Blueeyeddevil06 thank you for being my beta.

Chapter 26 – Date Night

Jadeite arrived at Molly's house with flowers and sweaty palms. He knocked on the door and waited for her to answer. The door opened and an older man answered. Jadeite said, "I was looking for Molly. I guess I got the wrong house."

"No, this is her house. I'm her father. Come on in, and sit down. I have a few questions."

"Of course." Jadeite was sweating now. He was not expecting her father at all, and now he was going to be questioned by him. And all of a sudden, he understood why Kunzite had her meet him at their house. He mentally groaned and wondered why he didn't think of that.

"You're quite a bit older than Molly. How did the two of you meet?" Her father asked.

"I'm friends with Serena. We became close friends the year she spent away from the city. We met through her."

"Molly's mother and I think the world of Serena. The two of them have been friends for so long, my wife and I have known her since she was five. I know she is living with her uncle and four guys; she isn't dating one of them though."

Jadeite hoped her father would see this as a good thing. "You're correct. She's dating Darien. He's my age also. I'm one of the four guys living with her uncle. He has sort of taken us under his wing. We were all orphaned at a young age, and it's nice to have someone older around to give us advice and keep an eye on us. I know it may sound strange, like we are too old for that, but we never had that before and it's been nice."

"I remember hearing about Darien. Didn't he break her heart?"

"Yes, but they worked things out. Well, he realized he was an idiot and managed to get her back. I got to punch him first though." Jadeite smiled, and then it quickly fell away. "I shouldn't have said that. Sorry."

"Ha! No need to apologize. She's a sweet girl, and I'm glad someone did punch him."

"Well, his best friend Andrew punched him too."

"Really? That must have been a shock to him to not have the support of his friend."

"Not enough to make him stop being an idiot. I managed to talk some sense into him, after I punched him of course."

"You did? Hmm. I'm glad to hear that. Question: How far should a guy go on a first date?"

"What?!" Jadeite was startled by the abruptness of the question and the content.

"Answer me."

"Well, I would say he should be respectful of her as a person, and most importantly, he should go only as far as she is completely comfortable with."

"Pretty good answer. 90% on that test question, to get a 100% you have to say, 'as far as the father is comfortable with his little girl going.'" He then laughed and clapped Jadeite on the back, "Molly! Your date is here!"

Jadeite stood waiting for Molly, and she came down the stairs. "You look lovely tonight and nice lipstick. Are you ready?" He handed her the flowers, and she put them in the kitchen for the time being.

She returned and said, "Bye, Dad."

They left and Jadeite took a deep breath the moment they walked out the door.

Molly giggled and said, "He liked you. You do realize that, right?"

"How did you possibly get that idea?"

"It's the truth. He wanted to punch Darien himself, and you said you would respect my choices."

"You were spying."

"And I don't feel bad, even a little bit." She gave him a huge smile.

Jadeite opened the car door for her, she got in, and they headed off on their date.

Thirty minutes later, they were eating and laughing together. He moved on to asking her about herself, and he found her to be so perceptive. They also knew they had to be careful how they talked about some things in public.

"So, you figured out about Serena, and you just said nothing for that long?"

"She obviously didn't want me to know, and I didn't want to add to her stress. I lacked the confidence then to believe I could be as helpful as the four girls. I felt less than, I guess. Then one day, I realized that she was still Serena, and we began talking more. I just didn't know how to bring up what I knew, so I left it."

"You aren't normal."

She laughed, "Gee, thanks."

"That sounded bad, didn't it? What I meant is that you're special." He paused. "Now, I sound lame. You're an incredibly supportive friend. You have no idea how much better she sounded after talking to you on the phone. You just always seemed to know the right things to say. That's a gift."

"I have known her since we were five. It isn't that hard."

"All girls are incredibly difficult to figure out. I think you're a magician."

She rolled her eyes and laughed, "We're supposed to be difficult." She looked him in the eye and said, "We want a boy who will take the time to figure us out. It makes us feel special."

"You act like that's easy."

"It isn't easy at all. Guys just have to figure out who is worth all of the difficulty."

"Is asking Serena for help cheating?" He asked and smiled.

"What the fuck?! You're out on a date with her, and you think I am not good enough? You bastard!" Raye yelled.

"Hello, Raye. Leave." Jadeite was furious that she was going to make a scene.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"We were having a nice time, then you showed up."

"It's sad that you have to pretend you're having a good time with Serena's friend. Did she have to pay you to take her out? Melvin got so bored of her, he apparently just stopped calling her."

"You Harpy, you need to leave before I say something you'll regret."

"Like you'll regret your date?"

Here, Molly broke into the argument, "Oh, thank goodness! I was still worried that you would change your mind about Raye. Now I see what you were saying about her. Wow, you were so right about that, I see it now too. Gosh, that would be awful to have to deal with." She then just shook her head in obvious pity.

Raye stormed off and left the restaurant leaving a shocked group of people staring at them.

Jadeite shrugged and said, "She's an ex-girlfriend for a reason," to the room at large and everyone went back to their conversations.

He then looked at Molly, "I feel bad that I wasn't following what you were talking about."

"You weren't supposed to. You handled it just like I hoped you would. The point was to get her wondering what you said to me and get her to leave. It worked." She winked at him.

"See, you're brilliant and amazing. I'm glad she left. Were you really worried about me and Raye?"

"Honestly, a bit. I believed what you said, but she shares a whole other life with you."

"Not a whole life. None of us died of old age. But, I get what you're trying to say. I was reborn for Serena and Darien. Not her."

"I know, and things like what happened just now further help me see that."

"You were right with what you said on our first date."

"That I could handle her?"

"Yup!" He shook his head. "I was so nervous Serena would have an issue with us dating, and she had the gall to act like it was her idea."

