Title: Saying Goodbye to Dorothy Smith - Chapter 3
Author: Alicia Blade
E-mail: Kammi22@sprintmail.com
	
Okay, this one gets happier, I promise!! Although I must say that I'm 
thrilled I actually pushed some of you to tears. To an author, that is 
a HUGE compliment!!! Anyway, enjoy!!

"On the day of Pentecost all the Lord's followers were together in one 
place. Suddenly there was a noise from heaven like the sound of a 
mighty wind! It filled the house where they were meeting. Then they 
saw what looked like fiery tongues moving in all directions, and a 
tongue came and settled on each person there. The Holy Spirit took 
control of everyone and they began speaking whatever languages the 
Spirit let them speak."
					Acts 2:1-4

Darien walked slowly down the familiar hallways, his hand clasped 
around Serena's. Taking a few turns, Serena looked around, drinking in 
as much as she could. To her, every door, every hallway, looked 
exactly like the last. Wood paneled and very little decoration. 
Finally, Darien stopped, taking in a deep breath. She followed his 
gaze to the door they had stopped in front of. 
	"What's this?"
	"My old room." Placing his hand on the knob, he opened it 
slowly. Inside were the same worn sheers, the green and brown blankets 
on the bed, an old lamp on a dresser. Walking inside, he opened one of 
the drawers and saw that it was empty. "Looks like they haven't given 
it to anyone else since I left."
	Serena walked over to the dirty window. Looking out, she saw a 
large courtyard filled with children laughing and playing merrily. 
Turning back, she saw that Darien had lain down on his bed, staring up 
at the ceiling. She walked over to him, sitting down by his side, 
before kicking up her feet and curling up next to him. He smiled and 
wrapped his arm around her waist.
	"I couldn't imagine living here," Serena whispered. 
	"You get used to it," he replied, stroking his hand through her 
hair. They remained like that for a moment, before suddenly, he jolted 
to a sitting position. "I wonder..."
	"What? What is it?"
	He slid to the edge of the bed, standing up and moving to a 
corner of the room. Kneeling, he knocked on the wood a couple times, 
much to the amusement of Serena. Then, he dug his fingers in between 
the cracks in the wood, and to Serena's surprise, pulled one of the 
panels up from the ground. She stood and walked over to him, watching 
in awe. 
	"Ha! I knew it would still be here!" he exclaimed. Reaching 
beneath the floor, he picked up a small tin box, about the size of a 
shoebox. 
	"What's that?" 
	"My buried treasure," he said tauntingly. She giggled and they 
sat down on the bed together. "I tried to make a time capsule once. I 
put it under there when I was about... either eight or nine, and I 
told myself I wouldn't open it again until I knew I was finally free 
of this place. Do you think I should open it now?" His eyes twinkled 
at her mischievously. Nodding in excitement, she leaned closer to him. 
	"I'm anxious to know what's in there."
	He chuckled. "I don't even remember myself."
	Dramatically, he removed the lid. The first thing they saw 
inside was a small folded up blanket. He gasped, taking it out of the 
box. "Oh... this was the quilt that Dorothy sewed for me when I first 
got here. I would sleep with it every night..."
	Serena giggled, snuggling closer to him, trying to think of him 
as a little boy, curled up in the bed late at night. The blanket was a 
quilt, green and blue with different colored embroidered roses in the 
boxes. The center square held a large, blooming red bud. Next, he 
pulled out an old picture. He analyzed it for a minute, studying the 
people carefully. "I don't remember having this taken..."
	"Who are they?"
	He grinned at her from the corner of his eye. "Don't you 
recognize any of them?"
	She furrowed her brow, taking the small photo from his hands. 
After a minute, she gasped. "Is that YOU?!"
	"Yup."
	"Wow, you're so little... Oh, you were such an adorable little 
boy..." Looking at him slyly from the corner of his eyes, she teased, 
"What happened to you?"
	He glared at her, faking anger. "Why you little..." he 
threatened, immediately reaching out to tickle her. She jerked away, 
laughing merrily, screaming in protest. 
	"I was only JOKING!" she screeched, trying desperately to 
retrieve her breath. After a long time of continued torture, he 
stopped, smiling down on her. After a moment of watching the exhausted 
girl gasping tiredly, he sat up again, taking the picture from her 
fingers. She waited a minute before following suit, warily moving 
close to him again. As a small attempt at revenge, she slapped him 
lightly in the shoulder, which he chose to ignore. "So who are the 
other people?" she asked finally. 
	"That's Dorothy, and that's the lady you met downstairs, Mrs. 
Otomodachi. I'm not sure who the kids are..."
	"Oh. Hey, what's that?" she asked, pointing to something else in 
the box. Darien set the photograph aside, reaching inside the box to 
pull out a tiny stuffed bear. 
