Missed Opportunities Part 3 By Charma (neomoonies@hotmail.com) "Lord who?" Rei exclaimed later that day at the temple. "What, we have another ally now?" "That's the problem. We don't know whether Lord Arcadia is an ally or the enemy," Lita, recovered from her extremely brief infatuation with the mysterious man, said with a slight frown. "But didn't he save you? From what I know, people just don't do that for their enemies," Rei pointed out. "Yes, that's true, but the thing is that he wouldn't tell us anything. He left as soon as the youma was destroyed, with no explanation whatsoever," Ami explained. "Oh, I hope he's good," Serena said wishfully. "He's so good- looking, Rei, it's unbelievable. Those eyes! That hair!" "Now I definitely see why Serena was made our leader-she always does have something meaningful to say," Rei said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Hey, at least I showed up at the fight! You were off somewhere mooning over Da-Dar- whats-his-name," Serena snapped angrily. "You say I'm irresponsible, but least I know the importance of carrying the communicator around with me. That was the worst fight we were ever in, Sailor Mars, and we couldn't count on you! What's that saying about you?" A silence fell over the room as the girls tried to recover from their surprise at hearing Serena speak so seriously. "Serena does have a point there," Lita began slowly. "It was pretty scary-the youma was so strong-there weren't enough of us. I keep remembering how I felt when I thought Sailor Moon had been killed." Rei's eyes widened guiltily and she spoke softly. "I'm sorry I let you guys down. I just forgot. I know that's no excuse, but... It will never happen again." Serena gave Rei a gentle hug. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. I guess I was more tense than I thought I was." "And we forgive you," Ami put in. "Nobody's perfect." "Except you," Lita cracked. Ami blushed. "No way. I'm far from perfect," she denied modestly. "Are you kidding me?" Lita retaliated. "Okay, before this gets out of hand, we're dying to know, Rei-or at least I am-about how your date," here Serena paused and grimaced ever so slightly, "with Darien went." Rei frowned, thinking about how unsuccessful her date was, but she quickly masked her unhappiness with a false smile, saying, "Oh, it was great! We're really starting to hit it off." Serena sighed. "I'm glad you found someone you like. I just wish I were as lucky, I guess." Ami and Lita exchanged dubious glances at this extremely civil conversation happening between Serena and Rei of all people! "Well," Rei began hesitantly, "what about that Lord Arcadia guy? 'Those eyes! That hair!'" She laughed nervously, hoping she wasn't pushing Serena too far with her impersonation of Serena's previous antics. To Rei's relief, for she really did feel guilty about almost costing Serena's life by not going to the fight, Serena just giggled. "Hmmm... Lord Arcadia. Now there's a man!" "Right! Lord Arcadia. Thank you for getting us back on topic, Serena, Rei," Luna said pointedly. "Yeah, what are we going to do about him?" Lita inquired. "I don't know... I really want to be able to trust him, but..." Ami trailed off. "But what? I'll be the first to admit that I think he's majorly hot, but honestly, I don't see what's not to trust about him. He did save me from that Negacreep at the fight," Serena argued. "Why would he save me if he was against me?" "Because he wants to gain your trust only to turn against you when you least expect it?" Rei suggested darkly. All eyes turned back to Rei, who was sitting in front of her fire, staring into the flames with deep concentration stark in her eyes. "I can't see much, but I am definitely getting a bad feeling about him," Rei informed the girls. Suddenly she moaned, and clutched her heart with her hands. "What?" Ami demanded. "What happened? Are you okay, Rei?" "I don't know what happened," Rei gasped. "I just felt this really sharp pain in my chest from reading the fire! I was getting the bad feelings about Lord Arcadia, and then that cramp just hit me. This has never happened to me before, it's so weird!" "What do you mean, bad feelings?" Serena asked cautiously. "I didn't really feel dark energy from him, if that's what you're asking. I just had this premonition that something bad might be coming and Arcadia's somehow connected to it," Rei answered. "But where did that pain come from?" Lita asked in confusion. Rei shook her dark head and shrugged. "I have no idea." Worry creased Ami's brow as she looked wordlessly to Luna. The cat frowned. "All I can say is to be careful. Don't be too trustworthy with Arcadia, but don't shun him either. We need to find out more about him and