Seeing Stars
By Jason Ulloa
Original story by Moonsong
Continued with her permission.


Chapter 25

"So, everything's all right?" Jack asked over the phone. There was a pause. "Well, when she 
does wake up, can you let her know that we're in Vancouver now?" Another pause. "We'll try 
back sometime later today, so if she wakes up soon, please let her know." Another pause. 
"Yes. Yes, thank you. I really appreciate this. Goodbye." He hung up the phone and turned 
to see Diane watching him.

"She's still out, huh?" she asked with a sympathetic expression on her face.

"Yeah," he confirmed. "She's doing fine, according to the doctor taking care of her. They 
think that she'll wake up any day soon."

"That's good to hear."

Jack nodded as he bent down to pick up his suitcase. "Let's get going."

"From the directions I've been given, the hotel shouldn't be too far from here," she told 
him as she began to walk alongside him. "I've also asked about our racer friend. No one 
knows where she lives, though they know she lives on the outskirts of the city."

"It shouldn't be too hard," he commented as he pushed open the door leading outside the 
airport, allowing Diane to exit before him as he held the door open. "After all, there 
aren't many airfields in the outskirts of Vancouver, right?"

"Right," she agreed as she hailed a taxi. "Should be easy."

A taxi cab pulled over just beyond where they were standing. Diane went to give the driver 
directions while Jack opened the trunk and put their luggage inside. Once he finished his 
task, he shut the trunk and climbed into the backseat on the left side while Diane entered 
from the right. Once they were inside the taxi, it sped off to take them to their 
destination.

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

A tickling at the back of her neck caused Haruka to frown. She knew what that sensation 
meant. Whenever she was racing, she got that sensation whenever another car was about ready 
to pass her. The reason why she was frowning was that she wasn't racing.... Well, not 
racing, per se.

One of the many reasons why she chose this out of the way locale to have her home away from 
home was that it was not only close to an airfield - where she could practice her hobby of 
flying - but the mountain road leading up to her home was perfect for practicing her 
cornering techniques. It was a great way to keep up her skills during her off-seasons.

Haruka quickly glanced up into her rear view mirror. Nothing. No cars following her....

Wait.

There was one car on the road with her. It was a good distance behind her, though. That 
didn't necessarily mean that it was following her, though. It might belong to one of her 
neighbors. Her home wasn't the only one out here in the mountains.

As she drove, she kept looking back at the headlights in the rear view mirror. There was 
something about those lights that just nagged at her. She didn't know why, though. They 
were just ordinary headlights.

After a few minutes of driving through the mountain road, the tickling at the back of her 
neck returned, stronger than before. Her eyes drifted back up to the rear view mirror. 
Those headlights were still there; no closer and no farther than before. She was about to 
dismiss the feeling at the back of her neck as nothing when a thought suddenly grabbed her.

She knew the make and model of all of her neighbor's cars. The headlights on the car 
following her were too low and too close together to be any one of those. Still, it could 
just be someone visiting one of her neighbors....

To be certain, she decided to speed up her driving by ten kilometers per hour. She could 
handle that no problem. After a few minutes of driving, she glanced up at the rear view 
mirror again. The car was still in the same position behind her.

That meant that she was being followed.

"So, do you think you can keep up with Haruka Tenou?" she muttered as she sped up 
significantly. Only professional drivers would be able to keep up with her, but only if 
they were familiar with the road. She knew every corner by heart. After a few more minutes 
of driving, she glanced up again, but the headlights were no longer in sight.

"Later," she said with a smug smirk as she came up to the turn that led to her home. As she 
turned into the road that led home, she looked for any sign of the headlights behind her. 
She saw nothing, but she drove the rest of the way home brooding over the fact that someone 
had been following her.

As she drove out of sight, Jed turned his headlights back on and grinned devilishly to 
himself as he watched Haruka's taillights disappear around the first turn.

"Gotcha," he said as he turned around and drove back the way he came.

