Hmmm hmm hmmm *hums Christmas carols* ^^ Here's the (short) next chapter!
Disclaimer: Ack! I'm forgetting to do these again! What's wrong with me?! But you all know that I don't own GW or SM, right? ...right? Guys? ANSWER ME!!!
Editors: This time I really needed the editing, ne? Thanks to DevilsDarling, AutumnHime, and UsagiAsiaMaxwell, this chapter is actually understandable! Apologies for my constant griping though...^^'''
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Usagi entered her summer beachhouse mutely. Only her most securely drawn circle of relatives and associates knew about this place as it had just lately been built. As an early Christmas present from Minako.
Hanging her coat up unenthusiastically, she made her way to the shower. Night saluted the girl when she departed the bathroom. Lighting her lamp, she endeavored to pick up the pencil and work more on her manga, and found that the incessant hustle and bustle of her assistants that she had found so grating was now missed. So instead, she turned her interest to the chaotic ocean thundering outside her window.
The chair groaned as she leaned back in it and deeply drew in the salt-touched air that had filtered through her room. She enjoyed it. The potent perfume of salt and the echo of the forceful waves gave her a giddy sensation of rare freedom. It was almost as if her fondest wish of flying was within her hands. Ever since she a child she had wanted to fly -- away from her life to a place where she could overlook deadlines and whether or not the eyes of her characters were too far apart. To sprout wings and take to the sky...[1]
A burning flash of light seared her eyes. When had she fallen asleep? Growling audibly, she began to turn, only to find that there wasn't sufficient space to do so. That bit of information was gathered by falling down, awkwardly, onto the fresh-smelling pine of her floor.
Propping herself up with wobbly arms, her opaque blue eyes were received by two sharp emerald ones. Cat's eyes. Shaking her head while letting the tiniest of sniggers escape, she rose and hailed her cat, Artemis.
Intuiting his owner's misery, the furry feline instantly became a motor, purring as loudly as he could. This time Usagi giggled out loud and picked him up along with some mangas that she had treasured as a toddler. Namely, Bishoujo Senshi Seramuun. To have love, friendship, and freedom like the heroine of the story...
"You know, you can't live like this forever, Usa," a male voice scolded.
Awakening from her fleeting flashback of when she had first read the manga, Usagi didn't bother to glance up after an abrupt spasm of alarm.
"Warn me next time you decide to speak, Art," she said through gritted teeth, clenching her hands at her sides to inhibit herself from skinning the cat.
The cat gave a wan smile and shrugged, flicking his tail flippantly. Usagi sighed once more.
"Don't sigh so much! We don't want you to get depression now do we?" the white cat argued with a laughable expression, mouth bent in a squiggly line and eyes widening.
Usagi reacted with a half snort, half cackle. "It might be too late."
The cat yawned widely, flaunting pointed teeth and blandly remarked, "Being our typical pessimistic self, ne?"
"Being our usual criticizing self!" she defied crossly.
"I'm not criticizing!"
"I'm not pessimistic!"
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
The blonde's face contorted as she sought to muffle her mirth but to no avail. It was rare that she could laugh at all and those moments of pure glee were commonly after a mock squabble between herself and Artemis. You think she is crazy? Maybe she is ... after all, she's arguing with a cat. (and a moronic one at that...)
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*beep* "Tsukino Usagi, come home immediately, young lady! Not only have you been wallowing in your self-pity for a month for no apparent reason, but it's Christmas! You'd better be doing something cheerful! If you're not acting like a nineteen-year-old right now, I'll ground you for a month! A year! Now come home before I have to march down to that place of yours and haul you here--by the ear! I'm expecting you by dinnertime on Christmas Eve or you're grounded! Don't roll your eyes, young lady! And don't deny it, I know you are!" the shrill voice hesitated and sighed before resuming. "Just please co-"
True to her grandmother's demand, Usagi was rolling her eyes. Seething, she jabbed at the stop button on the answering machine. You'd think her grandmother would know by now that it was utterly useless to lecture and threaten her on being depressed.
But in actuality, she got the picture. After all, her grandmother had a reason for getting her to go to the Christmas party, and his name was Mamoru.
Chiba Mamoru. Grandson of one of her grandmother's poker-playing, matchmaking, meddling friends. Usagi rolled her eyes again as she disregarded the prompt reprimand given to her by her conscience for regaining that habit.
What would an entrepreneur know about drawing or even art in general? How would he grasp the desire to draw? But that wasn't the problem. No matter what, she had to go, or else ... or else her grandmother would execute her threat of strutting over here and yanking her back by the ear. She was very healthy in spite of her age...
Shooing Artemis off her lap, the petite blonde got up to peek at her calendar. Realizing she was a month behind, she flipped the page and made a face at the joyful picture of a family sitting down to Christmas dinner.
Averting her eyes from the (gruesome) scene, she scanned the page. If her answering machine had been set properly, it would be ... December twenty-third today. That gave her roughly sixteen hours to shop for gifts, two hours to pack, and four hours to fly to Tokyo ... leaving one hour for the drive to her house and another one just in case, she figured rapidly. Ami didn't get all the mathematics genes in the family.
Now, for the shopping...
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Entering the house for the second time that day, she checked her messages again to find another call from her grandmother, reminding her of the current time and when dinner commenced. She just about slammed her fist onto the machine.
