Cupid smiled to himself amused. Imagine someone so used to having girls throwing themselves at him that he avoided them at every cost. Well, at last, he had found the spouse. Now, he thought, his brows creasing, he had to find a way to get them together. Deeply regretting his predicament, he walked up the crystal stairs and knocked on Fate's door.
"What?" came the rude reply.
"I need you to get the couple to meet,"
He heard a loud sigh and heard a chair squeaking which meant that she was getting up. He grinned just as she opened the door. She glared at him.
"Just what are you so amused about?"
He didn't answer, just kept staring at her. Fate felt her heart pound loudly as his eyes trapped hers and she quickly looked away.
"You know, you shouldn't make it a habit of looking at people like that," she said, trying to cover up her strange change of heart.
"You're not a person, your fate." He pointed out, much to Fate's chagrin. She stalked off and heard Cupids masculine laugh follow her to the Chamber of Interfering. What a bastard, she thought as she found the pieces to cupids latest match. She smiled at the couple as she looked at the two pieces in her hands. They looked nice together, a dark and dangerous man with an angelic woman. Charming.
Fate bit her lip in frustration. This was going to be hard, how was she supposed to match the model-singer-actor with the bookworm plausibly? Fate looked around and found Blondie's mother. AH, she thought, relieved. Two models. And, surely the daughter had to follow her mother. Perfect. She placed the three pieces into a hotel and set the timer for 3 days.
As she was getting up, Fate felt a nagging sensation in her stomach. Something was wrong, she knew it. She looked back at the couple and felt the feeling again.
"Cupid," she said wearily, "I think there's something wrong. Did you use the Match Identifier when you put this couple together?"
Cupids smirk wiped off his face, leaving a worried frown in its place. He looked up, trying to remember. He had found the two couples and he had used the Match Painter to seal them together. He felt his stomach drop to his toes. He forgot to use the Match Identifier. The Match Identifier surveyed the couple to make sure they were supposed to be a couple.
He groaned and Fate had her answer.
"How could you forget the identifier Cupid?" Fate rubbed her hands wearily over her eyes.
"I don't know fate." Cupids eyes were panicked, his hair ruffled from his hands running through it mercilessly. How could he forget the most important thing?
"Oh Cupid. How could you do something so stupid? You don't know how hard it is to put together a couple not destined to be together," Fate said with a surprising calm. "You better get ready; Destiny's going to be mad."
"Don't worry Fate. We'll figure this out. I'm so sorry," he said, his voice full of regret. How could he be so stupid?
They both turned at the sound of thunder. Uh oh, Fate thought, watching as hail stones fell into Cupids Chamber of Love, Destiny was coming.
Destiny, remarkably beautiful with her light blond hair and blue eyes, stomped into the Chamber of Love. Her cheeks were flushed; her blue eyes held iced fury. She glared at the two specimens in the room.
"Cupid, I have seen your folly. It must be corrected." She said, her light feminine voice loud with thunder, resounding in the intrepid silence. Mouth drawn in a tight line, Destiny gave both Cupid and Fate a hard stare. Her eyes held fire, blue fire of fury and her cheeks flushed even redder.
"You will have to intervene in person. You know that don't you? I'll have to make you part human until you're sure the couple is on their way into love." She set her full stare on Cupid, making him suck in a quick breath at the fury he read. She pointed at him and Cupid had to force himself not to duck when he saw the smoke on her fingernail. She could have stricken him with lightning.
"Cupid, your human name will be Jadeite. You will choose whom you will befriend in order to intervene. You will make sure that this couple not destined to be will be destined. I cannot make allowances for your stupidity, I must confess. This will be a hard mission. But, you will learn, yes, you will learn."
She turned from Cupid to Fate. "Your human name will be Raye. You will work with Jadeite and befriend the one he doesn't take."
Raye was taken aback. "But-" she started.
She was cut off by the lifting of Destiny's intimidating eyebrow. She sighed in resignation and cursed Cupid and his stupid folly.
