Seeing Stars
By Jason Ulloa
Original story by Moonsong
Continued with her permission.
Chapter 30

The odds seemed stacked in their favor with three uncertainties: they were at least three 
to his one; he did not know whether two of them were armed; and he had no knowledge of 
their self-defensive capabilities. However, those last two could also apply to him.

On the other hand, he had two advantages on his side: they were still groggy from having 
just woken up; and he had the element of surprise. That last advantage he had experience in 
exploiting.

He only had seconds to act. He had to take out Tenou before the others. Hopefully, the 
sleeping gas would slow the others down and keep them out of his way long enough for him to 
finish the job.

Tenou came to an abrupt stop as she noticed a figure rushing her in the darkness. She 
quickly reached back to flip on the light switch to her room, which she had forgotten to 
turn on in her haste. That was all the opening he needed.

The first strike was a sweep of the legs, since she was so off-balanced. She fell backward, 
which was exactly what he wanted. As she toppled backward, he quickly spun completely 
around and kicked her in the back of the head, snapping her head forward with enough force 
to almost simulate whiplash. As her body hit the floor, her head snapped backward again, 
striking the hardwood floor as her body bounced slighty from the force of the impact. She 
would more than likely be out from all those hard blows to her head, but just to make 
absolutely certain....

He bent down and punched her across the face as hard as he could. He watched for a second 
to make sure she wasn't moving, then stood up. It was nothing personal; he just couldn't 
afford any mistakes at this point.

The mental clock he kept in his head told him that he had wasted almost twenty seconds on 
Tenou. The others in the gas-filled room were still possible obstacles from his getting the 
Nijizuishou crystal. There was nothing for it but to go and check.

He kicked the door open and paused in case the occupants were prepared to rush at him upon 
his entrance. However, no such attack came. Perhaps the gas had overwhelmed them quicker 
than he had hoped for? Or, was this a possible ambush? If it was an ambush, then maybe the 
Nijizuishou was in this room after all.

Two possible choices of action were clear: wait until he was sure the gas had overwhelmed 
the occupants and take the crystal and leave at his leisure; or go in now and face possible 
ambush. The first choice was preferable, however, there was the possibility that there was 
a phone in that room where they could call the police from. Besides, he was fully alert and 
they were slowly falling victim to the sleeping gas.

He didn't want to waste any more time. It would have to be now. Besides, the gas already 
had two minutes to work its effects onto them.

As soon as he stepped through the door, one figure tried to rush at him. It was a clumsy 
attack, which was easily avoided. Still, the fact that this person could still attack while 
being affected by sleeping gas was very impressive.

"You...," he heard a female voice murmur in a weak, tired voice. He turned toward the 
direction of the voice to see another figure reaching up toward the light switch and 
turning it on. The bright light was blinding, but he managed to keep his eyes on his two 
opponents. He could see that there were only two, and that one was the detective that he 
hadn't yet managed to kill. A perfect opportunity. Maybe he should consider using his gun, 
after all....

"Who are you?" the woman demanded as she slowly turned toward him. "Are you the one who 
kidnapped Hotaru and Ryoku? Answer me, damn you!"

Within the mask, his expression grew cold. So, that woman knows the Tomoe girl and her 
boyfriend, does she? But, how could she possibly suspect that he was the kidnapper, 
especially since his main objective was only the Nijizuishou crystals? Was it because of 
the detective? But, he only suspected him of the double homicide, not the kidnapping. So, 
how...?

Without warning, he was suddenly tackled from behind. Damn that woman! How could he have 
allowed himself to be distracted like that?

As the two tumbled across the floor, he easily twisted himself out of the other man's grasp 
and flung him across the room toward the woman. They both were slammed against the wall and 
finally knocked out cold.

"About damn time...," he muttered to himself as he stood up again and scowled at the two. 
He started to bend down toward his right ankle, but stopped. "Count yourselves lucky that I 
have more pressing matters to tend to." With one last glare of contempt at the two, he 
turned his attention toward scanning the room for the Green Nijizuishou crystal. The 
crystal in question was sitting in a display case on one side of the room.

"There you are," he said as he strode over to the case and brought out his lockpicking 
device. A couple of seconds later, the lock was picked and the contents of the display case 
were his for the taking.

Four of the seven Nijizuishou crystals were now in his possession. It was time to go.

