Hello readers, here is chapter 7!  I am soo proud of myself to
have this one out so soon after I sent out 6.  This was really
supposed to be part of the previous chapter, but it was getting
way too long, so I cut this one into the seventh.
     This is the first chapter that actually has only one long
continuous scene, at a cafe on the Moon Kingdom.  That was the
destination Serena and Darien were heading to when they first
left the palace.  However, something very important happens in
here, that besides the garden sequence I consider to be one of
the more romantic pieces of the fic at the moment, because of the
way Darien totally gives into love, and explains his feelings.
     Enough talk..."Sailor Moon" does not belong to me, I am just
a poor little teenage fan fiction writer with nothing better to do
than to use other people's characters.  Respectivly these belong
to Naoko Takeuchi, DIC, Bandai, and a bunch of other people I 
really don't feel like naming right now.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Weaving a Romance"
CHAPTER 7: Cafe Dramatics and Romantics
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




The village was awake with night life.  Serena had rarely ever 
ventured into its depths at such a late hour.  Once with Mina she 
had...on an adventure.  Raye had dared the two of them to sneak 
into a bar and order two mugs of beer, then bring them back to 
the castle without being noticed.  It had turned out terribly -- 
they had gotten lost, and had to hitch a ride back with a wandering 
minstrel just to find that Amy, in a panic, had alerted Serenity, 
who grounded her daughter the second she returned home.  Anyway, 
they had all gotten a few good laughs out of it, and the bumbling 
minstrel, (who had treated the girls with a song or two along the 
road) received a reward for returning them.
     "All he really got that gold for," Mina had laughed, "were 
his bad verses!!"
     Now here she was, with Darien.  The stars shone above them as 
they walked through the lighted road that led through the village.  
There were people out, as the couple had figured there would be.  
Which was why before they entered the haven of houses and stores and 
twinkling street lamps Darien had taken off his cape and put it 
draped over her head like a veil so that her face was concealed.  It 
would not be a good idea for her to be seen outside the castle at 
night -- hardly with a man who was not her fiancee.
     There had been few words between the two of them since they 
had left the balcony.  Neither was compelled to say very much...
perhaps because there was so much to discuss that they were not 
looking forward to discussing.  Like the complications their 
being involved would be.
     Finally he spoke.  "Do you often come to the village?"
     "Not often.  Mother likes us to keep to the palace grounds.  
It’s not so much that she’s concerned for our safety -- the Moon is 
very safe.  I just...I dunno."  She looked up at him.  "Do you often 
go out in the cities of your kingdom?"  Then she laughed, somewhat 
strangely, before he had time to answer.  "Why of course you do.  
How silly of me to ask."  Her mind added silently, how else would 
you meet all of those ladies the gossip papers talk about you being 
with?
     "It’s true," Darien said.  "I go out often.  But not just at 
night to meet women..."  He laughed at the expression on her face.  
"I can tell what you’re thinking, my princess.  Does that really 
surprise you?"
     Serena shook her head loftily, almost losing the veil off her 
face.  "No," she said, hastily replacing it.  "It actually doesn’t 
surprise me.  I don’t know why, but I figure we can sometimes tell 
what the other is thinking.  Is that odd?"
     "Not in the least."
     "Have you ever been able to --"
     "Never.  Not with any of the women I have ever been with, not 
even with Jedite and the other generals.  Or my parents...anyone.  
But for us it seems --"
     "Common.  I know."
     The two of them laughed heartily.  She took his arm and 
snuggled against it.  "I hope we can always be able to tell what 
the other is thinking.  I don’t want that to ever change, Darien."
     "It won’t."  His voice was low and comforting.  "I promise 
it won’t."
     In a way, it was almost as if he was not just promising that 
they would always be able to read each others’ minds, but also that 
he was also vowing in that promise that they would always be together.  
That nothing would ever come between them.  Ever.
     It was the silent promise that made them both remember just what 
they needed to talk about.  "Can we go some place quiet to eat?" 
asked Serena.
     "You didn’t have dinner?"
     "No, that’s not the truth, I did have dinner, and I ate so 
much...I always do when I’m nervous, but this time none of it 
seemed to have an impact on my stomach."
     "When I’m nervous the exact opposite happens to me," said 
Darien softly.  Then he coughed lightly.  "I...didn’t have much 
to eat tonight."
     The familiar tingle ran up and down Serena’s spine.  Not 
Darien, nervous over their secret date!?  Nervous to see her?  Her 
hand tightened in his own, an involuntary reaction of the news that 
someone like her could make the sophisticated and mature Darien 
wobble on his feet.
     "There’s a cafe over there," Serena said, in a voice that 
did not sound like her own.  Her fingers pointed out toward a 
tiny hay-thatched building.  "They’re very famous for their 
desserts.  Especially the carrot cake, if you like that sort of 
thing."
