All standard disclaimers apply. Characters are based by Naoko Takeuchi's Sailor Moon.

Chapter 2

In the wee hours of the morning, all was relatively silent throughout the city as the citizens slumbered. In Serena's bedroom, however, not everyone was asleep.

With careful movement, a young man stretched his limbs and massaged his neck. He was in pain and his vision was blurry. First things first. He blinked a few times. When everything cleared, he took in his surroundings. 'What's going on?' He thought, 'How did I get here? Where am I? What day is it? And why do I hurt so much?' As all these questions buzzed around his head, he caught sight of himself in the mirror and saw the somewhat disheveled bodysuit. Another pertinent question arose, 'What happened to me?' His attention was then drawn to the bed.

Taking shaky and painful steps, he slowly walked over to the sleeping beauty. Who else could she have been but Sleeping Beauty with hair like pure sunshine spread across her pillow. Soft, creamy skin with a touch of pink on each cheek; a straight, pert little nose, and a full beautiful, luscious mouth that was slightly open. Yes, this Sleeping Beauty was just begging to be awakened with a kiss. He leaned in to do just that when a sharp, searing pain shot through his limbs.

Brought back to reality, he realized his situation. He didn't know where he was, who SHE was, how he came to be, or how long his newfound freedom would last. All he had to go on was this girl. He could stand here forever and just watch her sleep, or better yet, kiss her awake. Remembering what happened moments ago, he fought the urge. He was in so much pain. It felt like he hadn't moved in years.

*Tell me genius; could it be because you've NEVER moved before?!*

'But if that's the case, how am I alive and aware now? What happened?' Moving his arm a bit, he winced and restrained from making a noise. 'Who cares,' he continued, 'I'm tired and I just want to lay down.' Taking his time, he carefully stretched out beside the golden beauty on her bed. 'I won't stay long, it's just that coming alive is very tiring.'

*Yeah sure*, replied the voice, *and it has nothing to do with wanting to be closer to the gorgeous girl, right?*

'Of course not,' he thought back, 'I owe my moment of freedom to this girl. Somehow, I know I do. I'd never do anything to harm her.'

Serena turned in her sleep and moved closer to the warmth that she felt radiating off of his body.

Brushing a stray tendril from her eyes, the man spoke again to the voice, 'I'd do anything to please her if I could.' He felt a strange tingling sensation going across his body. 'But even now, I can feel myself turning back into my original form.' He gazed tenderly at Serena as she moved her head closer to nuzzle where his hand was absently caressing her. He wanted to hold her close to him, but was afraid that his arm would go back to its original state before he was able to retrieve it. Then where would he be? She might throw him away and he'd next awaken in a dumpster or something.

Fear ran through him. Would he awaken again? He'd do anything to meet with this girl, find out her name, her likes and dislikes, talk with her, kiss her...

*Well, you CAN do something about that last one, buddy boy.*

Reluctantly, he got out of the bed and leaned over and whispered, "Thanks for the memories." He bent slightly and lightly brushed a kiss on her cheek. He gazed at Sleeping Beauty fondly and brushed his thumb down her face once more and moved his hardening body back to where he was first positioned, and stood vigil over the sleeping girl until the world was once again faded to black.

************

Serena awoke feeling so refreshed. She hadn't slept so well in a long time. Yawning, she opened her eyes and focused on the man positioned in the corner. "Good morning, Spidey!" She ran over to him and gave him a quick hug, "Lovely day isn't it?" She giggled and gathered her clothes and bounced into the shower. She didn't know why she felt so happy and carefree today, but the reason didn't matter to her. Afterwards she fixed breakfast, ate, grabbed her keys, and went off to class.

The day just kept getting better, she got to all of her classes on time, and she found out she aced her Literature quiz. She was majoring in Journalism; she wanted to be a food critic. So far, she was on the right track.

She met up with the girls at the end of the day at their usual spot, the cafe. "Hey guys, guess what?"

"Hey Serena, you look happy today. I heard you did well in your Lit class," said Lita.

"Yeah, I did. I'm glad too, I studied hard for that one. But wait until you hear what I did last night." She waited; she loved torturing them with suspense.

