"You look really amazing tonight," Alan said softly.

Serena giggled and stared at the road before them, "Really?"

Alan nodded, "I..."

He stopped walking, and Serena turned to look at him. She let out a
small gasp when she saw Alan's eyes burning into hers.

Then, he leaned over slowly, gradually closing the gap between them.

She froze.

"Alan..."



Sometimes
by Phantasy Star
--------------------

Chapter Four


Serena stood at the balcony of the school, looking at the view of the
city below her. Behind her, the dance was still raging on, teenagers
laughing and dancing, enjoying the loud booming music.

Serena frowned. She felt guilty about pushing Alan away when he tried
to kiss her.

But she really didn't want him to.

She had had a crush on Alan since he had come here, and she should
feel lucky that he had chosen to take her to the dance.

'Why should I feel bad about this?' Serena thought to herself,
'Darien's in the past...'

She shook her head, 'There's this amazing guy, incredibly handsome
and romantic, who acts like he's interested in me. But all I can
think about is Darien!'

Tears threatened to fall and a few escaped. She wiped them away
hastily.

Either way, she wanted to make sure of her own feelings first, before
anything could happen with Alan...

"Serena?"

She whirled around, pigtails flying.

"Oh, Alan."

"Hey, what are you doing out here?" he asked gently.

"Nothing," Serena said, trying to smile, "Just getting some fresh air,
that's all..."

"Are you not feeling well?"

Serena shook her head, "I'm all right. Let's go back inside."

Alan nodded, "All ri-"

CRASH!

The two looked back towards the dance room and gasped.

The students were screaming and running in every direction, away
from some weird cat that had jumped down from a hole in the ceiling.

"Serena, go hide in the washroom!" Alan said urgently, "Don't come
out unless I've told you to."

Serena nodded and took off.

'Ann...' Alan thought bitterly, 'Why does she always have to be so
jealous...?'

* * *

"Hide in the washroom?" Serena said to herself defiantly, "Me, Sailor
Moon, hide in the washroom?"

She took out her transformation wand, "Sailor Moon never hides from
nega-trash! Moon... Crystal... Power!"

* * *

Teenagers rushed towards the doors, running away from the pink ribbons
that the purple and black cat monster was shooting out. Those who
got trapped by one of the ribbons had fallen to the floor, unconscious
and glowing a sickening pink colour as their energy left their body.

"Hey, you over there! Yeah, you!"

The monster looked up at the figure standing on the disco ball.

"How dare you crash the party of the school year? The end-of-school-
year dance is the event all the students look forward to, and some of
us have been waiting a *long* time to be invited by a good looking
guy! I, Sailor Moon, will not tolerate it!"

She jumped down on to the dance floor.

"I'm Sailor Moon! Champion of Justice. On behalf of the Moon, I
shall right wrongs and triumph over evil! And that means you!"

The huge purple cat jumped off the floor and launched itself at
Sailor Moon.

Serena screamed and dodged it, rolling away from the monster.

"Jupiter... Thunder... Crash!"

"Venus... Creasant Beam... Smash!"

The cat roared in pain as lightning and a beam of light struck its
body.

Suddenly, it growled and stood up on its hind legs. Then it raised
one paw and three purple ribbons flew out of it, each one wrapping
itself around the Sailor Scouts.

"Hey!" Sailor Moon exclaimed as she found herself trapped.

She glanced at the others and saw that they were tightly bind as
well. They struggled for a bit, but it was no use. The ribbons were
tight and strong.

"We need help..." Jupiter muttered, "Where's Mercury?"

"She'd never go to school dances..." Mina said, feeling weak as she
found her energy being drained away.

"Yeah, she'd rather study... calculus..." Sailor Moon said, her eyelids
becoming heavy.

"Not the time... to joke..." Jupiter said, struggling to keep her eyes
open.

Suddenly, a shadow of a white streak left the girls free, the ribbons
having been cut off from their bodies.

