Sorry for the delayed update!
I absolutely LOVED writing this chapter, so please let me know what you think.
Remember, the Smile Law!
If you smile, you must review!
Hehehe, I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I did.
Also, I decided against talking more about Matt in this chapter.
So for those of you that are curious to know who he is, all of your questions (well, most of them!) will be answered in the next chapter.
Sorry! :D
Chapter 3 – Acting like a Princess
Beeeeep…Beeeeep…Beeeeep…Beee-SLAM!
Luna picked her head up and stared as one of Serena's hands sneaked back under the covers. "Serena, wake up!" Receiving no reply, Luna yawned and put her head back down. After all, she wasn't the one who needed to wake up.
Beeeeep…Beeeeep…Beeeeep…Beee-SLAM!
Luna growled under her breath and picked her head up again. "Serena! You'll be late for school!" When the only response she got was a soft snort interrupting the flow of Serena's constant snoring, she narrowed her eyes and shook her head.
Beeeeep…Beeeeep…Beeeeep…Beee-SLAM!
"Oh, this is ridiculous." Luna got up and stretched as she walked to the head of the bed. She cleared her throat before sticking her mouth right next to Serena's ear and pouncing on her face, "SERENA!"
Serena's eyes snapped open and she flipped over, knocking Luna off of the bed. "WHAT!?" She grumbled and sat up, trying to rub the sleepiness out of her eyes.
Luna jumped back onto the bed, "Don't you think this morning routine of yours is getting a little old?" She sighed as she began bathing all of the kinks out of her fur from the previous tumble to the floor.
Serena lazily glanced over at her alarm clock. Gasping, she threw off her blankets and dashed to her closet, ignoring the muffled screech behind her. "Luna, why didn't you wake me up?!"
Luna managed to untangle herself from the blankets as she stared incredulously at the blonde that was currently in the process of shoving her arms through her school uniform. "Don't blame me, Serena! How is one cat supposed to compete with your snoring?!"
Serena narrowed her eyes as she slipped into her skirt. "I do NOT snore, thank you very muc-umph!"
Luna cringed and peeked out of one eye as she watched Serena lose her balance and crash to the floor. "You're right, Serena. You don't snore and you're as graceful as a swan."
Serena shot a glare at her guardian as she grabbed her briefcase and threw open her bedroom door. She ran down the stairs and sped through the kitchen, snatching a muffin and her lunch, on her way out.
"Oh, Serena! Have a great day at-", Ellen stopped when she heard the front door slam and she sighed, "school…"
Serena glanced at her watch as she hurried to campus. "Oh, solatesolatesolate!" She flew around the corner and straight into someone, knocking them both from their feet and onto the ground. Before she had a chance to wail out an apology, she heard laughter.
"Serena, are you going to make a habit out of this?"
Serena looked up confused, forcing away her tears. Although she was looking into the blue eyes of a black-haired man, they weren't the blue eyes of the jerk that she always seemed to run into. "Oh, Matt! I'm so sorry!"
She watched as he got to his feet, a smile still shining on his face, and extended a hand to her. A grin formed on her lips as she accepted his hand.
"You know, if running into me is your attempt at trying to get to know me, I know of much less painful ways to accomplish the task."
Although she could tell by his voice that he was joking, she couldn't stop the blush that crept onto her cheeks as she laughed.
~*~
Darien rounded the corner and stopped short when he saw a man reach down to help his smiling Serena up off of the ground. Trying to ignore the jealousy boiling up inside of him, Darien marched forward, mentally preparing the morning's insult. After all, a confrontation with Serena was just as necessary as his morning cup of coffee.
Before he reached the pair, however, Serena was already running off, waving an apology towards the man. Darien stared after her, his mouth failing to form a remark quickly enough before she disappeared, running towards her school. He went to glare at the man, but his glare vanished when he realized that the man was nowhere in sight.
A scowl quickly adorned Darien's face as he dragged his feet all the way to the arcade. He walked in, hearing the door's chimes, and made his way to the counter.
Andrew raised his eyebrows at Darien's angry expression. "Woah, what got your panties in a twist this morning?"
Darien glared at the counter in front of him, "Nothing." He couldn't believe that his morning run-in with Serena had been stolen from him. He timed his morning perfectly every day so that he could run into her. Yes, it was true that all he did was insult her, but he couldn't help it. The corner of his lips turned upwards. She is just so adorable when she's angry.
The scowl quickly returned, replacing the tiny smile. This morning he was denied his adorable, angry Serena. One thing was for sure though - He wasn't going to let it happen again.
~*~
As the bell rang, Serena left campus with the other students. After being almost ten minutes late, she still couldn't believe that she had gotten out of detention. Rumor was that her teacher had a date that evening. Bless the man that could put up with her teacher! Serena smiled to herself. She hasn't seen the handsome jerk today AND she didn't get detention. Today was definitely looking up!
Serena waved good bye to her friend Molly before turning the corner to head to her usual after school hangout. As she was about to throw open the doors of the arcade and declare her undying love for Andrew as he served her a bowl of chocolate ice cream drizzled in chocolate syrup and caramel, she was stopped by the incessant beeping of her communicator.
She sighed as she held it close to her ear and flipped it open, listening closely to Mina's voice.
"Guys! There is a really ugly, green, slimy thing in the park! Get here as fast as you can!"
Serena started running towards the park, her communicator still next to her ear as she listened to the comments of her other friends.
Lita sighed, "I think after my apartment lease is up, I'm going to relocate to an apartment near the park. I'm getting sick of running across the city every day."
