--------------------------------------------------------------------- Her Choice - Part 1 a fanfic by Annie-chan E-mail me at awoud@navix.com Rating: PG Disclaimer: No, Sailor Moon is not mine. I'm just borrowing the characters from Naoko Tackeuchi for the sake of my creativity "Hold on Serena, I'll walk you to your door." The tall and very handsome man jumped out of his car and opened the passengers door for his girlfriend. She gently put her feet on the ground and accepted his extended hand to help her out. It was a very cool outside for the late-July night, and the stars sparkled brightly in the sky. "Thank-you so much, I really enjoyed the dinner." She got out of the car and together they walked to her door. She could see her father looking at them through the corner of his bedroom window, then he was gone, replaced by her smiling mother. Serena waved, and the face disappeared. "Geez, 19 years old and my parents still won't leave me alone!" "That's all right," he said, passing his fingers through his black hair, "They've gone back to bed. We still have time for a kiss. . ." "So right you are," she said smiling. He took her face in his hands and gave her a gentle but passionate kiss on the lips. "You know Serena, each one of those stars up there represents a reason why I love you. See you tomorrow, my love," he said, sauntering down the steps and towards his waiting car. "Yeah, tomorrow! Bye, and thanks again for the dinner James! I love you!" she called after him. Opening the door, she hummed a sweet tune to herself, thinking about him. She took her time walking up the stairs, and opening her parents door, softly told them to go to sleep. Walking down the hall and into her dark room, she looked at the clock. "Wow, 12:30. And you have class tomorrow, first one as a Sophomore," she said quietly to herself. Quickly she changed into her flannel pajamas, jumped into her waiting bed and fell asleep. She had been waiting in the cafe for almost and hour. She watched her cup of coffee with a sort of dull interest, making lazy circles with her spoon. ?James had better show up soon,' she thought to herself, ?or he'll be *very* sor-' "James! Finally decided to show up, eh?" "Yeah, sorry Serena, I had a really tough day at school." With sweeping gesture he gave her a kiss. Then, sitting down said, "Turns out some new exchange student from New York just showed up, and he looks just like me. All of these American students keep trying to talk to me, and I have no clue what they're saying!" "Well, that's what you get for going to the University of Foreign Studies, you know." "Yeah, Yeah. I know. So anyway, how was your day, love?" "Oh, well, Ami-chan and I had this really interesting lecture today on. . .hey, James, that guy looks just like you!" He spun around quickly, and looked at the guy coming in the door of the cafe. "That's the guy Serena." "Oh. What did you say his name was?" "From what I heard from the Americans, Darien, I think." "Darien," she said quietly to herself. "I think I had a great-uncle named Darien or something, that name sounds really familiar." Darien stood in the door-way for a while, looking over the people when his gaze fell on James, who was still looking at him. Darien smiled at him, and started to walk towards their table. "Hi, it's James, right? I'm Darien. Sorry for all the mix-ups lately, but. . ." "Oh Darien, that's silly," Serena said. "It obviously wasn't your fault, I mean, I can hardly tell the two of you apart!" She laughed, then noticed the glare James was giving her and stopped. "Well, Darien, why don't you have a seat," offered James. "Thank-you, I really appreciate your kindness. Not all of you Japanese people are this friendly towards Americans." "Oh, no problem! My parents were Americans, but they moved over here when my older brother was born. That was about. . .let's see, I'm 21, so that would be. . .24 years ago. So what brings you to the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Darien?" James asked. "I'm here to study languages," he answered dryly. "Oh, right." James laughed uneasily. Serena rolled her eyes at him, then shot him a ?duh-aren't-you-the-smart-one' look and Darien just stared at him blankly. "Right. Well, I'd better be going, I have to unpack my things." He got up out of his seat, and held his hand out to Serena. "Nice to meet you, Miss. . .?" "Miss Tsukino. But just Serena. I hate the formality." She put her hand to his and he kissed it. She thought it was a strange custom, being used to bowing herself. He then shook James' hand and left. "Wasn't that odd?" James asked her. "Yes, very," she said lightly. She sat pondering it for a moment, when she saw a woman in the booth behind James staring at her. Serena smiled inwardly at the attention. She leaned in, and whispered to him, "Don't look now, but we're being watched." "Not another American, I hope." "Actually, yes, but a very pretty one. Uh-oh, here she comes." Serena slapped on a courteous smile, and looked up at the girl. "Hi! Don't you go to the TWMU?" she asked. "Um, yes. Why?" "Oh, well, I just moved here, and recognized you from earlier. I'm in one of your classes, I believe you were sitting with a blue-haired girl? Well, anyway, I am kind of lost and was wondering if you could help me. . ." "Of course! I'm sorry, what did you say your name was?" "Mina, Mina Aino. Yours is Serena, right? I know because everyone in the class kept whispering about you and your friend. Nothing bad, of course, just that you two were going to ace the next test and they were jealous." "Oh, they always do that. Mina, I would like you to meet James, my boy-friend." "Ooooo, he's *so* cute! Was that his brother that just left?" "No," started James, "just some