how he fits into this picture. But always keep in mind Rei's premonition. Watch where you step." In an attempt to lighten the atmosphere, Serena jumped to her feet and stood at attention, making an exaggerated salute. "Yes ma'am! Operation Discover-Arcadia is now in effect!" Rei opened her mouth to make a snide comment about Serena's behavior, but then stopped herself in remembrance of Serena's previous admonishment. "It's so hard not to respond to that! How do you expect me to take immaturity like that without saying anything?" Rei moaned, putting her hands to her mouth. Serena was ambivalent as to whether or not to get angry with Rei for calling her antics immaturity or to be happy that she got her to keep her remarks to herself. She decided on the latter and laughed triumphantly. "Ha ha! We've finally brought Rei to heel!" Lita and Ami couldn't hold their laugher in as they watched Rei tackle Serena when her temper finally blew. "Rei can't be restrained for long," Ami gasped between bursts of laughter. "What do you think I am, a dog?" Rei bellowed over Serena's screams as she applied a nuggie to her head. "Well, well, well. Rei finally got her head out of the sand. Of course we liken you to a dog!" Serena shouted playfully when she got out of Rei's vise-like grip. She looked quickly at Rei to gauge her reaction, and when Rei's face turned from red to purple, Serena took that as a bad sign and ran high-speed from the temple, laughing all the way. "Meeting adjourned, by the way!" she shouted over her shoulder. Luna sighed despondently as Serena's figure disappeared down the street. "Oh well. Maybe she'll find something out inadvertently." Lita grinned good-naturedly. "Doesn't she always?" "Sorry, Serena, but Molly can't go out today. She's feeling kind of under the weather." "Okay. Tell her I hope she feels better!" Serena answered, flashing a bright smile. When the door to Molly's house closed, however, her face fell and she began to idly kick the stones under her feet in boredom. There was nothing for her to do with Molly sick. Suddenly her expression brightened again as she thought of the arcade and-who else?--Andrew. She made her way blithely down the Tokyo city streets until she reached the arcade. Serena's smile grew even wider as she spied Andrew inside. "Hi Andrew!" she sang, stepping inside her favorite place in all of Japan. "Hey Serena. How are you? I haven't seen you around for awhile. Did you miss Sailor V?" he asked, grinning. "Oh, I have the game at home, and Rei totally stocks up on manga, so it's not Sailor V that I've missed-" "Look," Andrew interrupted hastily before she could get the rest of her sentence out, "there's Darien, Serena. Have you met him yet?" The bell on the door jingled as Darien walked inside. "Oooh, Rei's infamous Darien?" Serena asked with interest. "The very same," Andrew conceded, groaning inwardly because he knew Darien's true-or lack of-feelings for Rei. Serena spun around on her heel to face the entrance to the arcade, but before she could see Darien, she was falling, due to her lack of grace and coordination. But before she hit the floor, she felt arms grasp her and pull her back onto her feet. Confused, Serena looked up in embarrassment and found herself face-to-face with the most handsome man she'd ever seen. Still in his arms, and surrounded by his strongly familiar scent and newly awaken feelings in herself, she couldn't stop the words from coming out of her mouth. "Where have you been all my life?" She flushed deeply, realizing what she had just said, and, giving the stranger no chance to reply, stammered, "I mean-I'm sorry! I must have tripped on...something." The man laughed warmly and, drawing his arm from her waist, offered his hand. "My name is Ethan and you..." he paused dramatically, sweeping an appreciative gaze over Serena. "You are my beautiful maiden fair." "Well... call me Serena," she answered dreamily, drinking in his lustrous mahogany hair and sparkling hazel eyes. Realizing she was being rude to Andrew by completely ignoring him, she looked over to him to introduce him to Ethan as well, but Andrew was gone. Following the path of her eyes, Ethan said, "I think your friend went over there to talk to someone." Serena looked over to where Ethan was gesturing and found Andrew talking with a person who was most likely Darien. Darien's back was to her, though, so she couldn't tell if there was any truth to Rei's ravings about his good looks. *Oh well. Ethan is more than my eyes can handle right now...