Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Seeing Stars ❯ Chapter 31 ( Chapter 31 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Seeing Stars
By Jason Ulloa
Original story by Moonsong
Continued with her permission.


Chapter 31

What started out as a really great evening was soon downgraded to VERY uncomfortable. This
was a situation that he had been hoping... no, praying that would never occur. So much for
that.

His girlfriend and ex-girlfriend had just met and they were now sitting in what passed for
his living room, bedroom, dining room, etc. - Serena on the couch and Raye on one of the
chairs - each eyeing the other speculatively. Oh, sure, they were all smiles, but there was
something behind those smiles.

He sighed. Why couldn't this have at least happened tomorrow?

Serena grinned cordially while she seethed mentally. Why did this woman have to show up
NOW, of all times? Was she still trying to win Darien back? Did he have any feelings left
for her? Why didn't he tell her about Raye? Wasn't she his girlfriend now? Was she just
persistant, or was he encouraging her slightly?

That last thought was the cause of her current emotional state. What was worse was that
this, in a way, was almost like the way that she lost Seiya. Or rather, it was beginning to
look like it.

Well... not this time. She lost Seiya because she thought that he had loved her and would
never betray her. She wasn't going to let another woman steal the man she loved yet again.
Oh, hell no. Not this time.

Raye smiled at the look in Serena's eyes. Sure, she was smiling, but she could tell that
she getting upset. But was she upset at her, or Darien? Both, perhaps? Her getting upset at
Darien was one of her goals, which would hopefully lead to the dissolution of their current
relationship. That was her main goal. That, and winning Darien back for herself.

It was sheer fortuitousness that brought her here at the same time as Serena. She had
originally planned to initiate her plan to endear herself to Darien as a friend who would
be there for him, while trying to plant seeds of doubt about the sincerity of his
relationship with the blonde actress. After all, how stable was a relationship with a movie
star? Those kinds of relationships often declined and crumbled after a year, at the least.
So, he'd have a year of happiness. Then what?

She knew he was the kind of person that was looking for more than that, and celebrities
often had a habit of putting careers before their significant others. Sure, he'd
understand, but after a while, he would start to resent it. That's when things would start
to collapse. And that's when she - as his friend - would be their for him during his time
of need. And if she were to mention that he could always go back to her.... Well, she was
different now - she had told him so many times - so, hopefully he wouldn't remember a time
when she had left him for such petty reasons.

She had learned her lesson. This time, things would be much different.

A quick glance in Darien's direction showed her how uncomfortable the poor guy was. 'Sorry
Darien,' she sighed mentally. 'I don't want to make you feel like this, but hopefully one
day you'll understand. She'll leave you as soon as you begin to get in the way of her
career. I wouldn't do that to you. You don't see that now, but you will soon enough.'

"So, Darien," she said as she turned toward him and softened her smile, "how is that movie
you and Miss Moon working on?" She figured that she'd better play the respectful type so
that he would see that she wasn't trying to antagonize her... well, not deliberately. That
way, there was no way that their eventual break-up could be pinned, even in the slightest
way, on her. That would ruin her chances for sure.

Serena blinked. Was she mistaken? Maybe that woman WAS just trying to be friends. Was she
overreacting over nothing? But, this could just be a trick. Oh, things were never this
complicated when she was with Seiya. But then, she had never worried about such things as
other women trying to steal her boyfriend. Damn!

Darien blinked, simply because the women had finally remembered that he was there. So far,
he had been trying to abide by the first rule of When Girlfriends Meet Ex-Girlfriends, as
was taught to him by various friends by their various experiences. Even though all the
stories were different, they all agreed on one thing.

Do NOT get in between a confrontation between your girl and your ex. Even the bravest man
would tread lightly in that scenario.

"It's doing well, so far," he replied simply. "There aren't any delays other than the usual
repeating of scenes for fixing mistakes, trying different camera angles, and the other
usual things."

