Despite her excited rapture from the evening's developments, sleep

claimed Serena quite quickly. And yet, it couldn't have been a very

deep slumber, for it was a rather soft noise that woke her only a half

an hour later.

Tap, tap, tap.

What in the world? she thought very drowsily, stirring slowly from her

pleasant state. What was that? Don't tell me I'm so happy I'm

bordering on delirium!

Tap, tap, tap.

Alright, I couldn't have imagined that, she resolved. The discreet

noise seemed to be coming from the balcony.

The balcony? Oh, no! Thieves! she thought in horror. Then she

recomposed herself quickly, grabbed a pillow from the bed, and rose to

quietly creep towards the balcony. Why a thief would call attention to

himself by deliberately tapping on the glass door, she did not stop to consider. All she knew was, if her midnight visitor was whom she

thought, she was ready for him.

Upon reaching the door, she carefully turned the brass knob, and pulled

the door open slowly...

Without another thought, she brought her pillow down with amazing force

upon the head of the tall figure standing there.

"Sere- what? What are-? Stop, it's just m- would you stop HITTING ME

with that thing???" a harassed voice protested in a loud whisper, as

she struck the intruder over the head several times with her large,

floppy weapon. She desisted upon realizing just whose very familiar

voice it was.

"Dar-DARIEN? What in heaven's name are y-mmph!" she shrieked; her eyes

widened in shock, and he desperately tried to muffle her stunned

exclamation with a hand over her mouth. Damn, he thought ruefully,

maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all...

As soon as he released the pressure of his hand over her mouth, she

lit into him.

"Darien Shields! What in the world do you think you're doing?" she

started furiously, jabbing her index finger into his chest and

furiously pushing him across the balcony until he felt the cold

clamminess of the railing against his lower back.

"Serena, please, try and lower your voice," he pleaded in a hushed

voice. Definitely, definitely not such a good idea...

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN LOWER MY VOICE? What were you thinking, just

bursting in here like that?" she continued, not paying the slightest

attention to his attempts to shush her, or to the fact that he hadn't

actually burst in at all, but tried to enter as quietly as possible.

The fact that she was making more noise than he ever had escaped her

notice quite admirably.

"Serena, your parents are going to be up here in a minute, and then

this whole scheme is going to go to waste..." he tried again. What

to do? What to do? She clearly had no intentions of ceasing her

tirade anytime soon.

"Do you have any IDEA how you scared me?? Insensitive boor. I swear,

I really wonder why I was even attracted to you in the first

pla-a-mmmmm..." she was suddenly cut off by the warm, delicious

pressure of his lips on hers. This was why, she reminded herself wryly,

among a good number of other things. He turned them slowly, his mouth

still on hers, and leaned her deeply over the railing. And then she

lost the ability to think altogether...

Some minutes later, he released her face, grinning at the bright blush

that filled her cheeks with rosy color, and the sparkles scattered in

her blue eyes. She regained her footing and caught her breath slowly.

"Well, at least I've found a better way to get you to keep quiet, hm?"

he teased, a wicked gleam appearing in his smile. He leaned his hands

against the railing on either side of her waist, effectively trapping

her in the circle of his arms.

"Oh, hush! I'm still mad enough to throw you over the side of the

balcony," she said sulkily. "Goodness, Darien, I thought you were a

thief!" She pouted cutely, but fortunately for him, he had averted

his gaze, so the devastating effect of her downturned lips was

completely lost on him.

"And I assume that THIS was your very intimidating weapon against the

would-be burglar?" he inquired with a sardonic lift of the brow, as

he picked up her innocent white pillow from where it had fallen during their...ahem, during their moment of emotional bonding.

"It's all I had! And besides, it was only supposed to be a distraction!"

she blushed, trying in vain to justify her choice of weaponry. Really,

Serena! she chided herself inwardly. A pillow? That was certainly

very potent blackmail for his benefit in the future, she realized

regretfully.

"Anyway, pillows and thieves aside, what were you saying earlier about

being attracted to me?" he asked, suddenly looked at her very

interestedly. Uh oh. He leaned in even closer to peer closely into

her face, his handsome features illuminated subtly by the enigmatic

moonlight. Double uh oh.