"Moonlight Knight!" Sailor Moon exclaimed, "You've come to save us!"

"Hurry, Sailor Moon," he said.

"Right!" Serena said, "Moon... Sceptre..."

She aimed her wand at the bewildered purple cat, "Elimination!"

* * *

"Ann, how did you send out a cardian without my help?" Alan demanded,
"Only I can awaken a monster with my flute."

"I have my ways," Ann said, shoving the tape player into her pocket.

"You'd better tell me right away," Alan said angrily.

"How about you tell me why you took little Miss Blondie to the ball
and didn't even tell me about it!?" Ann said, voice rising, "What,
are you in love with her or something!?"

"I'm trying to understand these humans better," Alan explained, "That
way, I know how to absorb their energy properly."

Suddenly, Alan remembered something.

"Serena!" he exclaimed.

Before Ann could respond, he had teleported back to the dance floor
in his human form, running to the entrance of the girl's washroom.

"You all right, Serena?" he shouted.

"Alan," she said as she ran out, "I... Yeah, I'm all right. Is, um...
is the monster gone?"

"Yeah, Serena," Alan said, "Oh, I was so worried about you..."

Meanwhile, a pair of angry pink eyes stared at them from the roof...

* * *

"Really, Andrew?" Serena squealed, "I'd *love* to!"

"Yeah," his voice came over the phone, "I'd really appreciate it.
And, you can have all the ice-cream you want."

"Wow!" Serena exclaimed, "Thanks a bunch, Andrew! I hope you have
fun on your trip to see Rita!"

Andrew laughed, "I *know* I will."

Serena put down the phone with a happy sigh.

It was a chance of a lifetime! She could only imagine how fun it
would be to run the arcade, even if it was only for one day. And it
would take her mind off everything for a change...

* * *

'Hmm, should I wear my usual green blazer?'

Darien looked himself over in the mirror.

'Or just a simpler shirt? Maybe with my pair of brown pants...?'

He sighed.

Who knew that liking someone would be so stressful! All this
thinking... All these little decisions to make...

He sighed. He was told constantly of how attractive he was - that
was what got him into modelling for college fees - but he himself
had never truly noticed. The girls who hung around him make sure he
knew though.

Right now, only one person's opinion seemed to matter: Serena's.
Could she find him "dashing" or "charming" - as other girls said he
was?

Darien frowned as he recalled the way Serena had clung to his arm that
day on his way to work. And how she had told him that... they were
meant to be together?

'That's funny...' he thought, 'I... I seem to have forgotten about
that day... It seemed to be the... the first thing I can remember
after... after...'

After what?

Anyway, if Serena did like him at one point, she certainly hadn't been
showing it lately.

Darien sat on his bed and scratched the back of his head. There was
definitely something he wanted - needed - to grasp, but somehow, he
just couldn't...

* * *

The next morning, the sun hung high over Tokyo. Darien stared into
his cup of black coffee wearily.

"I hope she shows up..." he said to no one, "She's supposed to be here
half an hour before the customers show up..."

He sighed and took another sip, staring out the window and finding
himself daydreaming again, about a certain Meatball Head.

Sailor Moon... Serena...

'Now where can that Meatball Head be...?' Darien thought as he took
another sip.

* * *

Meanwhile...

"I can't be late for my first day of work ever!" Serena exclaimed as
she ran down the street with her bag and breakfast in one hand, "I am
so going to get fired!"

She finally arrived at the front door and waited for it to slide open.

"I'm here!" she said as she crashed inside, "Sorry I'm late!"

"No problem, Meatball Head."

She froze, and stared at the smiling young man in front of her.

"Darien?" she said incredulously, "You're the one taking care of the
arcade?"

"Yep," he said simply.

"I guess I should have expected it..." she said. Then she looked at
him accusingly, "Hey, you said you won't call me Meatball Head
anymore!"

"You told me you didn't mind me calling you that."

He gave her a mischievious grin. He liked it - the fact that he had
a nickname for her. Only he could call her that now. Meatball Head.
*His* Meatball Head, he thought.

