Disclaimer, I do not own Sailor Moon and I am not affiliated with anyone who does so Naoko, DiC, Kodansa, and everyone else who does own Sailor Moon.

Thanks for the reviews from Sailor Lucia, Crazy-cherry, Kimiski, Sailorprincess3234, PixiePam, Inu-yuki lover100, ParsifalinHeels and Rkfan!

To Sailor Lucia- I'm more of a Darien fan and only have read a little bit about Seiya but I'm not sure what pairing this story will be.

To Sailor Princess3234- I'll remember not to drink milk while reading anything funny! At least you're having fun in computer lab.

To Inu-yuki lover100- Thanks for reviewing both my stories!

Chapter 3

Dead silence reigned throughout the arcade. Then it seemed to roar to life. The posse that had been swarming around Seiya jumped up with a gasped and ran after all the while calling Serena what she was already calling herself.

She was such a freak.

Serena turned to her friends, watching them as they watched her. "I didn't mean to do that. I don't mean to do a lot of things," she put a hand to her mouth and started to make a dash outside as she mumbled, "I'm sorry."

A minute or it could have been an hour; Serena didn't know how much time had passed as she walked aimlessly around town. The past event played through her head over and over again. Stop, make it stop, Serena chanted but no matter how much she demanded of it, the picture of Seiya's wet raging face imbedded in her mind. She let her feet take her body at some unknown destination and wasn't surprised she had stopped by the park where she had so many heart to hearts with herself.

The clear lake, the fragrant of the cherry blossom trees and the peace the park gave to her was something she could always cherish. The park let her think with an open mind of the things that were so wrong in her life. Then out of the blue, a thought came to her head.

There was nothing wrong with her life. Granted, she did a lot of self inflicted destruction to those around her but in all honestly she couldn't complain about life being so unfair.

She had a wonderful family, yeah, her dad was on the psychotic side about her dating guys but he only wanted to keep her safe. Sure, her mom got on her case about failing tests but Serena knew her mom only wanted what was best for her. Then, there was Sammy. What could she say about her little brother, Sammy? Sure, he was a holy terror.

Yeah, the little dweeb kept on stealing her diary to read it. Then, there was that time he stole her bra, soaked it with water, froze it then gave it to charity under her name. Let's just say, she and her parents were not amused.

But hey, that's what little brothers were for. To keep their big sisters on their toes, and truth be told, she enjoyed having a younger brother to tease. Even though they fought, there was a special bond between them that Serena knew he would always be there. Naughty kid or not.

Deep into thought, Serena jumped when she felt a hand drop onto her shoulder. Looking up, she smiled at the four pair of eyes met hers. "Hey guys." She grinned.

"Are you okay, Sere?" Lita asked with concern in her eyes.

Serena nodded, a warm feeling spreading through her knowing how much her friends cared for her.

Mina put her arm around her shoulders. "Well, if you wanted his attention; you certainly got it."

Serena laughed and put her head on Mina's shoulder. "Yeah, I really got his attention. To bad it's not the attention I wanted. Why am I such a klutz?"

"If it helps Sere, I can try to give you grace but the way you are, I don't know if it would help." Raye reached over and tugged a pigtail.

"Knowing you, you'd probably give me some kind of fungus. I can safely say; you don't have to do anything, Raye." Serena dryly told her.

Ami took out a calculator out of her pocket and started to furiously push numbers. "I'll check the odds to see if there is a chance at Seiya. Let's see, the girls in school, the stupid groupie he has and let's see how many college, hey! No, Serena, I need that for my homework." Ami tried to grab back her calculator but was stopped by Lita when she put a hand against her forehead.

"No way, if you have enough time to get statistics on my chances with Seiya, then I think you have plenty of time to fetch your calculator from the lake. Uh-oh, here it goes," Serena started for the water until she was tackled from behind. "Okay, I think you just broke my spine, you boar. Oh my god, how much do you weigh? 300, no wait, 400 pounds you cow." Serena grunted as she tried to push off the heavy body that had sat on her.

"Just for that, I think I'll go find Seiya and tell him you stole his jock from school. He'll just love that." Raye taunted. She quickly stood and ran toward some direction.

