-7 months later, March 13th, 1999-

Slowly, she opened her eyes to the morning sun.   Mmm, it's Saturday.  That means no classes today.  Taking in a deep breath, Mia stretched languidly in her bed, feeling her sheets move against her body.  With a sigh, she threw the covers off of her and sat up in bed.  She shifted her body until her feet hung over the side of her huge bed.  She let her feet dangle over the edge of the bed for a moment until she pushed herself off and onto the ground. 

Padding over to the bathroom, she entered and closed the door, locking it behind her.  She stripped off her pajamas and turned on the faucet to the shower, waiting until the water was the right temperature before stepping in.  As she let the warm water wash over her body, she became lost in her thoughts. 

 I wonder what I'll do today?  Maybe I'll try talking to Ryo again.  We seem to be finally getting somewhere.  It's taken long enough.  Mia was right; it had taken long enough.  It had been a little over 9 months since Ryo kissed her and slowly, the two of them had been working on building their friendship back up.  But, there was something that was always getting in the way. 

Darien.  Darien's what's always getting in the way.  But, there's something about him that draws me to him.  I can't put my finger on it, though.  It's like I've met him before but don't know where or when.  I mean, I know I'm not attracted to him in that sense, but I do feel a connection to him that I haven't felt with anyone else before.  Almost like he really knows me.  I love spending time with him, but, if it gets in the way of my mending my relationship with Ryo, is it really worth it?  Is it really worth risking my possible relationship with Ryo?   

Her thought's troubled, Mia finished up in the shower.  She wrapped a towel around her body and proceeded to use another towel to dry her hair.  She got her auburn hair to the point that it was only damp and she hung the towel up, finally finishing with it.  Tossing her hair over her shoulder, she walked out of the bathroom that she shared with Serena and into her own bedroom.  She got dressed, picking out a long-sleeved white shirt paired with khaki slacks. 

Once she was dressed, Mia grabbed her brush off of her nightstand and began to brush her long hair, glancing at the clock as she did so.  And that's when she noticed the time.  "It's 6:30 in the morning?  God, no one is going to be up at this hour.  At least, Lita isn't up, so, breakfast hasn't been made."  She smiled warmly at the thought of Lita, the only girl she knew who could hold and shelter Kento's fragile heart. 

I really do love all of these girls.  The guys and I have been living here for 8 months now and I can see major changes in the guys, all thanks to the girls.  Sage is a lot more open now that he's met Raye.  Kento has matured a lot, but not all at the same time.  Rowen is just happier in general, a lot less moody and he's sleeping better, or so he tells me.  And Cye has overcome some of his shyness.  And Ryo, ever since learning that Serena was his cousin in the Silver Millennium, has lost some of his loneliness.  I can see it in his eyes.  Whenever he talks to me, anyway,  Mia thought. 

The thought of Ryo and what she did to him still caused her pain.   I knew I shouldn't have run away.  Although Serena keeps telling me that it'll be ok, I am beginning to doubt what she says.  I mean, Ryo and I haven't come very far in 8 months.  We're worse off than we were when we first met.  At least we were really talking when we first met.  Now, it's completely different.  I just wish I could tell him that I love him, but, knowing Ryo, he'd shrug it off and tell me that I was lying.  God, he is just so impossible sometimes.   

Mia put her brush back down on the nightstand and moved out of her bedroom.  She quietly made her way down the hallway, feeling the cool marble beneath her feet.  After 8 months, she still thought that Celia's house was absolutely amazing.  Every hard floor in the entire house, with the exception of the kitchen, which was done in wood, was made of marble, a different color scheme for each floor.  She looked down at her feet as she walked down the hallway and marveled at the dark green and rose color of the floor.   Celia really does have wonderful taste, Mia thought. 

She walked down the stairs, which were carpeted with a crimson colored carpet, and made her way to the kitchen, where she found a pot of coffee already ready to drink.  She poured herself a mug and walked out of the kitchen and back to the stairs, preparing to walk back up them, when she heard someone coughing from the living room.  Her brow furrowed in confusion at who it could be, she walked over to the living room entryway to find Darien sitting there, sifting through a book, looking rather enthralled.  "Darien, what are you doing?"  Darien looked up at Mia and smiled.