As he left the room, he paused by the doorway where the two unconscious occupants lay 
sprawled out on the floor. He glared at both the detective and the woman. They were still 
out. He had the crystal now, so it would probably be best to take care of both of them now. 

A moaning followed by the sounds of someone stirring caught his attention. It was Tenou. 
Her chest was still rising and falling and she was slowly starting to come to. He frowned 
with slight vexation. On the one hand, it was good that she was still alive, since he hated 
unnecessary killing. On the other hand, it was going to be much more difficult to kill the 
woman and the detective, since Tenou would likely wake up soon.

For now, he had a job to complete. Max wouldn't like him to skate off on his assignment 
just for such a small thing as killing a couple of nuisances. He'd always have another 
opportunity. He would let them live... for the time being.

He turned the light off as he left the room.

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

"Okay, that'll do it for today!" Amy declared. "Great job! I'll see you all again tomorrow."

"Hey, Lita, I guess we don't get to use the bucket of ice water, after all," Jason said 
with mock disappointment.

"Yeah," she replied with a wistful sigh. "And I bet Darien was looking forward to seeing 
Serena with a wet T-shirt, too. Right, Darien?" she added with a teasing wink.

Darien coughed slightly, but refrained from saying anything lest he get himself in troble. 
However, he did raise an eyebrow at her as if to ask her what in the hell she was talking 
about. She merely shrugged casually in reply.

"Better watch it, Lita," Jason warned. "You might just give her ideas." At that, Lita 
started to laugh while Serena began to blush slightly. "Oh, I think she just got an idea!" 
he added, nudging his sister and pointing discreetly toward Serena. "Now the poor guy won't 
get any rest tonight." Serena's blush grew redder as Lita began to laugh even harder.

"Hey, what's going on, Darien?" Tanya asked as she walked up to the small group. "Serena 
looks like she's about to die of embarrasment and Lita looks like she's about to die 
laughing. Did I miss something good?"

"Well.... Remember Amy's threat with the bucket of ice water?"

"What? Lita suggest a wet T-shirt contest or something?" she asked, tilting her head 
inquisitively.

"...."

"Don't tell me that I'm right!?!" she exclaimed in amused surprise. "I only said that as a 
joke."

"Exactly," he pointed out. "That's the thing; Jason and Lita were teasing me about wanting 
to see Serena in a wet T-shirt and... well...."

Now Tanya was starting to laugh. "Oh, this's good! Hey, I think I want in on this, too! 
Hey, Serena!" she called out as she walked over to the blonde actress and gave her a sly 
look.

"Look at you," she said in a low, insinuating tone. "First, whipped cream; now, wet 
T-shirts? Aren't we starting to get a little kinky? Shall I see about getting you two some 
handcuffs as well?"

"Tanya!!!" Serena exclaimed as her face turned an even brighter shade of red. "All right! 
That's enough out of the three of you! No more wet T-shirt jokes!"

"So, shall we move on to bondage?" Tanya asked sweetly. Serena's glare screamed bloody 
murder. "All right, all right, I can take a hint. So, that's a no on the leather bodysuit, 
then?"

As Amy looked up from unlocking her car door, she spotted two familiar figures running at 
a very high speed through the parking lot. Actually, it looked like the first figure was 
chasing the second.

And she could've sworn she heard the phrase 'kick your ass' repeated more than once.

With her infinite wisdom and patience, she knew that there was only one thing to do at a 
time like this.

She climbed into her car, closed the door, started her car, and drove off, not giving the 
two a second look or a second thought.

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

"You could've said something, you know," Serena said as she rode in the passenger seat of 
Darien's car. "It wasn't all that funny."

"Of course not," he agreed as he masterfully suppressed his urge to laugh at the memory.

"So, did you get to read very much of the new script revision yet?" she asked as she pulled 
out the folded and bound stack of blue papers that made up their latest version of their 
memorized script. "I only got to see a few glances here and there."

"Same here," he told her.

There was silence for a few moments as he drove.

"So... why did you want to come to my apartment?" he asked. "I mean, your place is so much 
nicer than mine... and bigger... and more expensive... and in a better neighborhood... 
and...."

"Okay, I get the picture," she said, cutting him off with a laugh. "But still, it IS your 
home. Can I help it if I'm curious as to where you live? Well... at least, it's the way you 
live right now."

"Right now?"

"Well, yeah," she said a nod. "After all, you're playing in a big role with me, Serena 
Moon. How can this movie NOT be successful?" she added with a haughty laugh.