	"This is Booboo."
	She snickered. "Booboo?!"
	He pouted at her, hugging the bear to his chest. "Don't make fun 
of him... this was my best friend, next to Dorothy. He's an excellent 
listener."
	"I'm sure he is," she giggled, taking it from him. The bear was 
dark brown, worn and tattered from use. She smoothed and petted his 
fur for a moment before setting him down on the blanket. "What else 
you got in there?"
	"Hm... looks like I have a couple coins, must have been my life 
savings," he said with a wink. "Then... hey, what's this?" Serena 
peered over his shoulder as he picked up a miniature book. The cover 
was dark green with a white ribbon sticking out from one of the pages. 
"Oh," he finally whispered, holding it up to the light.
	"What is it?"
	"The diary I kept when I was very little. I wonder what's in 
it..."
	Serena hesitated a moment, before asking, "Do you mind if... if 
I look at it?"
	He raised his eyes to hers in surprise, staring at her for a 
moment, before shrugging. "Sure, I guess..." He handed her the book 
and she analyzed it a moment, before flipping through the pages.
	"August 3. Today is my birthday, three years since the accident. 
I have forced myself not to cry. It was quite a bit easier to deal 
with this afternoon when Dorothy made me a cake. It was huge, and all 
the other kids got a piece, but she gave me the biggest with the most 
frosting. I was so surprised when even Aaron told me happy birthday! I 
think it's the first sentence he's ever spoken to me, without it being 
a threat. In fact, all the others were nice to me. It was awkward. 
Kate and her friend, Rayea, picked some wild flowers even. They're 
sitting on my windowsill. Today was a wonderful day, if only it hadn't 
been scarred by the memories looming above me the entire time. I know 
that things will be back to normal tomorrow, being picked on, bullied 
around, but I think I'll have sweet dreams tonight."
	Serena looked up at Darien again. He was staring off at the wall 
in seemingly deep thought. Finally, he whispered, "I remember that 
day."
	Gulping, Serena placed her arm over his shoulders. "Darien, why 
were you so alone? It seems as though all the girls had crushes on 
you, so obviously not everyone hated you or thought you were... 
different."
	He chuckled, eyeing her from the corner of his eye. "They liked 
me because of my looks. Not once did any of them try to get to know 
the real me, inside."
	Sighing, Serena snuggled up to his shoulder. "I'm sure if they 
had, they all would have loved you that much more."
	A quick silence passed and he kissed the top of her head gently. 
"Come on, there's still lots to see."
	He stood, dragging her to her feet, before placing the articles 
into the box again. After the blanket had been neatly folded and 
placed on top, he once again slid it under the wooden board. 
	"Aren't you going to take that with you?"
	He shook his head, putting down the plank again. "Naw, maybe 
some kid will come by it in fifty years and imagine he's found buried 
treasure. I'm sure he'd have more fun with it than I would."
	Standing again, he took hold of her hand, threading their 
fingers together, before leaving off into the hallway again, with one 
last look at the small, bare room.
	"So where are we going next?"	
	"Well... what do you want to see? The dining room, courtyards..."
	"Anything that was special to you."
	"Hm..." Darien pondered that for a moment, before something 
clicked inside of him. "Oh, I know!" Speeding up his pace, he dragged 
her down another hallway. She giggled at the excited expression on his 
face all the sudden. She could guess he was taking her somewhere that 
held good memories.
	After turning through hallway and corner, Darien finally came to 
the last door at the end of one hall. It was closed. Biting his lip, 
he gently pushed it open, holding it for Serena as she walked in. 
	The first thing she saw was a small round table in the center of 
the room, two antique chairs under it. The only thing on top was a 
small drinking glass with a rose in it, just beginning to wilt. On one 
side of the room was a desk with a few empty pencil and envelope 
holders and an old rolling chair. The far wall had a dusty window with 
worn and sun-bleached curtains draping from a simple rod above it. 
Below the window was a small cupboard. 
	"Darien, where are we?" she asked hearing the door close behind 
her. 	
	"This is Dorothy's office. It's where we always had our 
afternoon tea."
	"Oh," she whispered, looking around.
	"It looks like they took quite a bit of stuff out when she died. 
There always used to be a tablecloth... and cushions on the chairs. 
The desk was constantly littered in papers, the windowsill and all the 
counter tops were always covered in little gifts she'd received over 
the years." He brushed past her, walking further into the room. 
Running his hand over the back of the chair farthest from Serena, he 
continued, "This is where she sat. And I sat over there. And every 
evening I would bring her a rose, and she would fill up a new glass 
with water and place it in the middle of the table." Curiously, he 
reached out and picked up the glass that was there now. "I wonder 
where this one came from... It's not dry, and it looks like it's only 
a few days old."