"Spit it out already, Meatball Head!"

"Okay, okay! I removed Spidey's hood."

"WHAT?!" everyone chorused. Mina had sprayed the drink she was sipping over the table.

Serena looked confused. "What's wrong with you all? You're acting like I told you I AM Spiderman or something. It's not that big of a deal."

"Well, did he have a face?"

Serena reflected, "Oh he had a face alright. Quick, name some popular Greek myth heroes. I couldn't think of many last night."

"Ares."

"Cupid."

"Zeus."

"Hermes."

"Who?" Serena asked.

"He was the messenger of the Gods."

"Oh. No. Anyway, I wanted to know because the guy they modeled him after has got the face of one of those Greek statues that we always hear about. He's perfect. He's gotta be one of them, I just can't think of which one though."

"I wanna see this guy unveiled," said Lita.

"Me too," agreed Mina.

"NO!!" shouted Serena, jumping up. They all looked at her, a little scared, even Raye. "Uh, I mean, wait until the party. You can see him then." She laughed nervously to pass off the awkward moment. "Um, did you get to invite everyone?"

"No, not yet," Mina answered, "Just a few people more, and then we just need to get music, but that's no problem, right Raye?" Raye nodded. "We also have to take care of the smaller details. No big deal."

"Who's coming?"

"Everyone."

"What do you mean by 'everyone'?"

"Look, don't worry about it Serena, it'll be fine. You just hurry up on that project. How's that going by the way?"

"Ok; I'm almost finished. I'll need this party as soon as it's over. I think I'll be more help then, too. This is funny, it's MY party, but I'm hardly helping out with anything."

"I'm sure you'd do the same for any one of us Serena. That's what friends are for."

"I know. Thanks," she smiled. "But where will my friends be when its clean-up time?"

All of the girls avoided eye contact by looking in different directions and/or whistling.

"Some friends," Serena laughed. "Well, I gotta go talk with a few people. I'll see you guys later."

"Bye Serena."

She arrived home late that night. It was hard catching up with all the people she needed to talk to. Everyone had such busy lives. Now, all she wanted to do was collapse in bed. She walked to her room to do just that. "Hey Spidey," she greeted. She didn't bother washing her makeup off either; she just put on her nightclothes. "We really need to find you another name. Spiders creep me out." She walked over and leaned on him for a moment. She wondered what she would wear as her M.J. costume. It didn't have to be too complicated. Spiderman was a modern comic. She studied his still face, again marveling at how real he felt and looked. She brushed her hand down his face like she did the night before. "This is becoming a routine." She walked around him to be face-to-face and studied him more. An idea popped into her head. She ran to her bag and grabbed some paper and pencils. She walked back to where she was and positioned herself directly in front of him.

She did a few quick sketches of him. She wanted to immortalize his face, even though he was kind of immortal already. They did a good job building him. She colored the ones she like best and signed each of them after she finished--something she remembered her art teacher telling her to always do, even if it was just a doodle. She didn't give any of them a title because she still hadn't remembered the Greek myth he reminded her of. Stepping further back, she admired her work. "Hmm...not bad. Maybe I'll do a real painting." Turning to look at the clock, she saw that three hours had passed by. "Wow. Time flies." She faced him again, "Until tomorrow, goodnight Spidey." She leaned up and pecked him on the cheek again like the night before.

Putting the papers away in her nightstand, she caught her reflection and sighed, "Aww man, I do not feel like taking this makeup off," she groaned. She walked to the bathroom and started the process of taking of the day old powder, blush, and lipstick. With that done, she turned the light off and walked to her bed and just collapsed, as she wanted to earlier.

Serena was practically asleep when she felt a presence in her room. Brushing it off as just being overtired, she snuggled further into her warm covers and fell into a deep sleep.

Just as she surrendered to dreamland, someone else was awakening.

The pain wasn't as bad tonight. Wait a minute. Tonight?

He was free again!

He instantly turned his attention to the Sleeping Beauty. His steps were quicker and steadier than last time. He really wanted to wake her and see what color her eyes were, and hear the sound of her voice. But how would she react? Would she scream, hit it, toss him out, or call for help? Too many bad things could happen. The last thing he wanted to do was frighten her. No. The best thing to do was to keep a low profile, and just hope to reawaken again to learn more. He'd decide what to do as each day was allowed him.

