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  author notes at the bottom.                 


                  WILL I DREAM OF YOU TONIGHT

-------------------------------------------------------------------

                                 KATHRYN



    Chapter 5

     +DREAMS+


    "Late at night,
When all the world is sleepin'
I stay up and think of you.
And I wish on a star
That somewhere you are
Thinking of me to.
I'm Dreamin' of you.

Yes, I'm dreamin' of you tonight
And Tomorrow,
You'll be holding me tight.
And there's no where in the world
I would rather be
Than here in my room
Dreamin' about you and me.

   ~Selina~

"Dreaming of you Tonight"




  
   
_____________________________________________________________________

  "ok, class from the top...and Melvin don't fall over your skirt this
time please!" Miss Anton sighed and sank back in her chair as the kids on
the stage tried the scene again. Serena, Playing Popova was talking peevishly
as her role had her do so, to Richi Lear, playing Smirnov.

  Popova: Forgive me sir, but I am not used to such tones! I shall not listen 
to you any further!" she said and left quickly.

  Smirnov: I like that! State of Mind! Her Husband died 7 months ago! But have
I got to pay interest or haven't I? I grant you, your husband died, you're in
a state and all that eye wash, your bailiff's gone off somewhere, the devil
take him!" (referring to Looka, who Melvin plays)

   At the end of Smirnov's last line, the whole cast standing by burst into
roaring laughter. "Melvin, the devil take you!" someone laughed and slapped
Melvin on the back so hard he almost fell over. Miss Anton groaned and rubbed
her tired eyes behind her glasses. >There has to be another way!< she thought
in exhaustion.

  "Class, do you have to treat this as a huge joke!" she cried in frustration
at them. After a few minutes the laughter eased and they began the scenes again
from where Smirnov picked off. Miss Anton decided to ignore it when he or
one or two others snickered at some of the lines or happenings. At this point
she didn't see any way it was worth it making them start the scene over just
because some of them snickered.

   Smirnov (yelling at Melvin as Looka) "You there!"
Looka: What is it?
Smirnov: Bring me some kvass or a glass of water!
Melvin, as Looka, goes out and Smirnov is pacing the room and grumbling.
Smirnov: that's why I never liked talking to women! I'd rather sit on a
barrel of gun powder than talk to a woman! Grr...I've got shivers all over
that hussy puts me in such a RAGE!"
Looka enters and serves him water: Madam is indisposed and is seeing no one."
Smirnov: "Get Out!"
Everyone burst into laughter as Melvin turned around too fast and fell over.
"Melvin, put that one in the play!" Someone yelled and they all laughed more.
>That's it!< Miss Anton thought. >What do parents do to get kids to listen now
a days?< "Ok kids, I think you've done enough for today."
There were a few groans of disappointment because they were all having such a 
ball with themselves. But one by one they got off the stage and the stage
was cleared of the back drop sets.

   Serena saw her friends Molly and Peggy waiting for her, but for some reason
she didn't feel like hanging around with them today. She crept behind some
back drop some people were carrying out and followed it from the behind so
that her friends didn't have to see her and she could go out with out them.
When she was outside, she had to wonder at why she had wanted to sneak out in
the first place.

  But she kept walking. She went to the park and saw that the sun was going
down slowly. The sky was burned yellow but she didn't care much. She went
to the park where some people were taking late afternoon strolls. She sat
down on a bench and pulled out her note book. She opened it to page one
where she had written one of her favorite poems. "To Theodora"

                  "Would'st be happy, little child
                 be thou innocent and mild:
                 Like the patient lamb and dove,
                 Full of meekness, full of love;
                 Modesty thy looks compose,
                 Sweet and blushing like a rose.

                  When in Gardens, thou dost play
                 In the pleasant flowery May,
                 And art driven by sudden showers
                 From the fresh and fragrant flowers,
                 Think how short that pleasure is
                 Which the world esteemeth bliss.

