Disclaimer: If only I owned Sailor Moon… but I don't. someone in Japan probably does though. Go look for them there.
Notes: Okay, first, I have to blame L.J. Smith's Night World books for some of the concepts that start in here. And to 'A Reader': *evil grin* Hah- the plot is not what you thought it was. No, seriously, I thought it was something else too until the dang thing went swinging out of control…
Bob the Hobo: Aww… don't worry. My school was sucky that way too. But I was a cheerleader- so yeah, bet you can figure out what my friends were like. *shudders*
SilverBunny and MoonKitty: Yes there will be Darien in here somewheres. And the scouts. But I promise you muchmuch Darien torture. As to who the girl's gonna end up with… *blinks and stares at the out-of-control plot zooming past her* No clue… who does everyone suggest?
And thank you everyone who reviewed and especially to everyone who was kind enough to beg me to write more. J
Chapter 5
Serena had already celled Theirry, explaining that she had to have dinner with her father and would be late to the party. She was wearing Chanel dress- lavender, asymmetrical hem, deep v-neck, with a very 1920's feel. She slipped into a pair of open toe heels, put on some silver bangles and droplet earrings. Her hair she clipped up messily. For make-up she put on a little more liner, red lip-gloss, and a touch of peachy blush.
She was touching up the blush when she heard the buzzer as Mrs. Moyle allowed the guest up. Serena hurried downstairs and into the living room. She draped herself over the designer love seat and waited. The apartment had been decorated by the most respected interior designers in Manhattan, and had been made to impress. The front room was done in earth tones, with clean lines and careful arrangement, with a somewhat botanical theme- very feng shui. A flat screen tv hung on the wall opposite the taupe couch and its matching loveseat. Serena had only picked up the remote when Mrs. Moyle appeared in the doorway.
"Ms. Bonds is here, miss," the wispy housekeeper said with a gentle smile. Serena nodded, grinning.
"Show her on in!" Mrs. Moyle's dark head bobbed and she disappeared. Ms. Bonds stepped through the doorway. A young, auburn-haired businesswoman.
"Hi! You must be Serena! Ken's spoken of you so often!" Ms. Bonds walked to Serena, who had stood up to greet her. "I'm Valerie."
Serena nodded. "Pleased to meet you." She examined the woman closely. Valerie was hopelessly young for her father, but she was nice. Serena could at least tell that much- nice to her friends. But something told her she would hate to be an enemy… Valerie reminded her strongly of Rei. Damn it. She wasn't going to think about Tokyo! "I'm afraid Dad is going to be late," Serena apologized.
Valerie laughed. "That's all right. I was hoping I'd be able to get to know you a little better anyway. Your father mentioned you love shopping?"
Two hours later, her father was home, the dinner was almost finished. And Serena could feel the romance building up. Gag. "Dad, I have got to get to Theirry's! He's having a party and I promised I'd be there." Ken Tsukino looked at his daughter sternly. Serena had truly blossomed overnight, was a young woman now… and she was still his little girl.
"Be home by one, Serena. Call Lars if you need a ride home…"
"I will, daddy!" She leapt out of her chair, nodded to Valerie, "It was great to meet you! We'll have to go shopping sometime!" And was off, running up the stairs at top speed.
Serena donned a pair of flat black boots, a black camisole, a black chemise, with a sheet black shirt, open, covering it. She paused in front of the mirror in the front hallway, pulled a tube of lipstick from her coat pocket, and carefully applied it. The lipstick wasn't just orange-red or blue-red it was RED- the color of hollyberries, Christmas ribbons… the color of blood. 'She's beautiful… I mean, I'm beautiful!' Serena laughed, and headed out the door.
Fifteen minutes later Serena walked through the door of the Valmont penthouse and into Ash's arms. She laughed and returned the hug. "Sea's here!" he yelled across the foyer.
"Hey!" Puck called. "Theirry, Ash is mackin' on Serena!"
Thierry appeared from the direction of the bar. "What? I didn't quite hear you over the music?" but he was frowning.
Serena laughed and hugged him. "Oh nothing, T. Just Ash and I making wild passionate love on the foyer floor."
"Oh," he grinned and shrugged. "You're probably thirsty after all that- want a drink? And did you tape it?"
Serena glared half-heartedly. "Not a word in defense of my honor! And yeah, Sex on the beach would be great…"
"And I'll have an orgasm, if you don't mind, T?" Susan asked with a grin.
Theirry grimaced. "Whose bright idea was it to teach you about mixed drinks?"
"Yours, as I recall," Illianna said brightly. "Although… my memory of that night's kinda hazy…"
As Theirry and Dee proceeded to mix drinks, the rest of the Court settled down to curl up in the game room/ bar. Tonight was an intimate gathering of the twelve members. Serena had originally thought she was the 11th, only to discover that she was really number 12, and that the other member was Quinn Roman, a tall boy with black hair and moss green eyes He was Ash's cousin, and had been skipped ahead a year to graduate early. Serena had just begun talking to Quinn and Susan about the upcoming trip to Tokyo when Diana cleared her throat.