Raye nodded. She had expected as much. Living near Hollywood, you tended to learn a few
things about the movie industry which was more common knowledge than what someone outside
the L.A. area, or more likely, outside California would know. Not that she wanted to be an
actress. Oh, sure, back in high school, it sounded like fun, but as she drew closer to
graduation she began to focus more on a career at singing. It was just too bad that she
didn't have much of a career at the moment.

"Miss Moon...."

"Serena," she corrected. She'd give her the benefit of the doubt... for now. But the moment
she suspected that she was trying to win Darien back.... "Miss Moon is way too formal for
my taste."

Raye nodded again and smiled. "Serena, can I ask how you and Darien got together?" She then
glanced toward Darien. "If you don't mind, that is."

Darien exchanged glances with Serena. She nodded faintly, which he took as a sign that she
didn't mind. "You remember when I told you that I got fired from the 'White Rose' shoot?"

Raye grimaced. That was when she had left him. If she could, she would've kicked herself
for doing something so stupid.

"I take it you remember. Anyway, I got fired because I had tripped over a cord that one of
the audio grips had suddenly pulled tight, causing me to lose control over the tray of
drinks I was carrying."

"The worst part was that I happened to have been walking toward the set at the time of the
accident," Serena added. "I got hit with everything - soda, water, tea, coffee, everything.
And the worst part was that I was wearing my favorite Anna Sui ensemble when it happened."

Raye stared. "All that.... It's a wonder you didn't kill him!"

Serena smirked. "It was a good thing that someone had restrained me, or I would've killed
him." She smiled over at Darien, then turned back to Raye. "In the end, I had him fired
and immediately escorted off the set." She shook her head. "In retrospect, I shouldn't
have done that, even if I was pissed beyond belief. It really wasn't his fault the sound
guys weren't watching to see if anybody was walking over the cable. But I didn't care. My
dress was all but ruined and someone had to PAY!"

"After I got fired, Mina called me up, telling me to drop my current job and take this new
role she landed me," Darien continued. "Apparently, word of my firing hadn't reached her as
of then. As it turned out, she got me this little minor role in this movie starring none
other than Serena Moon. At the time, I was so shocked about working with the same actress
who probably wanted my head, that I didn't immediately realize the boost my career would
be receiving with this role. However, since I was still on autopilot from the shock of
hearing Serena's name again, that I agreed to it without thinking."

"When I first saw Darien again, I was so pissed off to find him not only on the same set as
I was, but near the craft services table as well," Serena continued again. "At the time,
my mind was thinking Darien plus drinks equals another ruined outfit. So, I tried to have
him fired again. When I discovered that he was under contract, I got royally pissed and I
threatened to make his life a living hell. Of course, I didn't really mean it, but at the
time, I wanted to torment the man.

"After a while, I started letting up on the guy, mostly because he was so insistant upon
redeeming himself. I mean, he even went as far as to buy me lunch," she added, smirking
slyly at Darien, who just grimaced in return. "So, I decided to give him a second chance.
After all, he did say he wanted to repay me for the dress he ruined.

"Then, I saw him act for the first time." Serena paused and smiled partly to herself. "It
was surprising, considering that he hadn't done much acting of that caliber, if any."

"Melvin and Amy, the producer and director of the movie, both thought that I did well
enough to include my character in enough of the movie to make my supporting actor role a
co-star role instead," Darien told her as he bent down to his fridge. "Drink?"

"Soda, please," Raye requested.

"Same here," Serena requested.

Darien nodded and grabbed three cans out of the fridge and handed each girl their soda,
making sure to give Serena her soda first. Raye noticed this and mentally sighed.

"So, what about after that?" she asked, taking a drink.

"Well, I decided that I'd try to take Serena out to lunch again, as another gesture of
goodwill toward her," Darien continued. "She let me take her wherever I wanted, so I ended
up taking her to the Crown."

"The Crown?!?" Raye exclaimed. "What did Andrew say?"

"He was absolutely thrilled to be able to meet one of his favorite actresses," Darien told
her. "I don't think he was sure who did the favor to whom at the end."

Raye laughed a bit. "I can imagine."

"So, after that, I came to respect Darien more," Serena continued. "I think it was after
the second visit to the Crown, on what was to be our first 'real' date, that I started to
fall in love with him."