"My, Darien, I don't know...what WAS I saying?" she countered pointedly.

I won't admit a thing, not a thing, until I know for certain how he

feels first. Remember Raye, Serena, remember Raye.

"As you like it. What you said wasn't important, in any case. Your

response during both of our," he cleared his throat deliberately,

"encounters today told me more than words ever could."

Instead of responding, she pushed him away and went back inside,

lightly jumping onto her bed, and was grateful that the cloak of

darkness hid the blush creeping over her face. He followed her in

and stood a few feet away from her.

Settling herself comfortably on the deliciously soft down comforter,

she stalled for a precious moment as she gathered her thoughts.

"Yes, well, I wouldn't take too many liberties in interpreting those

'encounters,' if I were you." she began carefully, taking hold one of

the many pillows on her bed, and unconsciously wringing an edge of it

in her hands.

"After all, what is a kiss, really? It's just a touch. Granted, a

sweet one, but when all's said and done, it's just lips meeting.

People give handshakes when they meet someone, that's a touch of hands,"

she continued, the strength with which she twisted the pillow increasing, "people brush against each other in crowded streets, that's a touch of shoulders, people kiss each other, that's a touch of lips. Why is two

pairs of lips meeting any different from shoulders or hands? I think

everyone makes too much of this kissing nonsense. What IS all the

fuss about?" she finished, feeling that for once she had bested him.

So then why did it seem she was convincing herself more than him?

There was a long pause, in which she just looked rather uncertainly

at his large, powerfully built frame silhouetted by the moonlight outside.

As if he didn't look intimidating enough already!

"Just remember, you asked the question, not me," he replied quietly,

and with that, he closed the distance between them, caught her face

in his hands, and covered her delicate rose-petal mouth in a searing

kiss that made the last one seem as fleeting and airy as an echo.

It was just raw, unadulterated passion, energy that she could never

imagine, as fiery and wholesome as the majestic flames of Raye's

sacrificial fire, but even more awe-inspiring for this fire was within

the two of them, expanding slowly, warmly, to hold them both in a

bubble of ecstasy.

As for Darien, he too wondered at the power he felt as he tilted her

head with one shapely, strong hand and deepened the kiss as he cradled

her sweet, small body. He leaned over and sank with her under him

into the softness of the bed. It was as though he was pouring into her

all the emotion and feeling that he had finally found, after it eluded

his heart for nineteen years. The depth of expression that he had now discovered, after he pushed it away for so long, was revealing itself

in all its glory at this moment.

After a long while, he released her, and rolled over to lie next to her,

leaning on his side to look at her.

"That is what all the fuss is about," he said very softly, staring

into her eyes with an expression she couldn't quite fathom. Strange,

he thought, that he should say such a thing with so much confidence,

as though he were the ultimate authority on a subject that, till now,

he had never thought of, or cared for.

But clearly, Serena was having more of an effect on him than ought

to be allowed by law, so it wasn't really that much of a surprise,

he reflected amusedly, noting the rosiness of her normally pale face.

She smiled contentedly, shyly at him and lay her head against his

chest, and that little gesture spoke volumes about the new tune her

heart was singing, and more importantly, told him that he was really

in some danger of losing...Suddenly, she sat up, and her cutely pink

cheeks were paper white.

"Oh god! What am I doing? Darien, I can't do this! My parents

would just- I don't even want to think of what my father would say!"

Serena burst out, as she jumped off the bed and started frenziedly

pacing the room, muttering phrases like "no honor" and "going to

kill me". He calmly leaned back against the headboard and waited

for the second tirade of the night to end.

"This is ridiculous- only a tramp, or, or a- well, only a bad woman

would lie around on a bed kissing a man she wasn't even married to.

Oh, how did I end up in this situation?" she stopped pacing, and he

was stunned to see that she had tears in her eyes.

Immediately, he rose from his lazy, lounging position on her bed,

and folded her trembling figure in his arms. Her arms hesitantly,

timidly went about his neck, and she gave quick, quiet little sobs

against his chest. He felt her fervent, distressed cries strike some

chord in his heart that he had believed was long forgotten.

