Heh heh...hello there readers...I know you may have forgotten about me and I'm very very very sorry. I got busy with another story and an internship so this kinda got put on the back-burner. And this chapter wasn't too exciting so I didn't have much motivation. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. To make up for it I did make this chapter longer. I will understand if you don't review, but please do. You have no idea how much I appreciate it.
Thank you pyroKity and xfilesoc for you continuous support, and mariana for reviewing last chapter.
Silver Star gently guided the wind to set Astrea back down and whispered thanks to the element. A soft current flowed around her and in a language only she could understand it said, "You're welcome."
"Silver Star, that was incredible," said Sailor Moon.
"Thanks."
"Yes, you showed excellent control," said Luna.
"You'll be moving things with ease in no time," said Astrea.
The word 'time' stuck out in Silver Star's mind. She suddenly remembered that Darien was coming over for dinner that night. "What time is it?" she asked with urgency.
Venus detransformed to see her watch. "It is 4:00," she said and promptly retransformed.
"Oh my gosh! I have company coming over for dinner in an hour and a half and I haven't even begun to get ready."
"Then let's get down to business now," said Artemis. "What do we know about this new enemy?"
"She called herself Athene and she seemed to be pretty strong," recalled Jupiter. "Athene? Like the Greek goddess?" asked Venus.
"I guess so," said Mars.
"But she doesn't resemble the normal depictions of Athene," commented Mercury.
"Yeah, she didn't at all look like a warrior. But she did seem to study the battle and Athene was known for her wisdom," said Moon.
The other Scouts stared at Moon in shock. "How did you know that?" asked Jupiter.
"I have an interest in mythology, especially Greek," Moon defended. The others shrugged in response and moved on.
"Sailor Moon is right, she was studying the battle," said Mercury. "And she didn't aim her energy blasts at anyone; just threw them."
"Like she was testing us?" asked Mars.
"Maybe," was the only answer Mercury could give.
"Either way, it seemed like she was pretty powerful," said Venus.
"Yeah. We should be ready for their next attack," said Jupiter.
"Do you think they'll attack again soon?" asked Silver Star nervously.
The Scouts looked at each other and their guardians. "Sometimes they wait a little while and sometimes they attack again right away," Sailor Moon solemnly answered.
A look of realization passed through Venus' eyes. "And Silver Star doesn't have a communicator like the rest of us. How will we reach her if something happens?"
"A communicator?" asked Star.
Mercury pulled hers out to show Star. It was handheld with lots of buttons and a small screen that would show the person one was speaking to. "Luna gave us each one after we started fighting together."
Everyone looked at Astrea expectantly. "I don't have one for you. We didn't know what kind of technology the communicator was made of before I left so I didn't bring one."
"Mercury, do you think you can make one for Star?" asked Moon.
"I should be able to," said Mercury. "It will take me a few days though."
"Okay. Until then we'll just have to count on Star's senses and telephones. It shouldn't be a problem," said Moon. "Anything else we need to cover?"
"I don't think so," said Luna.
"Then I'd better get going. I have a million things to do before he gets there," said Silver Star before she detransformed.
Every Sailor Scout but Mercury suddenly leaned forward and perked their ears up. "And who is coming over for dinner?" asked Venus.
Amber's eyes got wide. Knowing that it would be better to tell them now, she said in a quiet voice, "Darien."
"You're having Darien over for dinner?" asked Sailor Moon.
"Ya, my dad wanted to meet him since my mom and I have been seeing him so much," Amber answered as nonchalantly as she could.
"Oh, okay. Have fun," Sailor Moon responded a little too calmly.
Amber looked to the other girls for confirmation. When they shrugged, she said, "Thanks. Well, I'm off then. You coming with me Astrea?"
"I think so," said the cat. "Good bye everyone."
They said their goodbyes and Amber walked out of the temple grounds with Astrea sitting on her shoulder.
"She seemed to take that a little too well," Amber told Astrea.
"Yes, but we can't know how she really feels until she tells someone," said Astrea.
"You're right. Besides, I have other things to worry about right now." "Sailor Moon? Are you okay?" asked Jupiter after Amber left.