Raye nodded. "Those must've been pretty memorable dates," she remarked. 'I bet I had
better,' she thought jealously.

"They were," Darien said as he finished his soda.

**********************************************

Amy rang the doorbell for the second time, but still no one had answered the door. She knew
the twins had to be home. Their car was parked in the driveway, after all. Well, maybe she
could look inside and see where either one of them were at right now.

As she peeked through one of the open windows, she noticed that their was a door open,
which more than likely lead to the back. There was a paved path leading to the back of the
house, so she followed that. As she drew closer to the back, she could hear the sound of
fighting. No, wait. This sounded more muted. Ah, the twins must be sparring in the back.
So, that's why they couldn't hear her.

Lita had told her that she usually left the gate to the back unlocked whenever they were
back there, in case someone - like herself - wanted to come back there to visit with them.
She had no problems opening the gate and closing it behind her.

Amy immediately caught sight of the two Evans twins upon entering the back. They had set up
some twenty foot by twenty foot ring - which was actually a square - and were currently
trying to knock the other out of the ring.

It was like a choreographed dance, just like Jason had told her a long time ago. Each
punch, kick, turn, block, and dodge was like a dance step, each one moving fluidly to the
next without stoping. Each twin moved with such swift grace and intricacy that she found
herself staring in awe.

At least, until Jason spotted her watching from beside the house. That was when Lita
connected a solid roundhouse kick to the side of her twin brother's head. Since he was
distracted, he hadn't prepared himself to take the hit, like all stuntpersons like himself
were trained to do. The force of the kick spun him around and caused him to lose his
footing. As he was currently at the edge of the square-shaped ring, he stumbled off of the
ring and tumbled down to the ground.

"Ow...," he muttered painfully as both Lita and Amy rushed to his side to help him get to
his feet, as he was still dazed.

"Are you all right?" Amy asked, worried and slightly guilty for distracting him and
causing him to get hit like that.

"Aw, he's had worse hits to the head, Amy," Lita said as she jovially clapped her brother
on the shoulder. Of course, that was after she was certain that he was showing no visible
signs of concussion. She and her brother had had their fair share of those, so she did
know something of what to look for. "I'm just sorry you had to see him get beaten up by
his sister. The poor guy must be embarrased."

Jason glared at her. "Who says you beat me?" he retorted, raising an eyebrow. "I could've
dodged that kick easy if I hadn't...." He paused for a moment. "Um, not that it was any
fault of yours, Amy," he quickly added, turning toward her. "I just hadn't expected to
see you there right then."

"So, your getting distracted WAS your fault, after all?" Lita asked, grinning as she
poked him playfully in the back.

"...oh, shut up," he muttered as he turned toward a bench where a pair of towels were
hanging. The bench was mainly for whenever they had a group of friends over and they wanted
to watch a demo of a fight scene from a new movie coming out, or something along those
lines. Occasionally, some of his colleagues would come over and they would have a little
practice match, usually for bragging rights.

He picked up his towel and tossed Lita hers, then turned to Amy as he wiped the sweat off
his face. "So, what brings you here, Amy? Come to pay us a little visit?"

"Or did you come to pay HIM a little visit?" Lita asked, smiling mischeviously.

"Well...," Amy began, smiling a little bashfully. "I guess...."

"Ah! Well, don't mind me, then," she said as she started for the house. "I'm gonna go take
a shower. Make yourself at home."

As Lita went into the house, Jason gestured toward the bench. "Would you like to take a
seat?" he asked.

She nodded, then sat down near the middle of the bench. She glanced up at him, then frowed
as she noticed that he wasn't sitting down. "Don't you want to sit?"

He blinked for a moment, perplexed. "Um... I'm a little sweaty and I didn't want to...."

"It's all right," she said as she shook her head and smiled at him. "I don't mind." She
patted the part of the bench next to her. He blinked again, then nodded and sat down next
to her. "Were you sparring long?"

