blueeyeddevil06 thank you for being my beta and fixing this.

I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 28 – Moments in a Week

Darien arrived early for class, sat down in his seat, and pulled out his book. Rick came in a couple of minutes later and sat next to him on his right.

Rick smiled and said, "Study group was entertaining. All the girls in class had been impressed with Tiffany's boldness inserting herself in our study group. I wonder what she will tell them now."

Darien huffed, "Is that why you let her join?"

"Yup! I don't even feel bad a little bit. It is a win-win. We got entertainment, and you get to make a point. You just need to be cold to her from now on, and all the other girls in class will back off. You're welcome."

Class began filling up, and they grew quiet. Rick was curious as to how Tiffany would play off what happened at the study group.

She walked in, smiled, and sat right next to Darien on his left.

Rick smiled and settled back in his chair.

Darien turned and spoke loudly enough for others to hear, "Don't you give up? I explained I don't want anything to do with you." He gathered up his things and got ready to move seats. He then looked at Rick, "Serena was glad to see you all again."

Rick replied, "It's hardly fair you have the hottest girl I've ever seen. You have all the luck."

Darien smiled at him and switched seats with him. "Thanks," he whispered.

OooooooO

Luna followed Nephrite into the kitchen. She was curious as to what he was doing midafternoon, and she watched him open the freezer, taking out ice cream that had Zoisite's name in black sharpie all over it.

He turned and jumped when he saw Luna there staring at him. "Hello, Luna." He set down the ice cream on the counter and opened the fridge. He pulled out a quart of cream, retrieved a bowl and placed it on the table. He then proceeded to pour her some cream into the bowl.

Luna jumped up on the table and said, "I didn't see anything."

Nephrite paused and then poured in some more cream, "What you saw was Jadeite taking the ice cream."

Luna chuckled and replied, "That's exactly what I saw."

Nephrite finished off all Zoisite's ice cream and then washed the bowl after Luna finished.

OooooooO

Molly ran into Mina at lunch time at the arcade. Mina immediately asked Molly to join her. After placing their orders, they settled in to talk.

Molly asked, "How's it going with Kunzite?"

"It's just wonderful. He told me what you said about us getting back together and about me. You really are a better friend to me than I ever knew. I was hoping that we could get together more. I really enjoy our time together."

"I do too. Is it weird for you that Jadeite and I are dating?"

"Yes, but not in the way you're thinking, and I am getting over it. Jadeite dating someone different means all of the guys could do the same thing." Mina looked contemplative.

"Actually, it means that any relationship you girls have with them is because of the way they feel about you now. Kunzite isn't dating you because of who you were, he is dating you because of who you are."

"Well, when you put it that way, it makes me even happier and no, I don't have a problem with it at all. So how was your date?"

"Fabulous, and then Raye showed up. Did you hear that?" Molly asked and shook her head.

"No! Oh my gosh, please tell me she didn't make a scene."

Molly snorted, "Do you even believe that's possible?"

Mina sighed, "No, I just hoped it was. So, what happened?"

"She said some mean things, I handled her, and then she stormed out. We then went back to having a wonderful time."

"Jadeite really let you handle her? He is literally like a knight in shining armor. I thought he would always ride to the rescue."

"He also respects me enough to stand up for myself. I think it helps that once I started speaking, I had the upper hand."

"There wasn't any rescuing needed." Mina stated with deep respect.

"Exactly."

"We're going to be great friends."

Molly smiled at that.

OooooooO

Zoisite got home, opened the freezer, looked in and slammed it shut. "Luna!"

She came trotting in as he opened a can of tuna, put it in a bowl, and placed it on the table.

"Jadeite ate it," was all she said.

Zoisite went storming up the stairs.

Luna heard Nephrite chucking from the living room and then quickly get up and leave the house.

OooooooO

Raye sat in front of the Great Fire for an hour and sighed. Nothing was happening. Still. She grew frustrated and walked back to her room.

She picked up the sword, and it seemed to hum through her. She quickly set it back down. Serena seemed sure it would try to teach her how she was wrong. Raye wanted none of that.

OooooooO

Darien sat down at the counter of the arcade and smiled at Andrew. "Coffee please. Oh, and I wanted you to know I'm meeting with Serena's father tomorrow."

"Are you nervous?"

"Incredibly. I don't really know him that well. I have the ring though, and I don't want to delay." Darien confessed.

"When do you meet with her uncle?"

"Tomorrow also. I'm just not nervous about that one. I know him much better, and he understands what she really is to me."

"Good luck with her father." Andrew poured Darien a cup of regular coffee.

"Thanks."

OooooooO

Zoisite barged in Jadeite's room and yelled, "You ate my ice cream!"

