The Beauty Within Her
Chapter 3
By: Jessica M. Moonflower
E-mail: salud731@earthlink.net
Rated: G
Timeline: AR
Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is not mine. Plain
and simple! ^ - ^
ANs: Finally! The chapter that you all
been waiting for! Drum roll please!
THE SERENA AND DARIEN ENCOUNTER!
YAY!!!!! *Applause* Thank you! Thank
you! But I have to say that at the end
of July I won't be able to type any stories
cause I'm going on vacation for three
weeks. *Sniffs* Don't worry! I'll be back
in August 18 with hopefully a whole lot of
chapters to type up for all of you! ^ - ^ So
if you send me e-mail and I don't respond
ASAP, I promise I will when I come back!
So keep those e-mails rolling in! Thanks
go out to all my friends, the people who
e-mail me, and all people who post my
stories. Now on with the story! ^ - ^

"Love is like art; you must know it to
appreciate it."
             -Anonymous


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

 "So when is Rita coming in?" asked
Serena to Andrew in the kitchen at the
mansion.
 "Her flight is tomorrow," replied Andrew.
 Both Serena and Andrew were in the
kitchen helping Mrs. Banker with tonight's
dinner. Serena and Andrew were cutting
and peeling vegetables while Mrs. Banker
added in all the ingredients for dinner and
seasoned the roast. While Serena and
Andrew were working on the vegetables,
they talked about the wedding.
 "Did Rita pick out her wedding dress yet?"
 "No, not yet. She said she wants to buy
a wedding dress here in Boston, because
she found a little wedding gown boutique
filled with a whole bunch of beautiful dresses."
 "I bet it'll be fun picking out the perfect
wedding dress for your special day," said
Serena with a dreamy look on her face.
 "Rita is pretty excited to shop for her dress.
In fact, she asked me over the phone to ask
you if you would accompany her to shop for
several things for the wedding. That would
include flowers, invitation designs, color
scheme for the wedding reception, and to help
her pick out the perfect dress."
 "Really? Shouldn't you be doing those with
her? I mean, you're her fiancĒ after all," said
Serena, speechless and shocked at the same
time for what Rita had requested Andrew to
ask her to do.
 "No, it's okay. The only things Rita needs me
for is the food, guests, our song, and the place
for our honeymoon. The rest you can do with
Rita. She thinks that since I'm a guy, I won't be
able to make the right decisions on flower
arrangements and color schemes for the
wedding. She said she needs another girl's
opinion on stuff like this. Besides, Rita believes
that it's bad luck for the groom to see his bride
in her wedding dress before the big day. She
believes in those wedding superstitions."
 "Then, I'd love to accompany her," said
Serena with certainty in her voice at what
Andrew had just told her.
 "Great! Rita will be so ecstatic about your
response when she comes in tomorrow."
 "I'm glad to help out."
 As they continued talking, cutting, and
peeling, the doorbell rang.
 "I'll get it," said Serena as she got off the
stool she was sitting on.
 "Serena, I could get it if you want," offered
Andrew as he was about to stand up himself to
go.
 "No, it's okay, Andrew. I can get it myself."
 "Andrew, could you be a dear and open the
oven for me?" asked Mrs. Banker as she tried
to carry a huge seasoned roast to the oven.
 While Andrew went to help Mrs. Banker,
Serena went to the front door of the mansion
to open it.
 "Hiya Rena!" said a tall brunette, standing at
the doorway.
 "Lita! Long time no see!" Serena squealed in
delight as she hugged her long time childhood
friend. "I've missed you so much! What brings
you here?"
 "I heard that Andrew is getting married so
we decided to surprise everyone by coming
here early and of course, attend the wedding."
 "Who's we?" asked Serena, puzzled by who
is the other person she is referring to.
 "That would be me," a low, deep voice
answered from the doorway.
 "Darien!" Serena gasped out, shocked to see
him. "What a big surprise! It's been a while since
I last saw you. The last time I saw you was the
Christmas ball."
 "Andrew called me today to tell me about his
engagement, and Lita flew into New York today
so I told her about it and she suggested that we
fly in tonight to surprise everybody so here we
are," Darien said in one breath.
 "Anyway, I missed everybody. Especially you!"
said Lita, happy that she's finally home with the
people she loves.
 "I'm glad you're here, too," said Serena equally