"I cannot bear to look at either of you at the moment. I am off."
And with that she stomped out of the Chamber, Thunder and hail following after her.
Cupid looked at Raye, watched her bite her fingernails, run a frustrated hand through her gorgeous hair, and restlessly put his hands in his pockets. He had really done it this time. This was no minor mistake. It wasn't every day Cupid was to be turned human because of lack of attention. He sighed.
"I'm really sorry about this Raye."
Raye heard his voice and something registered in her mind as she felt his regret and sorrow. Suddenly, instead of blowing a rage at him, she was walking over to him, putting her hand on his arm in a gesture of comfort. And she didn't' have a clue as to why.
"Serena Darling, come my dear, and look."
Serena, dressed in an impressively white short skirt and tight fitting white tank top, walked to her mother, hoping she looked somewhat interested. She smiled falsely at her mother, hoping her mother wouldn't see the opposite emotion in her eyes and took the paper that she was offered.
She read it and looked up. "It's for a shoot and fashion show in America," she said, slightly dazed. America? She had never been there but she had heard that it was the land of opportunity.
Serena smiled beautifully at her daughter and Serena suppressed a sigh. "My dear, this is your opportunity. You will accompany me and once they see you, they will put you in the show too. I am sure of it my dear."
She said it so earnestly that Serena felt herself smiling at her mother and nodding her head. She felt a pang of guilt at the fact that she was a not-quite-so-pretty-klutz. She would never be as graceful as her mother.
"When do we leave?"
"In 3 days my dear. This is absolutely marvelous. I haven't been to America in years. I can't wait to show you around."
"Yes, mother, that would be quite the thing," she smiled again, the smile reaching her eyes this time. America… what a wonder.
Cupid and Fate stood on the Bench of Watching, and pondered.
Cupid looked up, scratched his head and rubbed the top of his nose. Fate ran a hand through her hair, bit her nails, and crossed and uncrossed her legs.
They both turned to each other at the same time. Fate blushed and looked down.
"Cupid, I feel so sorry for this Serena girl. She seems so… submissive, no backbone, just surrender. I think I shall befriend her."
Cupid nodded in agreement. "I think that is the thing to do. It should be easier that way,"
Darien stared at the girl in who was trying her beset to get his attention. She wasn't his type, he decided as he watched her walk up to him with lunch, his lunch he suspected, in hand.
She batted her auburn eyelashes at him while she moved her chair right next to his and set the food on the table. Her auburn hair ran over her shoulders and she licked her lips, trying even more to impress him.
Darien suppressed a much needed sigh. It was the short skirt, beautiful types that always went after him. They were airheads, only depending on their looks and they were conniving. He remembered a particularly bad situation when he had almost proposed to one before he took a look at his credit card bill and found that she had spent way too much. It wasn't so much that he would go into debt, but hey, money was money. She had come to him earlier saying she needed to use the money to buy vital things for her house and Darien thought that she meant that she needed carpet, tiling, window panes, anything like that. He didn't mean for her to spend all of his money on clothes.
From then on, he didn't want any of the beautiful types. Maybe they were good for a little tumble but he wasn't looking for commitment with any of those types.
Cupid frowned and heard Fate grumble something. Well, this Darien guy was going to be a little harder then expected. He was suspicious of women and Serena was the trustworthiest woman in the world. But, she was exceptionally beautiful and wore short skirts. She was exactly the stereotype he had told himself to stay away from.
Cupid sighed and turned to Fate.
"This is going to be hard Fate. The way I see it, you have a much easier job with this Serena than I do with Darien,"
Fate lifted an eyebrow. "You call a girl without backbone easy? This is going to be way harder than your Darien. But, I don't want to argue. So let's just watch for our times to intervene. Destiny will tell us."
3 days later…
Serena held her cosmetics case in one hand, her airplane ticket in the other and waited for her mother to follow. Serena was dressed in an enticingly short blue skirt and a short sleeved flower shirt. She wore a light blue jacket with stripes down the side and white 3 inch high sandals. This was just one of the many outfits Serenity had bought for Serena in an emergency shopping spree.