He looked at the clock and saw that it was just past 2 a.m. She shouldn't be up for hours. Brushing her hair away and trailing a finger down her face again tonight, he whispered to her, "Hello again. Thank you for allowing me another day of freedom." He just had to learn more about this girl. He decided to take a tour.

He looked all around her room. It was a comfortable, cozy room. Done in neutral colors, but bright colors were thrown in here and there. He gathered that she was a laid back girl, but knew how to have fun. Pictures were scattered on her nightstand. 'It must be her family and friends.' A larger photo of his beautiful host sat next to a vase of roses. 'Her eyes are blue. As blue as the summer sky playing on the ocean.' Looking around some more, he saw a few paintings of roses hanging on the walls. 'Roses must be her favorite flower.' On further inspection, he saw that they were paintings either done by her, or by an artist that she knew. 'Serena Tsukino. What a lovely name.' "You have true talent, precious one," he whispered. Serena turned over in her sleep.

He stretched his arms as he continued his tour. The pain was diminishing as time moved on. He walked into another room. The living room was filled with things. More areas were covered with pictures and photos. He walked over to a bookcase and looked at a few books that she owned. 'Ms. Tsukino has quite an extensive library. If I wake up again, I'll try to read one.' Rounding another piece of furniture, he bumped into a music case of some sort. He pulled out a few, and looked at the titles. She had a wide variety of music styles too.

His dream girl was beautiful, very talented, had taste, and liked a variety instead of doing the same things over and over again. She was wonderful! 'I wonder what kind of food she has in her fridge. I want to try something before my time's up.'

He made his way to what he assumed was the kitchen. Opening the fridge was tougher than he thought--he hadn't gained his full strength yet. He peered in when it was finally opened. Inside he saw milk, eggs, juice, bagels, pizza, and water. 'Not much. I don't mean to eat her out of house and home, but I've never tried pizza before.' He saw that three slices remained. He took two. 'She won't miss these.' Shuffling over to the microwave oven, he popped the slices in. He didn't know how he knew what anything was, but he wasn't about to complain when everything was going so well.

The microwave was louder than he thought though. Stopping it before the bell went off, he froze and listened for any sounds of motion coming from Serena's bedroom. All seemed quiet. 'Serena must be a deep sleeper,' he thought. Before he could take his first bite, that tingling, stiffening sensation returned. He quickly devoured the pizza. It slightly burned him because it hadn't had time to cool. He cleaned up as fast as he could and tiptoed back to Serena's room. Seeing that she was still asleep, he continued his soft steps over to his corner. He really wanted to kiss her goodnight again, but he had taken too many risks for tonight. He stilled further as he saw Serena open her eyes slightly to look at where he was standing. He managed to restrain from gasping at her beauty, but he couldn't hold in the jerk. Her photos didn't do her justice. Even with the sleep in her eyes, she was more glorious than he could have ever imagined.

Serena, for her part, was just turning over in her sleep when she thought she saw something move. She opened her eyes again and glanced at Spidey. "Must have been my imagination," she murmured, and went back to sleep.

Her roommate was glad that his limbs were too stiff to move. At the sound of her melodious voice, he wanted to run to her, enfold her within his arms, and vow his undying love to her.

*Undying love? You've never even met the girl! And even if you did, how's it gonna work?*

'I don't know, but I'll be thankful for each day that I have with her. Even if its just to be close to her, it's enough.'

*Yeah, that's what you say now. But, how long will it stay that way?*

And so with the voice's opinion and the memory of Sleeping Beauty's voice, his surroundings became black once again.

**********

Time passed quickly, and the party was in a two weeks. Serena kept up her routine of going to school, hanging with her friends, and even helping with party plans. All major assignments were finished, so she felt that she had a lot of free time to catch up on the social scenes. She even got to go with the girls to find their costumes, and the perfect wig for herself. They had practically searched the entire city to find what they wanted. Mina had to put in special order for her Supergirl costume, but all were satisfied with the results. They found out that most of the invited guests were coming, but they figured they'd allow more for crashers. Serena found herself totally relaxing once again during the daytime.

