Christmas Stalkings

Author: crystal_rose

Rated: PG13

Rating :

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

It was the afternoon before Christmas, and Serena was back in her information booth for a few hours. With Darien. Only she didn't mind being in the information booth this time because she was with Darien. The once-annoying Christmas carols that had gotten on her nerves so much a few days ago sounded like a heavenly choir because she was with Darien. With Darien…now that was a phrase she could get used to hearing.

Serena knew she was grinning stupidly, but she didn't care—for the first time since she had realized her feelings for Darien, it appeared as though he returned them! If that wasn't one hell of a Christmas miracle, she didn't know what was.

"Hello, Earth to Serena," a familiar voice called her, snapping Serena back to reality.

"Mina, what're you doing here?" she asked a little rudely, annoyed that her daydream had been interrupted.

"Just doing a bit of last-minute shopping," she replied, shaking one bag in particular. "This one's yours."

"Ooh, what is it?" Serena's hand reached for the bag, only to be slapped playfully away. "Come on, you can't dangle my present in front of me that way and not expect me to want it. Just tell me; I'll find out tomorrow, anyway."

"Then you shouldn't mind waiting a few more hours," Mina retorted. She spared a glance towards Darien, who at the moment was giving an old lady directions to the nearest electronics store. "So, what's it like working with ‘the spawn of Satan' himself?"

"Well—"

"Oh my God!" Mina interrupted excitedly. "You're in love with him! And…" she paused dramatically, watching Darien as though trying to read his aura. "He's in love with you, too!"

"Mina, shut up," Serena hissed. "He's gonna hear you."

Mina's eyes had glazed over, a knowing grin on her face. "Whoa, you guys are soul mates. This is not the first lifetime you've loved each other, nor will it be the last."

"Mina," Serena pleaded. "You don't know what you're talking about. This is crazy talk, and you must never repeat those words ever again, understand?"

Mina looked insulted. "Hello? Sailor Scout of Love and Beauty? Do those words ring a bell with you? I'm not just called that because I am the personification of them, you know."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, and I'm a princess from some faraway land." Mina's eyes gleamed with an understanding that Serena missed in her haste to get rid of her friend. "My manager could come at any minute now. You have to go. And for God's sake don't go around telling people what you just told me!"

She's not ready to remember her past yet, Mina thought sadly. Sometimes it was hard being the only Sailor Scout to remember anything about the Silver Millennium, but she guessed it would be easier to protect Serena, the long-lost Moon Princess, if she didn't know she was being watched. She nodded her head, more out of loyalty as Serena's friend than as her guardian.

She leaned in close to Serena's ear. "Soon. When the moon is in the shines in all its glory, your secret wish will come true," she whispered in her friend's ear. "The locket is the key."

Serena's eyes grew round, and she pictured the gold, star-shaped locket in her pocket. "You know about the locket?"

Mina smiled mysteriously. "Soon," she mouthed, then gathered her bags and walked away.

Serena stared at her friend's retreating back, wondering how she knew about the locket. If she was right about the locket, could she have been right about…about the soul mates thing?

"Anything wrong, Serena? You look like you've seen a ghost," Darien said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Did Mina say something to upset you? Because if she did, I can go get her and make her apologize." The grim expression on his face told her that he would do such a thing if she told him to. Since she didn't want a surly-faced Darien on Mina's back, she shook her head.

"No, Mina didn't upset me. In fact, she said something that…intrigued me." Since she started humming along with the Christmas carol blasting out of the mall stereo speakers, he assumed that she wasn't going to elaborate further. Not that he cared one way or the other—the complexities of girl-secrets were beyond his realm of understanding.

A crash followed by a scream was heard from the lower level directly below them. "What was that?" Darien asked, his hand poised over the phone ready to call mall security.

Serena felt a familiar tingling on the back of her neck. The mall security would be no match against a Negaverse monster. "Darien, I think it's a monster."

Darien paused, then immediately pulled her down in a corner of the information booth. "I'm going to check it out, Serena. You stay here and don't come out, no matter what happens."

"But Darien—"

"No buts, Serena. I mean it. You have to stay hidden just in case the monster comes up here." Serena shook her head stubbornly, and Darien glared at her. "Stop trying to fight me on this!"

"Darien, shut up for a second!" She took a deep breath. It was now or never. She had to tell Darien the truth. Serena pulled out her transformation locket and showed it to him. "Darien, I've been keeping a secret from you. I'm Sailor Moon."

Darien stared at her, dumbfounded. "What?"

Serena nodded her head, unsure of his reaction. She whispered her transformation phrase and let the power morph her into Sailor Moon. During her transformation, she heard Darien's shocked gasp, and vaguely remembered that she was naked through much of the procedure.

When she was finished, she gazed sadly upon him, sure that whatever he felt for her had changed in the last couple of minutes. "You'd better transform now, too."

Darien started, then nodded his head. Now was not the time to ask how she knew he was Tuxedo Mask. He transformed, then together, they jumped to the lower level and came face-to-face with a mutated candy cane.