"Many times, yes, but not since I replaced it last time. Why?"

"Bullshit. Luna told me you're the one who finished it."

"If I was, don't you think I would have bribed her to say it was someone else?" Jadeite rolled his eyes.

"Crap, yes. So, it was Nephrite, Kunzite, or Serena; she has stolen my ice cream too."

"Yes, but she is against bribing Luna. She worries that everything we're feeding her will make her sick."

"Good point." Zoisite admitted.

"My bet is Nephrite. I borrowed his lunch the other day."

"That isn't borrowing," he shook his head. "I bet you're right though."

Zoisite went looking for Nephrite.

OooooooO

Serena walked into the lunchroom and saw Darien wave at her.

Darien stood and got her chair for her, "Thank you for joining me for lunch." He then kissed her on the cheek.

She smiled and said, "Thanks for grabbing lunch for me. How was class?"

"A lot to take in all at once. I learned a lot though."

"I bet you loved it," she smirked.

"I did." He smiled. "You know me so well."

"You're such a nerd. I love it."

"How's your day so far?"

"Busy. I'm finally learning the job from my uncle. I'm lucky I work for him, and I could delay when I started working."

"He's lucky to have you," Darien stated frankly.

He held her hand, and they continued to talk through lunch.

Those that knew him were stunned as they observed him. Not one could believe it was the same cold distant Darien that they all knew.

OooooooO

Raye was angry. The enemy had been defeated, and she hadn't been part of it. She had been so sure she would have been needed. She had repeatedly played out the scene in her head of the girls coming and begging for her help. In her musings, Serena always admitted that Raye was incredibly important.

Mina and Lita especially had betrayed her. They were her allies, and then they abandoned her to follow Serena. She wasn't surprised Amy sided with Serena. Weakness tends to follow weakness after all.

So, there she sat, feeling angry and alone and she hated it.

It never occurred to her that this is how she had felt before Serena had come into her life and welcomed her into her group.

The sword reached out to her and hummed through her, trying desperately to get her attention. She stood up and left the room.

OooooooO

Serena smiled and looked at the orchid that Darien sent to her. It was beautiful, and she loved the note that came with it even more. It read, "This doesn't count as flowers. Flowers die, but if properly cared for like love, it doesn't die. With all my heart, Darien."

OooooooO

Raye walked into the arcade, past Mina as she walked out, and refused to acknowledge her when she waved. Her eyes then locked on Molly.

Raye walked over, "Eating all alone? Seems to be a bit of a habit for you."

"Actually, I had lunch with Mina. You would know that if you were still friends with her."

"How does it feel trying to take over my life?"

"Great! Especially since I'm doing it better than you are." Molly smirked.

"You're failing. You have no power."

"Neither do you." Molly smirked and raised her eyebrow.

"Jadeite will grow bored with you and move on. You'll be left all alone." Raye just knew he couldn't possibly find Molly interesting.

"Thank you for telling me that. I appreciate any insight you can give me on him. After all, you have firsthand experience with Jadeite. How does it feel when he moves on?" Molly stood and walked out the door.

Andrew told a coworker he was taking a short break and ran to the breakroom to call Jadeite to let him know what happened.

They both got a kick out of how Molly handled Raye.

OooooooO

Darien saw Serena's father walk into the restaurant, and he waved at him to let him know where they were sitting.

"Hello, Sir. I'm glad you could come and meet me."

"I have no idea what this could be about."

They sat and looked at their menus then placed their breakfast orders. Darien was nervous. He hoped that her father had at least some clue as to what was coming.

Darien calmed his nerves and reached into his pocket. "Sir, I have come to love your daughter very much, and I wanted to speak with you."

"Didn't you break up with her?" her father asked.

Darien paled. This wasn't going well.

"I did, but we are back together now, and I regret ending things with her back then. She has forgiven me."

"That happens when you're very young and have a crush."

Dang this was bad, he thought. "Well, actually, that is what I wanted to talk to you about. I'm in love with her, and I want to marry her. I bought a ring." He pulled it out and showed her father.

He scoffed, "You should've just bought her a ring pop. It would've been more fitting."

"Sir, she is younger than me, but it doesn't matter. I'm completely devoted to her."

"She's legally old enough to make her own decisions, and she will. I'm not fooled though. You broke up with her once. I had hoped for better than that for my daughter." He placed his napkin on the table. "I'm done here. In my opinion, she's too young to marry, and you have made no real attempt to get to know me or my wife; her parents. I'm not impressed by a gaudy ring."

Darien held in his anger at the man who really didn't know his own daughter. He spent plenty of time around her. Her parents were the ones who were never around.