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

"So, any suggestions on how we're going to go about finding the guy we're looking for?" 
Jack asked as he leaned back against his bed and glanced over at Diane, who was busy 
looking through her suitcase on her own bed. They had decided on getting a single, two-bed 
room rather than separate rooms for the sake of saving money. After all, Diane didn't want 
to give poor Artie a heart attack once he sees his next credit card statement.

"What else can we do?" Diane replied as she found her things, then started for the bathroom 
with some clean clothes. "We have to find out where Haruka Tenou lives and hope that we 
find her before our man grabs her Nijizuishou and takes off. If we can manage that, then we 
can keep watch for him and take him down once he tries for the crystal."

"The easy part should be finding the general area where Tenou lives," Jack replied as Diane 
walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. "The only problem will be finding 
out where in the area she lives. After all, she's not the only person living in the 
mountains."

"I know," she stated from inside the bathroom. "But that's something we'll have to deal 
with when the time comes. First things first, we need to find out where in Vancouver Haruka 
Tenou lives." The sound of the shower turning on soon filled the bathroom. "Ah, that's much 
better. Now this feels good."

Jack shrugged to himself as he reached for the remote and turned on the television. After 
skimming through a few channels, he found something partially interesting and settled in 
to watch.

"Hey, Jack," Diane called out from inside the shower, "I forgot the shampoo in my suitcase. 
Can you bring it to me?"

He turned to glance in the general direction of the shower as he wondered how she could've 
forgotten it. He pushed himself off his bed and flipped open the top of Diane's suitcase. 
He blinked in surprise as he noticed that the shampoo bottle was lying right on top of the 
pile of clothes.

"How could she forget this?" he muttered to himself as he picked it up and closed the top 
of the suitcase. "It was sitting right there in front of her." He walked over to the 
bathroom door and knocked. "I've got the shampoo."

"The door's open. Can you bring it to me, please?"

"You've gotta be kidding me," he muttered to himself as he turned the doorknob. "All right, 
I'm coming in." He opened the door, letting a breeze of warm, humid air pass over his head 
as he stepped inside... and halted abruptly.

Diane's robe and clothes were kept in a neat pile on the sink counter across from the 
shower. The toilet was sitting against the far wall between the sink and the shower with 
Diane's towel hanging on a rack just above it. As for Diane, she was in the shower, but 
the shower door was of the translucent kind. That meant that although he could see no 
detail at all, he could see Diane behind the fogged-up shower door. Sure, the door showed 
only a vaguely human shape with blonde-colored hair, but he knew that Diane was behind that 
door, completely naked.

"Great. I didn't want to have to leave the shower, dripping all over the place," she told 
him as she arched her back, stretching lazily while showing off her curves... well, as much 
as the fogged-up shower door would allow Jack to see. "Are you going to stand there and 
stare, or are you going to hand me my shampoo?" she asked in a very amused tone of voice to 
further add to her teasing.

"What?" Jack said as he snapped back to his senses. "Oh, right. Shampoo." He walked over to 
the shower and handed her the bottle over the shower door.

"Thanks, Jack," she said gratefully as she took the bottle. As he left and closed the door 
behind him, Diane couldn't help but smile. The poor guy was worrying so much over Tira that 
it was starting to distract him. She knew he needed another distraction to snap him out of 
it, but she wanted to have some fun with him, too. After all, flirting was just as much fun 
as teasing, but only with the right guys. She had a good feeling that he was going to be 
one of those guys.

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

"Cut!" Amy shouted with a very pleased grin showing on her face.

"I don't remember seeing that part in the script," Melvin observed with a perplexed look on 
his face as he adjusted his glasses in bewilderment.

"What part?" she asked as if she didn't already know what he was referring to.

"The part where Diane stretched like that," he told her. "And that line afterwards wasn't 
in the script, either."

"Oh, I don't think there's any harm in leaving that part in," she replied as her grin 
widened. "It almost adds to the scene, don't you think?"

"Well...," he replied with a shrug. "If you think so, Amy, then I don't see why not. I was 
only curious as to why Serena suddenly performed a quick improvisation when she did."