"Hmm? Oh, not really. Lita and I only started about an hour ago." He paused for a moment.
"I had a couple of ideas in my head for the movie, but I think I'd better run them past
Lita first. She'd probably think of something to add or something better altogether."

Amy just nodded. "That's nice.

Jason grimaced. "Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to talk shop with you, Amy. My mind wanders on
occasion when I relax."

She laughed. "So I've noticed," she said and playfully bumped into him with her shoulder.
He grinned as he bumped her back. She leaned to bump him again, but he leaned away at
just the right moment to cause her to lose her balance and fall over onto his lap.

"You cheated," she said as she stared up at him.

"You started it," he replied childishly.

Her smiled widened. "Did not."

"Did too."

"Did not," she said as she pushed herself back up.

"Did too," he said as he started to lean toward her.

"Did-" She cut off as his lips met hers in a kiss. As the kiss ended, she opened her eyes
and smiled. "Well... just for that, maybe I'll forgive you."

"Hey, I've got an idea," he said as he leaned forward and stood up. "Why don't we go out
do something tonight? Just the two of us."

Amy's smile widened. "That sounds great. Where're we going?"

He paused to think about it, then grinned playfully. "Wanna go see a movie?"

She looked askance at him. "A movie, Jason?"

He shrugged. "It was just a suggestion." He frowned in deep thought for a moment. "How
about we go to one of those really fancy restaurants up in L.A.? You know, the kind
where you have to dress formal?"

"That sounds good, but how about if we go see a play as well?" she suggested.

Jason blinked and tried very hard not to grimace. "A... play?" he repeated faintly.
He didn't care much for plays. They were boring.

Wait. No, they weren't boring. They were BORING!

Amy stood up and clasped her hands together eagerly. "Oh! I just remembered! There's
an opera that's showing in L.A. tonight that I've been wanting to see for a long time!"

Jason blanched and struggled VERY hard not to grimace. "An... opera?" He didn't like
plays at all. If given the option, he would chose to sit through seven plays and pay
strict attention - he'd even jot down notes, if he had to - rather than sit through
ONE opera.

She nodded. "Yes. There's no reservations needed, but it's formal, so we'll have to
hurry if we want to catch it." She took his arm and smiled lovingly up at him. "That is,
if that's okay with you. Do you want to go, Jason?" she asked sweetly.

Damn. She had to go and use THAT tone of voice. Normally, he would've tried his best to
persuade her to consider something else, something that she would enjoy doing more and
wouldn't bore him to death, for example. But, after using that sweet entreaty, bordering
almost on a pout - now, that would be something he'd love to see; he'd bet that she'd
look so cute pouting - his defenses were starting to crumble. No, they WERE crumbling.

No, strike that. They were destroyed. Dust. Gone. He never had a chance.

"Sure," he agreed, making sure that his reluctance didn't show in his voice and stifling
a sigh. Dammit, Love plays dirty!

"Yes!" Amy said happily as she hugged him tightly. "Oh, I'm getting so excited!"

Operas were plays with three times as much singing, and in a language that he couldn't
comprehend, nor wanted to. And they were so damn DEPRESSING, too!

And he was about to go see one.

Well, her hug and the love dancing in her eyes when she looked at him when he agreed
made it worthwhile.

"I'm gonna go see if Lita's finished with the shower, yet," Jason said as he headed for
the house. "While I shower, can you pick an outfit for me? I want to get ready quickly,
since I know you're going to want enough time to get ready." He paused and glanced back
at her. "When's the opera going to start?"

"In four hours," she replied after a bit of thought.

"More than enough time," he said. 'Then again, Lita always tends to take quite a bit of
time when getting ready for formal events...,' he thought to himself. 'Well, even so,
four hours should be enough. After all, Amy doesn't have long waist-length hair, so she
shouldn't take THAT long, right?'

"Are you sure?" she asked, not quite convinced.

He grimaced. Somehow, he almost saw that one coming.

"I'll make sure we get there on time," he promised.

Oh, yeah. Vikings. Operas tended to have vikings in them somewhere or another. And a fat
lady. After all, wasn't that where they got that expression from?

Couldn't she have chosen a play instead? Oh, well. He'd just have to grit his teeth and
take it like a man.