	Serena sighed, walking over to sit down at the table. After she 
had pulled out the chair, Darien grabbed her hand and she looked up at 
him curiously. Grinning, he pulled her around to the other side of the 
table, pulling the chair out for her, he helped her to sit. She giggled. 
	"Hm... I wonder if the tea set is still in here..." 
	Watching over her shoulder, Serena saw Darien walk over to the 
small cabinet beneath the window, but when he opened it, it was found 
to be empty.
	"Guess not... Oh, well, we'll just pretend."
	He walked back to the table, sitting across from her, and mimed 
holding a teapot in his hand, a cup in the other. 
	"Would you like one sugar or two?"
	She laughed. "I would like two, please."
	With an imaginary spoon, he put some invisible sugar into her 
non-existent tea, before handing her the cup and saucer. Pouring 
himself some, they began sipping courteously. 
	"What a splendid day 'tis!" remarked Serena with a fake English 
accent.
	"Perfectly delightful!" added Darien, a genuine smile crossing 
his face. 
	They chatted mindlessly for awhile, until Darien commented sadly 
that there was no tea left, holding up the pot and tilting it upside 
down to prove his point. 
	"Shall we continue, madam?"
	"Of course gentleman!" they placed the chairs beneath the table 
again, before he wrapped his arm around her waist, leading her back 
into the maze of hallways. 
	"This place is really a mansion," Serena thought out loud.
	Darien looked around a bit. "Yeah, it is pretty big, but I 
wouldn't go as far as to call it a mansion. Of course... it always 
resembled more of a prison to me." 
	Serena looked at him sadly. "Where are we going now?"
	"I'm not sure. There's not much more to look at up on these 
floors, so I guess we'll go downstairs again. Um... would you like to 
see the gardens?"
	"Ooh, I'd love to! You mean the ones you planted?"
	"Uh-huh, the roses."
	He led her down to the main lobby again, before turning back 
into another direction. They passed through the dining hall, then a 
larger room he told her was meant for play when it rained, then she 
found herself in a large courtyard. On one side, many kids were lined 
up, oldest on one side, youngest on the other. Ms. Otomodachi was 
instructing them on being quiet and telling off the activities for the 
day.
	"Looks like recess is about over," he told her. Grabbing onto 
her hand, he led her away to a tall iron gate at the back of the yard. 
Upon reaching it, he pushed it open, and she found herself in a field 
of tall grass, stretching out to another, smaller gate. Turning to the 
right, he pulled her along the iron wall until they reached the 
corner, and he turned right again, down the other side of the 
orphanage building. Finally, he pointed to a spot just to their left. 
A group of tall cherry trees grew in the center of a wooden boxed 
garden. She gasped and let herself be led over to the patch of color 
amidst the tall grass. 
	"Oh, they're beautiful!" she exclaimed, running over to the 
flower box. "You planted all these?"
	"Yeah..." he whispered, looking around at the plants 
suspiciously. 
	"Darien, what's wrong?" Serena finally asked after searching 
over all the small rock paths, the huge cherry trees, perfect for 
climbing. When she came back, he hadn't moved from his spot. 
	"It's just... that they all look TOO nice. Kind of like... 
someone kept working on them after I left."
	"Who are you?!" asked a small, concerned voice. Turning back to 
the orphanage, they watched as a young boy of about 10 years old came 
over to them. In one hand was a large pale, and in the other, a small 
rake. He had light blonde hair messily falling over bright green eyes, 
searching over the two angrily. 
	"Hi... I'm Darien, and this is Serena." Darien held out a 
suspicious hand. The boy set down the pale carefully, shaking his 
hand.
	"What's your name?" asked Serena kindly.
	"I'm Kevin Saotomai."
	"Oh, then you're the young man Ms. Otomodachi was telling us a 
bit about!" exclaimed Serena.
	Darien looked down on the equipment the boy had with him. "You 
take care of the roses now?"
	"Uh-huh. It gets me away from all the other kids. I didn't plant 
them though, they were here before I came."
	Darien chuckled. "I know. I planted them."
	Furrowing his brow, Kevin looked at him curiously for a moment, 
before a smile crept into his eyes. "You're Darien Chiba, aren't you?"
	"You've heard of me?"
	"Sure, before she passed away, Mrs. Smith used to tell me all 
the time about you and the roses... she said that I reminded her of 
you quite a bit." Continuously smiling, Kevin once again picked up the 
pale, before walking over to the garden. "I'm glad I got to meet you. 
I guess you're here for Mrs. Smith's funeral?"
	"Yeah... Dorothy meant a lot to me..."