Anger emanated from Moon as she answered through her teeth, "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"
"Because you like Darien and he's going to have dinner with Amber tonight," said Venus.
Moon took a deep breath before deciding how to respond. She calmly said, "You are wrong. There is nothing between me and Darien and I don't care if Amber has dinner with him. Can we please go back to fighting now."
"If you say so Moon," said Mars.
Sailor Moon sighed with relief as once again the girls accepted her answers. But she couldn't help wishing they would question her; that they would believe she was more than she appeared. Amber yelled hello to her parents as she ran upstairs and jumped in the shower. Afterwards she pulled on a light sundress with daises on it and decided to leave her hair down. Andrea was in the kitchen fixing fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and biscuits. They had decided to introduce Darien to their favorite American foods.
Just as they were setting the table, the doorbell rang. "Ahh, he's here," cried Amber.
Her parents couldn't help but laugh. "Calm down, hon. It's going to be okay. Just go answer the door."
"Okay..." said Amber.
She pulled open the door and took in the sight of Darien. He chose to dress up a bit and wore a nice shirt with khakis. "Amber," he exclaimed.
Immediately, Amber was at ease. "Darien!"
Before she knew it, Amber found herself hugging Darien again. This time he responded much faster, wrapping his arms around her.
"It's good to see you too," he said as they parted. "Here, I brought you these." Darien handed her a modest bouquet of red roses.
"They're beautiful. Thank you so much. Please come in," she gestured for him to follow.
Darien slipped off his shoes and went into the dinning room. "Darien, you already know my mother, Andrea. This is my father, Luke," Amber said as she placed the flowers in a vase for the table.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir," Darien said, bowing to the man.
"I am honored to meet you as well," said Luke, also bowing. "But please, call my wife and I by our first names."
"Thank you Luke."
"Dinner is almost ready, Darien. Amber, why don't you help me bring it out?"
"Okay, Mom."
Soon dinner was on the table and everyone was enjoying the meal. They made small talk about work and life in the U.S. Luke asked Darien about his life and the young man described it as well as he could while keeping a certain masked man a secret. After they had finished and chatted a while, Darien had to leave.
"Thank you for having me over."
"Anytime Darien," said Luke.
"See you on Monday Andrea."
"I'll walk you to your car," said Amber.
They left the house and stopped next to his car. "Amber, thanks a lot for letting me into your family tonight. It was...wonderful."
"Of course, Darien. You're welcome in our house anytime."
His eyes softened, and Amber saw a wave of sorrow pass through them. But Darien offered no more details, merely as a sad smile, and she didn't press for more. They hugged one last time before he drove off.
That night dreams ascended upon Amber again. The same meadow...the same swing...the same boy...
DREAM
She was a child again. Her silver hair blown in her eyes by the wind. This time she noticed the light dress she wore: white with silver threads sown in here and there. Still barefoot, she and they boy chased each other around the tree before swinging. No words were spoken but laughter was constant.
The man and woman appeared over the horizon. They seemed to sparkle in the light. They beckoned for them to come; it was time to leave now. The boy left Amber's side without a second thought. A few feet away, he saw that she was not following. His eyes grew sad
He doesn't want me to leave...he's so sad. Why am I supposed to come? I want to stay here...
Then the boy was with the adults. He was still sad, but the man and woman seemed to understand her confusion. The man placed his hand on the boy's shoulder and they were all smiling. They smiled at her. Amber knew she was safe.
They still feel familiar...how do I know these people...
The woman brought her hand to her forehead, pointing at something there, but Amber couldn't see what. The man did the same. Something started glowing on their foreheads and suddenly her symbol was burning. The star didn't hurt, but heat emanated from it. She touched her star and the glowing brightened until she couldn't see anything else. As the light finally dimmed, Amber saw them...
The man and the boy have a symbol on their foreheads as well...a sort of thick cross that extends out of a small circle...the entire thing is brown...
The woman...hers is so much brighter...what...
Just as the woman's light began to dim everything faded.
No, not yet...please...I have to know...
The last thing Amber saw was the woman nodding her head and a single word echoing from her
"Soon..."