                                     By Anon

              She read the first two parts and then sighed, humming a
Loreena McKennitt song "La Serenissima" while she flicked through the
colorful page sin her note book. The note book was about 200 hundred
pages, more intended as a year book. But since she had been 13, Serena
had filled it with poems she had read, verses she had written herself,
and even dreams that popped into her head, hoping that some day they would
come true and she could look back through the pages and think of how
she had written her own destiny through them. It was her own photograph
album of her youth. For she knew that dreams mature and grow more serious
when you grow up.

             > I wish I was a poetical and beautiful as the ladies that poets
used to write about< she dreamed to herself. She sighed and closed her 
book, watching some swallows flying after each other from cherry tree to
the next cherry tree. She eagerly opened her book again to a John Bunyan poem 
she remembered reading once in a book of Poetry on Peggy's locker.

           "This pretty bird, how she flies and sings
           But could she do so if she had not the wings?
           Her wings bespeak my faith, her songs my peace;
           When I believe her song, my doubtings cease."

   Sighing with happiness and contentment, Serena skipped the direction of her 
home. She let her hair down, wanting to let it fly around her as she ran at
a slow and graceful speed home.  As she was running she dropped a page in her
note book and didn't notice the wind lift it up with invisible thin fingers
and start it carry it away.

    Darien had been walking down the street (I know, big surprise huh!:)
and saw Serena far ahead of him running in what he guessed was home. he saw
her hair flowing around behind her as she ran and he couldn't help but think
she looked very beautiful that way. He called her but she didn't hear him.
Then he saw a flutter of pinkish designed paper in the breeze floating only
a few inches off the ground. he grabbed it and looked at it.

  "Serena must have dropped this." he thought smiling at her klutziness.
he had thought it was a test but then he saw it was lined paper with lines
on it.

                          Hearts Unbound

                "Bounds by something stronger than string,
               I watch  two paper hearts dangling, one and one other heart   
               They brush together in the winds, they touch in the breeze
               And they neither fall not break apart.

                 They stay there, swaying in the wind,
               Bound together by something stronger than string...
               My someone and me only stop swaying at night
               With only moon light color the song two hearts sing.

                 If one falls, the other should fall as well
               They either dangle together or not at all, all or nothing
               Two strong hearts close together, But even if they fall, 
               They were kept with something stronger than string.
               
        

                                                  Serena Tsukino




   Darien read the poem over and over with admiration. It was very heartfelt
and he was a little surprised because he hadn't thought Serena interested
in something like poetry unless it was on a film screen.
he smiled and put the poem in his pocket, to give it to her when he next saw
her. >Well, I guess you never really know a person.<
_____________________________________________________________________________ 

 
   "Hey Serena," Toby called and waved. Serena felt warm all over and
walked to meet him. "Hi Toby, Missed you." she gave him a warm hug. he
smiled, though not as enthusiastic as she did. "Thanks Serena, but
we do go to the same school you know."

   She rolled her eyes. "So? You're 2 years ahead. I never see you except at 
recess sometimes and after wards of coarse."

  "Well, never fear we do live in the same city too," he said and pried 
himself from her tight grip. they walked a little way down the street.
"Oh Toby, I wrote this for you." she said smiling at him. She shyly handed
him this pome from her pocket written on her note book paper. It had been
a poem she had worked hard on two days before, listening to Loreena McKennitt
for inspiration until she couldn't even think. It was called "Together now"
And she watched his face eagerly as he read the poem she had worked so hard 
on for him.

   "Nice Serena," she nodded and put the poem in his pocket and gave her a
smile. "Thanks. I didn't know you liked poetry."

  "Well, yeah I do. I don't read it much but I like to write it."
she said slipping an arm around his waist. "That one I made for you."
"Nice. Thanks. Serena, about our date tonight I need to cancel it." he
said changing the subject quickly. Her face fell a little. "Why? I didn't
do anything awful again did I?" she asked worriedly. He shook his head.