"I think I may have an idea...," Amy said quietly to herself as she watched Serena walk up 
to Darien and smile up at him. Apparently, she had taken her advice and confronted Darien 
with her feelings. Now, the two actors were officially a couple. She couldn't help but feel 
happy for Serena; after all, the poor woman had been lonely for way too long, in her 
opinion. Of course, she never would've given it very much thought if it wasn't for the fact 
that she was also enjoying a wonderful relationship after being lonely for so long.

That reminded her that she had promised Lita that she would stay at her and her brother's 
place for dinner... and overnight, if she chose to. As she spotted Jason talking with Lita 
and Tanya out of the corner of her eye, she decided that she would choose to stay. But, 
since today was Friday....

"Let's wrap it up for today! Have a good weekend!"

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

"So, where do you want to go for dinner?" Darien asked as he walked with Serena out to the 
parking lot.

"Hmm...," Serena said thoughtfully. "What would you say to trying out one of the 
restaurants I occasionally frequent?"

"You mean, one of those really expensive and fancy ones like the one where I paid that 
fifty dollar check?" he asked, raising an eyebrow in amusement.

"Well, not like THAT," she ammended. "I don't eat at places like those very often anyway. 
Come with me, Darien. I'll take you to one of my favorite restaurants."

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

"Here we are," Serena said as she pulled up to the restaurant. "The best place to get 
Italian food without going to Italy... or New York City. The best part is that there's no 
reservations required."

"That's a relief," Darien replied with a smirk. "I'd hate to have to try to bribe the 
maître d' again."

"Oh, Stephan's not that bad, once you get to know him," she replied with a laugh. "It's 
just that he thinks that that's the way maître d's are supposed to act. He's really a nice 
guy when he's not in his maître d' state-of-mind."

"I'll take your word for it," he replied with a shrug, then offered his arm to her. "So, 
shall we go in?"

"I thought you'd never ask," she replied as she took his arm and smiled up at him as they 
both went inside.

"Oh, Miss Moon!" the person at the register exclaimed in surprise. "What a surprise! It's 
been such a long time since you've last been here."

"I know, Denni," Serena replied with a nod and a smile. "It's been a while."

"Ooh! Who's that with you?" Denni asked with a sly grin on her face. "He's cute. Let me 
guess; your new boyfriend?"

"Well... I guess you can say that."

"He is?!?" Denni exclaimed with an astonished expression on her face.

"Denni, this is Darien Shields," Serena said, introducing Darien to her friend. "Darien, 
this is Denise Barringer."

"Just call me, Denni," she said as she extended her hand toward Darien and shook his hand. 
"So, where'd you two meet?"

"Darien's working with me on a new project, Denni," Serena explained.

"A new project? You mean you and Darien are acting in a new movie?" Denni asked excitedly.

"It's my first role as a supporting actor," Darien explained. "I just happened to have the 
honor and priviledge to work alongside with Serena."

"I'm sure it must be," Denni replied with a knowing grin, then turned to Serena. "Well 
then, should I have your favorite table prepared?"

"As long as no one is using it," Serena replied.

"Of course," Denni agreed. "I know you prefer being treated as just another customer. I'll 
just have to remember to bring two menus instead of one."

After Denni showed Serena and Darien to their table and handed them a couple of menus, she 
left to go back to the cash register, but not before introducing them to their waitress for 
the evening. As it turned out, their waitress was newly hired two weeks ago, so she was 
surprised to find out that she was going to be serving Serena Moon, one of her favorite 
actresses.

"I know that this place gets well-known actors, directors, producers and all sorts of 
people in the movie business, but.... Serena Moon!" she said in an excited rush. She looked 
down at Serena and grimaced apologetically. "I'm sorry. I know that you're probably used to 
getting a lot of adimirers and fans coming up to you and such, and that the last place you 
want to be bothered is while you're eating, so I just want to apologise for my earlier 
outburst."

"That's all right," Serena said understandingly. "Just as long as you don't mess up our 
orders, everything'll be all right."

"Oh, I won't mess your orders up. I assure you...," the waitress said emphatically, but 
Serena just shook her head.

"I was only joking. Don't worry so much. I'm sure you'll do fine," she said calmly as she 
gave her a placating smile. The waitress nodded appreciatively and left to bring them some 
water and to give them some time to decide on what they wanted to eat.