"Well, you're up early, Mia," he said without greeting her.

"Yeah, I know.  But, you didn't answer my question.  What are you doing?"  Mia moved from the doorway to one of the couches that sat perpendicular to the one that Darien was sitting on.

"Well, I'm reading."

"I can see that.  About what?"
"Well, about something very interesting, actually.  I've discovered this new set of armor that I think Ami told me about once.  They're called the Soul and Spirit armors and legend has it that the only two people who can wear them are people who are siblings.  Obviously, it's family armor that gets passed down."

"Darien," Mia says, pointing out an interesting fact, "I think that all the armor is passed down from generation to generation."

"Not necessarily so.  Maybe in the case of the Ronin Warriors, that's the way that it happened.  But, with the Mystical armors, those armors choose the bearer and it's not necessarily the offspring or relatives of whoever wore the armor last."

"Oh," Mia said, finally seeing what Darien was talking about.  Before she could say another word on the subject, Darien changed it.  "You know," he said, "You're not the only one up this early this morning.  I know for a fact that Serena is up."

"Serena's up?"

"Yeah, she went out for a jog this morning.  I saw her run out of here at 5:30 this morning.  I was already up."  Mia was shocked at Serena's odd behavior.  Serena never woke up before 9:00 if she didn't have to. 

"Are you sure it was Serena?" Mia asked.

"Mia, I would know my girlfriend and future wife anywhere.  Especially since I started living here."  She nodded.  Darien had started living there in October of last year.  It was now March; Darien had been living with the Mystical and Ronin Warriors for 6 months.  He made the transition rather smoothly.  He had been spending so much time there that the only thing he wasn't doing there was sleeping. 

"Well, you can't blame me for being surprised," Mia said, "I live next door to Serena and at times, it takes the combined efforts of me and Luna to wake her up.  I swear she could sleep through a herd of elephants."  Mia and Darien laughed at that, not noticing the figure standing by the doorway, hidden in the shadows.  Ryo watched, unnoticed, as Mia and Darien laughed.  About what, he didn't know. 

He had just walked in the front door, finishing up his morning jog that he usually took with Serena.  Serena opted to stay outside a little longer, but Ryo wanted a shower.  He walked in the front door to hear Mia and Darien laughing.  As he watched them, he could feel the jealousy creeping into the pit of his stomach.  He didn't understand why she had been spending so much time with him.  Wasn't she at all worried about her friendship with him?  A lot of the times that Mia could have spent with Ryo, trying to rebuild their fallen relationship, she spent talking with Darien.  He liked Darien and all, he just didn't like how Mia was spending all of her time with him.   Why doesn't she see that I desperately want to get our friendship back onto its feet? Ryo thought sadly. 

Taking one more glance at the laughing pair, he slowly walked away from the living room and trudged up the stairs to take his shower.

***

"Ooh, ow, I probably shouldn't have tried to jump over that fallen log in the woods," Serena said as she limped her way back home.  She was in the woods behind the house and was walking home with a hurt ankle.  It wasn't hurt really bad, but enough that when Serena put pressure on it, it caused pain.  Her spirits rose as she caught sight of the house. 

She smiled and forced her body to move faster in that direction.  But, her smile faded as she caught sight of Ryo, sitting on one of the lawn chairs, with a dejected look on his face.  Her own face contorted into a look of concern and worry as she approached her "cousin".  "Hey, Ryo, why such the long face?" she asked, plopping down in front of Ryo on another lawn chair.  He looked away from Serena and said, "Oh, it's nothing."  Serena gave him a look and said, "Do you think I'm dumb?  I've known you for 9 months.  I can tell that something is wrong with you.  Did something happen?"

"No, nothing happened.  That's just the problem."

"I don't follow," Serena said.

"I feel ignored," Ryo said simply.

"Ignored?  By who?" Serena asked.  Then, it dawned on her.  "You feel ignored by Mia, don't you?"

"Yeah.  I mean, I've tried talking to her, but she doesn't say much back to me.  And, whenever I want to work on fixing our friendship, I always find her talking to Darien."

"Well, Darien and Mia are very close."

"And you don't get suspicious about that?" Ryo asked.