  "Relax Serena, I have to go somewhere with my parents. It was arranged at
breakfast and knowing parents, they let you be the last one to know that
so any way. How about next time?" he asked. She nodded though she felt
disappointed about tonight. "Sure, I guess." she said glumly. He reached
out and touched a long strand of her hair and she lightened again a little,
thinking he was going to say something really romantic. Instead she saw him
frowning at the strands of hair he was holding.

  "Serena, when was the last time you cut your hair? 1987?"
She took the remark as an insult and he eyes showed their hurt.
"Why? What does it matter to you about how long my hair is?" she asked.
he let go of her hair and put a hand up. "Serena, relax I wasn't being
critical! I was simply wondering because I've never seen any one with such
long hair as you! And why do you ALWAYS have to wear that sort of hair
style? It does look kind of silly on a girl as mature as you."

 Serena was hit with mixed feelings. Mainly confusion on how she should
act was the only one she could really make out at the moment. he called
her mature, yet he insulted her taste!

  "I thought you liked me being special." she said in a small voice.
"You are special," he assured her and put a finger under her chin and
pulled her face to look at his. "But I think this style is too young for you.
You should really get it cut!"

  "My hair! Cut it!" her eyes widened. She thought about what it was he was
saying. She had spent so many years growing it! It had been her pride, and
now the most important person in her life was asking her to cut it? Just as
if it were nothing to her at all!

  "But Toby..."

  "Hey, it's up to you Serena." he said and let go of her all together. She
felt as if he were clearing off, as if she had insulted him. he seemed to
have a way to get her feeling like she owed him an apology and not the other
way around. "If you w ant to look like a kindergardener go ahead! I have to go."
he got off slowly and walked the way of his home. She sat there feeling
dejected as usual now a days. So that was why he had been so irate with her!
he had been hinting for weeks probably that she looked too junior for his
taste, even thought he thought she wasn't! Suddenly she felt like an idiot.
Maybe he had been hinting the entire month they had been seeing each other!
And she had been so thick to it, she had made him say it out. She knew that
if that was true and she had a feeling it was, then she would probably think
the guy a looser if the roles were reversed. She started to cry.

   >Why am I always making mistakes!< she thought desperately. She got up
and violently ran down the street to Diane's, where her mother went every two
months almost to get her hair dyed and cut. When she set foot in there today, 
Diane was surprised.

  "Diane, I want you to cut my hair."

  "Serena! Your mother never made an appointment..I wasn't expecting you of
all people...I thought you loved your hair the way it was."

  Serena smiled sadly >I do.< "I know Diane, but there is a limit. Can you
at least cut it so it goes back length at least." she said, sadly feeling
some of the long strands in her fingers. Diane sat her down and looked at it
critically as if it were some flesh wound that needed careful attendance.

"Ok Serena, when I'm done with you, you'll look good enough for people to
say that you look like Terri Hawkes' Twin!"

  "Who?"

  "An actress. Very lovely looking girl too. Do you want to untie your
hair style and I'll get started." Diane smiled and took up her scissors and
some pines. Serena took a last look at herself and with a deep breath, she 
let down her golden cape of hair.
____________________________________________________________________________

   "Hey Darien!" Mina waved from her seat where she and Lita were sitting.
They had come to know Darien as serena's friend now, and when they saw
him they waved, though they didn;'t have very much personal acquaintance.
he waved and smiled. he and Andrew were talking jovially as the girls came over.

  "Hey Darien, Serena's been with you a lot lately. You seen her today at all?"
asked Mina. He smiled and shook his head. "Sorry Mina. Maybe Andrew can help you."
Andrew put his hands up and smiled also. "No, she hasn't been in the arcade
yet."