"Don't get worked up over anything she said. I'm not. She was just trying to spread her pain and I'm not fooled."

"That comment about Melvin, do I risk asking if that bothered you? I don't know everything about what happened."

"It's fine. Yes, he just stopped calling, but from what I can tell, he isn't calling anyone else either. I think he's married to his college studies."

"I'm a jerk enough to admit I'm glad he stopped calling. It got us here. I'm just sorry you were hurt by it."

"I'm glad I'm here too."

He reached over and brushed her cheek with the back of his hand. "I'm very happy to hear that."

The night ended, and after walking her to the door, he gave her a kiss and wished her sweet dreams.

They were.

"You're kidding me!" Zoisite said.

Amy replied, "Nope, not one bit," and she laughed.

"That is hilarious."

"Yup. It was almost as funny as you falling out of that chair."

"Hey, I was half asleep."

"You were supposed to be working!"

"Only you can be brilliant that early in the morning."

Amy blushed.

Zoisite brushed his fingers over her hand that was resting on the table and said, "You are so beautiful."

"What do you like to eat here?"

"No, don't change the subject. You're beautiful, Amy."

"I… thank you."

"Oh, sweet Amy, you'll see it one day. I promise you that. I just need to convince you."

"I just never cared about my looks. I work really hard to improve my mind, and I care more about that."

"Being beautiful doesn't make you less intelligent. I know you don't focus on your beauty, but that doesn't erase it."

"I guess."

"I will let you change the subject now. And my answer is I don't know. I haven't ever eaten here before. I thought we could try it together."

They continued to talk and then ordered their food.

"I have a question for you. Why did you all stay with Serena? I think it was the right choice. I was just wondering."

"Well, we were all still loyal to Endymion, and we couldn't serve any form of him that wasn't in love with Serenity in every form. Lo and behold, he did love her; we just didn't know that. She quickly became like a treasured little sister to all of us, and we stay now because we want to."

"Wow. To hold to their love that tightly is moving. You all must be secret romantics."

"I hope not to be a secret romantic around you."

Amy blushed again. "You're doing well so far."

"Well, does this help?" He pulled out a jewelry box and handed it to her.

"Is this really a first date thing?"

"Just open it. I want you to have it, and you know this isn't going to end at just one date."

"Oh, and how is this going to end?"

"If the past is anything to go by, this won't end, even in death."

She smiled and opened the box, "It's beautiful! I love the bracelet, and I love the zoisite. It's stunning." She leaned forward and gave him a peck on the lips. "It's my favorite stone."

He leaned back and smiled, "And don't you forget it."

By the time Zoisite said goodnight, he knew he was in love with Amy.

Kunzite smiled at Mina, and she looked him in the eyes and said, "What're you smiling about?"

"I'm on a date with a fierce, strong, and beautiful woman. Don't I have reason to smile?"

"You should be ecstatic. You're just lucky I agreed to this date after you told me I was going to go out with you Friday."

"Hey! I thought we agreed that I asked you."

"I guess we did. Tell me more about Luna. Did she really cough up a furball on your bed because Jadeite bribed her to?"

"Is this really a question for a dinner date?" He then sighed, "Yes."

Mina laughed, "Think you could bribe her to leave a dead mouse under his pillow?"

"You're amazing, you know that?" He chuckled at the idea and filed it away for use later.

"Actually, I do." She winked at him and flashed her Sailor V signal at him discreetly. "When dinner is over, do you want to go back to my house and make out on the couch?"

Kunzite almost spit out the sip of water he had just taken, "Next time, wait until I'm not drinking anything. And absolutely!"

They both smiled.

Darien chuckled, "Stop wondering how the other dates are going."

"Am I that obvious?" Serena asked sheepishly.

"No, I knew before the date even started you would be thinking of them."

"Sorry, I'll stop."

"I'm not upset at all. I just don't want you to worry. I talked to Jadeite, Zoisite, and Kunzite. They are all almost in love with them already."

"Thank you for checking for me."

"I would ask how you know that, but I feel it's because you know me so well."

"That, I do. You are so good to me."

"I would argue that I'm not good enough."

"You're sweet." She paused, "Is it okay if I ask you how you feel about what you were told regarding your birth?"

"I really am struggling to know how I feel. For so long, I never remembered my parents and it bothered me. I desperately wanted to get those memories back. I hated that I forgot their love and care for me, and it felt like a betrayal of them. Now, I find out they never existed, and there aren't any memories to get back."

Serena paused and looked thoughtful, "I'm sorry there are no memories to get back. I wanted that for you very badly."

"I know, my love. It's just strange to know I didn't have the love of parents, ever."

"You do realize the whole plant Earth seems to care for you, right? It isn't the same at all I know, but no one else has ever had that. It made sure you were born in a way to protect me because your last act in life was to sacrifice yourself for my protection. The Earth tried to honor that."

"When you put it that way, it's crazy to think about."

"The lack of a parent's love doesn't make you any less special. If you really feel it does, tell that to Lita, Mina, Raye, and Amy. They all have at least one parent that doesn't love them. That doesn't diminish them, and it doesn't diminish you."

"I needed to hear that. Thanks. I have your love, and I have to be honest, the love of two lifetimes, one that spans over a thousand years, already is magnificent and even more rare than the love of a parent."

"What we have is very special. My mother told me something before you arrived, and I want you to know it too." She hesitated, "When we officially become the Queen and King like she mentioned, our life spans expand. We will live and love each other for thousands of years."

He smiled, "We promised each other forever. I'm just glad we will be able to keep that promise. I adore you, my love, and you just made me so very happy."

"I'm glad you feel that way. One lifetime with you would never be enough for me."

Before Darien fell asleep that night, he thought of how he couldn't wait to propose to Serena. He couldn't wait to start forever with her.