"Of course," he said dryly.

"Seriously, though," she continued, her laughter cutting off abruptly, "I'm sure this movie 
will do well. With your acting complementing my own so well, I'm positive that 'Total 
Ecplise' will be a smash. You'll be making more than enough money to live somewhere better 
than a small apartment."

"You think so?" he asked as he started to pull over to the curb and park.

"I've been in a few movies, Darien. I have a good feeling about this one."

They both exited the car and closed the doors after locking them. Serena looked over the 
apartment complex with a slightly interested expression. "Hmm... not a bad place, Darien. I 
bet the rent's a little expensive, isn't it?"

"Not really," he replied as he led her toward the complex. "The utilities can get costly, 
though."

"So, which floor?"

"Third."

"This place got an elevator?"

"Nope."

Serena frowned slightly as she glanced toward the stairwell. It looked only wide enough for 
three people to walk abreast on both sides. "The move-in must've been hell."

"It was," he agreed, nodding his head slightly. "I had to move most of my stuff by myself, 
too."

"Poor baby," she said, hugging him and kissing him on the cheek. "Well, when you do move 
out, you can pay professionals to do it. Now, come on. Show me your apartment."

"Sure," he agreed as he led her up the stairs and toward his apartment.

"The apartments sure are close together," she observed as she followed Darien down the hall 
toward his apartment.

"The walls are only about this thick," he said, spacing his thumb and index finger about 
three inches apart. "Sometimes I can hear what's going on in other apartments if it's 
really quiet." He stopped at a door with 308 on it and smiled. "Here we are. Home sweet 
home." He brought out his keys, unlocked the door, and opened it.

"Wow!" Serena breathed as she glanced around the apartment. "It's... so clean. Are you some 
sorta clean freak, or something?"

"Um...," Darien murmured, uncertain of how to answer that question. Well, maybe he was a 
little bit more concerned with cleanliness than the average male his age, but that was no 
reason to call him a clean freak. Even Andrew occasionally called him a clean freak. He 
resisted the urge to grimace.

"I had a feeling your apartment was going to be small, but I never expected it to be THIS 
small," she commented as she sat on his couch-bed. "I mean, there's not even enough room 
to have a bed in here! I feel sorry for you having to sleep on a couch every night."

"I have a bed," he corrected her.

She pointedly glanced around the apartment. "Where?"

"You're sitting on it."

"It's a couch."

"That turns into a bed."

She nodded understandingly. "Oh. It's one of those."

He walked over to his kitchen and opened his minifridge. "Care for something to drink, 
Serena?"

"What do you have?" she asked as she stood up and wandered over to his bathroom.

"Soda, milk, water, beer...."

"I'll have that."

Darien blinked. He hadn't meant to mention that he had beer - that was a small slip of the 
tongue - but.... "Beer?"

"Yeah. What? Think I've never had an alcoholic beverage in my life?" she asked in a 
half-amused/half-irked tone. "I'm not a fifteen-year-old junior high school girl, Darien. 
Remember?"

"Right," he agreed, then paused. "Um, I was also going to say that I had some good malt 
liquor as well...."

"Really?" she said as she exited the bathroom. "Damn, Darien, you don't even have a 
bathtub in there?"

"I don't mind showering all the time...."

"Sure, but a tub is great for relaxing," she said, then smiled lasciviously. "Remind me to 
show you the next time you come to my place."

"I'll be sure to make a mental note of it."

"Let me see what you've got in there, Darien," Serena said as she walked over to where he 
was bent down in front of the minifridge. "Move over," she ordered as she gave him a quick 
spank in the rear, making him move over more from surprise than obedience. "Hmm... this 
one's pretty good. You've got good taste in liquor, Darien. Were you ever a bartender or 
are you just an alcoholic?"

"Eh?" he asked as he stood up straight and stared at her with a confused look, then 
grinned. "I see how it is. So, is this your way of taking your work home, Serena? Acting 
like Diane?"

"We're going to go over the new revision, aren't we?" she asked as she grabbed her bottle 
and opened it. "What better way to go through the new revision?"

"I suppose," he acquiesed. "So, I guess you're gonna want me to start acting like Jack, 
right?"

"If you want," she said as she took her first drink and smiled. "Now that's good stuff."

He laughed silently to himself as he grabbed a bottle of the same drink and opened it. "To 
us," he said, raising his bottle in toast. "May our new relationship be long and wonderful."