But her favorite times were late at night; she'd set up her easel and paint Spidey's portrait. But she didn't put him in his Spiderman's costume. No, she portrayed him in modern clothes. A deep blue t-shirt that brought out his blue gaze, and a leather jacket that emphasized his sexy, raven hair. Serena hadn't officially decided what to use as a background, but she put a sunny day as a contrast to his nighttime looks. She toyed with the idea of making him stand out at night, but she didn't want him portrayed as being dark.

When she wanted to take a break from working on him, she worked on a portrait of herself, putting the nighttime background to contrast her sunny looks. As they both got closer to being completed, she'd set them side-by- side. If he couldn't be real in life, then they'd always have the world of art.

After each painting session, she'd jokingly thank him for posing, and kissed him goodnight. Then she'd wash off her makeup, change, and hop into bed.

What Serena didn't realize was that during her slumber, her handsome blue-eyed subject walked her apartment. After he had raided her refrigerator, he'd usually spent his time in her bedroom just watching her or reading one of the books he had found on her shelf, while stroking his fingers through her hair. His time of being 'awake' grew longer and longer each time. He was extremely grateful and took advantage of being near his beloved for as long as possible.

He remembered the night when he saw the paintings that she was working on.

*Flashback*

He was extremely happy one night when he saw two paintings sitting next to each other. 'She thinks of me!' He had thought excitedly, 'not as what I am, or what I was...or whatever, but as a man of today! I can't believe it! Look at us. US! Does that mean I could possibly have a chance with her?'

*But how? You're a dummy! LITERALLY! Look,* the voice told him, *just stick with the original plan--take what you can get, while you can get it.*

'But it's so hard,' he rationalized, 'I LOVE her!'

*Okay, okay, I understand that. So think about these factors instead: 1. She doesn't even know that you exist, 2. You're eating all of her food--don't think she doesn't notice. She doesn't just blank out or anything you know, so she's must be suspicious. And finally, 3. Even if you two could be together, how would you live? You only "awaken" as you call it, at night! When she's asleep! And you stiffen back up to your superhero mode before she even wakes up, which brings us back to point number 1. She doesn't...*

'...Know I exist.' he finished.

*I'm sorry. Hey, I'm you, so I know what you're going through. There's really nothing to do but go on as you have been. There's too many risks if you try anything new.*

It was very painful to go on like this, but he preferred the sweet torture of being so close to her, rather than being given away or worse, thrown away by his beloved blond. His time limit to bask in her presence had now increased to a few of hours, so one night he ventured out of her apartment and went to the park across the street. There, he picked a perfect red rose, her favorite flower. He read in one of her books that the meaning of a red rose was passion and true romance. He certainly felt that, and so he left it beside her.

*End Flashback*

He kept giving her roses night after night. He knew she must've been confused. But it occurred to him that she may get a little nervous, even scared, if he left them right on her bed. That wasn't his intention, so he started leaving them outside of her apartment door. Soon, Serena had his roses in vases all over the apartment.

But brushing her hair away, feeling her face, and leaving her flowers weren't enough for him anymore. Being stuck between two worlds was heck for him. He soon altered that situation. Directly after delivering her rose, he returned and laid down right next to her, always getting up right when he felt his limbs stiffening. But the time spent being "awake" was getting longer and longer, and therefore, more dangerous.

***********

Serena met with the girls at the cafe. "Hey everyone! What's going on?"

"Serena! Great, just the person we need to see. What time are you gonna be home Friday?" asked Mina.

"I don't have any classes scheduled and no work to do, why?"

"We want to be able to set everything up and make sure we have everything for the party," answered Lita. "I'm gonna bring the food by your place Thursday. You gonna be there?"

"Yeah. Just stop by after seven, you know I have to go my parents house for dinner on Thursdays. But I'll make sure to be back by then."

"We should have someone stay overnight so Serena won't eat all of your food, Lita."

"Raye!" Serena cried, "I'm not that bad. At least not anymore. Right?"

The girls looked skeptical.