	Kevin chuckled a bit. "Same here. I'll miss her. Ha! I thought I 
was the only one who ever called her Dorothy!"
	Serena watched on in happiness as Darien walked over to Kevin 
again, kneeling down in front of a rose bush. For awhile, he gave him 
secrets on maintaining the plants, and hints on keeping bugs and such 
away. Finally, he looked back up at her, catching her loving gaze on 
him. She gasped, turning away with a slight blush. 
	"It was nice meeting you, Kevin, but I think we'd better get 
home now."
	"Alright. Thanks for the tips. I'll take good care of the roses, 
you know. At least, until I move out of here."
	"I'd appreciate that."
	They shook hands, before Darien wrapped an arm around Serena and 
they walked back to the front of the building, before turning back in 
the direction of the church. 
	"I like that kid," Darien finally said. Serena smiled up at him.
	"You two sure did get along. And Dorothy was right, he does 
remind me of you!"
	"Well... I hope he'll have a good life. I hope he doesn't end up 
lonely like..." Darien paused. Serena looked up at him, sadness and 
worry flashing through her eyes. Finally, he lowered his gaze to her. 
"Like some people."
	Gulping, he looked ahead again and they walked back to the 
parking lot in silence. 
	The drive home was mostly in silence as well, Serena watching 
him from the corner of her eye as he kept his serious gaze glued to 
the road ahead. 
	"So I guess I'm taking you home then?" he finally asked once 
they entered Tokyo's borders.
	She sighed, watching the buildings flash by the window. "I guess 
so..."
	"What do you mean 'you guess so'?"
	"I mean... do you have to? Are you sure you'll be okay all 
alone? If you want, I can come back to your apartment, keep you 
company for a little while longer. Darien... I just... It hurts to 
think of you being by yourself, when I know I could be there for you."
	Darien shook his head. "Serena, I can't ask you to..."
	"You're not asking me, I'm asking you."
	He laughed slightly. "You know what I mean. You've done so much 
already, you don't have to... I'll be fine, Serena. Thanks for the 
offer, but you've supported me long enough and... you've helped me 
through so much already. I can't... You don't have to feel obligated 
to me or anything..."
	"You want me to stay, don't you?"
	After a moment of silence, his lips cracked into a smile and he 
glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. "Would you?"
	
	"Any idea what time your mom would want you home?" Darien asked, 
opening the door to his apartment. Serena walked in shrugging. 
	"I'm not sure. Maybe I'll call her..."
	"You should do that. I'm gonna go get us something to eat. We 
pretty much skipped over lunch."
	She laughed, "You know how I hate to go without a meal!"
	He kindly showed her to the phone, before digging through his 
refrigerator and cupboards. 
	After the phone rang a few times, Serena heard her mom's voice 
pick up the phone. "Hi Mom! Oh, the funeral went fine. I'm over at 
Darien's apartment right now... I just thought he might need me a 
little while longer. I'm not sure when I'll be home. I guess... 
probably in an hour or two. Alright... that's fine... um, do you want 
to take down his number? Alright, it's... hold on a sec." She looked 
up at Darien curiously. 
	He grinned back. "555,"
	"555,"
	"3259."
	"3259. Okay, I'll see you later, Mom. Love you too. Bye!" 
Hanging up the phone, she walked over to Darien, stealing a piece of 
cheese as he sliced it up. He chuckled, pushing her gently out of the 
way.
	"Cheese stealer," he teased. 
	"What are you making?"
	"Cheese and crackers."
	"Yum!" A silence passed as he turned to dig through his cabinets 
and Serena stole another piece of cheese. Emerging with a box of thin 
crackers, Darien placed them in a single layer on a large platter, 
covering them in the cheese. "So..." said Serena slowly, "What time is 
the will reading tomorrow?"
	"2:00."
	"Oh... so then you'll pick me up around 12:30?"
	Holding out the plate, he raised an eyebrow at her. She took a 
cracker, shoving it into her mouth. "Serena, you can't come with me 
tomorrow."
	"Why not?"
	"Because you have school, silly! You can't miss two days in a 
row, especially not on my account."
	"Darien, I want to..."
	"No, Serena," he said sternly. "You've been a lot of help to me, 
and I would love to have you there again tomorrow, but I can't allow 
you to miss too much school. Thanks for the offer, but I'm sure you 
have something going tomorrow that is more important."
	She sighed, rolling her eyes. "I have a math test, but that's 
it! And besides, I'm gonna fail anyway. I absolutely hate algebra! 
None of it makes any sense!"
	"Ah, math isn't too hard. You won't fail... But you DO have to 
go. Alright?"
	Her shoulders drooping, Serena nodded. "Alright, I guess so. Are 
you sure you'll be alright tomorrow?"