Serena clinked her bottle against his, then they both drank. "And may the sex always be 
spectacular," she added and laughed as he almost choked. "Oh, I think some of it's starting 
to come out your nose," she said while pointing and laughing.

He grabbed a paper towel and wiped at his nose, then threw it away. "Anyway, I'll certainly 
drink to that last toast," he added and clinked his bottle against hers again.

"Ah, but business before pleasure," she said as she waved her index finger in admonishment. 
"Come on, let's get to that script revision. G.Q. told me where most of the big changes 
were. Let's go over those first."

"All right," he agreed as he grabbed his copy of the script from his pocket and tossed it 
onto the small table just outside the kitchen. "Pull up a chair and let's get to it."

"Aw, I don't get to sit on your lap?" Serena pouted.

"Whatever happened to business before pleasure?" Darien asked, raising an eyebrow as he 
folded his arms.

"Have you never heard of compromising?" she asked.

"Serena...."

"Oh, all right. I'll be serious." She pulled up a chair and opened up her script next to 
Darien's. "So, which page are we starting on?"

"How about the scene on page 256?" he suggested. "The hotel scene in Sydney?"

"All right," she agreed as she flipped through the script. 'That scene.... Funny how I used 
to dread that scene because of how I felt about him before. But now....' A smile began to 
cross her lips. 'Now, I'm really looking forward to it.'

When Darien suddenly blinked and read the page over again, her interest was quickly piqued. 
"What is it, Darien?"

"Page 258, near to the bottom...," was all he said. But, he said it with the hint of an 
eager smile on his face.

"Page 258?" she repeated as she turned to the indicated page. 'Must be something pretty 
good to get that reaction,' she thought as she scanned the page near the bottom... and 
halted after the first five lines.

'This....' She read through the lines again. 'I've done scenes like this, but.... I've 
never done them... like this. But, at least it's with Darien, so it'll be okay. Hell, it 
might even be fun. No, it WILL be fun.' Now, she was smiling broadly.

"Serena... um... can I ask you something?" Darien asked hesitantly.

"I take it that it's about this scene," she said, the smile vanishing from her face. "I 
suppose you want to know how many scenes like this that I've done before, or something." 
She took a drink from her almost forgotten bottle, emptying it with that last pull.

"Well, something along those lines, but not what you're thinking," he told her. "I already 
know you've done scenes like that. I've seen all your movies, you know."

"You have, have you?" she said, giving him a wry look.

"Well, I rented the ones I haven't seen when I started working with you," he admitted. "But 
that's beside the point. What I wanted to ask was whether you enjoyed those scenes that you 
did, or was it merely just professional?"

"Jealous, are we?" she asked with an amused grin. "Fear not, my dear Darien. Each and every 
one of those times were purely professional. It is only with you that it'll be enjoyable as 
well."

"That's good to hear," he said as he leaned over toward her for a kiss. The kiss lasted for 
a long time as the two momentarily forgot about the script and only concentrated on 
themselves.

"Want to rehearse that particular scene?" he asked breathlessly after they broke the kiss.

"Finish your drink first," she told him. "I won't have you wasting perfectly good liquor. 
If you don't want it, then I'll have it."

"You want another one?" he offered.

"Only if you're gonna have another," she replied. "I don't want to be the only one 
drinking here. It'll look like you were trying to get me drunk, even if it's this stuff. 
Not that you can't get drunk off this stuff, but it IS only 20% proof."

"All right, I'll finish it."

"Hey, let's see you down it in one go," she suggested.

Darien smirked. "Watch me," he said as he raised the bottle up and drank the entire 
bottle's contents, then slammed it down onto the table, empty.

"Bravo!" she said while applauding his feat. "Couldn't've done better myself."

"You've chugged liquor before?"

"Don't act so surprised. Nothing says that I have to act perfect all the time. I like a 
good party and a good drink, just like any other woman. I like to have a good time, just 
like any other woman. When it's all said and done, Serena Moon is just like any other 
woman. The only thing is that Serena Moon, the actress, has to be perfect, since there are 
people who might look up to her as a role model. I only act this way in private, with my 
friends. Just ask Tanya; she'll tell you that I can have just as much fun as anyone else at 
parties."

Darien nodded. Of course, she didn't have to be perfect all the time. It was just that he 
had never known that this side of Serena existed. No wonder her role as Diane came so 
easily to her. At least it was great knowing that she trusted him enough to show him that 
side of her. After seeing her in this light, she began to become less and less of an 
actress in his eyes, and more and more like an ordinary woman who happened to be a highly 
successful actress. And it made him love her all the more.