END DREAM
But the dream was over and Amber was left confused in her bed in the moonlight.
Amber spent the remainder of the night in a restless sleep. In the morning she described the symbol to Astrea who again seemed to recognize the image that plagued Amber's dream, but refused to give any straight answers.
"Astrea, these people know me." Amber went on even though she would get no response. "They know me. They are connected to me."
All Astrea could say was, "Soon. I promise, soon."
That night Serena also had dreamed. She was the princess in a ball room of some sort wearing her normal dress. She saw some of her scouts wearing gowns dancing. Lots of people were waving to her, but she didn't recognize any of them. She saw Amber, but she had silver hair like her alter persona. She was also looking beautiful and held the arm of a tall man with dark her. Serena gasped as she realized, "Darien!"
They saw Serena and began walking over and Serena was nervous and embarrassed. She didn't know what to do. She was trapped. And then Darien was in front of her and Amber smiled. And then Serena was dancing with Darien.
This was more normal for Serena's dreams: Darien frequented them and they were usually dancing.
As the happiness faded into the whine of an alarm clock, Serena woke up wondering, "Why in the world was Amber in my dream?"
That afternoon, Serena's mother asked her to get groceries. After what Serena thought was a decent amount of whining, she gave in and gathered her stuff to leave. Walking out the door she heard her mother say, "You never used to complain so much about this. What happened?"
She thought to herself, "If only you knew, Mother, if only you knew."
Walking up and down the crowded aisles, Serena gracefully avoided all other carts and spills on the floor. She was almost finished when she rounded a corner and found Darien looking at her.
"Darien!" she exclaimed. She quickly glanced at the floor and found a lone grape rolling by. With an inner sigh, she stepped on it and prepared to crash into the floor.
"Careful, Serena," said Darien as he easily caught her with one arm.
Without either of them meaning to, Serena found herself lying in the dip position with Darien leaning over her.
"Thank you," she whispered, overwhelmed by his closeness. She breathed in his cologne and relaxed completely.
Darien, too, was having issues controlling himself. Every inch of his body was screaming at him to kiss her. Darien didn't come to his senses until a passerby cleared his throat. Then he righted Serena, keeping his arm around her waist a few seconds longer the necessary.
Once his voice had returned, he asked, "Are you alright, Serena?"
"Yeah, Darien, I'm fine," she answered frustrated and embarrassed. A sudden realization came over her, "You called me Serena."
The girl beamed with pure joy so brightly that Darien couldn't bear to end it. "Yeah, well, it's not that I don't like your name. I just like my name for you better."
Serena smiled and thought, "His name for me, huh? So maybe it's not as bad of a nickname as I thought."
Darien decided it would be best to change the subject, "So, what are you doing here?"
Serena gestured to her cart of food, "Getting groceries. A normal activity for someone at a grocery store. And you?"
"Oh, umm," Darien tried to recover, "I'm getting food too. Need something to eat for dinner."
"Dinner, ah yes. How was dinner with Amber last night?"
Darien visibly paled. "How did you know about that?"
Serena raised her eyebrows, "She hung out with us yesterday; had to leave early for dinner with you."
"Oh, uh, dinner was good. It was nice to eat with a family," Darien trailed off.
"Yeah, that's always nice," Serena immediately remember Andrew telling her about Darien's parents being killed in a car accident when he was little. Luckily, she knew her mother was expecting so Serena didn't have to stay and try to avoid the subject. "I have to get going Darien, but I'll see you tomorrow at the arcade, okay?" While she spoke her right hand moved without her permission to squeeze his shoulder.
Darien looked at her hand touching him. "Yeah, I'll see you then." His voice betrayed him, expressing his amazement.
Serena began to walk away when he called to her. "Serena, did we just have our first real conversation ever?"
Serena paused. "Wow. We did."
"Cool. I'll see you later...Serena," Darien at the last moment, decided that he shouldn't ruin the moment by calling her Meatball Head. As he watcher her walk away, Darien thought to himself, "I'm one step closer to her. Yes!"
I'm looking forward to the next chapter, but before I write it I have to update my other story. In any case, the next chapter should be out much soon than this one was. Thank you for your patience!