  Lita stopped smiling and made a strange expression. "That's odd. She didn't
come back school after lunch. We thought she was with one of you."
They glanced at each other. "No, we haven't seen her." Darien repeated. "I
was actually hoping to bump into her today because I have something she owns."
Mina and Lita gave each other a smile. >he likes her!< they seemed to say
and Darien saw the look but ignored it with a friendly smile.

 "Hey, she has to do a dictation on stage in 3 days and next week she has that
Play and apparently it's a huge failure so far!" Mina laughed. Andrew and
Darien's faces lit up as Lita and Mina took a seat and Lita informed them
of the play rehearsal disasters the last 3 days!

  "We haven't made it past the 8th page of the play because too many things
keep happening! Mizz Ants is about to faint!" Laughed Lita. "They got through
two pages today of lines, and that was it. She couldn't take any more!"

 "I had no idea Serena came from such an interesting school." Andrew laughed.
Mina was going to reply when she saw someone at the counter and her mouth
dropped open in surprise. Lita looked to where Mina was and she also looked
surprised. Confused, Darien and Andrew turned around in their seats to see
what it was that the girls were staring at but they couldn't see anything
unusual. A girl with long blond hair at the counter, fumbling nervously,
two boys jostling each other with some secret joke, a women and a child
talking about what ice cream the child wanted. 

  :hey, what's wrong?" Andrew asked as he and Darien turned back to the
girls who were still staring hard at something. Then they heard a crash
and the unmistakable sound of something breaking. They jumped and saw a
man yelling at a girl angrily about bumping into him and making him spill
4 plates of ice cream. She was nervously trying to explain and bent down
to try and pick up the pieces of the glass dishes and Darien could hear
her voice: Serena!

    They stared in surprise. Serena's hair was longer than just waist length!
And her usual odango style wasn't even there. The long remaining strands
of her hair were falling over her face and she was nervously trying to clear
them away. "Serena?" Darien found himself calling to the wretched girl
that the waiter was swearing at so loudly and making her look like a fool
in front of everyone. Her head shot in his direction and her eyes widened
as she realized with mortification that not just two of her friends, but
Darien and Andrew were also there to see her humiliate herself!

   The waiter yelled something at her so sharply, that she jumped, and
cut her palm on one of the pieces of glass. She gave a wince and turned away
from her friends' eyes to clutch her hand. The waiter didn't notice she was
in pain. "Look girl, I don;t have time for this! I get enough troubles
serving people all day without you spilling everything all over the floor.
You had better damn well have money to pay for that because I'm not..."

   Darien frowned and got up. Andrew and the girls followed. "Hey, it was
an accident." Darien said calmly, glaring at the man. The man rolled his
eyes. "Accident! Easy for you to say! This stupid kid gets in my way and
look at what she's done!"

  "I'm..I'm sorry..I..I didn't see you..My mind was full...I mean..."
she winced and held her hand tightly. Her voice cracked with something.
Either mental pain or physical pain. The man turned his attention to her 
again and started to yell at her. 

  "Hey lay off! It wasn;t her fault! If she didn't see you.." Andrew said.
Serena winced and Darien helped her up. he looked at her hand and saw a huge
line cut right through her palm, blood dripping all over her hand.

  "She's hurt! Leave her alone!" Darien yelled at him, sick of the man's
angry and loud tone. The man, surprised at Darien's own angry voice, backed
off. "If she didn't see you, she's hardly to blame for this! You weren't
watching where you were going and she's hurt and all you can do is scream
at her about how it's her fault!" Darien stepped in front of Serena, surprising
the others and herself,standing in front of her as if the waiter swore he
was going to mean her physical harm. "She even got down to pick up your
mess and cut her hand. Look at her hand!" Darien yanked her arm roughly
in front of the waiter's face. Some of the other customers saw it too.
"And all you can do is scream at her about how it's her fault she didn't
see you in the first place while she was trying to order something! People
like you don't care what people like her do, just as long as it pleases you!"