"Let's begin," She said. "We have a lot to do tonight… Once this is complete it will be over. But it's going to take a lot of power. Theirry, where do you think we should do this?"
"We might as well just do it here… we can move the table and couches out of the way and we'll have more than enough room for the circle."
The group stood, everyone moving to start pushing various object back to the walls. Serena, Susan, and Illianna took the job of rolling up the area rug, revealing the polished wood floor. Once they were done, Thea and Diana began marking off a large circle with ribbon.
* * * *
It was two in the morning when Serena climbed out of Quinn's car and dragged herself up to the apartment. It was 2:15 when her father finished yelling at her for being late, and 2:30 when she finally fell into her bed. She didn't wake up until eleven on Saturday morning. She shuffled downstairs and was met by the amused housekeeper, who handed her a plate of pancakes.
"You missed the big news this morning," Mrs, Moyle said, bustling about the kitchen far too energetically for Serena to follow.
"Unghh?"
"They caught that awful man who kidnapped all those girls! They found him in some dismal apartment, unconscious. There were all sorts of things belonging to the girls there. But they say he's beyond mad- in some sort of trance, really. Not moving, doesn't speak." Mrs. Moyle was luckily talking into the eggs she was frying, and she missed the half-smile that crept onto Serena's suddenly alert face.
"Dreadful," the girl murmured. "Hey, those eggs are smelling great!"
"I figured you'd enjoy a very late breakfast. Your father's already gone to his golf tournament," Mrs. Moyle replied, smiling. Serena made a face. Golf had to be the single most boring game on the face of the planet. It was also the one thing she was worse at than skating, which was saying a lot. "And Susan and Illianna have rung twice already."
"Thanks. I'll call them back… after I eat!"
* * * *
That afternoon the group met at Susan's house- a huge Victorian mansion that vaguely reminded Serena of decorator magazines and museums. A butler led each of the arrivals through the marble foyer, down the portrait bedecked hallway, and out onto the terrace where the uniformed maid served them hors devours and tea, then promptly disappeared.
For today the entire court looked like perfect examples of the children of the elite. The boys wore slacks, dress shirts, the occasional blazer, or light sweaters. They all, even the normally rebellious Gabriel and Puck, looked as if they should be off yachting or discussing Harvard. The girls wore knee-length, even tea-length sun dresses, with their hair up, designer straw hats, and conservative flat or heeled dress shoes.
Illianna tucked an errant lock of honey gold hair behind her ear, and glanced around. "Lady help us! We look like an ad for the Young Republicans!"
Quinn laughed. "What is that old saying about appearances?"
Puck chuckled. "What now, old chap? We all know those are rot!" he declared in an accent straight from Jane Austen.
"He's quite right, you know, old man. These silly native superstitions you know. Have to be careful- they'll get in your head. Turn you into Billy Graham," Ash said in a more Prince Charles accent. The group shuddered.
"Billy Graham is evil." This came from Dee, who was looking extremely uncomfortable in her pale yellow sundress. "But not as evil as whoever invented these freaking shoes!" she moaned, yanking off her low heeled pumps and massaging her feet.
It was Theirry who finally cleared his throat and got down to business. "All right- everyone heard this morning's news?" He was greeted by eleven nodding heads. "Last night was a success. An unqualified success…" he grinned, his dark eyes sweeping over the group, lingering on Serena. "So tonight we celebrate in the Underground… if everyone is recuperated?" Serena smiled at him. He had to know the answer to that: Theirry owned the Underground, possibly the hottest teen club in the city.
"Hell yes we're recuperated old bean!" Puck said loudly. He raised a glass, his sky blue eyes sparkling. "Here's to us, the Court of Twelve! We've got game!"
"HERE HERE1" the rest seconded, laughing and raising their glasses.
Later, Theirry and Serena sat in a secluded spot in the garden. He smiled and put his arms around her. "You won't even have time to miss us! We're all going to be out there a week after you. By the time we get to Tokyo you'll have forgotten about us," he would have laughed but he saw the tears welling up in her eyes. "It's your home, Serena. It can't be that bad."
"But it is, Theirry! It is… And this is my home. I chose New York! I choose you… you and Di and Ash and Su and the Court," she said quickly. Thierry frowned. Something had happened in Tokyo, he knew that much- all the court did- but they had never quite dared to ask. Even Ash had never yet tried to get her to tell. It had been part of the reason they decided to go with her… But if she was dreading the trip this much…
He hated seeing her like this, holding back her tears and nearly shaking with the effort. "Sea, tell me what happened, please?" he whispered.
"It's a long story. So very long…"
"We've got time."
Serena wrapped her arms around Theirry, resting her cheek on his shoulder, and was silent for a few moments
"Sea, what is so wrong lately?" he asked her, his voice soft. His dark eyes, always a little sad, were now full of worry as well. "If you're this tired maybe you should skip tonight…"
"NO!" Serena shook her head violently. "Thierry I want to spend tonight with you. With my friends…". "A very, very, very long time ago there was a queen named Serenity…"