excited.
 "Who's at the door?" asked Andrew as he
walked into the living room.
 "Andrew!" Lita squealed happily as she ran over
to hug her cousin.
  "Hey Lita, Darien! What are you guys doing here
so early? My wedding is a month away," Andrew
said in a surprise tone as he hugged Lita.
  "It was Lita's idea to come early," Darien said as
he went over to hug Andrew.
  "It's great to see you guys anyway."
  "You want me to take these bags for you, sir?"
asked the butler, Geoffrey, to Andrew.
  "Yes, and I'll help you," said Andrew as he picked
up some of the baggage off the floor.
  "I'm coming with you. I want to see my old room.
I missed my old room!" Lita said as she picked up
some of her own bags.
  "Are you coming Darien, Serena?" asked Andrew
as he was about to go up the stairs to follow
Geoffrey.
  "No, I'll just wait here. I feel like resting for a
little while." was Darien's response.
  "Serena?"
  "Same with me, Andrew. I'll wait for you guys to
come down."
  "Okay. We'll be back down in a little while," said
Andrew as he and Lita went up the stairs.
  Darien went to the liquor cabinet to pour himself
a glass of scotch while Serena sat on the couch
waiting for Andrew and Lita to come down. The
room was filled with uncomfortable silence. Both
couldn't think of anything to say.
  'Maybe I should have joined Lita and Andrew
upstairs. I don't know what to say to Darien. It
feels so awkward being with Darien, alone,'
Serena thought nervously.
  "So how have you been doing, Serena?" asked
Darien, startling Serena from her thoughts.
  "I'm fine. And you?"
  "Okay, I guess. Are you still in school?"
  "I graduated last year. Now I'm going to an art
school."
  "You just graduated from college last year and
you're still going to school?! Don't you hate going
to school?"
  "No. Actually, I like going to school. You get to
learn about the world and you get to learn things
you never knew before. Why? You didn't like going
to school?"
  "I don't hate school. I just think it's a shock to
find a girl who actually LIKES going to school. Most
girls I know wouldn't be caught dead in a school.
They rather spend their lives starting a career
than doing homework or studying for an exam.
  "Well, I guess I'm different from most girls, now
aren't I?"
  "You sure are, but that's a good thing. Don't
ever change the way you are."
  "Thanks. I'll take that as a compliment," Serena
said blushing.
  "Why do you have your hair covering your face?"
Darien asked as he brushed a few strands of hair
from her face and tucked some behind her ears.
  "Oh....well....my hair is kind of long and normally
I would braid my hair or tie it back with a ponytail,
but I guess it doesn't help much since a few strands
seem to escape from the braid or ponytail I put it
in...." Serena babbled on nervously when Darien
gently brushed his hand over her face that sent
shivers down her entire body.
  "You should really get contacts. You know, the
clear ones so it would show off your beautiful blue
eyes. Your eyes shouldn't be hiding behind glasses,"
Darien said as he took off Serena's glasses and
looked deep into her eyes.
  'Her eyes are mesmerizing. I feel drawn to them
when I look into her eyes,' Darien thought as he
continued to look into those lovely ocean blue eyes.
  'His eyes are so beautiful. It's like looking up at
the night's sky,' Serena thought dazedly as she
continued to lose herself in his eyes.
  As Serena and Darien continued to stare into
each other's eyes, Darien and Serena were slowly
closing the gap between each other when a voice
startled them from their trance.
  "Serena, dear, I need your help in the kitchen,"
called Mrs. Banker from the kitchen.
  "Coming Mom!" Serena quickly stood up from the
couch. "Um....I-I....better go in there and help my
Mom."
  "Uh....yeah....you-you better go," Darien said
dazedly.
  "Well, see you later." and Serena quickly left the
living room to go assist her Mom.
  When Serena was out of sight, Darien banged
his head on the coffee table.
  'Stupid, stupid, stupid!' he thought to himself as
he continuously banged his head on the table.


That's it! This might be the last chapter I send out
for now. Right now I'm still writing the other
chapters and I won't be able to type it up until I
come back. I'm still here, but not on the last week
of July. So after the last week of July, I'm already
on vacation! But I'll be back to terrorize all of you
on August 18! ^ - ^ E-mail me your comments. I'd
love to hear from you! Sayonara for now! ^ - ~