* "Hey, Serena, can I take you out for something to eat?" Ethan beseeched, looking at her with eyes that betrayed he was a man fallen to her charms. "I would love that but... I really should be getting home soon," she refused in disappointment. "Then why don't I drive you there?" he suggested. "Sure! That would be great, thanks," she accepted enthusiastically. Serena left the arcade with Ethan, a new happiness in her heart. For some reason, she felt as though she already knew him very well. During the car ride to Serena's house, and for almost an hour after they reached there, the two talked and talked. Serena reluctantly got out of Ethan's beautiful blue Mustang when the sun began to disappear under the horizon. "Thanks a lot for the ride, Ethan," Serena said, smiling. "It was fun talking to you." "How about we do it again tomorrow? There's this amazing park that I want to show you sometime." "Tomorrow's great! Well... see you then." She gave him a little wave and began to walk to her door. "Wait-" Ethan called. "Yes?" Serena prompted, turning around. "I just wanted you to know that I was thinking the same thing about you." "What?" "When I first met you today, I was wondering where you've been all my life too," he confessed with a slight smile. A slow smile grew on Serena's lips. "Well, let's not dwell on the past. Until tomorrow!" She ran inside, humming contentedly. "Serena, where have you been? And who was that man who drove you home?" were the first words out of Luna's mouth when Serena entered her bedroom. Saying nothing, Serena simply smiled mysteriously and proceeded to sing her favorite song off key. Luna growled in frustration. "Okay, okay! I'll tell you. The incredibly amazing guy who drove me home was Ethan-" "How old is he?" "Do you want me to tell my story or not?" Serena asked, slightly annoyed at having been interrupted. Luna shut her mouth abruptly. "His name is Ethan, he's 18,-only two years older than myself, I'll have you know-we met at the arcade, and he is the sweetest guy I've ever met!" she summarized with a happy sigh. "And Rei will be sooo jealous because there is no way this Darien-whoever-he-his can be cuter than Ethan!" Luna's ears lifted suspiciously at this last statement. "Are you going to continue seeing him?" "Of course!" "And are you sure you're not using Ethan to compete with Rei?" Serena hesitated, but then answered, her words coming out in a rush, "No, I'm not using Ethan. I like him because of the things I told you before, and also because there's just something about him. It was like, the moment I saw him I knew he was special." "If you really feel happy with him..." "Luna! You're acting like I'm about to marry the guy! I just met him! Let me get to know him, okay?" Luna flushed, but she had her reasons for the interrogation. She was only concerned because she had never seen Serena so serious about someone. Usually, she would squeal and sigh over her object of affection, but when talking about Ethan, she wore a peaceful smile and a quietly contented expression in her eyes. *I've gotta meet the guy who's making Serena act like this.* Over the next few weeks, Luna did get to see Ethan-a lot. Serena was with him whenever she wasn't asleep, at school, or fighting youmas. Serena and Ethan got along perfectly; at times it seemed that they could almost tell what the other was thinking without even asking. Upon meeting Ethan, Lita, Ami, and even Rei fell in love with him. As far as they could tell, Ethan was perfect-warm, funny, intelligent, good- looking-and perfect for Serena. They were all very happy for their friend and leader, and also were grateful that her relationship sometimes helped treat her ditziness. As for Serena, she herself couldn't remember a time when things were so perfect in her life. She had her scout business under control, school was going okay, and Ethan!--well, her cat loved him, her parents loved him, her friends loved him, and she... liked him a lot. Only when Serena was alone would she secretly admit to herself that there was some itsy-bitsy something that was missing in her barrage of feelings for Ethan. And that something was what caused her to take her relationship with him slowly. And that something was what stopped her from answering Ethan when he told her he loved her. Yes, Ethan loved Serena. Every time he confessed this to Serena, he would get confused and hurt when she would not answer, or change the subject, or anything but return those precious three words. Because he sincerely loved the impetuous Serena, though, he hid his dejection well and allowed Serena the time she needed to fall completely and unconditionally in love with him-and he cherished the hope that one day she would. To be continued... hahaha Who is this Ethan character?? Are he and Serena really seriously involved?? And where's Darien in all this? Be patient and get busy writing me encouraging email, and maybe I'll tell you!