"You must come to this place very often for someone who works here to know you that well," 
Darien commented.

"Oh, you mean Denni?" Serena asked. "Well yeah, I suppose you could say that. Denni was the 
waitress who served me when I first came here years ago. She was so friendly and cheerful 
that the next time I went, I asked for her. She never bothered me for my autograph and she 
always treated me as if I was a good friend of hers who had just come to visit her. At 
first, I thought it was either because she had never heard of me, or she never recognized 
my face, but when I asked her about it, she told me that it was her policy to always treat 
every person she served as if they were her best friend or a family member. Everyone who 
comes to this restaurant regularly - like I do - knows Denni. They call her 'the cheery 
one.'"

"Well, she certainly is one of the most cheerful people I have ever met," Darien agreed. 
"And it's not cheerful in an annoying way, either."

"Exactly," she agreed nodding. "Which is another reason why Denni was such a popular 
waitress in this restaurant."

"I suppose the reason she's behind the cash register today is because she was promoted, 
right?"

"Yes. She's now the manager for the evening shift."

"Are you both ready to order now?" the waitress asked after returning with their drinks.

"I'd like the usual...," Serena began, but paused as she realized something. "Oh, wait. 
You're new. I forgot. I'd like the duck risotto with garlic bread and some white wine; 
a bottle of whatever you would recommend. A very good brand and vintage, if you please. I 
don't care about the price, as long as it's a good wine."

"Very good choice, Miss Moon," the waitress said with a pleased grin. "And you, sir?" she 
asked of Darien.

"I'll have the penne and veal ravioli in white wine sauce with garlic bread," he replied.

"Very good, sir," she acknowledged with a nod of her head as she gathered the menus. "I'll 
be bringing your wine bottle and glasses shortly."

After the waitress left to retrieve their wine, Serena and Darien turned back toward each 
other and stayed that way for several moments.

"I still can't believe it," Darien said, breaking the silence. "You called me your 
boyfriend earlier."

"I guess I did, didn't I?" Serena replied with a small blush spreading across her cheeks. 
"Well, it's true enough. After all, we admitted our love to one another."

"It still seems to wonderful to be real, though," he replied with a wonderous grin. "I'm 
definitely not complaining, though."

"You'd better not, otherwise I might get mad at you again," she retorted in a mock-angry 
tone of voice, then winked at him in a sultry manner.

As the two began talking in earnest as they waited for their food, Raye walked into the 
restaurant. "Hello," Denni greeted from the cash register. "May I ask, how many in your 
party?"

"Just myself," Raye replied.

"All right, just wait a moment while I have someone serve you," Denni replied as she 
signaled out to someone who was walking past. "Just follow that gentleman," she told her as 
she pointed out the waiter approaching them. "He'll take you to your table."

"Thank you," Raye replied as she went to meet her waiter. She nodded patiently as the 
waiter went on about his name and the specials for today as she sat down at her table and 
reached for her menu. After he left and after she had decided on what she wanted to eat, 
she glanced around the room as she waited for the waiter to return.

There was no one of interest here. She was hoping that she would've made it on a day that a 
really famous star or someone else of such notoriety decided to eat here. After all, she 
had heard that this place had served some well-known people in Hollywood, though not often 
enough to make this place a hunting ground for people searching for autographs and pictures.

As Raye's waiter returned with her water, she gave him her order. As he nodded and turned 
to leave, he turned back around as if just remembering something.

"Oh, in case you might like to know, we have a really big movie star dining here today 
right now," he told her conspiritorally.

"Really?" Raye asked, her interest piqued. "Who?"

"Serena Moon is sitting at a table on the other side of the restaurant," he told her with a 
big grin on his face. "I was planning on getting her autograph, but Denni doesn't like us 
bothering the famous people while they eat here."

"I see," she said in a less enthusiastic tone than before. She didn't want to hear about 
her since she was working with Darien, and he....

"Oh," the waiter said when he noticed Raye's enthusiasm waning. "Well, I guess you wouldn't 
care to learn that she's not alone. Apparently, she's brought a date with her and...."