     "I gather you don’t."
     "I hate carrots."
     He laughed.
     "What’s so funny?" she demanded.
     "The way your nose wrinkled up when you said that."
     Serena considered this a moment and then laughed along with 
him, their voices carrying up into the star spangled night.


The table the waiter led them to was in the very back, and 
alone amid a sea of vacant booths.  Before going in Serena had 
undone her odangos and used one of the rubber bands to tie the 
hair back away from her face, then had styled her bangs so that 
they fell over the birthmark on her forehead that announced to 
the world that she was a member of the Moon Kingdom’s royal 
family.
     She had glanced at her reflection in the mirror and laughed 
that she looked a trifle bit like Mina, with blue eyes and her 
hair down.  No one would suspect even looking her in the face 
that she was really the Imperial Princess, daughter of Serenity.
     "You look mighty familiar," said the waiter, and for a moment 
Serena was startled before realizing that he was talking to Darien 
and not to her.
     "I come here a lot," lied the prince.
     "Oh."  The waiter seemed content with that answer.  "That 
must be it.  What can I get you two kids to drink?"
     Darien looked over at Serena, who blushed as she realized 
that she was supposed to order first.  She was not used to eating 
out.  "Ummm...hot chocolate, please."
     "I miss the odangos," whispered Darien under his breath in a 
tone so soft that only Serena could hear.
     "Sir?"
     "Coffee, black," was the curt sounding response.  Serena 
blushed and wished for a moment she could have her hair back up 
in the little balls to please him.
     The waiter nodded briskly and strode off.
     "Why didn’t you just tell him who you really were?" asked 
Serena as soon as he was gone.
     Darien shrugged.  "No reason to complicate matters.  And 
the last thing I want is for some gossip to get around that I 
was seen here with yet another woman last night."
     Serena nodded, angry at herself for being jealous when he 
mentioned the word "woman".  She knew he was a playboy...it was 
nothing to be surprised at.  Still...what if she turned out to 
be just another of those women?  It was a thought that had been 
at the back of her mind constantly.  When she was looking into 
his eyes she knew that they loved each other and that could not 
be a lie.  But other times, she was not so sure, and that 
frightened her.  She needed proof...proof to trust Darien.  If 
only she knew just how to obtain that proof.
     The waiter brought them their order and placed the drinks 
before them quickly and silently.  Serena flushed as she sipped 
her hot cocoa, because as Darien drank his coffee his blue eyes 
were staring at her over the brim.  Constant examination made 
her nervous.
     "What are you thinking?" she couldn’t help asking.
     The prince put down his cup and stared her down even harder.  
"I thought we agreed we could read each other’s thoughts."
     "I know but..."  She shrugged and twirled the stirrer around 
in her mug.  "I just..."
     There was no more to be said.  Serena was somehow ashamed of 
herself, and she didn’t know why, and now suddenly Darien was 
trangely quiet.  "Darien..."  Her voice was soft.  "What are we 
going to do?"
     "About?" he asked, even though he knew full well what she 
meant.
     "Bruce.  The betrothal.  Mother.  Queen Estelle.  I’m going 
to be married in almost a week now."
     Darien said nothing for a long time.  Then, "No, you won’t."
     "Won’t what?"
     "This wasn’t a good place to start.  Its evident to both of 
us that there is nothing either of us can do at this time to stop 
the wedding and reveal this romance between us --"
     Romance between us, she thought with another shiver.
     "-- to your mother and the rest of the galaxy without 
starting an intergalactic incident, so let’s just start finding 
out if these feelings are even real before that has to happen.  
Do you love me, Serena?"
     "I...I think so,"  She was not quite ready to say the words, 
not until she had heard them from his own lips.  The princess was
not about to say the words, not until he had said them also.
     "Yes," he said softly.  "Serena, I have never been in love 
before, as that should not surprise you.  I may act like I know 
everything, and nothing can touch me, but it’s all an act."  An 
act he was dropping before her very eyes...the voice was different
...the real Darien, the Darien that had spoken to her in the garden 
when she was crying.  THAT Darien, who didn’t have to prove anything 
to anyone, just his love to the woman he cared for.
     "You don’t understand, I mean, you can understand that I have 
not been in love before, because you have not either...but you 
cannot understand what it’s like for me....  All my life everything 
I have ever been faced with I have been able to handle.  The 
military, brawls, my father’s discipline...liquor, women, fist 
fights with the generals, particularly a nasty one once with 
Malachite.  But that’s beside the point.
     "And normally this would bother the hell out of me, 
Serena, it would bother me to be forced to give up, to surrender 
to something.  But now it doesn’t, and that is what scares me the 
most.  At first I tried to fight it, when I first met you I think I 
knew what I was going to be up against before it even hit me, and I 
didn’t want that, so I fought against it, using you as my target.  
