AN: I know Luna doesn't normally play matchmaker, but there are no Sailor Scouts here and no talking cats – instead, Luna is just a very intelligent, very perceptive feline who knows when two people are meant to be.

I guess I should also warn any readers that I am just about to start grad school, so any updates for this story might be a long time coming. I'm sorry! Still, this is my very first story so any feedback would be greatly appreciated :)

Disclaimer: And, of course, I do not own Sailor Moon. Though if anyone wants to get me a birthday present...

Chapter 1:

Darien sighed as he turned his rental car onto yet another dark, deserted street as he made his way to the airport. Or tried to. He wasn't quite sure how he had ended up in a residential area, so he was stuck making educated guesses in terms of which direction the highway was since his phone had run out of batteries. Darien sighed again. Maybe he needed to reevaluate Andrew's crazy notion that paper maps should make a comeback.

Luckily, Darien made it a practice to always try to get to the airport at least two hours before his flight left, and he had headed out early even by his own standards. He was sure he'd still get there with time to spare. Maybe even enough time to look over the contract he had drafted up earlier with the city council. The meeting had gone extremely well and he knew he should be pleased, but all he could think about was how soft his bed was many, many miles away in Boston. He was just about to sigh for the third time in two minutes when a loud cracking sound had him cursing and jerking the wheel around instead. And the tell-tale lilting and limping of his car quickly caused him to utter yet another string immediately after. His tire was flat.

Darien quickly pulled his car over to the side of the rode and, after banging his head on the steering wheel a few times, he got out of the car to check. For a couple moments he squinted at his front tire in the dim glow of a porch light, trying to convince himself that the tire had always looked like that. Luckily, Darien didn't put much stock in fantasies. With another sigh, Darien reached into his pocket to pull out his phone, only to remember...

This time his sigh sounded more like a moan.

Turning off the car and grabbing his bag from the backseat, Darien turned to look at the building he had stopped in front of. It was a two story brick building with four doors placed quite close together, marking it as an apartment building. The only lights on, however, were the porch light he had used to examine his ill-fated vehicle and the windows next to that door. All of the other apartments looked vacant.

I guess this is the one, he thought as he walked carefully up the short set of stairs to the porch. Hopefully they won't think I'm a serial killer.

Darien stared at the door for a moment, oddly fascinated by the flecks of peeled paint surrounding the steel numbers set in the middle: 254. Then, he raised his fist to the chipped paint and knocked.

Here goes nothing.

Serena happily hummed as she watched the popcorn bag expand inside the microwave. Popcorn was such a good snack – not only was it delicious, but it was just so much fun!

"Don't you think so, Luna?" She asked the black cat currently wending its way between her ankles. She reached down briefly to scratch Luna between her ears until the beeping of the microwave had her bouncing back up with a squeal.

She had just finished dumping the popcorn into a large bowl, while simultaneously stuffing a handful in her mouth, when she heard a knock at the door.

"Huh?" she wondered aloud, her exclamation causing a piece of popcorn to fly to the ground and into Luna's waiting mouth.

Who could that be, this late at night? She wondered as she walked toward the door.

A brief glance in the peephole showed her a head of black hair and the long, distorted face of a man. Normally, Serena would have grabbed her popcorn and hidden with Luna in her bedroom until the stranger went away – Mina made her watch way too many movies about serial killers – but she figured Alan would be out of the bathroom any second and she doubted the stranger would try anything then.

When she opened the door, she was confronted with the actual face of her late night visitor and she allowed herself to appreciate his appearance for a moment before she smiled at him politely, "Can I help you?"

He was easily six feet tall, with a beautiful head of glossy, black hair. His facial features were rather sharp, but in way that made Serena's fingers itch for a pencil, even knowing the only things she could draw were stick figures and small hearts. His eyes were a fascinating dark blue and even in the dim porch light she could tell he had a slight tan. The rest of his body was swathed in a black coat and black pants, but she assumed from his broad shoulders that his body was as beautiful as his face.

Definitely a serial killer Mina would encourage her to go with.

The stranger gave her a tight, rather embarrassed smile in return, but his voice vibrated in the air between them with a certain level of authority. "Hi. My name is Darien Chiba and I'm very sorry to disturb you so late, but my car just got a flat tire and my phone is dead." The handsome man ran his fingers through his hair and shrugged a little, staring at her feet, "Is there any chance I could come in and use your phone? I just need to call AAA and ask for someone to come with a spare and – Oh hello there."

Serena watched his eyes widen a bit in surprise before she glanced down to see Luna peeking around her pink pajama pants. "Luna, don't you go trying to escape!" She leaned down and scooped the cat up into her arms, only to come face to face with the most beautiful smile she had ever seen. His face, especially his eyes, simply lit up as he leaned forward and scratched Luna beneath her chin. Serena was rather shocked when Luna let him, and even more shocked when she realized that Luna was purring! While Serena thought Luna was a very friendly cat, she didn't often do well with strangers.