	"I'll be fine, thank you. You've gotten me through the hard 
part."
	A small smile creeping onto her face, she ate another cracker. 
	"Say, Serena... if... never mind."
	"What?"
	"I was just thinking that... Well, since you've been so good to 
me, maybe there's something I could help you with...?"
	"Darien, you don't owe me a thing. I helped you because I wanted 
to... and... I like spending time with you."
	He grinned, setting the small platter down on the counter. "I 
love spending time with you, too. But Serena, actually, I was thinking 
that maybe... if you wanted I could help you with this math a little. 
Tutor you for a bit?"
	Eyes widening in surprise, she stared at him silently for a 
moment. "You would help me?"
	"Of course! If you want me too, that is..."
	She giggled, lowering her eyes to the floor. "It would just be a 
waist of your time, you know. I could never understand any of that 
stuff..."
	He chuckled. "I'll try my luck with it. You go make yourself 
comfortable, and I'll go scrounge up some paper and pencils."

	"X is a letter, Darien," Serena said matter-of-factly. Darien 
laughed, dropping his pencil and rubbing at his temples. 
	"Yes, Serena, I know that. But HERE it's being used as a 
variable."
	"Oh, yes, Darien, and I know what a variable is," Serena said 
sarcastically. 
	"Don't you pay attention in class at all?"
	She sighed. "Sometimes..."
	"Well you must have slept through this lesson. Now, variables 
are letters that are used in place of unknown numbers."
	She reacted with a blank stare, causing him to chuckle slightly. 
They were both lying on their stomachs, side by side, in the center of 
his living room. A plate of crackers and cheese, as well as a pad of 
blank paper sat in front of them. Newly sharpened pencils were 
scattered messily over the carpet. 
Darien sighed, picking up his pencil again, he wrote on the paper in 
front of him:

	3[] = 9(4 - 2)

	"Alright, Serena, let's try it this way, no letters."
	She sighed, nibbling on the eraser of her own pencil. 	"First 
deal with the parentheses."
	"Okay... 4 - 2 is 2, so then... what?"
	"Now you have to..." he taunted, waiting for her to complete his 
sentence.
	Tilting her head to the side, she whispered, "Times by nine?"
	"Uh-huh..."
	"Which makes 18."
	"Good, so now you know that 3 times something is 18. The easy 
way to do this is to divide each side by three, that way you get the 
answer alone."
	"Huh?"
	"Just do it, you'll see what I mean."
	"Okay... 3 divided by three is nothing. And 18 divided by 3 is 
six." Serena stared at her new equation. 

	[] = 6

	"Is... that the answer?"
	"Yup! It's 6!"
	Serena slowly recounted her steps, remembering what she had 
done, before a wide grin spread over her lips. "That... wasn't too 
bad!"
	"Wanna try another one, with letters?"
	She gulped, her smile fading slightly. "I don't know..."
	"Just think that each letter is an open box, okay?"
	She nodded as Darien wrote down another equation. Passing the 
pad of paper over to her again, he watched her struggle for a minute, 
simply staring at it and chewing furiously at her eraser. Rolling his 
eyes, he reached forward and grabbed the pencil from out of her lips. 
She whimpered, pouting up at him. 
	"You're not getting anywhere that way. Come on, Serena, I KNOW 
you can do this. I have faith in you..."
	She stared at him silently as he handed the pencil back, her 
heartbeat quickening at the look in his deep cerulean eyes. With 
renewed courage, she turned back to the paper. 
	'Okay, first the parentheses... then multiplication and 
division... adding and subtracting... what you do to one side, you 
must do to the other and... and... Y equals 11?'
	Darien watched in awe as she completed the problem. She had gone 
step by step, flying through it easily. After a minute of recounting 
her work, she looked up at him worriedly. His stunned expression 
turned to a broad grin. "You did it!"
	Her eyes widened. "I did?!"
	"Yeah, it's all right! Great job Serena! Told ya you could it!" 
Wrapping an arm around her shoulder, he kissed her cheek. She giggled, 
smiling proudly. "Alright, here, I'll give you a few more, and I think 
you'll be ready for the test!"
	Serena couldn't stop smiling at him while he wrote down a few 
more equations, her cheek tingling slightly. Though he'd kissed her 
many times today, this time seemed different. She wasn't comforting 
him now.
	Pulling back, Darien passed her the paper. He watched her face 
carefully as she worked through the problems, her nose scrunched up in 
concentration, her brow furrowed slightly. His heart flew happily 
while he watched her. His arm was still resting on her back and 
shoulders, feeling the silky material of her sundress rub against his 
skin. She was so beautiful, so sweet, so loving... so... kiss-able. He 
grinned, his thoughts drifting into dreams and fantasies of holding 
the girl in his arms, never letting go. He'd experienced being that 
close to her. He'd tasted her skin, smelled her hair, tied his arms 
around her waist, but none of it... meant what he wanted to say to 
her. She thought she was being a friend, he wanted her to be more. He 
wanted to kiss her sweet lips, and feel her respond with love and 
passion.