"Shh, shh," he whispered soothingly, stroking her tumbled hair gently,

"You're far from a tramp, Serena. What I said earlier, about you

being an angel- that was real, I meant it," he murmured gently in her

ear, "You are the most important person in my life right now, and I

care for you deeply, so don't you dare say such things about yourself."

Slowly, the sobs subsided and she remained quietly wrapped in his

embrace. He sounded so sincere, his arms were so strong and

unyieldingly protective, his eyes so perfectly honest and loving...

maybe it was alright.

"If it makes you feel better, I will never kiss you on your bed in

the dead of the night again, and that's a promise," he added, with a

little teasing note in his voice that was oddly comforting. Her

apprehension vanished.

It was more than alright. And suddenly, a misty lavender veil lifted

from her eyes and a breathtaking dawn shone before her, its brilliance

almost blinding and the knowledge it brought frightened her with its

potency, but now she knew...

"Darien?"

He released his tight hold around her waist and pulled back to look at

her questioningly, while wiping away the remaining traces of her drying

tears with tender fingers. She caught his hand in its path trailing

down her face and brought it to her lips, kissing it with all the

gentleness she felt within.

Then, her honest gaze never leaving his face, she released his hand

and smiled, and her face was filled with sincere, shining happiness

that no one and nothing else had ever inspired in her. The sparkling

honesty of that smile made Darien feel as though he were standing in an intensely strong wind with nothing to keep him from flying away.

"I love you."

He froze. Never in his life had he dreamed of hearing those words from

anyone, and now...this heavenly creature was offering her beautiful,

perfectly pure heart to him with both hands and with no doubt or

reservation at all.

She was giving to him something that she had never given to anyone else

in her life before him- not her parents, her brother, her friends; no

one had ever experienced the warmth and sanctity of that devotion.

Her innocence, her beauty, her vivacity, her intelligence, her sense of

humor- it was all a part of that golden present she was giving him,

and yet there was an indefinable something else as well, a something

that surpassed all of those other beautiful qualities, that was the

essence of Serena. God, what could he do? What could he say that

would be a fitting response to such an earth-shattering utterance?

"Serena, I lo-" he began a little uncertainly. "I lov-" he tried again,

but she covered his mouth with two slender, cool fingers.

"Shh, Darien. Don't say it just yet...I don't know if you truly mean

it, and I couldn't bear hearing it from you if you didn't," she said

hurriedly, fingers caressing his full lips absently as she spoke.

"Just wait...a while, and when you feel that it has fully blossomed

inside you, then tell me, and we can share the bliss of a perfectly

blood-red rose, the rose of love triumphant, together," she continued,

eyes shining with excitement.

As she spoke, her fingers traveled up to brush away the ink-black

strands of hair that always fell carelessly across his brow, to caress

his finely shaped cheekbones, to trace along his flawlessly modeled

jaw line.

"There isn't any hurry... after all, as far as I can see, we have

forever, don't we?" she asked, smiling gently.

"Yes, forever..." Forever with her. God, how he loved the sound of

that! So why couldn't he tell her? Why was he so unable to sing out

the irrepressible joy he attained just from being near her?

She was so small, so fragile, so innocent and yet somehow strong enough

to face the endless, eternally deep chasm that was love, strong enough

to swim in that boundless ocean of friendship, passion, understanding

and warmth that he seemed so afraid of.

Fear. Another emotion that was entirely new in his experience. So

many times, he had been alone, in danger during a mission for Diamond,

with his life and the king's honor at stake, but never once had fear

entered his mind or heart. Wariness, yes; slight apprehension, yes;

but never, ever fear. That was for the weaker, lesser mortals. Had

he joined their ranks now?

"It's getting late, Serena. I had better go before someone finds us

like...like this. Goodnight, my darling." He kissed her briefly,

possessively, and for a moment it seemed that he would never let her

go, couldn't let her go, for the sake of his sanity, his life. But

then he released her and walked out, quietly shutting the door behind

him.

"Goodnight, Darien," she whispered. Slowly, she walked to the bed and

collapsed into it, pulling her covers securely around herself.

"My love," she said very softly into the darkness. "But will I ever

be yours?"

And as she fell into the shadowed world of sleep, she tried to forget

that those three magical words had never left his lips.