"Who's this?"

Serena spun abruptly to find her boyfriend, Alan, behind her, sizing up their late visitor.

When Serena turned back to Darien, the sparkle had left his eyes, but his easy smile remained. "Hi, I was just telling – " He paused here, glancing at Serena with his eyebrows raised.

"Serena," she supplied, with a slight smile.

"Serena," he repeated, with a nod, "that my car got a flat tire outside your building and I was hoping to use your phone to call AAA since, unfortunately, my cell phone battery is dead."

"Ah," was all Alan said, as he reached around Serena to pet Luna, incidentally pulling her towards him a bit. Serena grimaced as Luna squirmed and practically leapt out of her arms to get away, but allowed Alan to leave his arm around her shoulders. If Darien noticed Alan's rather possessive gesture, he didn't show it.

"Well," Alan continued, "you're perfectly welcome to borrow my cell phone and call them out here."

Serena almost gasped, pushing away from Alan a bit. "What? Alan!"

She turned to Darien quickly and tried to smile in what she hoped was a genuine way. "Nonsense. Please come in and use one of our phones."

When she felt Alan stiffen she turned to him pointedly. "Inside."

Alan stared her down for a moment, but then moved back to allow Darien inside, muttering something that was, thankfully, unintelligible.

Darien moved past Serena into her living room, murmuring a light "thank you" which she promptly waved away as she shut the door.

"If you need to use the bathroom it's the first left after the kitchen," Serena said, pointedly ignoring Alan's eye roll from the couch as Darien set his bag on the ground, quickly unzipping it and pulling a cardholder out from an inner pocket. "Otherwise you can use Alan – " but a quick glance at her boyfriend showed him intently watching the show he had just turned on. So she quickly continued, "or my cell phone. Umm, I'll just get you mine."

Darien simply smiled again and scratched Luna, who had miraculously appeared in the room again.

Serena tried not to smack a pillow in Alan's face as she walked into the kitchen, though she was sorely tempted. She didn't understand why he couldn't be as nice to others as he was to her. He didn't always get along with her friends that well either! Of course, that may not have been completely his fault… When Lita and Raye didn't like someone, they didn't do much to hide it. Even Mina could put on an act so sickly sweet that even the most socially inept person would found off-putting. Something she quite prided herself on. Only Ami really tried to engage Alan in a friendly manner, but she was so quiet around him in general that it often didn't make much of a difference.

Striding into the kitchen Serena grabbed her phone. She was halfway back toward the living room when she stopped, pausing a moment, before she backtracked to grab the popcorn. Guests deserve snacks! She thought happily, as she shoved another handful in her mouth. And of course, so do I!

When she arrived back in the living room, Darien had managed to engage Alan in a carefully civil discussion about some aspect of TV filming or digital manipulation or something that sounded like that. Darien politely refused the popcorn Serena offered, so she sat with Alan on the couch while he retreated toward the kitchen to call for someone to change his tire.

She watched both amused and curious as Luna padded softly after him and wound herself around his legs. Not only did Luna not like strangers – the only exception being Serena's best friends when they first came over – but she was also pretty picky about men. She hardly ever came into the same room as Alan, let alone allowed him to touch her. The way she was following Darien was just...odd.

And yet, she thought as she watched Darien tuck his phone between his ear and his shoulder in order to scoop Luna up, completely adorable.

Darien returned to the living room to find Serena and her rather prickly boyfriend, Alan, watching the latest episode of Game of Thrones, though it didn't seem to be holding her interest very well. As soon as he entered the room she turned to him and smiled.

"Everything okay?"

Darien nodded and smiled in return. It was hard not to. Minus the rather cold presence that started radiating from the other man as soon as Darien entered the room, the apartment felt warm and welcoming. Of course, he assumed that was in large part due to the rather perky blonde now kneeling on the couch with her arms over the back to talk to him. He had noticed how pretty she was as soon as she opened the door, of course – the light behind her making her hair glow a soft gold and her blue eyes large, sparkling pools of curiosity – but she also made him feel oddly at home. So did the small bundle of fur currently purring in his arms.

"Someone should be here within the hour and then I'll be on my way." When he reached the couch, Serena leaned forward to tickle Luna under her chin.

"Do you have a cat?"

Darien shook his head. "I've never had a pet before."

He almost laughed at her look of shock – he could swear her mouth actually formed a perfect 'o'. "What? Not even when you were a kid?"

Darien shrugged. "The orphanage I grew up in didn't allow pets."

"Oh."

He could tell from her bowed head she was probably feeling guilty – people often got uncomfortable when he mentioned his childhood, but he didn't mind. He may not have grown up with a regular family, but he had done okay there and made a good life for himself once he came into his inheritance. Those early years formed who he was and he wouldn't change that for the world. Still, he didn't want her to feel bad.