Serena sighed, recalling her words. She had looked at Serena with that I-don't-understand look and then said "Of course shopping is one of the most important things in the world dear. You will understand when you wizen up my dear. Now, that dress is much too long. We will have to make adjustments."
Serena rolled her eyes at the memory. There was no hope for it. Her mother wanted her to continue the line of modeling and beauty but how could she succeed if she had no grace?
Serena was so into her thoughts, she didn't hear her mother come up. She let out a startled gasp when she looked back and didn't see her mother and searched frantically to see her handing her ticket to attendant. She sighed and walked up to the attendant, handing her her own ticket.
America. She sighed, settling comfortably in her first class seat. She would take a nap, she decided. Then she would find a way to let her mother know gently that she was not the girl her mother wanted her to be. She was about to close her eyes when she heard a sharp voice say, "You're sitting in my seat!" Serena turned to see a beautiful woman with raven black hair flowing down her back. The girl looked familiar.
"I'm sorry." Serena said, picking her ticket stub out of her purse and examining it. She shook her head. "This isn't your seat."
The girl glared, looked at her ticket stub again, then rolled her eyes. "I don't mean official lady. I have to have the window seat."
Serena looked around absentmindedly wondering where her mother was. She didn't really need the window seat, but something in the manner of this woman set her on edge. She took from what little backbone she had and glared back. "I'm sorry madam. I'm not giving you my seat." Her cheeks flushed pink with anger.
The lady stomped her foot, then sat down beside Serena.
"Fine."
Raye quickly pulled a book out of her carry on bag and hid her triumphant smile. She would make a shrew out of Serena in no time.
Serena turned away from the strange woman and got out her own book. She heard her mother come back and take the seat on the other side of Raye. She heard her mother sigh and knew that she was once again disappointed. She wasn't' surprised when a moment later a fashion magazine was placed on her lap. A sticky note was attached with a scribbled note from her mother reading "Please Darling. For me."
Serena sighed, set down her book, gave her mother a pointed look, then set to reading about the latest fashions.
"What?" came the rude reply.
"I need you to get the couple to meet,"
He heard a loud sigh and heard a chair squeaking which meant that she was getting up. He grinned just as she opened the door. She glared at him.
"Just what are you so amused about?"
He didn't answer, just kept staring at her. Fate felt her heart pound loudly as his eyes trapped hers and she quickly looked away.
"You know, you shouldn't make it a habit of looking at people like that," she said, trying to cover up her strange change of heart.
"You're not a person, your fate." He pointed out, much to Fate's chagrin. She stalked off and heard Cupids masculine laugh follow her to the Chamber of Interfering. What a bastard, she thought as she found the pieces to cupids latest match. She smiled at the couple as she looked at the two pieces in her hands. They looked nice together, a dark and dangerous man with an angelic woman. Charming.
Fate bit her lip in frustration. This was going to be hard, how was she supposed to match the model-singer-actor with the bookworm plausibly? Fate looked around and found Blondie's mother. AH, she thought, relieved. Two models. And, surely the daughter had to follow her mother. Perfect. She placed the three pieces into a hotel and set the timer for 3 days.
As she was getting up, Fate felt a nagging sensation in her stomach. Something was wrong, she knew it. She looked back at the couple and felt the feeling again.
"Cupid," she said wearily, "I think there's something wrong. Did you use the Match Identifier when you put this couple together?"
Cupids smirk wiped off his face, leaving a worried frown in its place. He looked up, trying to remember. He had found the two couples and he had used the Match Painter to seal them together. He felt his stomach drop to his toes. He forgot to use the Match Identifier. The Match Identifier surveyed the couple to make sure they were supposed to be a couple.
He groaned and Fate had her answer.
"How could you forget the identifier Cupid?" Fate rubbed her hands wearily over her eyes.