"Give me your energy!" the candy cane shouted at a group of frightened shoppers. "Candy!"

Streams of red and green stripes shot forth from the monster's body and wrapped around its victims, draining them of their energy. Tuxedo Mask created a rose and threw it, shredding the energy-draining ribbons to pieces and releasing the victims.

"Stop right there!" Sailor Moon shouted from atop a candy cane display. "How dare you ruin Christmas Eve for these last-minute shoppers! I am Sailor Moon, and I will punish you!"

The candy cane turned its attention to Sailor Moon, and shot a green stripe towards her. The ribbon wrapped around body, trapping her in a sticky prison. "Ooh, pepperminty," she said before it started to drain her energy.

Darien saw red (and green and white) when he saw the monster trap Serena. He hurled a rose at the candy cane, lodging it in the hard white candy, causing it to crack. The monster screamed in agony and released Serena. "Now, Sailor Moon!"

Serena shook herself free from the sticky green stripe and nodded firmly. "You got it!" She glared at the injured candy cane, and pulled her tiara off her forehead. "Moon tiara magic!"

The candy cane looked up and tried to run away but it tripped on its own stripes. "Candy!" it screamed before the tiara made contact with it, turning it into a black powder.

"Moon dusted!"

Around them, the fallen victims began to stir, so Serena and Darien made the joint decision to detransform before anyone awoke and saw them. They stood awkwardly, not knowing what to say to each other. Finally, Darien couldn't take the silence anymore. "How?"

"How did I know you were Tuxedo Mask, or how did a klutz like me become Sailor Moon?"

"The first question, and the second never occurred to me." Serena looked beseechingly into his eyes, trying to read them. "Did you know who I was that day we had lunch on the bridge?"

She shook her head. "I found out after you detransformed."

Darien frowned. "You followed me? How could you?"

"No! It wasn't like that, I promise!" Serena pulled him into a corner so that the wakening people wouldn't hear them. "When I tripped on that root and you caught me, the impact caused your locket to fall out of your pocket. You were gone before I realized it, so I decided to go in the same direction you went, hoping to catch up to you. I was a few feet away when I heard you detransforming, so I hid behind a tree to give you your privacy. You have to believe me, I never tried to find out who you were." She watched him worriedly, and breathed a sigh of relief when he nodded, indicating that he believed her.

"I heard you talking to yourself as you walked past me, and that's how I knew." She touched his hand tentatively. "You believe me, right?"

Darien sighed. "Yeah, I believe you. I just don't know what to think about all this."

Serena looked down, trying to blink away her tears. She knew it: he couldn't stand the thought that she was Sailor Moon. She swallowed, and once she thought she could speak without giving away her hurt, she smiled tremulously. "Yeah, pretty unbelievable, huh? Who would've thought that clumsy Serena would be Sailor Moon?"

"Serena…"

She took a deep breath and pretended to glance at her watch. "We'd better go back up before Mr. Waltham comes looking for us."

"Actually, it's the end of my shift so I'm gonna go."

Serena's smile faltered for a second before it was back up. "Oh, okay. Merry Christmas, Darien. I'll see you next week."

She watched him walk away through her tears. How could she think that he'd return her feelings when he found out the truth, that she was Sailor Moon? It seemed cruel to have all her hopes dashed the day before Christmas over something that she couldn't control. "Oh well," she whispered. "Maybe it wasn't meant to be."

The next day, her family woke up early so they could open their gifts. Sammy was beside himself with excitement; his grandmother had given him the expensive video game system that his parents had refused to buy.

"Thanks, Grandma!" he cried, hurling himself at the old woman who smiled indulgently at him. "You're the best!"

Serena tried to work up some enthusiasm over the digital camera she had gotten, but couldn't quite seem to do it. She had spent the whole night, tossing and turning, regretting ever telling Darien the truth behind her secret identity. Every time she closed her eyes, she'd see his disappointed face and end up crying all over again. Finally, she rose from her bed to sit by the window and stare at the full moon. She couldn't remember ever seeing a more glorious moon than the one last night.

She hadn't heard anything at all from him today, despite having left a message on his answering machine telling him that she had a present to drop off for him whenever he was home. He was screening his calls, she concluded, and didn't want to see her. She had never had a more depressing Christmas in her entire life.

"Serena, what's wrong?" Luna murmured in her ear. "You don't seem very excited about your gifts."

Serena turned mournful eyes at her feline guardian. "Nothing's wrong, Luna. Nothing at all." She stroked the cat's soft fur before setting her gently down on the floor. "I'll be upstairs if anyone needs me."

Her mother frowned in concern. "Is there anything wrong, honey?"

"No, mom. I'm just tired from all the excitement. I think I'm going to lay down for a while, okay?"

"Sure, honey." Irene watched her daughter trudge up the stairs before turning to her own mother sitting on the couch. "Must be boy problems."

The old woman nodded her head in agreement. "I remember you looking exactly like that when you thought Ken didn't like you."