Just as he was about to suggest 'rehearsing' that scene again, someone began to knock at 
his apartment door. "Damn.... Just when we were getting to the good part...," he muttered 
irritably.

"Don't answer it," she suggested as she kissed him on the cheek and slowly drew her hand 
seductively down his other cheek. "They'll go away soon enough. It's not like it's anyone 
important, right?"

"Probably not, but I'd rather just answer it now and get it over with," he replied. "I 
don't wanna be rude to whoever's out there. After all, for all we know, it could be Andrew 
paying me a visit."

Serena sighed and made a show of pouting. "Oh, fine then. Just don't be too long. I'll be 
waiting," she purred as she stood up, then glided over to the couch-bed, walking in the 
most alluring way she could, gracefully swaying her curvaceous hips back and forth while 
giving him a steamy, sensual look as she slowly settled onto the couch to wait.

The knocking continued twice before Darien could snap out of his enchantment.

"I thought you were going to answer the door," Serena pointed out, grinning widely as she 
noticed the slight flush in Darien's cheeks. 

"I was getting to it," he retorted as he composed himself and turned to answer the door. 
"It's just that your beauty is very... distracting."

"Really...?" she drawled slowly, thoroughly enjoying herself.

Darien turned the doorknob in the middle of the visitor's fourth knock. "Yes? Who is it?"

"Hello, Darien. I just thought I'd stop by to say hi and see how you were doing."

"Raye?" he said, blinking in surprise.

"Yes, it's me," Raye said as she raised an eyebrow. "Were you expecting someone else?"

"Not really...."

"Mind if I come in for a little bit?" she asked. "I promise I won't be too long."

Darien grimaced slightly. "Actually...," he began hesitantly.

"What's taking so long, Darien?" Serena asked with a smile as she came to the door and slid 
up beside him. Her expression didn't change when she noticed Raye, but Darien could've 
almost sworn that he could feel her body stiffen subtly. "Darien... who's this?"

The fact that Serena's smile didn't disappear when she met Raye was disconcerting enough, 
but now that Raye had seen Serena... she started to smile. And he knew that smile. That was 
the smile she usually wore whenever an unexpected opportunity suddenly popped up 
unexpectedly.

Suddenly, he had an urge to go drink not only that second bottle, but a third.

And a fourth.

And then, a fifth.

Then a sixth, just to be absolutely sure.

"Darien told me that he was working with you, but I never thought that I'd actually get to 
meet you," Raye said, extending a hand to Serena congenially. "I'm Raye. Raye Hino."

"It's a pleasure," Serena said in a measured, yet polite tone. "So, how do you and Darien 
know each other?"

"We used to date," she replied bluntly.

"Really...?" To say that Serena's slow, deliberate drawl was noticeably different was to 
say that, when compared to a light drizzle, a monsoon was noticeably different.

And to say that he was thoroughly screwed at this moment would be one hell of an 
understatement. 'Somewhere, Fate must be laughing its ass off at me right now,' he mentally 
groaned.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Raye said apologetically. "Was I interrupting anything?"

"Well...," Darien began.

"Not really," Serena told her.

'Ouch.' He mentally winced.

"Then, would you two mind if I came in?" she asked. "I was in the neighborhood and I 
thought I'd pay Darien a short visit."

"Not at all," Serena replied, smiling. "Come on in."

"Sure," Darien added faintly. "Come on in."

Both women glanced at him almost as if they were surprised that he was still there. 
"Thanks," Raye said as she came in. "I promise that I won't be too long."

'It'll still feel like forever, though,' Darien despaired as Raye closed the door behind 
her.

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

To Chapter 31

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

Author's Note: And now we're back to Serena and Darien again! And Raye, too! Current 
girlfriend has met ex-girlfriend and all Darien wants to do is drink himself under the 
table. Can you blame him? Damn, I almost feel sorry for putting him through this, but I 
never said that I'd go easy on him, did I? ^_^ One more thing, thanks to Aglaia of FF.net 
for pointing out a continuity error in my previous version of this chapter. I hate it when 
I make errors like that, but I guess that's what happens when you rush. Next chapter: 
Serena and Raye get to know each other a little bit; more fun with Lita, Jason and Amy; and 
Darien decides to find out a little bit more of Serena's past.

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.