weirdo." "James, that wasn't very nice," Serena said, than to Mina, "Really, they do look alike, don't they? But their personalities are entirely different, and James is a couple inches shorter." She paused, not sure of what to say. "So what did you want help with? You said you were lost?" "Right, right. I meant lost in class. Like I said before, I heard that you and your friend. . . Ami? Yeah, that you two were really good students and was wondering if I could study with you," she said, giving Serena the best smile she could. "Sure, I guess so, I'm sure Ami wouldn't mind. You know, you have a really good accent for being an American." Mina just laughed. "I get that a lot," she said. "Actually, I was born and raised here in Japan. I moved here to Tokyo from Fukuoka. Well, I'd better be going," she said looking at her watch, "Could we study tonight? Would that be to soon? Great. Well, here's my address, and I'll see you guys around seven? Bye!" With that, Mina was gone. Serena stared at the yellow piece of paper that had been shoved in her hand with an address sloppily written across it. She sighed. Looking up from the paper she saw James glaring at her. "What did I do?" she asked perturbed. "You know, you sure have been doing that a lot lately, and I don't like it very much!" "What? Why are *you* mad at *me*?" "All you ever do is glare at me anymore. Can I help it if pretty girls like me, not you?" "Oh, you don't get it. You never understand anything." "James, what the hell are you talking about?!" "Nothing, all right?!" Then quietly, "People are looking. Why don't I just take you home, eh?" "All right James. Just take me home. We'll talk about it in the car." She stood up, so did he. He put his arm out for her and she defiantly slapped it away. He had daggers in his eyes as they walked out of the resturant and to his car. "And I *still* don't know what he was yelling at me for!" Serena was telling Ami and Mina about her problem. "Sounds like a real jerk. How long have you guys been seeing each other?" asked Mina. "About two years now. He's never acted like this before," Serena sighed. "I've known James for a while now too, and that doesn't sound like him at all. Maybe it's just a phase?" suggested Ami. "Let's hope." She sat on the floor, Mina still had a ton of unpacking to do. She brought all her furniture with her to Tokyo, but there were layers of boxes on top of all of it. She had succeeded in clearing a large circle in what should have been the living room, and that's where they were studying. "Hey Serena, you know that guy that you were talking to at the cafe? Well, I was out getting my mail in the lobby with the girl who lives in the apartment next to mine, Lita, and I saw him. It turns out he lives somewhere in this apartment house, Lita had already checked it out. She is the strangest person -- said something about him looking like her ex, but man can she cook!" She sat back, lost in thought. You could almost see food floating in front of her eyes. "You know guys," said Ami, "Maybe it had something to do with Darien." "Yeah," said Mina, snapping out of her trance, "If I had somebody who looked like me running around, I would be a little upset if my boyfriend said he couldn't tell us apart." "That's very true. He wasn't really mad until I mentioned that I couldn't tell them apart," Serena said thoughtfully. "Well, I guess I'll just wait until he calms down, then I'll talk to him again." "Good idea. . .now can we study?" asked Ami. The other girls nodded in agreement. "Man, I am so hungry. Do you have anything to eat Mina? I can never concentrate with my stomach empty," said Serena. Mina shook her head. "Sorry Serena, cupboard's bare, but I bet Lita has something!" Eager for a chance to spy on her neighbor, Mina enthusiastically pulled Serena out the door. Ami shook her head and just went back to her books. "Hey Lita!" Mina yelled while pounding the door, "Lita! Are you home? It's Mina!" "Just a minute!" she yelled from within. Lita opened the door, and invited them to come in. Serena was surprised to see Darien sitting on the couch in the living room. "Lita, please meet Serena. Serena, Lita," said Mina. They bowed courteously to each other. "Please, come in. Mina, this is the guy we saw earlier, Darien. I ran into him again, and invited him up for some cup-cakes. Would you like some?" She picked up the platter and brought it over to Serena who had taken the seat next to Darien. "Sure, thanks. They look delicious." "Take as many as you want!" Lita told her. "Hey, didn't I meet you earlier?" Darien asked. "Serena, right? Hope I didn't cause your friend any distress, he looked kind of upset when I left." "Oh, that's all right. He'll get over it. Oh, by the way, James is my boyfriend." "Oh." Darien's face stayed the same, but you could tell by his eyes that he was disappointed. He leaned in closer to her. "But then again, it seems only natural that someone as pretty and charming as you would have such a handsome boyfriend." Serena laughed, and hit him playfully on the shoulder. "That was bad, Darien. But very funny." They continued to chat like old friends and didn't even notice Lita and Mina staring at them from across the room. "You know Mina," Lita started, "I had him in here for 15 minutes, and couldn't get him to say a word. Now, he's all over this girl. I tell ya, some people have all the luck." "Yeah, only hers is bad." Lita only gave her a confused look. Wow! You made it to the bottom! So go easy on me. (It's my first try) You can send all comments, good or bad to me, Annie. And in case you don't feel like scrolling up to the top, my e-mail is awoud@navix.net I'm very open to suggestions, because I don't exactly know where I'm going with this. See-ya!