"I don't know fate." Cupids eyes were panicked, his hair ruffled from his hands running through it mercilessly. How could he forget the most important thing?
"Oh Cupid. How could you do something so stupid? You don't know how hard it is to put together a couple not destined to be together," Fate said with a surprising calm. "You better get ready; Destiny's going to be mad."
"Don't worry Fate. We'll figure this out. I'm so sorry," he said, his voice full of regret. How could he be so stupid?
They both turned at the sound of thunder. Uh oh, Fate thought, watching as hail stones fell into Cupids Chamber of Love, Destiny was coming.
Destiny, remarkably beautiful with her light blond hair and blue eyes, stomped into the Chamber of Love. Her cheeks were flushed; her blue eyes held iced fury. She glared at the two specimens in the room.
"Cupid, I have seen your folly. It must be corrected." She said, her light feminine voice loud with thunder, resounding in the intrepid silence. Mouth drawn in a tight line, Destiny gave both Cupid and Fate a hard stare. Her eyes held fire, blue fire of fury and her cheeks flushed even redder.
"You will have to intervene in person. You know that don't you? I'll have to make you part human until you're sure the couple is on their way into love." She set her full stare on Cupid, making him suck in a quick breath at the fury he read. She pointed at him and Cupid had to force himself not to duck when he saw the smoke on her fingernail. She could have stricken him with lightning.
"Cupid, your human name will be Jadeite. You will choose whom you will befriend in order to intervene. You will make sure that this couple not destined to be will be destined. I cannot make allowances for your stupidity, I must confess. This will be a hard mission. But, you will learn, yes, you will learn."
She turned from Cupid to Fate. "Your human name will be Raye. You will work with Jadeite and befriend the one he doesn't take."
Raye was taken aback. "But-" she started.
She was cut off by the lifting of Destiny's intimidating eyebrow. She sighed in resignation and cursed Cupid and his stupid folly.
"I cannot bear to look at either of you at the moment. I am off."
And with that she stomped out of the Chamber, Thunder and hail following after her.
Cupid looked at Raye, watched her bite her fingernails, run a frustrated hand through her gorgeous hair, and restlessly put his hands in his pockets. He had really done it this time. This was no minor mistake. It wasn't every day Cupid was to be turned human because of lack of attention. He sighed.
"I'm really sorry about this Raye."
Raye heard his voice and something registered in her mind as she felt his regret and sorrow. Suddenly, instead of blowing a rage at him, she was walking over to him, putting her hand on his arm in a gesture of comfort. And she didn't' have a clue as to why.
"Serena Darling, come my dear, and look."
Serena, dressed in an impressively white short skirt and tight fitting white tank top, walked to her mother, hoping she looked somewhat interested. She smiled falsely at her mother, hoping her mother wouldn't see the opposite emotion in her eyes and took the paper that she was offered.
She read it and looked up. "It's for a shoot and fashion show in America," she said, slightly dazed. America? She had never been there but she had heard that it was the land of opportunity.
Serena smiled beautifully at her daughter and Serena suppressed a sigh. "My dear, this is your opportunity. You will accompany me and once they see you, they will put you in the show too. I am sure of it my dear."
She said it so earnestly that Serena felt herself smiling at her mother and nodding her head. She felt a pang of guilt at the fact that she was a not-quite-so-pretty-klutz. She would never be as graceful as her mother.
"When do we leave?"
"In 3 days my dear. This is absolutely marvelous. I haven't been to America in years. I can't wait to show you around."
"Yes, mother, that would be quite the thing," she smiled again, the smile reaching her eyes this time. America… what a wonder.
Cupid and Fate stood on the Bench of Watching, and pondered.
Cupid looked up, scratched his head and rubbed the top of his nose. Fate ran a hand through her hair, bit her nails, and crossed and uncrossed her legs.
They both turned to each other at the same time. Fate blushed and looked down.
"Cupid, I feel so sorry for this Serena girl. She seems so… submissive, no backbone, just surrender. I think I shall befriend her."