Before that, he'd just moan and whimper in the privacy of his shower first.

**********************************************

Aft er Raye had left, Darien felt relieved. The whole thing didn't turn out as badly as
he had expected. It certainly put a crimp into their whole evening, but at least nothing
terrible had happened. Maybe Raye really was finally over him. At least she wasn't trying
to win him back anymore.

"Something wrong?" he asked after he tossed the rest of the bottles and cans into the
trashcan and walked over to where Serena was sitting on the couch, watching TV. Her
expression was pensive, as if she was brooding over something.

"Nothing," she replied with a small sigh. "I'm just glad that she's gone now."

"Oh."

"Don't get me wrong, Darien. I don't dislike her, but the fact of the matter is that she
IS your ex-girlfriend." Her expression darkened faintly. "I get a little wary of the
'other woman', especially considering the last relationship I was in."

"The last...," he began, then stopped as he realized what she meant. "Oh."

Serena nodded. "Yeah. Oh." She shook her head as she turned off the TV. "I got totally
shafted in that relationship, Darien. My heart was his and he threw it away for the
'other woman'. And you know why?"

Darien shook his head.

She leaned forward, put her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands. She tried
to fight it, but tears were threatening to come out. Memories were resurfacing and
scratching at her heart. All because of what could have happened.

"All because she convinced him that I would've dumped him first if I had the chance,"
she told him. "She convinced him that I was just another one of those actresses that
would use him, then dump him whenever something better came up. And he believed her!
That idiot believed HER! I begged him, pleaded with him, but he saw it all as an act.
He coldly spurned my love and abandoned me for that 'other woman'!"

Tears were coming now, but she let them come. After all, it was Darien she was crying
in front of. He loved her, not that other woman who had left just a short time ago.
Her. He wouldn't leave her because he felt that she would dump him first, right? Right?

Darien slipped his arms around the sobbing blonde and held her. It seemed like every
time he saw her, there was a new side to her that he had never seen before coming out.
And each time he experienced another part of Serena, it only made him love her more.
After all, she was willing to bare herself to him. What more could a man ask for in
the woman he loved?

He was simply content to hold her in his arms until she was ready to leave them.
Hopefully, that wouldn't be for quite a while.

**********************************************

To Chapter 32

**********************************************

Author' s Note: I know it's been a long time. But sometimes, one must stop everything
and deal with the pains and woes of reality. The long and short of it is this: I've
just recently been diagnosed as having been infected with tuberculosis, but fortunately,
the disease caused by the TB bacteria wasn't present in my body. I'm now on medication
which will last 9 months. I've learned that my grandfather died on Easter morning, but -
as callous as it sounds - it's not much when confronted with the possibility - albeit not
too great; about a 1% possibility of contracting the disease - of one's own mortality.
I've heard people bitch and moan about 'Oh, I'm resigned to the fact that I may die one
day,' but frankly, that BS doesn't fly with me no more. Go contract a life-threatening
disease, THEN whine about being resigned to your eventual death. I've come to terms with
what life has dealt me, and I'm not about to let some small possibility of dying stop
me. I've done my brooding, thank you. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt, gave it
to my sister, had it returned and got my money back. I've returned to my fic writing,
a better man... or at least, not any worse off than when I started. Well, at any rate,
I'm currently trying to figure out where in the hell this fic is currently going. I
know where it's going to end, and I know the general direction of where I want to go,
but to get from here to there.... Well, I'm working on it. Next chapter: Back at work,
Jason recounts his torturous opera experience to his friends; Jack and Diane wake up to
find the Green Nijizuishou gone; and Jack learns of Tira's recovery.

Disclaimer: All original materials belong to their respective
owners. Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi and a bunch
of big companies. No copyright infringement is intended. This
story belongs to Moonsong and myself, and I would appreciate
you emailing her or myself for permission before posting it
anywhere else. Thank you.

Prologue Copyright © January 24, 2000 Moonsong.
Other Chapters Copyright © August 12, 2000 Jason Ulloa.
All Rights Reserved.