"I think not, you idiot!" Serena picked up a broken branch from the tree and threw it toward the retreating girl, watching with satisfaction as it made a loud smacking on Raye's back. "Oh yeah, a direct hit. Get your ass back here."

Raye turned around, rubbing her back with her hands and slowly gimped her way back. "Look, you made me into a gimp. Oh, what to do, Chad is never going to look at me again." She moaned.

Lita grinned and plopped down next to Serena on the grass. "Chad will probably thank you for slowing down the pyro because she won't be able to hurt him anymore." She looked at Serena and they snickered at each other.

It was actually funny to see her and Lita together. No one in there right mind would actually think they were friends. They were such opposite. Lita was outgoing, graceful and talented. Not to mention tough as nails. Oh yeah, she was freaking tall.

I, Serena was the opposite. Shy unless I'm comfortable with that person, very klutzy and not very talented at something. It's like I'm good at things but not great at one thing. Last but not least, I'm short. So, it is funny to see us together but in all honesty, I think I'm closer to Lita than the rest of them. Plus, she use to be in a gang so she can beat up people that make fun of me.

"Shut up or I swear I'll give Ken some kind of curse. Can you believe school is almost over? Summer vacation, here we come." Raye sighed, lying down by Serena. She and Serena may rip each other apart but it was all in fun. They were like sisters.

Mina threw her arms around Serena's neck from behind and hugged tight. "Yeah, all the guys in their swim trunks; bare-chested and tan. Ohh, I can see it now. Good-looking guys, here I come."

"Yes, summer's almost here but what will I do when school ends? I can always start next year's homework. What!" Ami asked when they all groaned. She lay down next to Raye and leaned her chin on Raye's thigh.

"Next year, I want it to be a different year. Start off with great friends, great family and not just a boyfriend but a boyfriend I'm extremely in love with." Serena looked up at the blue sky. She already had a guy in mind to start off the year with.

Mina looked at Serena and smiled. "You want it to be Seiya, don't you?"

All Serena could do was give a shy smile.

"We can help you get him. By the time we're done with you, he won't know what hit him." Raye waved a hand in the air.

"No, that's okay but thanks for offering. I'm going to try to win him with my own skill." Serena said.

"That's the spirit, Sere. We know you'll be able to do it." Lita cheered.

They lifted their gaze and talked until the moonlight rained on them. Soon after, each of them started to leave but stopped when they noticed Serena hadn't moved. "Aren't you coming Serena?"

"No, I think I'm going to stay here for a little bit longer. I just need some time to think."

"Do you want us to stay with you?"

Serena shook her head. "No, that's okay; you guys can go home now. Thanks for staying with me this long." Watching her friends start to walk away, she cupped her hands to her mouth and yelled, "All of you are the best friends anyone can have." She smiled when they blew her kisses.

After they had gone, Serena pulled her knees to her chest and lay her head down on her folded legs. She sighed and tried to figure out what she had to do. She started to make a figure eight on a patch of green grass and hum a few words from her favorite song. She jumped a mile when a figure plopped down next to her.

"You know, it's dangerous for a small girl to be here alone but, then of course you don't have to worry about that because once they see you; they'd run the other direction." Darien retorted.

Serena smiled and shook her head. "Right now, I'm not even going to ask why you're here."

"Here, I thought you could use this. I didn't have to guess what you like to eat because it seems you eat everything in sight." He handed her a bag with a couple of roast beef sandwiches, cheese chips and grape soda.

With a surprise look on her face, Serena gratefully took the bag from his outstretched hands. Taking out the sandwiches, she gave one to Darien and took a bite out of hers. "Yum, these are good. Did Andrew make them?" she mumbled with a mouthful of food in her mouth.

"Don't you know you're not supposed to talk with your mouth full? And no, Andy didn't make it, I did."

"Wow, you're good. So, what's up Darien?" Serena asked, taking a drink of her soda. She opened the bag of chips, grabbed a couple and offered it to Darien's mouth. She smiled when he ate them.

"I just wanted to know how you're feeling after that ordeal in the arcade. I truly didn't mean to make you run into the chair. Man, I felt sorry for the guy you soaked. He was pissed." Darien told her.

Serena groaned. Of course, Darien would have to bring up her worst moment. "I know what you think of me but did you really have to bring that up?"