"Very well, Sir."

By the time breakfast came, Darien was eating alone. He had her father's waffles put in a doggie bag. He would eat them later.

They were delicious.

OooooooO

There was a knock at Molly's front door, and her mother opened it. Standing there was a man she didn't recognize with a huge bouquet of flowers.

"Delivery for Molly," he said.

"I'm her mother; I'll take them."

The delivery man handed them over, and her mother signed for them. She then brought them up to Molly's room and placed them on her desk. She then called her husband at work to tell him about the flowers.

OooooooO

Amy met Zoisite for lunch at his place. When she walked in, she handed him her shopping bag, and he pulled out his favorite ice cream.

"How did you know?"

"It was hardly difficult to guess."

"This is going in the back of the freezer." He first pulled out a black Sharpie.

OooooooO

Darien met Serena's uncle for coffee that afternoon at the arcade.

Her uncle sipped his coffee and said, "So, let's see the ring."

Darien showed him and asked, "Did her father tell you?"

"Nope. I figured it out on my own. Nice ring. She'll love it, and all the women will be jealous. Good job there."

"Thanks. So, you approve?"

"I won't even pretend I don't know what you're talking about. Yes, you two will have a great marriage." He smiled at Darien

"Thanks. Her dad doesn't approve. What should I do?"

"I'll talk to her. I'll let her know that he is against the two of you without mentioning a proposal. That way, you won't feel like she doesn't know when you are asking her to marry you."

"Thank you. I wish it weren't like this."

"He will come around eventually. I personally think his pride is stung right now. He feels she's doing better under my roof, and that must be hard. Now, she will be moving on completely, and he really hasn't been part of her life."

"That helps me feel better about breakfast." Darien sighed and really wished he had her father's approval.

OooooooO

Molly came home from work, and her mom was smiling. All she said was, "Go look at your desk."

She headed up to her room and was astonished by the size of the beautiful bouquet sitting there. She opened the card and it read, "To my beautiful Lioness. Jadeite"

She smiled and gave him a call.

OooooooO

Raye picked up the sword, and she felt the hum go through her whole body. She closed her eyes and felt the sword grow warm. She set it down and walked away to go do her duties around the temple.

She knew she was right, and she felt it was obvious that she had nothing to learn.

OooooooO

Jadeite was furious. "Who the hell got Luna to leave a dead mouse underneath my pillow?!"

Meanwhile downstairs, Luna smirked at Kunzite and laid her head back down on the couch pillow.

OooooooO

Serena met with Amy for dinner, and they were having a fabulous time. Amy was laughing as she told Serena about her dinner with Zoisite.

Serena laughed and said, "He really wouldn't share his dessert with you?"

"Nope! He ordered me my own though. Of course, I was so stuffed from dinner that I couldn't finish." She laughed. "He then proceeded to finish mine for me."

Amy then looked sheepish. "We're getting together to study tomorrow, and I bought something."

"What?"

Amy pulled out glasses.

Serena laughed and said, "You minx you!"

OooooooO

Luna scratched at Nephrite's door, and he opened it and let her in.

"How are you settling into the house?" He asked.

"I'm actually having a great time. I enjoy that I can talk in front of everyone who lives here."

"I never thought about that. Makes sense."

"I have a question for you. That was why I came here," she admitted.

"Go ahead."

"I want to know about your intentions with Lita. She doesn't have any parents, and I guess I am the closest thing she could get."

"Yet you can be bribed with cream and tuna," Nephrite dead panned.

"I don't hear you complaining. It gave you enough time the other day to get out of the house before Zoisite put it together that you stole the ice cream."

"Touché. And as for how I feel about Lita, in a way, she's like Serena."

Luna broke in and said, "Now, that I don't believe."

"Let me finish. Serena is all the good parts of Serenity, but better. That is the way Lita is. She is just as amazing and strong as she was, but she isn't as standoffish as she was. She's warmer."

Luna looked at him and nodded.

He continued, "I'm already a good way to falling in love with her. We went on a date, and it was everything I had wanted it to be in our past lives."

"I'm glad to hear that. Oh, and you may want to pick up tuna when you're next at the store."

"Wait, last I checked, I had some left. I'm out?"

"Yes," was all Luna said.

"Who took it?"

"I'm not telling." She said and winked at him.

OooooooO

Serena walked through the front door and saw Kunzite sitting on the couch reading.

"Something you wanted to talk to me about Kunzite?"

"Yes. If you ever move out, we're keeping Luna."

She laughed and said, "That's up to her."

"Like she will turn down the chance for food and to give us all a hard time."

"You like her," she stated.

"We all do."

OooooooO

Thank you for reading!