This bunny was, clearly, not happy. Who would be after twenty-six hours of not sleeping? Even if the majority of it was spent shopping.
Pitching the packages over to the carpeted hall that led to the two bedrooms, she mentally promised herself that she would pack later as she laid down onto her couch and instantly fell asleep.
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"Wake up Usagi ... wake up!" No response. Artemis glared at the serenely sleeping girl and then summoned up an old trick. "Usagi? Breakfast!"
The adolescent sprang from the light-hued couch and blinked around bemusedly, mouth already watering. Her eyes finally settled on the smug face of Artemis. Funny how a cat could look smug.
Before she had the chance to strangle him, he looked pointedly at her alarm clock. 2:11 p.m. Usagi gave a short gasp before jerking to her feet, fully awake, and began sweeping about the room, packing.
Executing the cat will have to wait.
After an all too brief hour, Usagi stood panting but victorious as she lugged her two bags out to the cab Artemis had managed to phone. The cat's latest trick and consideration was rewarded by being stuffed into her traveling bag.
"Now, no meowing," Usagi cautioned.
The usually amicable cat retorted with a hiss.
"Would you rather ride with the baggage?"
At this time she stopped snapping at the still shifting cat due to the driver's concerned glances, undoubtedly from seeing a nice girl like herself composing a spirited banter with her bag. But the point had been expressed, and she felt Artemis settling down. Giving the driver a sweet smile, she ducked into the car, leaving the bags to him.
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Usagi jogged through the airport, clutching her pre-ordered tickets ... under another name of course. Putting sunglasses on while half walking, half running to her gate, she once again calculated the amount of time she had left.
Assuming that the flight would take four hours, give or take thirty minutes, she realized that she only had half an hour to get to her house.
The gate number loomed up above her as she paused to compose herself and straighten her coat collar. Briefly reaching up to her face and checking that the sunglasses were there, she boarded her plane, scarcely making it as the gate banged shut after the air attendant tossed her an irritated look.
The numbers of other people hastening home for Christmas gazed at her with inquisitive eyes. Who would be sporting sunglasses on such a smoggy day?
Ignoring them, the girl reached her seat and sat down with a drawn-out sigh that would absolutely exasperate Artemis had he been allowed to comment. She then promptly sank into dreamland...
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"Ladies and gentlemen, we will be serving a snack in approximately five minutes. Thank you."
Usagi stirred at the voice of the attendant and sat up drowsily. The dark-haired, midnight-eyed man sitting beside her smiled at her kindly.
"So you're finally up."
Blinking sleep from her eyes, she nodded timidly and then granted him a friendly smile.
"Why are you traveling to Tokyo?"
"Family gathering." Then blushing, she realized her lack of manners and promptly introduced herself, "My name is-er-Serena Kyler."
Nodding at her in greeting, he countered with, "Darien Shields."
She mirrored his nod and shook her head at the offered airplane peanuts from the flight attendant. She had the fortune to suffer from nausea while on airplanes. And peanuts at the moment might as well be the spawn of the devil.
"Why are you going to Tokyo?" she finally broke the silence, reciprocating his prior question.
"Same. And if I'm lucky I might be able to get some work done there too."
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"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We are nearing Tokyo and will land in approximately fifteen minutes. It is presently snowing, and the temperature is approaching twelve degrees Fahrenheit or negative nine degrees Celsius. The current time is 6:03 p.m. Thank you for flying with us and happy holidays" [2]
Then all was heard was the clicking of seat belts, scattered murmurs, and the muted whines of several infants.
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The plane landed without too much of a bump, and Usagi sat still as ordered until it slowed to a complete stop. She smiled and shook her head as Darien handed her her bags and then offered to carry them for her.
"Well then, goodbye and happy holidays."
"Maybe we'll meet again. Tokyo isn't that big of a city."
Giving her a boyish grin, he retorted, "Maybe we will."
Nodding farewell, she departed with a mumbled, "Merry Christmas."
Usagi breezed through the airport, trying her best to ignore that rosy faces and wide smiles of people who were waiting for their loved ones to arrive for Christmas. Pushing her way through an especially large throng of people, she hastily hailed a cab.
"2349 Amethyst Lane. I'll pay triple if you get there in less than half an hour."
The driver, thrilled at the idea of additional cash, drove speedily and almost hazardously. She caught a glimpse of her watch in the light of a passing streetlamp. 5:57. Damn.
The preoccupied adolescent was, without a warning, thrown against the door of the cab and banged her head on the frame of the car. Yelling at the frenzied driver, she realized that they were in the wrong lane.
This was followed by a collision, and a cascade of shattered glass. She gawked at the shining splinters, stupefied, before hurriedly squeezing her eyes shut to shield them from the jagged edges. There was another jolt, and she banged her head again.
"I'm going to be grounded for life..." she whimpered, and then there was oblivion.
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Gack! It's so repetitive! With all those she's and Usagi's and stuff like that! Grrr... Yes, yes, yes, and also totally used ending!
What was I going to say? Oh yeah! I've taken up reading fics again and realized how bad mine are! ^^ Yay for me?
You will have quite a while to vote for couples. I'm really dragging this out ... because it's interesting seeing people panic ... *cackle* Evil, evil me...
Notes:
1. This paragraph belongs wholly to AutumnHime.2. The temperature fits the equation. ^^