He turned his head to look at her and raised his eyebrow. "Ah, I see how it is."

"What do you see? I don't think you can see beyond that huge ego of yours." Serena retorted back.

"Do I take it that you like him? Does little meatball head have a crush? How cute." Darien teased her.

Serena stuck out her tongue at him. "Shut up, reject."

"Yep, I hit a sore spot. Let me give you some advice spaghetti head, you should tell him. What's the point of having a crush if you can't tell him?" He advised her.

Serena looked at him with a serious expression. It felt kind of strange. She never actually thought Darien used his brain for anything else beside school. Looks can be deceiving. "Easy for you to say. Not to give you a bigger ego than you already have, but I don't have your qualities and who in their right mind would want me for anything than the butt of the joke?" She asked, playing with a piece of her hair.

"You may be right about that, but you never know. Hey, I'm kidding meatball head. Don't look so down, just be you and talk to him."

"Be myself? No I don't think that's going to work. If there was some way, some way I could...Hey, Darien?" Serena asked nervously. She put her two index fingers together and started to press them together.

"What is it?" Darien replied, looking out at the black water. It seemed endless, no beginning, no ending.

"You're charming right?" After his absentminded nod she continued, "You can get any girl you want right? And you're a smooth talker. I know that because of what you did to me at the arcade and let me tell you it just about melted me on the spot. Well, anyway, I need a tiny favor from you. Just one tiny favor. I'll be your best friend, if you say yes." Serena promised.

Darien slowly looked at her and an uneasy feeling started to spread throughout his being. "What?" he asked cautiously. Serena was starting to look kind of strange under the moonlight. He hoped she wasn't going to turn into a troll or anything.

"Can you teach me to be someone beautiful and sexy?"

"What?" Darien pinned Serena in place with his blue eyes. No, he couldn't have heard her right. He even cleaned out his ears this morning. Man, he was going to have to buy new Q-tips. "Say that again, my dear ditz?"

Serena smacked Darien upside the head. "Stop calling me that, moron. You heard me right. I want-" her fingers twiddled nervously together as she continued, "I want you to teach me to be someone beautiful and sexy. Could you teach me to be a woman a guy would be proud to call his girlfriend?" She looked hopefully at him. Please, say yes, please. I want to learn to be graceful and beautiful.

Darien coughed uncontrollably. He had heard right. What was she thinking of asking him that! How could he teach her something like that? "Don't you have girl friends that can help you with that?" He started to slowly slide away from her. No, there was no way he was going to give in.

No way.

For the first time in her life, Serena wasn't going to pout or wail to get her way. "I just asked you because you're a guy and girls seem to fall all over you. You're so confident and sure of yourself. I just don't want to be the butt of the joke anymore. I don't want people to look at me and say, you're the one fell outside or tripped down the school stairway. Did you know, one time a guy asked me on a date and that night after I had gotten ready, he showed up with his kid sister and said thanks, I needed a babysitter tonight. You don't know what's it like to feel left out of things nor have people stay away from you as if you had the plague. I don't show it but it hurts." Serena sighed; she didn't tell him all of this for pity points. She just needed to get it off her chest.

She stood up and dusted off the seat of her skirt. She looked down and gave a small smile. "Thanks, Darien, for once; listening to me and not saying your smart ass remarks. I can't talk to my friends about it; I don't think they'd understand. All of them can get dates and guys on their own. I'm just the oddball that makes it a little to hard for guys to understand me. It's not like I want a bunch of guys, just one. I can be happy with just one." She turned and walked away, although not feeling bad about what just transpired between her and Darien. She hadn't gotten very far when Darien called her name. She looked at him over her shoulder and waited for him to say something.

Darien ran a hand through his hair and looked up into the darkened sky. "God, help me but I'll help you."

Serena ran towards him with a smile. She jumped towards the unsuspecting male and wrapped her arms around his neck and legs around his waist. "You will, Darien! Oh classic, this is going to be awesome! Thank you, Darien; thank you. You won't regret it; I'll be the best student I promise." Serena enthusiastically kissed both his cheeks. Darien had said yes! Oh, this was going to be well worth it.