He suddenly realized that he had a goofy smile on his face. Shaking
it off, he turned to face her.

"Come on, Ser- I mean Meatball Head, we have a lot of work to do."

* * *

"The customers are getting hungry, Meatball Head," Darien said,
pretending to be impatient.

"I'm on it!" Serena replied angrily, grabbing the strawberry sundae
from the counter, "And would you NOT call me Meatball Head in front of
all the customers?"

Darien sighed as he watched his Meatball Head rush all over the
arcade, taking orders and cleaning tables.

So full of energy... He could just sweep her up in his arms, to stop
her from moving, even for a second.

'Oh Serena...' he thought as he closed his eyes, 'If only you knew
the way I felt about you... The things I want to say to you... The-'

"Hel-lo!? Earth to Darien!"

"Huh?" he exclaimed as he sat up, "Oh, sorry."

"I'll tell Andrew you were day-dream-ing!" Serena sang.

Darien smiled at her, "I'll tell him you spilled everything."

"But I didn't!" Serena protested.

"Yeah, but I'll just tell him you did."

"You're such a jerk, Darien," Serena said as she stuck her tongue
out at his smirking face.

The rest of the morning went by pretty quickly. Darien found himself
feeling guilty for not appreciating Andrew's work. This was tough!
Especially during the peak hours...

"Whew!" Serena said as she put down her apron, "Finally a break!"

"Just fifteen minutes, Meatball Head," Darien said, "Lizzie can't run
the arcade all by herself much longer than that."

"Let's go get some ice-cream," Serena suggested as she ran to the back
of the arcade, disappearing through the door behind the counter.

Darien laughed and followed her inside.

"This is great!" Serena said, "I can have-"

She stopped when something fell out of her pocket and on to the
ground.

"Oh!" she exclaimed as she bent down to pick it up.

Darien looked at the star-shaped object curiously, "What is that,
Meatball Head?"

Serena laughed nervously, "It's just... It... It's a locket."

She was almost touching it when she saw Darien's intense gaze on it.

"It's... beautiful," he said, getting down on one knee to get a
better look.

Serena nodded in agreement.

"Who gave it to you?" he asked, raising his gaze to meet hers.

Serena smiled sadly, "Someone very special..."

"Was it a guy?" Darien asked, more forwardly than he had intended.

Serena smiled, "Yeah... We... We were very close."

Darien looked jealously at the shiny object on the floor that neither
of them seemed to dare to touch.

"What happened?" he said, almost afraid to ask.

Serena sighed, a sad smile on her lips, "Lots of things. He... he
sort of got... taken from me. Then I got him back. But then,
something changed... and he's forgotten about us. About... me and
him... what we used to be like..."

"Forgot about you?" he echoed.

"Yeah..." Serena said.

"Must have been a special guy," he said quietly.

"He is... I... I always wish that we were still together."

She closed her eyes as memories of the Silver Millennium flooded into
her mind. Then Tuxedo Mask, and that night at Starlights Tower...

"Maybe you should move on," Darien suggested, "I mean, if he's
forgotten about you..."

Serena's eyes widened, "You think so?"

"Well, if he doesn't care for you anymore, don't you think you should
go ahead and find other people?"

Serena tried to smile.

"You... you're right."

"I know I am," Darien said with a nod, "Happiness is something that
you create for yourself. You can't rely on someone else to give it
to you."

"I... guess..."

"Oh, it's the end of our break," Darien said, then chuckled, "Sorry I
kept you talking and didn't leave you time for ice-cream."

Serena turned and gave him a smile that didn't meet her eyes, "That's
okay, Darien..."

She hastily reached out to grab the locket when the lid flew open.
The melody flowed out, each note floating gracefully around the two of
them.

Serena quickly put her hand on the lid to close it back up, but she
froze when she saw that Darien had closed his eyes and had fallen
into a trance-like state.

She gasped.

'Is... is he going to remember?'