was sticking out of the tangled mess while the other one was on the floor on the other side of the room. Crystal cautiously tip-toed down the hallway. She peered over the glass table to see a dim light radiating from the table lamp and another from the refrigerator.
"Daz?" Crystal asked as she peered into the kitchen area to see Darien in his boxers, standing in a puddle of water, carefully removing the broken shards of glass and water in front of him.
"Oh, hey Crys." Darien sighed deeply.
"What happened?" Crystal asked, knowing that Darien wouldn't usually be this clumsy, or even awake at this time.
"Oh nothing. I just had a klutz attack and dropped my drink. It's nothing really. I'm sorry if I... um... woke you..." Darien said quietly.
"It's ok... I was awake anyway. Are you sure you're alright?" Crystal asked kneeling down to help Darien clean up all the shattered glass only to stop and grab Darien's hand. "Darien! You're shaking! What's the matter?" Crystal asked concern filling her voice. She knew that something was wrong. There was something she was missing, something that Darien wouldn't tell her.
"It's... it's nothing, really. I'm still a little jumpy from dropping the glass of water. T.. that's all." Darien repeated, stammering. "Now, go back to sleep. I'll fix this up, it's all under control." Darien managed to smile wearily.
"Sure?" Crystal asked. Darien nodded. "Positive?" Crystal asked again.
"Yes. I know what you're like in the mornings when you don't get enough sleep! So go already!" Darien smiled and ruffled his little sister's hair. Crystal half smiled and stood up.
"Ok, but if you ever need any help or anyone to talk to, I'm right across the hallway." Crystal stepped back "Just a knock away..." She took another step back. "Just a few paces" She slowly walked backwards. Darien looked up and smiled. "Just a holler away..." Crystal added.
Ok. I get your point already." Darien threw a cloth at Crystal, hitting her right on the face.
"Mmphh! Hey! I was just offering my services!" Crystal complained, removing the cloth from her face and tossing it back, before walking back to her room and into bed. She still had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach but she dismissed it for the nachos and orange juice that she had for dinner.
The following morning, the birds whistled their sweet melodic tune outside as the sun rose higher and higher above the horizon of tall, dark skyscrapers. Crystal yawned loudly as she lazily opened her eyes. She stared at the ceiling for a few moments, gazing at the white intricate patterns before lowering her gaze on the patterns of the wallpaper borders. The borders were a pale pink colour with cream embossed swirls inclining from the edges now and then, making the border seem like someone had spilt strawberry milkshake and left it there so the ice cream would melt. She once again lowered her gaze toward the wall. The plain flat wall was covered with a simple paint that was the lightest of all purples. It was so light that it could easily be mistaken for white Crystal turned her head towards her bedside draw to see the clock reading "8:34"
"Thank Zeus it's Saturday." Crystal sighed before cringing at what she had just said. *Geez that sounded lame!* She thought to herself. *I've been studying too hard!* she said again. Her interest in Roman and Greek Mythology had taken its toll. She stood up and stretched while giving a yawn that sounded more like a roar.
"I really need to paint my room." Crystal mumbled to herself as she slowly shut her door behind her. She tip-toed down the cold tiles of the hallway and into the living room to see Darien, still in his boxers sitting at the glass dining table, reading his newspaper.
"Hey Daz, shouldn't you be at University right now?" Crystal asked, pouring herself a glass of orange juice from the fridge. Darien didn't reply. He didn't even move to acknowledge Crystal's presence
"Daz?" Crystal asked, putting the carton of orange juice down. "Talk to me here! Why aren't you talking to me? Did I do something?" Crystal asked but Darien still didn't acknowledge. "Darien! Are you even listening to me?" Crystal removed the newspaper in front of her older brother only to find that Darien wasn't even awake! Crystal sighed. "Darien, Darien, Darien... How you manage to look out for me and be a prince among other things still amazes me." Crystal attempted to place one of Darien's arms over her shoulder."Geez!" Crystal gasped as she lost her balance and collapsed onto the floor. "Wait, what am I doing?" She lifted her arms into the air. "Crystal Levitation!" She used her powers to lift Darien and guide him into his room and back onto his bed. She covered her brother with his blanket and left his room, closing the door gently behind her. She walked quickly over to the telephone and dialed a number that she knew off-by-heart.
"Hello? Jane Johnson speaking." A young lady picked up the phone.
"Hey Jane!" Crystal greeted informally.
"Hi Crystal! How can I help? Oh, Darien hasn't come in yet. Do you want me to give him a
message when he does?" The secretary asked
"No, I know that Darien hasn't arrived yet. He's not coming in today. Could you please inform Professor Dudley that Darien is not feeling too well today so he will not be present in his class." Crystal said quite politely in a voice that sounded as if she were impersonating a queen.
"Sure Crys." Jane smiled.
"Thanks heaps! Bye!" Crystal put down the receiver and sighed once more.