 The waiter glanced around and saw some of the people looking at him with
faint contempt. But it was there, even if it was faint. he was certainly
not losing his job over a girl! he worked too hard at it, darn it all!
he grabbed Serena's arm, meaning to just push her out of the way but he
made his final error. he grabbed her cut hand and she screamed din such pain as
he tightly griped her cut flesh that she fell against him slightly.

  "Let go of HER!" Darien yelled angrily, not seeing the fact that the pain
the waiter had just caused Serena had been an accident as well.
Darien pulled Serena behind him again and pushed the waiter against the wall.
he dazedly looked up at Darien. Darien pointed at him. "Don't you dare touch
her again! If your boss had any sense, then he'd do his business a favour
and not hire people like you just because you'll work for anything!"
he stormed past Andrew, Lita and Mina, who were staring at Darien in shock.
he had always been so calm and they had seen him annoyed but never so Angry
before! Never so violent! Serena too was choked. However he instantly
turned  into t he gentle cat again and looked at her hand. 

  ""Come on Serena, we'll put something on that." he looked back at Andrew.
"Sorry about how lunch ended Andrew. Maybe another time." But Andre, being
too good natured for that, shook his head. "Don't worry about it Darien."
Mina knew Lita had her cookery classes. "I'll come with you Darien." Mina
followed Darien, who was leading Serena out of the shop. 
________________________________________________________________________

 "Serena, now that we're out of there, let me just ask this...WHAT did You Do
to Your HAIR!" Serena had held back tears to the pain in her hand but she
let some of them out now. Mina knew she had made a mistake.

 "Ok, you can tell me later." she said and looked at Serena's bloody hand.
Darien led them to his apartment where he bandaged her hand and picked the
glass out of it. "You're pretty good at this Darien." Mina said to him as
he wrapped Serena's palm in bandage wrap. "You should be a doctor."

 "Maybe Someday..." he said smilingly and then looked at Serena. She had
that bruise on her face, and now she had a cut an inch deep in her hand!
It seemed like now end of problems for her lately. he glanced at the mess
of golden hanging strings of her hair, and wondered also, what she had done 
with all the hair that had been there just the day before. He knew Serena
was unhappy it was gone because she started to cry when Mina asked her about 
it. So why was it gone to begin with?

  "Serena, what did you do with your hair?" Mina asked, as if on cue.
Serena didn;t cry but she winced. "I...I had it cut." she said, bowing her
head and strands of her hair feel over hiding her face. Darien cleared them
away. "Why? You seemed to like your hair." he said. he brought Serena and
Mina a cup of juice each and they drank it enthusiastically.

   "Because....because it makes me look....like a  4 year old." she said
in a crushed voice. Darien and Mina frowned.
"No, it does not!" Mina protested.
"Serena, I'll admit it was unusual, but it never made you seem silly."
Serena shook of f his hand. "Liar!" she yelled at him through tears, surprising
him. "You ALWAYUS used to call me names because of my hair! Don't lie to me
Darien! You agree with him!"

  Darien frowned. >You agree with him< suddenly pieces began to fit.
>Toby again!< "Serena, I teased you because....not because I thought your
hair made you look like a 4 year old." he said and saw she didn't believe
him. "Toby said it did? he made you cut it didn't he?" he frowned.

  Serena shook her head and covered her ears and started to cry. Darien
grabbed her shoulders to try and calm her and she started to cry into his
chest. he realized that Serena wasn't just worried....she was unhappy. 
She was definitely un happy and Darien didn't feel he needed 3
If Toby kept on in the end she was not going to know who she was at all. 
And It was a lonely place, not knowing who you really were!

  "Serena, It's OK! It's OK!" he said, rubbing her head soothingly.
"No..NO!" she bawled loudly. "It's Not..NO." Mina watched silently in 
wonder. Darien was full of strange transformations.