	She set her pencil down, blowing some bangs off her forehead. 
She could feel a headache begin to pound on her temples. Turning her 
head to the side, she looked over at Darien. His elbow was resting on 
the floor, his closed fist propping up his head. His dark blue eyes 
were staring at her intrigued. 
	"Darien?"
	Suddenly, he snapped back to life, shaking his head slightly. 
With the tints of a blush growing on his cheeks, he cleared his 
throat, turning back to the papers. "Um... a... are you finished?"
	"Yeah, I think so."
	Inhaling deeply, he went over the problems, his eyes becoming 
wider with each problem. By the time he reached the last solution, his 
jaw dropped.
	"That bad?" Serena squeaked out, her eyes starting to fill up 
with tears. 'I'll never get this right...'
	"Serena... they're... all perfect! You got them all!"
	She stared at him in shock for a minute, before pulling the 
paper back to her and looking over the problems, as if she expected 
them to hold up little 'correct' signs.
	"You're kidding!"
	"No! Serena, I told you that algebra is easy! You will do just 
fine on this test."
	After analyzing the paper a moment longer, she looked up at him 
in delight. "Thank you!" she squealed, and immediately after, lunged 
herself into his arms, toppling him over to his back. He gasped in 
surprise, before finally wrapping his arms around her waist.
	"Hey, no problem Serena. I'm glad I could help... Besides, you 
did everything, you know."
	"Oh, but Darien, I could never have done this without you. For 
some reason... I understand it when you teach me..."
      He laughed. "I think you've studied enough for today. I also 
think you deserve a treat!"
	"A treat? Like what?"
	"Whatever you want."
	"Hmm..." Serena sat up, straddling his waist for a moment while 
she stared up in deep thought. Suddenly, her eyes brightened, and she 
leaned down again, placing her hands on either side of his head and 
smiling excitedly. "Could we make chocolate chip cookies?!"
      "Sure, if that's what you want!"
      "Yup, sure is!" She hopped off of him quickly, skipping into the 
kitchen. He chuckled, running his hand through his hair. 
	'How can one girl hold so much energy?' Standing, he followed 
her into the next room.

	"Three-fourths cup sugar. Three-fourths cup brown sugar. Two 
eggs..." said Serena, reading the recipe while Darien measured the 
ingredients and poured them into a large bowl. She was sitting on the 
counter, her legs kicking happily in front of her. Darien cracked the 
last egg, letting it slip into the bowl, before tossing the shell into 
the garbage can. 	"What now?"
	"Now we need another small bowl for the flour, salt, and baking 
soda."
	He turned, opening a cupboard before bringing out a smaller 
bowl. "Will this one do?"
	"Yup! We need two and a fourth cups flour, and a teaspoon of 
each salt and baking soda."
	"Got that," he said, measuring carefully. Serena watched as he 
poured in the salt, before picking up a fork and lightly sifting it 
together. On emptation, she reached forward, dipping her finger into 
the bowl, before dabbing some on Darien's nose. His jaw dropped, 
glaring at her from the corner of his eye. She giggled, kicking her 
feet happily. Shaking his head, he reached for the bag of flour, 
taking a fairly small handful. She gasped and squealed, attempting to 
dodge off the counter, but was too late as he stepped in front of her 
and smeared the white dust over her cheek. Staring at him in surprised 
anger, she shook her finger in his face.
	"You do realize that... THIS MEANS WAR!"
	Quickly jumping beneath his arm and off the counter, she grabbed 
the flour. Dipping her hand in, she threw it at him, covering his hair 
in the white grains. 
	"Why you little..." he threatened, stealing the bowl off the 
table. She ran around the island in the middle of the kitchen in an 
attempt to escape. Darien chuckled, jumping on the counter and sliding 
over. She squealed, trying to run out of harm's way, but he 
immediately wrapped an arm around her waist, covering her face in the 
flour with his free hand. Finally, he let her go, taking the flour 
away from her. 
	Serena closed her eyes, trying desperately to wipe the stuff off 
of her face. "Darien..." she wined when it wouldn't come off. He 
laughed, setting the bag and bowl down again, before picking up a 
dishtowel and wetting it. Shaking his head, he walked over to her. 
Lifting her chin up, he began to wipe her face clean. Her eyes opened 
and she watched him work so tenderly, it made her heart skip a beat. 