"C'mon! Have a little faith."

"I'm willing to give her a chance," said Amy.

"Yeah, Amy? You sure?" asked Lita. When Amy nodded, she continued, "Alright. But don't touch anything Serena! Don't even a peek. I'm serious."

"Alright, Lita, I promise."

"Oh," said Mina, "and since we'll be at your place early, we'll just stay and get dressed there."

"Sure, no problem."

"Serena, can you borrow you parents' car today? I need to drop some things off at your place?" asked Raye.

"Uh, I'll ask my mom. I'm sure it'll be no problem. What are you bringing over like that?"

"Just some lights and other things for the music."

"Okay, so now that that's discussed, let's get to the other reason we wanted to see you. Did you ever find out who's been giving you the roses?"

Serena sighed, "No! And it's frustrating too. I've been getting up earlier and earlier trying to see if I could catch him, but he's too fast. That guy must get up with the rooster or something."

"You're not scared that it could be a sick psycho or something?" asked Lita.

"You know what? I don't think I am." She thought about it for a second, "No. I'm not afraid. I guess I was nervous after that first night, but there was never a threatening note, or any note for that matter. I thought secret admirers were supposed to give you hints."

"Where'd you get that idea, Meatball Head?" asked Raye.

Serena squirmed, "Well, it's in all the books," she muttered.

Raye, however, heard her. "Like I said before, you've been watching too much anime. Probably reading those fanfiction stories too. Wake up! This is the real world!"

"I know it's the real world, Raye. Thank you. But that doesn't mean that those stories haven't been based on real life situations. My situation is the same, the circumstances that got me there are different. And someone isn't following the script!" she huffed.

The girls laughed at her serious tone, especially when the whole story and the way she put it were ridiculous.

Pulling out her cell phone, "I'm going to call my mom about the car, I'll be right back. Will you order me a bacon cheeseburger, large fries, and a large chocolate milkshake, please?"

"Sure," they answered.

She walked off to complete her task.

She arrived home late again. Well, actually she arrived back home again, late again. The trips back and forth to the apartment to bring Raye's things took a while. Raye had more things to bring over than she thought.

Serena opened her fridge and looked for the leftover Chinese food. "Where's my lo mein?" she asked out loud. "Right Serena, likes someone's gonna answer. I guess I ate it already. I'll have to settle for the fried rice then." She pulled that out and heated it. While she waited, she moved things around in her fridge to make room for whatever food Lita was bringing over tomorrow. She cleaned up whatever mess she had lying around the apartment while she ate, and then made her way to her room.

"Hey Spidey. Wait until you hear about my day..." As her nightly routine, she recounted all the things she did that day while pulling out her painting supplies and setting up her easel. "...and so now I'm back with you. I'm tired, but never too tired for you, my darling hero. I'm just finishing your painting. Just need a few minor details, like some silver specks in your amazing eyes. A few embellishments..." she paused and flicked her brush across the canvas, "...going through your hair. Here, and here." She looked up at him again. "I've finished mine, wanna see?" She ran over to her self-portrait and showed it to him as if he could see. It was a perfect complement to his. "You like it? I do too. Too bad you're not real," She held up her painting next to his, "we'd make a cute couple. Well let me finish yours." She walked back to the easel and worked on it a little more. Fifteen minutes later, a shout of triumph sounded through the entire floor. "Yeeah!! Whooo! It's finished! Whoohooo!!" she said in a loud, singsong voice.

A loud thumping was heard on the other side of her wall, along with yells to be quiet from other neighbors. Looking at the clock, she saw that it was 2:17 a.m. "Oh wow, it's later than I thought. I need my beauty sleep." She walked over to him and gave him his nightly kiss on the lips. A few days ago, she too had altered that part of the routine. "Goodnight Spidey." She changed, washed her face, and went to bed.

The next morning, Serena yawned and started the process of waking up. She stretched, or rather, tried to stretch.

Something was wrong.

'Why can't I move?' she thought worriedly. 'Am I wrapped too tight in my covers, or maybe I slept without turning over last night, and now my sides numb?' She looked to see what the problem was and saw that an arm was draped across her waist.