Searching for a new topic, he noticed a guitar leaning against the wall.

"Do you play?" He asked, gesturing as best as he could with his arms full of cat.

Serena turned and let out a tinkling laugh. "Oh no! That guitar belongs to my friend Raye. She left it here a couple nights ago so I could try it out." Serena wrinkled her nose, "She made me promise not to break it, but I don't think she has much to worry about. I'm awful."

Darien chuckled and set Luna on the ground, heading toward the guitar. "I always wanted to learn to play, but I'm afraid the only song I ever took the time to learn was the dreaded beginning to Smoke on the Water."

Alan snorted and Serena giggled, as Darien hesitantly plucked out a couple bars. "Why that one?"

Darien shrugged, "It was the only song my friend Andrew knew how to play. But even just holding a guitar could impress a girl at that time, so it was enough."

Serena nodded wisely. "Guitars can be quite swoon-worthy."

Alan snorted and she nudged him lightly. "Right?"

Darien chuckled a bit at the dark look Alan sent her way and decided that was his cue to set the guitar aside.

Serena and Darien chatted lightly for the next forty minutes, though it felt more like only ten, before Darien felt his phone buzz to tell him the AAA worker had arrived. He thought he noticed a brief look of disappointment on Serena's face before it was replaced with a smile, but maybe that was just wishful thinking. He had been enjoying himself immensely.

Picking up his bag Darien grunted a bit. "I must be getting tired. This bag feels even heavier than before." He joked and was rewarded by another of her lovely smiles.

"Well, I'm very sorry you had trouble with your car, but I'm glad it happened in front of my apartment!" Serena chirped, following him to the door.

"Me too," he said. And he meant it. He had lost a lot of the time he liked to leave as a cushion for his travel, but he found he didn't mind one bit. This evening was one of the most enjoyable that he could remember in the past month. Maybe even longer.

"It was very nice to meet you both," he said, nodding politely to Alan who had not gotten up, but who did nod back at him from the couch. Darien looked around briefly for Luna, but could not see her.

Serena seemed to realize what he was doing and laid a hand on his arm. "I'll tell her you said goodbye," she whispered.

Darien smiled gratefully and made his way towards his car, waving at her one more time before she shut her door.

"I hope he makes his flight okay," Serena murmured, peeking out between her curtains at the two men bent over the car outside for the fifth time.

"He said he had plenty of time," Alan said, yawning, "I'm sure he'll make it no problem."

Serena heard him wander up behind her and then felt him grip the curtain near her hand. "Though I still don't get why he had to come inside."

"Oh, Alan," Serena rolled her eyes, "it was only polite! Besides, he was perfectly nice."

Alan snorted and jerked the curtain closed, walking back to the couch to turn off the TV.

"And you didn't need to be so grumpy the whole time," she shot at him, ignoring his glare and then his huff when she twitched the curtain aside once more.

"Can we got to bed now?"

Serena bit back a grin. While he would get very upset if she even suggested it, Alan got quite whiny when he was tired.

Just then, Serena heard a car start and watched as Darien's headlights turned on and he drove away. She pushed away her brief sadness – while she hadn't known him long, she was sure they could have been good friends – and skipped toward Alan.

"Yup!"

Darien got to his gate just in time and dropped into his first class seat exhausted, not even bothering to put his bag in the overhead compartment, but simply placing it by his feet.

He thought briefly about the nice girl he had met and smiled. If he had met her in Boston, he definitely would have tried to get to know her more. Andrew was always telling him he needed to make more friends and with her it had been so easy.

But as his eyes drooped, and he felt the plane vibrate beneath him, all he could think about was how much he would like to own a cat…

Four hours later, a very tired Darien took a taxi from the airport in Boston to his office, thinking he should write up a quick report before getting some much needed sleep at home.

When his secretary saw him come in, she clicked her tongue and shook her finger in his face.

"Just what do you think you're doing here?" Molly asked, "You should be at home!"

"Good morning, Molly," Darien chuckled, "I just want to write up a brief report and then I'll be on my way."

At her raised eye brows, Darien cross his finger over his heart, "I promise."

Molly rolled her eyes, but returned to her computer as Darien entered his office. She had learned long ago that Darien liked his work far too much for his own good. But he was a good boss, and as long as he was happy, she couldn't really complain.

Darien sat down in his chair with a happy sigh. As much as he loved traveling and meeting with new clients or partners, it was exhausting. Being home always made him feel ten pounds lighter.

He hummed softly as his computer booted up – a song that sounded suspiciously like Smoke on the Water – and then reached for his bag in order to get out his newest paperwork.

When he opened the bag, however, his neatly ordered notes and the small bag containing his toiletries was not the sight that met his eyes. No, instead he found himself staring into the face of a very familiar cat.

AN: Please review :)