"A date?" she repeated as her attention snapped back to the waiter. Darien had sad he had 
found someone else. Could it be...? "What did he look like?"

"I don't know," he replied. "I'm only interested in seeing Serena Moon and hopefully 
getting an autograph."

"Oh," she said as she looked back down at the table. "Well, thank you anyway."

The waiter looked at her for a few moments more before he left to take care of her order. 
As Raye waited, the thought nagged at her continuously, growing stronger with each passing 
minute. She had a very bad feeling, though, and she desperately wanted to be proved wrong. 
However, it seemed as thought the only way to do so was to do it herself. The opportunity 
had arisen, so....

She waited until her meal was served before she got out of her seat. The waiter had said 
that Serena Moon was at the other side of the restaurant, but he had neglected to say 
where. It was up to her to find out without it looking like she was sneaking around to spy 
on someone. She wasn't about to ask anyone, since they might get the wrong idea.

Raye came around the first of the room dividers and took a quick glance around. The 
restrooms were over in the corner, so she could walk over toward those and not appear as if 
she was trying to scan the room for someone in particular. She made sure to stare downward 
and keep her hair strewn about her face. If Darien was here as well, he would certainly 
recognize her if she didn't hide her face.

After reaching the restrooms, she took a quick scan of the room from within the restroom 
area, near the public pay phones. There were a few blonde women out there, but none of them 
matched Serena Moon's description. She needed to search the other section of the 
restaurant. Serena Moon had to be in that section since it was the only one left. She 
wasn't in the section she just checked and she wasn't in her section, so that was the only 
choice left.

Raye walked leisurely back to her table since there was no need to hide in either section. 
Since she knew that Serena Moon had to be in the last section, she took some time to eat 
some of her food. After all, that was one of the main reasons why she came to the 
restaurant in the first place. After she ate some of her meal, she got up and made her way 
over to where her section of the restaurant connected with the section Serena Moon was in.

As she scanned the room, her eyes snapped over to a table near the window. It was close 
enough to let the two occupants of the table see the starlit sky above while enjoying their 
meal. The blonde woman fit Serena's description perfectly. It must be her. Her breath 
caught as she looked over to the occupant of the other seat. It was, indeed, a dark-haired 
man with a similar hair-style as Darien's, but she couldn't see his face since his back was 
to her. She had to know. She needed to know if Darien had left her for Serena. If he had, 
winning him back would be an extremely hard task to accomplish, if not impossible.

There. He was about to turn his head, so she needed to make sure that the man she was 
staring at was, in fact, Darien.

As he turned his head, Raye had her answer.

It was Darien.

Raye turned around and walked back to her table in shock. As she unconsciously finished her 
dinner, the same thoughts kept running through her mind. Darien had left her for Serena 
Moon. That blonde-haired actress had HER Darien. How dare that blonde hussy steal HER 
Darien away from her! If that blonde bimbo thought that she could just take her Darien 
and expect her to just roll over and let her just because she was some bigshot actress, 
then she was very sadly mistaken.

As she finished her meal, Raye angrily stormed over to the cash register, paid her check 
and left, leaving a very confused Denni to stare after her.

"Have a nice night?" she called out uncertainly after the door closed behind Raye. She gave 
the door one last look before returning to her customers.

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

                              To Chapter 26

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

Author's Note: Now that Raye's back in the story, how will she try to interfere with Serena 
and Darien's newly formed relationship? What about Ryoku and Hotaru? There is much, much 
more to come in the following chapters of Seeing Stars. Next chapter: Darien visits 
Serena's home; dinner at the Kino's; and Raye begins to make plans.

Disclaimer: All original materials belong to their respective 
owners. Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi and a bunch 
of big companies. No copyright infringement is intended. This 
story belongs to Moonsong and myself, and I would appreciate 
you emailing her or myself for permission before posting it 
anywhere else. Thank you.

Prologue Copyright © January 24, 2000 Moonsong.
Other Chapters Copyright © August 12, 2000 Jason Ulloa. 
All Rights Reserved.