   "Serena, it's ok." he whispered in his ear. "What's wrong? You can
tell me. It's going to be ok, whatever it is."
slowly her cries subsided, and she pulled her head from his chest. She
felt her cheeks flame when she saw the huge wet stains. "Look at your shirt." 
she said and he laughed. "It needed washing any way. C'mon. Tell me what's
wrong."

  "Nothing. Nothing's wrong." she said stubbornly "It's just....oh, I'm so
stupid! I realized today I am so stupid! And Toby probably doesn't want to
ever see me again now!"
Darien rolled his eyes when she wasn't looking. >Now what's the guy done!<

  "he...he has been hinting at me since we started going out...that how
I dress, how I look....how I wear my hair...it looks stupid and....juvenile
for him. It makes him seem immature! I realized that today when he came right
out and told me and that I should get my hair cut and..." she broke into sobs.

"Serena...you didn't listen!" Darien sighed in exasperation. But he knew by
her dully cut strands that she had. >When is the girl going to realize it!<

"I HAD to! But then when I saw what I had done to my hair....I just felt like
I had done the biggest mistake of my life. It's just hair...but I liked it
when It was long. I worked so hard to get it to grow like that! Now look.."
she flicked a dull cut strand. "It's so....it just falls down my back."

  "Serena, the mistake you made was doing something that you didn't want."
Darien pointed out. "Serena, Toby might like going out with you....but he's
one of the people who likes to shape you into what he wants. In the end you
are not going to know who you are any more!"

 "You don't understand Darien!" she jumped down from the counter angrily.
"You always pretend to understand but you don't! Who have you ever loved!"
her words stung. They rang true and they hit a nerve. 

 "Fine, Serena, I'm CONCERNED! When he dumps you for someone else who
he tries to change again then don't come crying to me about it! I'm telling
you what'll happen and if you can't see it coming already...maybe you
are stupid!" he hadn't meant it to sound like that! Serena paled for an 
instant and stared at him. Then she swung her arm to hit him and as if he
had anticipated the move, he ducked instantly. But her hand was swung with
enough force to break his jaw, and it missed him when he ducked. She had
put so much force in the wing because she wanted to hurt him worse than his
words had hurt her. She hung her hand right through a glass vase and slammed
it into a wall. She screamed loudly and fell back on the floor, slamming her
head on a chair as she did so before stumbling to the floor.

    "SERENA!" cried Mina and rushed to her shrieking friend's aid. Darien
paled. >I didn't want to hurt her!< he thought over and over in horror.
he knelt down and held her hurt head up. She shrieked and clutched her hand.
It had cuts all over now from the vase. Blood fell all over the place. She
had a gash on her fore head from the chair hit and a line of blood slid down
her face. Darien picked her up and quickly ran down his apartment steps.
Mina ran after him. They ran the 4 blocks to the hospital, running through 
the doors and calling for assistance. Serena's blood was dripping all over
the floor. Once Serena was pulled from his arms by paramedics, Darien
sank down in the hospital chair with his head in his hands, regretting
everything he had said.

      >I just HAD to say that!< he thought in self despisal. Mina hadn't
yet pointed the finger at him, just sat there nervously and kept saying
she hoped Serena was ok.

   "Mina, why aren't you telling me it was my fault?" he asked her.
She shook her head. "Maybe because I agreed with what you said." she shrugged.
"I don't know. I thought it was lucky of her to get Toby Nikolas at first
but then they were having so many fights and I never saw Serena so crushed
and....I began thinking maybe she'd be happier if she never even knew he was
alive!"

  "Mina, because of my big mouth she probably broke every bone in her hand."
he said and flinched at recalling the scene. "Just when she needed someone
the most again, I HAD to just go and do that!"

  Mina watched him. "You care about her don't you?" she asked quietly.
he looked at her, surprised at the question."Yeah, we're friends and
I can't stand seeing her with that guy because..."