She stopped kissing both his cheeks and stared into his eyes. The eyes that were shocked and slightly darkened into something she couldn't name. Serena caught her breath and tried to breathe normally. What was she doing? She slowly slid down his body and gave an embarrassing cough. "Sorry, I was a little happy there." She said sheepishly.

Darien shook his head to clear his mind. Watching the excitement on Serena's face was so animated it was almost, well almost beautiful. What in the hell was he thinking? She was only 16; just a child compared the girls in college. He had no feelings about her one way or the other. He just said yes to helping because he had seen the loneliness and sadness in her eyes. In all honesty, he knew the feeling of being alone, not that he would ever tell her that tidbit. Never being able to tell anyone how you feel or seemingly being misunderstood.

Listening to the words that came out of her mouth, was a replica on his feelings towards people. It was as if they were kindred spirits. Wait; did he just say kindred spirits? Yeah, we being kindred spirits is highly unlikely. What form of bullshit was sprouting in his mind? She was like a little sister to him. That was it, a little sister he never had. Someone to tease until she cried and someone to laugh at when she fell but that was it. Andrew was like a brother, meatball head was like a sister. End of story.

Since that was settled, his heart could stop beating so wildly in his chest at any moment. Reaching over, he ruffled her hair like a kid. "Don't worry about it but I'll do this on one condition."

"And that would be?"

"No arguing with me and try not to damage me too much." Darien instructed her.

"But Darien, that's two conditions. Which one is it going to be? No arguing means I can't tell you that you're wrong when I'm right and then what kind of damage would I do? Okay, I'll try not to damage you with falls, spills etc...etc... but does that still mean I can't argue?" Serena asked smartly.

Darien raised a hand and laughed. "Okay, okay I give. No arguing to an extent, but still do not damage the earth's most prized possession. And that would be me." He told her with a smirk.

Serena giggled. "Are you sure? What are you, the earth's prince? I don't think so but okay, no damage even though I don't think anything can damage that hair of yours. Are you ever going to tell me what you put into it to make it stay that way? I would really like to know. Obviously, it's not gel because it doesn't look slimy. And, it's not hairspray because it doesn't feel stiff, so what in the world is it?" she asked as she turned her head one angle then the other as she studied his hair.

"I'll make a deal with you. You get the guy you want and I'll expose my secret of my hair, fair trade?" Darien offered his hand.

Serena shook it with determination. "Fair trade, I am going to win the guy and that hair formula of yours. That's a guarantee."

"I'm holding that to you, don't disappoint me. It's getting late, let me walk you home." Seeing her nod, Darien started to walk beside her in a comfortable silence. The night wind gave a slight chill and after noticing Serena shiver a little he took off his green jacket and placed it on her shoulders.

"Ohh, no wonder girls fall all over you. You're so nice when you want to be. Although, there's one thing I don't understand." Serena snuggled deeper into his jacket. She noticed there was a musky scent of roses and wonder what kind of cologne he wore that made rose scented bottles.

Darien looked up at the sky and made out the big dipper. Nights like these were perfect. Not a single cloud in the sky, the stars bright and the moon hung high in the air. Yeah, these times he felt his inner peace settle down. "And what's that?"

Serena smiled into the collar of his jacket. "Why in the world do you wear the same green jacket all the time? I may not know fashion but I must admit the green is ugly." Serena laughed as he made an attempt to take back the jacket. "Okay, I'm kidding, just kidding. It's an okay jacket, very fashionable. For the seventies that is." With that last remark, she ran down the street all the while laughing loudly.

Seeing her house up head, she skipped up the walkway and waited for Darien to catch up. She tilted her head up at him and flicked the tip of his nose. "Okay, I'm home. Thanks for walking with me." Slipping out of his jacket, she handed it back to him and put her hand on the doorknob.

"Tomorrow, meet me at the arcade at noon. Don't be late. Rule one; guys don't like to wait forever for a girl to get ready. See you then." Darien nodded and waited until she stepped into the house to turn away.

Serena leaned her body on the door and smiled. "Yes, this is going to be fun."

A strange feeling ran through Darien's body as he made his way home. Something that he couldn't just shake off. "Why do I have a feeling I'm going to regret saying yes?" Now that was a scary thought.

Thanks for the reviews, it's great to hear from people! Sorry for the late update but the next one should be soon.

StarlightAngel