"No, I trust Darien.  Besides, he knows that you have a thing for Mia and he wouldn't interfere with that.  He just feels really close to Mia.  We've talked about this.  He doesn't know what it is about her, he just feels that he has a connection with her."

"But, you're still not suspicious?"

"No, I'm not.  And I know that you know that Mia wouldn't do that without telling you.  She cares about you too much than to ruin what she has with you."

"Then why won't she talk to me?"

"Maybe she's still scared of what happened in August.  I know she still hasn't gotten over that yet."

"But, I said I was sorry," Ryo exclaimed.

"No, that's not it.  She feels bad for running away from you.  She still hasn't forgiven herself yet.  And that's going to take time.  Believe me, she's working on it.  That's probably why she's been ignoring you, because she feels guilty.  But, with what's going on with her and Darien, there's no need to get jealous."

"I'm not…"

"And don't say that you're not jealous, Ryo.  It's written all over your face that you are.  You can't hide from me.  But, if it's bothering you this much, I'll talk to Darien about it and he can talk to Mia without ever mentioning that you had a problem in the first place.  She doesn't have to know how much it bothers you."

"Well, I know I'm not going to be able to stop you, so, go ahead.  I don't care," Ryo said, still feeling depressed.  Serena smiled.  She was going to get those two together, or at least speaking to each other, if it was the last thing she did.

***

"Muffin?"  Darien, who was sitting in his bedroom on his bed, felt his girlfriend cozy up to him.

"Yeah Serena?" he said, turning to look at her, putting his book down.  Serena smiled and kissed him briefly.  "I need to talk to you."

"Sure.  Is something bothering you?  Is there something wrong?"

"Yeah, but it's not with me.  Um, I don't know how to put it, but, saying it bluntly, Ryo is feeling a little jealous."

"Why?" Darien asked.

"Well, you know how Ryo kissed Mia in August and she ran away and ever since then, those two have been at odds with each other?"  When Darien nodded, Serena continued, "Well, Ryo has been trying to rebuild that friendship that they had before they kissed, but he feels that you're spending too much time with Mia and that Mia doesn't want to be friends with Ryo anymore.  Now, I'm not suggesting that you stop spending time with Mia, I just thought that you could talk to her and say something about Ryo feeling ignored so she could reassure him that that's not what's happening." 

Darien looked pensive for a moment before pulling Serena into his arms.  "If I've been spending too much time with Mia, I'm sorry."  Serena snuggled closer to Darien and said, "I'm not mad at you, just concerned for Ryo, that's all."

"You didn't let me finish.  Anyway, as I was saying.  I'm sorry for taking up a lot of Mia's time, but there's something about Mia that I can't put my finger on.  Like I knew her once upon a time, but don't remember where, why, or how.  I've been spending a lot of time with her to try and figure it out.  But, whatever it is, I feel a really close connection to Mia.  Not like my connection to you, but almost like she's my sister or something.  But, whatever that connection is, I really like it.  It makes me feel happy."  Serena smiled.  She liked it when Darien was happy.  "I'm glad for you Darien.  I know you haven't really felt like that before.  But, I'm still worried about Ryo.  He really loves Mia a lot and she loves him too, but they both can't admit it to the other one with out worrying that they're going to scare off the other one.  I know I can't do anything about it, I just wish I could."  Darien kissed her on the top of the head.

"I know you do," Darien said, "That's the type of person you are, always ready to save everybody."  Serena smiled.

"Yep, that's me," Serena said with a cocky tone of voice.  Darien only rolled his eyes and teased, "Well, aren't we Miss high-and-mighty today?"

"No, I just worry about people.  Especially my friends.  You know I hate it when my friends are in pain."

"That, I do," Darien said, "You're a very caring person, Serena.  You have a big heart and you know what to do with it.  That's more than I can say about myself."  Serena scrunched her eyebrows and looked up at Darien.  "You have no faith in yourself, do you?" she said, pulling his head down for a kiss.

"I might if you prove it to me," he said with a smirk.  Kissing him quickly, yet passionately, Serena said, "And how do I go about doing that?"

"Well, I thought the avenue you were taking just a second before was a perfectly good way," Darien said.  Serena smiled knowingly and looked up into his midnight blue eyes.  "You got it, buster."  She only smiled widely before pulling Darien in for another kiss.