 "because he;'s not you?>" Mina asked. he shook his head. "Mina, it is NOT
like that! It's because he hurts her! Maybe it's unintentional but all the
time I see her crying, It's because he's done something! She tried hard at
trying to be everything he wants her to be. But someone who isn't satisfied
with her the way she is, isn't going to stick with her in the end right?"

  "Darien, Serena's a romantic. You may as well know now that Serena will
never break it with Toby until he breaks her heart first. I think your
friendship, companionship..whatever you two decided it it....is just
the thing to help her through this! You aren't going to get her to change 
her mind,"

  "Then what do you want me to do?" he asked in frustration. "Stand by? Watch
her get hurt? Watch her end up maybe.."

   "Darien! Don't interrupt! I wasn't finished. Stay by her, let her know
you're there when she really needs someone and when Toby does leave her, if he 
does, then she won't feel so awful in the end because she'll still have you."
before any more could be said, the doctor came out. 

 "Is she going to be ok?" they both asked at the same time.
The doctor nodded. "Yes, Miss Tsukino should be in excellent health soon
enough. Her hand is all we can find damaged, and it is not permanent either.
She cracked a few bones, but we're giving her a special hand cast she can
wear and in a few weeks it should be fine. We picked any glass out of the cuts
and stitched them up. You can go in and see her if you wish?"

  Darien nodded but Mina said she had to get home. "Tell her I'll call her
later." Mina flashed him a bright smile and left. he walked into where Serena
sat on a counter, she had just got her clothes on and her hand was in what
looked like a really tight white bandage-glove. When she saw him, she 
turned away.

 "Serena....I..I don't know where to begin. I never meant what I said. 
I'm so sorry! I didn't want to see you get hurt!"
She shook her head, her back still facing him. "Well, I cracked my hand.You 
think that feels painless?"
he shook his head. "Serena, it was wrong of me! I know it was horrible
and I....I'm so sorry, I just.....Serena, I'm worried about you. Whether
you still want to or not, I still feel like your friend. I know I stepped
over the boundary and I apologize. Again. But...I don't like seeing someone
I care about get hurt. And I know that when you are with him, he hurts you
badly some times. I don't lie when I tell you that I think the way you are
is good enough and it should be for any one. but I won't bud into your life
any more and if you want me to go, I'll go."

  Serena sighed. "No Darien, I like having you around." she sighed and then
turned around and put her head in her hands. "I'm sorry too, but I'm so
confused right now I don't know what's what or....." she felt him envelope
her in a gentle and warm hug. She started to cry against him. "I care about
Toby. i don't want to lose him! But I don't know what else to do!"

  "Don't try anything Serena." Darien said. "But it's up to you and I'll
always be there."

  "Really?" she asked him. he nodded. "Always. I swear it to you, and that's
what friends are for right?" he smiled at her and pressed his head against
her so he was looking her in the eyes. The smiling look in his own seemed 
to create one in hers and she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him.
"Thanks Darien!"

 "Oh, by the way... you dropped this yesterday." he reached in his pocket and
pulled out a piece of paper. Her eyes grew wide. "My poem!"

  "I called to you but you didn't hear me." he said. "But I think it's very
beautiful. I didn't know you liked poetry." she blushed. "Well, I sort of do
when I feel; inspired any way." she said and looked at her poem "Hearts Unbound"
and then a sadder memory of how Toby had hardly even shown appreciation
for the poem she had written for him.

  "Serena? What's wrong?"

  "I wrote a poem for Toby, and gave it to him before he told me about my
hair." she sighed "I don't think he liked it. he glanced at it, folded it
and put it in his pocket." she shrugged. "He's not the poetic type I guess."

  "I think your poetry is very beautiful." Darien said softly. She blushed.
"Thanks....you're really the only one who knows I like to write poetry besides
Toby now." she looked at the poem in her hands. "I have this note book that
my grandmother gave me when I was 13.....before she died. and I sort of kept
it for my dreams and things. Like poems I write or just ones I likes, and
even thoughts and stuff about what I dream about.." she blushed. "Probably
sounds very foolish to you."