"You owe me Daz! Hmm... I need to take a long hot bath!" Crystal headed for the bathroom and filled her bathtub up with water and added some bubbles with a splash or two of rose scented bath oil. She dipped her toes into the water to test the temperature. Satisfied, she slowly slid into the water. She sighed and closed her eyes only to wake up half an hour later. She had that bad feeling again. Something was wrong. Crystal quickly got dressed and as she did, she heard a knock on the door. She pulled the plug in the tub and slowly walked over to the front door while towel drying her hair. She opened the door to see a bright and perky blonde meatball headed girl grinning back at her.
"Hey Cryssy!" Serena greeted.
"Hi Serena! Come in!" Crystal opened the door wider to let her friend in. "So what are you doing here at this time of day?"
"Well...Amy is studying at the library, Lita is teaching some pre-schoolers how to cook, Raye is helping her grandpa at the temple, Mina is out with Andy and I need to pick Sammy up from his friends place, so I thought that I might pop in to say hi!" Serena smiled.
"Oh alright then!" Crystal handed Serena a cup of hot chocolate and they sat down on the couch and began to talk. After a few minutes, Crystal sensed bad vibes coming from Darien's room. Shivers ran up and down her spine causing her to gasp suddenly and stop in mid-sentence.
"Crystal. What's wrong?" Serena asked, aware that something was not quite right.
"N...nothing." Crystal stuttered uncontrollably. A soft noise could be heard coming from Darien's room as he awoke suddenly, in a cold sweat. He turned his head to the clock that clearly read '9:15 AM"
"What?!" Darien cursed to himself as he fell out of bed. "I'm late! Crystal! Why didn't you wake me up! I'm late!" Darien's muffled voice projected from his room.
"Darien wait..." Crystal was interrupted
"Sorry Crys, I'm late as it is. I don't have any time for breakfast!" Darien said hurriedly as he slipped on his pants. "Crys where's my white shirt?" He asked as his bedroom door flung open and he flew down the hallway shirtless.
"Daz, don't worry about it..." once again Crystal was interrupted.
"Don't worry about what? I'm late and I'm missing my shirt! What's there not to worry about?" Darien rushed in and out of his room.
"Darien Chiba! Will you just stop and listen to me for a moment!" Crystal exclaimed, standing up to get her older brother's attention.
"Crystal Chiba! I don't have time for this!" Darien replied.
"Darien! I called up and said that you wouldn't be in today brcause you weren't feeling well!" Crystal explained.
"You what?" Why didn't you tell me in the first place?" Darien asked coming out of his room with an unbuttoned shirt on.
"I was trying to!" Crystal said, quite frustrated. Just then, quiet, muffled giggling could be heard from behind the couch.
"Who's that?" Darien asked cautiously. The blonde meatball headed girl popped up from behind the couch, where she was sitting.
"Hey Dare!" She giggled, standing up.
"Oh hey Meatball Head! How long have you been here for?" Darien asked, quite embarrassed.
"Umm... long enough to see you half naked and long enough to hear all that, just then." Serena smiled cheekily as Darien blushed a bright crimson colour. Darien walked into the kitchen to pour himself a cup of coffee. Serena followed while Crystal turned the TV on and began to watch. She figured that anything on TV would be better than watching one of her friends and her brother smooching in the kitchen.
"So what happened today? Mr. I'm-always-on-time-and-organised. Why were YOU late for class huh?" Serena teased.
"I wasn't late..." Darien defended
"Then what was all that 'Crystal Where's my shirt! Crystal, I'm late!!' business just then huh?" Serena smiled.
"I...I wasn't late! Just... woke up a couple minutes... after my class had started." Darien sighed.
"That's worse than me!" Serena laughed. Darien frowned, playfully. Serena looked up to see an unhappy Darien. "Aww, I'm sorry." Serena apologized as she pulled Darien lower for a kiss. Serena placed a hand on Darien's bare chest and she could feel Darien's heartbeat quicken. She smiled to herself. They broke the kiss and just held each other in silence.
"I never want to be away from you ever again." Serena whispered, running her fingers across Darien's perfectly toned chest. She looked up only to be met with another kiss. As soon as their lips met, Darien had a disturbing image flash in his mind and broke the kiss suddenly. Crystal felt an unwanted presence in the apartment. A Zap of electricity ran up and down her spine as the same blur of images that she saw last night entered her mind again.
"I...I'm gonna go for a walk, I need some fresh air" Darien said before buttoning up his shirt and walking out of the apartment.
"What's wrong with him?" Serena asked, quite confused.
"I dunno... there's definitely something bothering him though. I can tell ya that!" Crystal said, turning the TV off.
"Hmm... well I have to go pick Sammy up now." Serena smiled warmly.
"Well ok, I'll walk you down. I've got a shift at the Crown. Gotta help Liz out." Crystal grabbed her jacket and the two girls headed downstairs.
"Oh, that reminds me, I have to go to this fancy restaurant this afternoon with my parents and their friends, so could you babysit Sophy for me?" Serena remembered.
"Yep! Sure!" Crystal replied enthusiastically.
"Great, I'll be gone until 7 so I'll come over when I'm done and I'll look after her from then." Serena informed, Crystal nodded and they walked in opposite directions.
Crystal Saturn.