Cupid nodded in agreement. "I think that is the thing to do. It should be easier that way,"
Darien stared at the girl in who was trying her beset to get his attention. She wasn't his type, he decided as he watched her walk up to him with lunch, his lunch he suspected, in hand.
She batted her auburn eyelashes at him while she moved her chair right next to his and set the food on the table. Her auburn hair ran over her shoulders and she licked her lips, trying even more to impress him.
Darien suppressed a much needed sigh. It was the short skirt, beautiful types that always went after him. They were airheads, only depending on their looks and they were conniving. He remembered a particularly bad situation when he had almost proposed to one before he took a look at his credit card bill and found that she had spent way too much. It wasn't so much that he would go into debt, but hey, money was money. She had come to him earlier saying she needed to use the money to buy vital things for her house and Darien thought that she meant that she needed carpet, tiling, window panes, anything like that. He didn't mean for her to spend all of his money on clothes.
From then on, he didn't want any of the beautiful types. Maybe they were good for a little tumble but he wasn't looking for commitment with any of those types.
Cupid frowned and heard Fate grumble something. Well, this Darien guy was going to be a little harder then expected. He was suspicious of women and Serena was the trustworthiest woman in the world. But, she was exceptionally beautiful and wore short skirts. She was exactly the stereotype he had told himself to stay away from.
Cupid sighed and turned to Fate.
"This is going to be hard Fate. The way I see it, you have a much easier job with this Serena than I do with Darien,"
Fate lifted an eyebrow. "You call a girl without backbone easy? This is going to be way harder than your Darien. But, I don't want to argue. So let's just watch for our times to intervene. Destiny will tell us."
3 days later…
Serena held her cosmetics case in one hand, her airplane ticket in the other and waited for her mother to follow. Serena was dressed in an enticingly short blue skirt and a short sleeved flower shirt. She wore a light blue jacket with stripes down the side and white 3 inch high sandals. This was just one of the many outfits Serenity had bought for Serena in an emergency shopping spree.
Serena sighed, recalling her words. She had looked at Serena with that I-don't-understand look and then said "Of course shopping is one of the most important things in the world dear. You will understand when you wizen up my dear. Now, that dress is much too long. We will have to make adjustments."
Serena rolled her eyes at the memory. There was no hope for it. Her mother wanted her to continue the line of modeling and beauty but how could she succeed if she had no grace?
Serena was so into her thoughts, she didn't hear her mother come up. She let out a startled gasp when she looked back and didn't see her mother and searched frantically to see her handing her ticket to attendant. She sighed and walked up to the attendant, handing her her own ticket.
America. She sighed, settling comfortably in her first class seat. She would take a nap, she decided. Then she would find a way to let her mother know gently that she was not the girl her mother wanted her to be. She was about to close her eyes when she heard a sharp voice say, "You're sitting in my seat!" Serena turned to see a beautiful woman with raven black hair flowing down her back. The girl looked familiar.
"I'm sorry." Serena said, picking her ticket stub out of her purse and examining it. She shook her head. "This isn't your seat."
The girl glared, looked at her ticket stub again, then rolled her eyes. "I don't mean official lady. I have to have the window seat."
Serena looked around absentmindedly wondering where her mother was. She didn't really need the window seat, but something in the manner of this woman set her on edge. She took from what little backbone she had and glared back. "I'm sorry madam. I'm not giving you my seat." Her cheeks flushed pink with anger.
The lady stomped her foot, then sat down beside Serena.
"Fine."
Raye quickly pulled a book out of her carry on bag and hid her triumphant smile. She would make a shrew out of Serena in no time.
Serena turned away from the strange woman and got out her own book. She heard her mother come back and take the seat on the other side of Raye. She heard her mother sigh and knew that she was once again disappointed. She wasn't' surprised when a moment later a fashion magazine was placed on her lap. A sticky note was attached with a scribbled note from her mother reading "Please Darling. For me."
Serena sighed, set down her book, gave her mother a pointed look, then set to reading about the latest fashions.