 "Not at all." he said. She couldn't sense falsity in his words.
"Well, I always liked to believe that if I wrote them down in there someday
they'd come true."

  He smiled softly at her sentence. "It was a lovely poem Serena. Could you
show me some of your others some time, if you want."
she blushed deeper. She'd never shown her poetry to any one before.
"Maybe." she smiled at him. She looked at the crinkled paper in her hand. 
"You can keep this one if you like."

 "Me? But you didn't write it for.."
  
"I know, but you said you liked it and I would probably just lose it any way.
You can take care of 'that' dream for me for now, ok?" she asked and put
the paper back in his pocket. he smiled at her and nodded. "Thank you. I won't
let anything happen to it.""
____________________________________________________________________________


   "I remember eyes that shine
that looked so hard back into mine;
Now it's just a memory
So I'll set you free......"

   Darien could heard the echoing female voices singing that chorus
again. Around him everywhere was mist which prevented him from seeing
anything at all in that of the surroundings around him.

   "Who are you! Where am I? Why do you keep bringing me here!" he yelled.

   "I remember eyes that shine,
That looked so hard back into mine.
Now It's just a memory
So I'll set you free........"

  "Tuxedo Mask........."

  he spun around. No one. he could see no one at least. But some how
he felt like she was there. She was either high above him or behind him
and hiding in the mist, either way, she prevented him from ever seeing his
face.

  "Who are you! Show me your face for once! Why do you keep giving me the
same dream!" he yelled at the female voice. In the background the same chorus
of female voices was going over and over again constantly.

  "Tuxedo mask.....Darien....."

 he blinked. This time she addressed him by his real name!

  "Darien......." she whispered.

 Suddenly he felt a hand touching his face, but he could not see any one
there. But he felt the cool feminine hand. Then he felt the hand slide
behind his neck and pull his head down where he felt someone else's lips
brush his. he didn't resist. he didn't even know why he wasn't. It was as if
something was making him remain unresponsful to the move. When he opened
his eyes, he saw....two huge grayish blue eyes.  They seemed so familiar.
At last he felt like he would see her face!

  "I remember words that fell
Like coins into a wishing well.
It was never meant to be
So I'll set you free...."

 the voices were singing now. They kept the original verse, but
with this added underneath. 

   "Darien......thank you.....you'll set us free!"
and she was gone and he realized he was alone again. The voices stopped. he
realized he was staring at darkness. But then he realized, he was awake.
____________________________________________________________________________


   Hi, sorry that's all for this week! I'll make soem notes here.
The poems mentioned "To Theodora" written by Anon is 5 verses
long, not two, but I didn't want to bore you with the whole poem.
"Upon a Swallow" written by John Bunyan. Don t' any one blame me, I am a
poetical soul. I don't read Poetry often, but I do love to read it.
When I read it, I hear tunes in side my head. Peaceful tunes.
Loreena McKennitt is a Celtic singer and her songs are just beautiful!
The "Highway Man" is very beautiful. very harmonic. Very inspirational.
I was actually listening to her while writing the early scenes in this
story because her music is very mythical, very romantical, it reminds you of dreams.

I really want to thank Michelle Grazer, Jade, Austin, @my, Amanda, 
Jennifer Wand, Sidnei, Melissa, Willow, Selena, the Moon goddess, Lorena42, 
Anita, Swanhilde, Moon star, Jessi, Joel, LiannSen,Razzz,Uyen,Jillian
Parisi, Haruka, and several others i can't recall now for writing me.
If I have not written you yet, then it is because I am way behind e-mail
but it is not something that happens all the time. It's just for now.
I am glad that so many liek what i write.
Razzz, if it hadn't been for you I would never have even sent in anything.
I have lost your address and I miss writing you. If you are reading this,
please write me with your new address. Thanks everyone! *^_^*