Irene was about to reply, when the doorbell rang. She waited a beat to see if Ken was going to get it, but then remembered that he was busy with Sammy in the other room, setting up the video game system. The doorbell rang again. "Just a second."

She opened the door and saw a tall young man, clutching a brown paper package in one hand and trying to warm up the other with his breath. Irene raised an appraising eyebrow; her daughter had good taste. "Can I help you?" she asked, playing innocent.

Darien blushed. He hadn't expected Serena's mother to open the door. "Hi, I'm Darien Shields—a friend of Serena's. May I see her, please?"

Hmm, cute and has good manners. Irene smiled politely and opened the door wider to let him through. "She's in her room right now, but you may go upstairs for a few minutes, if you'd like."

"I'd appreciate that, ma'am."

"It's the third door on your left. You won't miss it." Darien thanked her again, and climbed the stairs, his heart beating rapidly in his throat. What if she didn't want to see him?

He counted the doors, and smiled when he came upon Serena's. Her mother was right; the ‘Bunny's Room' sign was so Serena. He knocked gently. "Not now, Mom."

Darien opened the door and poked his head through. He gazed around the pink and white room, and was struck at how the pink and white room totally suited Serena. "It isn't your mom."

Serena gasped, and burrowed deeper under her comforter. "What're you doing here, Darien? I look like yesterday's crap!"

Darien chuckled and sat down beside the lump on the bed. "Come on out of there, Serena." He tugged the blanket down past her chin, and pushed the hair away from her face. "You liar. You could never look like yesterday's crap."

Serena sat up warily, and regarded him with fear in her eyes. "What're you doing here, Darien? I tried calling your apartment before but you weren't picking up."

"I was doing some last-minute shopping." He raised the brown bag in his hand and gave it to her. "For you."

"For me?" she squeaked. "Oh, Darien, you didn't have to."

"Open it," he urged needlessly for Serena was already tearing into the bag. "It isn't much," he warned. "I just got them today."

Serena eagerly opened pulled out the three items in the bag, and then frowned in confusion. A cheap plastic tiara, a rock, and a fish hook. "Gee, Darien. You shouldn't have. Really." She turned the bag upside down and tried to shake out whatever was left in it. Nothing.

Darien's eyes twinkled as he lifted the tiara and placed it upon her head. "Do you remember that day you started in the information booth? You told a guy that the perfect present for his girlfriend would make her feel like a queen, show her that his feelings for her were rock-solid, and that he was hooked on her."

Serena nodded, hope and understanding dawning in her eyes. She held the smooth rock in the palm of her hand to steady it. "Yeah," she said, not caring that her voice wavered.

"Well, I've been trying to find such a present all week. You're a tough person to shop for, you know," he told her reproachfully.

"That's what everyone says," she replied, gripping the rock harder. Darien adjusted the tiara on her head, and smiled tenderly at her.

"Well, I think the tiara's self-explanatory, but just in case you don't know it yet, it's supposed to make you feel like a queen," he informed her in mock-seriousness.

"It does," she replied, mimicking his tone.

He took her hand in his and lay it palm up so that they could see the rock in it. "And this is supposed to tell you that my feelings for you have been rock-solid for the better part of three years. That's a long time to do anything about them, but I'm a man who likes to take his time to do things right. Especially when it's very important. And you're very important to me."

Serena's eyes were starting to tear up, but she struggled to maintain her composure. "And the fish hook?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm hooked on you, Serena. I've been hooked on you since you bonked me on the head with that test paper a long time ago. And I have a feeling I'm always going to be hooked on you," Darien said, brushing her bottom lip with his thumb. They parted slowly, and he took that as a sign. He lowered his head and touched his lips to hers gently.

The kiss wasn't long, as Darien was afraid of her mother walking in the room at any moment, but it was sweet and full of promise. When he pulled away, he rested his forehead against hers and gazed into the depths of her blue eyes. "I'm in love with you, Serena."

The tears spilled over, and she threw her arms around Darien's neck. "Oh! Thank you!"

"'Thank you'?" he repeated, smiling tenderly. "Is that all you have to say?"

Serena laughed and cried at the same time. She couldn't believe her Christmas miracle was happening. "I'm in love with you too!"

He kissed her again, this time more deeply. They were just getting into it when, in the back of his mind, Darien heard a loud thumping coming up the stairs before the bedroom door was flung open, revealing Serena's outraged father standing in the hallway. "You! Get off my daughter!"

"Daddy!"

"Mr. Tsukino!"

"I can explain!" the cried at the same time.

Ken lunged towards the bed, and narrowly missed tackling Darien, who had demonstrated his powers as Tuxedo Mask by jumping over him and running out into the hallway, where her father chased him down the stairs. Serena was mildly amused that a grown man who had faced off against the worst the Negaverse had to offer was deathly afraid of her father. She carefully took off the tiara, and placed it with the rock and the hook on her dresser. She would have to find a place of honour for them later. Right now, she had to rescue her boyfriend—how wonderful was that word!—from her father. It was a very merry Christmas, indeed.