	"You started it," he said once he had finished, winking at her 
slyly. She giggled, reaching up to brush some out of his hair. 
	"I think we forgot about something."
	"What's that?"
	"The cookies!" Pushing herself away from him, she returned to 
the counter. Putting a bit more flour into the bowl, she set it aside. 
She could hear Darien walk up to her again.
	"What do we do now?"
	"First we have to mix the egg mixture, then we stir in the flour 
and stuff."
	"I'll go get the mixer."
	"NO!"
	Darien froze half way across the kitchen and turned to stare at 
her in surprise. "Huh? Why not?"
	"Because, silly, it's tradition to stir it by hand!"
      "You mean with a spoon?"
      She shook her head, pretending to roll up her sleeves. "Uh-uh. I 
mean by HAND." 
	He chuckled, watching as she washed her hands carefully beneath 
the sink, dried them, and then turned back to the dough. Taking a deep 
breath, she dove her fingers into the mix, making gross faces as she 
mixed up the eggs, stirring them around carefully. Rolling his eyes, 
he followed suit, cleaning his hands carefully and joining her. 
	She squealed in horror every time bits of the eggs would ooze 
through her fingers. The sugar would stick to her palms, the butter 
grease up her fist and knuckles. Darien watched in amusement, feeling 
somewhat alive as he stirred the mixture. He'd missed doing stuff like 
this as a child. 	
	Finally, the dough was mixed enough to pour in the flour, 
creating a puff of smoke as Serena dropped it in. They mixed and 
folded, laughing delightedly as it slowly turned into a delicious 
looking, and smelling, substance. After it was mixed well enough, they 
added the chocolate chips and stirred for just a minute longer.
	"I'd say it's about ready to bake," said Serena proudly.
	Darien agreed. Grabbing a spoon he began scraping off the dough 
still stuck to his hand. After he was finished, he took hold of her 
wrist and did the same to her. She giggled loudly, trying to squirm 
away from him. 
      "That tickles!"
      "Oh, just hold still for a bit, Serena." Finishing, he cleaned 
off her other hand with the spoon. She giggled the entire time, 
watching his hand holding onto hers so carefully. Finally he finished. 
Dropping the spoon into the bowl, he went to wash his hands off in the 
sink. She grinned at him secretly, nibbling on her fingertips.
	"Mm, this turned out really good!" she exclaimed, licking 
between her fingers, trying to scrape off all the dough he had missed.
	"Really?" he said, starting to create little blobs on the cookie 
sheet. 
	"Yeah, try it!" she said happily, holding her hand up to his 
mouth.
	Without a second thought, Darien caught her fingers in his lips. 
The moment he did that, both of them realized exactly what they were 
doing. A startled whimper escaped Serena's throat despite her attempts 
to hold it back. They're gazes caught and every nerve in Serena's body 
filled with electricity, her mind losing all rational thought. Darien 
stared at her, slowly drawing away, his tongue smoothing over her 
fingers once again, before breaking contact. Her arm shakily pulled 
back, watching his face as he unconsciously licked his lips. After a 
moment of dazed silence, Darien cleared his throat and forced a smile.
	"That does taste very, very good."
	She nodded and whispered, "Told you so."
	Gulping, Darien slowly turned away, opening the oven and sliding 
the cookie sheet in. Serena watched him for a moment before turning 
away. She finished licking off her hand, before rinsing it beneath the 
faucet. 
	"How long do we cook these?"
	"About 11 minutes."
	Darien set the timer, before walking over to the bowl and 
picking up the spoon. He took another bit of the dough. "This really 
did turn out very tasty!"
	"I have the magic touch," Serena joked, walking over to him and 
taking a pinch of the sweets for herself. They stood there for a 
minute in silence, stealing bits and eating. Finally, Darien laughed.
	"Keep this up and we won't have any left for cookies!" Picking 
up the bowl, he moved it to a faraway counter. 
	"Aw, come on, one more itty bitty bite?" begged Serena, 
following him. He turned around, the only barrier between her and the 
dough. 
	"Nuh-uh, no more Serena. You've had enough. You'll make yourself 
sick!"
	"I will not either! Please Darien?!"
	He furrowed his brow, contemplating. She stuck out her lower lip 
and he laughed. Reaching behind him, he found the spoon and filled it 
easily. Pulling it in front of him, he watched her eyes grow wide. She 
leaned forward, practically pushing herself against him as he held the 
spoon tantalizingly in front of her lips. But just as she was about to 
devour it, he pulled away, holding it above her head.
	"I change my mind, you don't deserve any."
	"Ugh! Darien!"
	He shook his head. She leaned forward, standing on her tiptoes 
in attempt to reach the spoon, but it was way out of reach. She didn't 
notice how close their lips had become as she struggled to grasp the 
tempting bite. 