That’s why I from the very start gave you a rough time...when I saw 
you in the hall I realized something, I realized that you were the 
woman that I was going to fall head over heels in love with, but I 
didn’t want that, damnit, I didn’t want to be tied down.  Not at all.
     "But then when I heard that you were marrying Bruce...the 
feelings, I can’t explain, and for the first time I felt overpowered.  
All I knew then was that I had to find out if you loved him in return, 
and if you could possibly love me back.  In the garden all was 
revealed, and I finally understood that what I had been running and 
hiding and ducking from was what I really wanted.
     "In short, I love you, my princess."  He breathed out slowly 
and his face was beginning to form it’s mask again, as if regretting 
that he had ever opened up to her in the first place.  "And if there
is one thing you must never doubt...even when everything else has
given up on you...you must never doubt my feelings for you, and 
their strength."  The voice was now a deeper growl.  "We can move
mountains with this power, Serena.  I know I am even now ready to 
move the stars in the sky at your command."
     Serena felt a tear trickle down her cheek, and in the same 
instant that she felt the cool drop of salt water slid over her 
skin Darien was at her side, kneeling beside her chair.  The 
room was spinning, and then it stopped, but things were still 
hazy.  The emotion of his words...it rocked her...
     From somewhere far off, the waiter’s voice came and asked 
in a panic if everything was all right.  At first Darien ignored 
him, then snapped to leave the two of them alone.  His hand was 
caressing her hair tenderly and his throat was making comforting 
noises at its pit to soothe her.  "Calm down, Serena, its all 
going to be okay...stop crying...."
     She buried her head against his shoulder, though she was no 
longer weeping.  Darien loved her.  He loved her, he loved her, 
and loved her again.  It had been in the power of his words, for 
her benefit, the love.  She had been able to feel it, and it scared 
her because his feelings matched hers exactly.  It was strange, and 
scary, like being able to read each others minds sometimes, but had 
more of an urgency in the realization that they were in love, really 
and truly, and nothing would ever be able to break it.
     Darien refused to leave her side even when she pulled her 
head away and insisted that the spell had passed.  She was trembling 
slightly, and her heart was still going several hundred miles an hour.  
When he suggested that they forget the dessert plan and just go home, 
she nodded shakily and rose from her chair...following him out the exit.
     "Pay...the cashier..." she mumbled to him once they were outside.  
How totally out of place, after being through such an ordeal, such 
feelings, and she was worried with paying for their two drinks.
     "I left a few silver pieces on the table.  More than enough," 
Darien answered.  His arm was around her shoulder, pulling her 
small frame to his.  He never once asked what had happened at the 
table when she began to cry.  Whether he didn’t really have a clue 
and just was too polite to ask, or he did know because he had been 
feeling it too, Serena would never know.
     But never again after that would she doubt his feelings for her, 
anymore than she would doubt her own.  No man could talk like that, 
especially a man like Darien, and not mean the words with his whole 
heart.
     However, she realized sleepily that he might not be so 
aware of her feelings for him.  And unless she made them known to 
him quickly it might lead to the doom of their love, for a man who 
has given and not immediately given back in return can become as 
hurting and lonely in time as he has ever felt, and will hide that 
all...by breaking the heart of whom they love before theirs can be 
broken first.



~~~~~~~~~
Well, what did everyone think?  This chapter is really touch and 
go, and was never planned to happen, unlike the other more well
thought out scenes and chapters in this fic series.
     There was a dark sort of foreshadowing at the end...I don't
think I give away much by hinting at it because you must all have
figured out by now that something big and bad is going to happen
to the couple...something I'm not sure y'all are expecting.
     There's a sort of role reversal here, I don't know if I like
it yet or not, I'll have to see if it fits with the upcoming 
chapters, but as you noted Serena was the one careful of putting 
her heart on the line, when in reality most people assume Darien
is the one out of the two that is never quite ready to put himself
into the relationship.  But it's alien to both of them: Serena is 
naive, but no dummy...DARIEN is the one who has been taken by 
surprise and is ready to get deeper into the romance.
     By the time this chapter is posted my fan fiction web page, 
(cruddy as it is) should be up!!!  That's where all of my work
will be posted as soon as it is finished, and where you can find
previews, summeries, and lots lots more about fan fiction!  Here
is the address:

http://members.aol.com/jlcavazos/page/hideout.htm

E-mail SlrUnico@aol.com to comment!
~~~Ali~~~


PREVIEW FOR CHAPTER 8: Defying the World -- Bunchs more secret
meetings with Darien and Serena, including a very nail-biting 
dinner with Bruce, Queen Serenity, Serena's court, and Queen
Estelle that Darien and Serena both must take part in, that 
will have you all on the edges of your seats!!