	But he did.
	His mind going blank, Darien leaned down, instantly catching her 
lips on his. She froze beneath him, her previous mission instantly 
forgotten. Eventually, she closed her eyes, her outstretched arm 
dropping to wrap around his neck. Taking the hint, he tied his arms 
around her waist, the spoon forgotten in his grasp. He deepened the 
kiss, pressing his lips savagely against hers, draining the breath 
from her quickly. With knowing kisses, he tempted her mouth open, 
sliding his tongue in. They could taste the sweetness of sugar and 
chocolate melting in their mouths as they kissed, holding each other 
closer every moment, wrapping their arms tighter, forcing their kisses 
deeper. Serena moaned deeply from some corner in her throat, Darien 
delighted in the sound and lightened his kisses slightly, his lips 
tugging at her own. Gulping, he pulled away for breath, still 
lingering dangerously close to her face. He laid butterfly kisses on 
the corner of her lips, over her cheek, finally resting his head on 
hers. They remained in each other's embrace, gasping for air.
	"Serena..." Darien whispered dazedly, feeling her shudder 
slightly beneath him. Gulping, he pried himself away, just far enough 
to look into her eyes. She was staring at him in shock, her eyes wide 
and pale, her chest rising with every breath. Neither knew what to say 
as they stared at each other and time dragged on. 
	Unconsciously, Serena wet her lips, questions and hope rising in 
her thoughts as her mind returned to the thinking stage. Slowly, a 
smile tugged at the corners of her lips.
	Darien couldn't help but smile as well. After how many dreams 
and fantasies, it was coming real. She was in his arms, smiling. He 
didn't know that she was thinking the exact same thing. 
	Leaning forward, he lightly brushed her lips once more, barely 
touching them. He could feel her shift forward at the movement and his 
heart thumped wildly in his chest. 
	BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
	RING! RING!
	They each gasped, turning to look out over the kitchen. Darien 
chuckled at each of their giddiness. 
	"I'll get the phone, you get the cookies," he whispered into her 
ear. He could see her inhale sharply as a blush began to tint her 
cheeks. Nodding, she walked over to the oven as he traveled the short 
distance to the phone. 
	"Hello, this is Darien," he spoke, his voice somewhat shaky. 
"Oh, yes, Mrs. Tsukino, she's right here."
	Serena looked up to him, the oven open as she slipped on the 
oven mitts. Rolling her eyes, she walked over to him, handing him the 
mitts before taking the phone. She smiled at him shyly and he returned 
the grin, before walking over to the oven. 
	"Hi Mom! Oh, we're doing great! Really? Uh-huh... oh, that's 
okay. Yeah, sure, I'll be home in a little bit. Bye!"
	She hung up the phone, turning to see Darien just closing the 
oven. 
	"I have to get home soon."
	He nodded slowly, chewing on his lower lip. The awkwardness was 
just beginning to settle in as previously unthinkable doubts arose in 
their heads. 
	"Do... you want me to walk you home?"
	"No, thanks, I think I'll be fine..."	
	He nodded, clearing his throat. "Okay... then... um... I'll show 
you to the door, I guess..." They walked out into the living room 
silently, they're eyes glued to the floor. Upon reaching the door, he 
opened it for Serena slowly, before meeting her gaze with his own. 
	"Thank you," she finally whispered, breaking the silence. 
"For... tutoring me and all..."	
	He nodded. "Thanks for being there for me today, Meatball Head. 
You helped me more than you can imagine. I really don't know what I 
would have done if you hadn't volunteered to come with me today..."
	She nodded in response. Pursing her lips together, she shakily 
walked out of the door, inhaling sharply as she stepped into the 
deserted hallway. When she was about five feet away from him, Darien 
stopped her. 
	"Serena!"
	"Hm?" she asked, instantly turning around. 
	"Um... I just... uh..."
	A silence fell over them again as they stared at each other, 
their hearts calling out to the other. Darien twiddled his fingers 
nervously, clearing his throat, trying to get the words out. He licked 
his lips and finally took a deep breath, stepping forward into the 
hallway. Serena responded instantaneously, meeting him half the 
distance. His arms wrapped around her waist, her hands pulled his face 
down to hers, and their lips pressed together. 
	After breaking the quick, powerful kiss Darien smiled down on 
her delighted, love-struck face. "Just wanted to wish you good luck on 
your test tomorrow."
	She giggled, rubbing her lips against his one last time, her 
eyes cast over in a dreamy haze. Darien watched in happy amusement as 
she pulled herself out of his arms, turned and skipped excitedly to 
the elevator, not once looking back. 
	Closing the door behind him, he found it impossible to wipe away 
the smile clinging to his face.