When Raye joined in the conversation, Serena could tell that she was already running because her irritated voice was strained by her heavy breathing. "Can someone swing by the school and get Serena out of detention?"
"Actually, Raye, Serena didn't receive detention today."
Raye smirked at Amy's comment. "Fine, then can someone run by the arcade and pull Serena's face out of her third bowl of ice cream?"
Serena's eyes narrowed as she put her communicator to her lips, "You know, Pyro, if you spent your time telling Chad how you really felt about him instead of wasting your breath insulting me, we wouldn't be running to the park right now, we'd be running to your wedding."
She heard the other girls laugh into their communicators, masking Raye's comeback, as she reached the park. She saw a flash of orange light from across the open field, signifying the fact that Mina had transformed. Serena looked around before she threw her hand into the air, "Moon Prism Power!"
After the pink light and flying ribbons disappeared, Sailor Moon jumped out from behind the bush and gasped in disgust as she realized Mina's description of the monster was accurate. "Hold it right there! I am Sailor Moon, champion of love and justice! And on behalf of the moon, I will triumph over all things yucky! And that definitely means you!"
The monster, that appeared to be a giant green slug, looked over at the interruption. Its mouth opened as it laughed, slime slowly dripping out of its mouth, as it dropped the latest energy-drained victim.
"EW! Can somebody get this thing a bib?!" She was too preoccupied with gagging that she didn't notice its tail swinging towards her.
"Sailor Moon, watch out!!"
Hearing Sailor Jupiter cry out, she looked over and screeched, throwing herself to the ground, covering her head with her arms. She felt the tail whip over her, barely missing its target. Instead of hitting her, the tail slammed into the tree next to her.
Sailor Moon peeked out from under her arm as the leaves that were jostled from the tree fell around her and saw the slime left by the tail oozing down the trunk. "Blech!!" She pushed herself to her feet.
"Mars Fire Ignite!"
"No, Mars, don-", Mercury sighed as she watched the attack fly towards the large slug. They all watched as the attack only managed to severely piss off the monster. She stopped Venus as she was also gearing up for an attack, "No, Venus! Your attack will have the same effect that Mars' did!"
Venus stomped her foot, "You have GOT to be kidding meeeeEEK!" They heard Venus yelp as she barely managed to jump over the tail rushing towards her.
Sailor Moon gasped, "Venus!" Too focused on making sure that Venus was all right to pay attention to her own back.
Venus looked up when Sailor Moon called her name and her eyes went wide, "Sailor Moon, look o-", she stopped mid-sentence when she saw a familiar caped man swoop in and pull their leader out just in time.
Sailor Moon looked up at the man that held her close as he carried her to safety. "Tuxedo Mask, thank you!" She felt heat rush to her cheeks as she remembered the previous day when she used the Luna Pen and realized that Tuxedo Mask loved her. She sighed happily in his arms as she stared up into his face. The black hair that was peeking out from under the top hat blew in the wind and his deep blue eyes were framed by his white mask.
How she wished she could reach up and see the face beneath.
Tuxedo Mask landed gracefully and set her down safely behind a tree. "Are you all right, Sailor Moon?"
Hearts in her eyes, with a love-struck grin on her face and her hands clasped in front of her heart, all she could do was nod.
Mercury pushed a couple buttons on her computer and looked up, "Jupiter! Use your lightning!"
"You got it! Jupiter Thunder Crash!" She watched as lightning raced towards the slug. Instead of glaring down the lightning, like it had done with Mars' fire, the monster squirmed and tried to get out of the way. When the lightning hit its back it let out a piercing scream.
Jupiter jumped up and grinned at Venus and Mars, both frustrated that they couldn't help out in the fight. "HA!"
Tuxedo Mask stared at the girl in front of him, "Sailor Moon, only you can do what is necessary to finish the job."
She shook her head slightly to clear her thoughts, having momentarily forgotten that they were in the midst of a battle, and gave Tuxedo Mask a determined nod as she stepped out from behind the tree placing her thumb and pointer finger on her tiara. "Moon Tiara Magic!" Her tiara lit up as she masterfully threw it towards the over-sized slug.
The monster screamed when the tiara hit, light surrounding its body. Everyone grabbed onto a tree when the ground shook as the upper half of the monster's body crashed and it turned into black dust.
Sailor Moon turned around, wanting to ask Tuxedo Mask if he was on their side and sighed when she discovered that he was already gone.
Luna rushed over to them, "Good job, Sailor Scouts!"
After they checked to make sure those that had their energy drained were okay, the girls parted directions to detransform.
Serena stepped out of an empty alley and was shortly joined by Luna. "Luna, I really don't think Tuxedo Mask is our enemy."
Luna frowned up at her, "How can you be so sure about that, Serena?"
Serena sighed happily as a grin formed on her face and her hands once again joined before her heart, "He's just too handsome!"
Luna rolled her eyes and groaned, turning the corner towards Serena's house only to stop short when she saw Serena going in the opposite direction. She turned around and caught up with her, "Serena, where are you going?
Serena looked down at her guardian, "To the library, remember? I have to get that book."
Luna's mouth dropped open as she watched a determined Serena march towards the library doors. When they walked inside, they heard a woman behind the desk angrily clear her throat.
"No pets allowed in the library!"
Serena looked behind her and stuck her tongue out at Luna as she continued on inside. Browsing the selections, she finally found the book she wanted and pulled it from the shelf. She grinned as she stared at the title: 'A Commoner's Guide to Being a Princess.' "Perfect!"
Serena tried to maneuver around a shelf, heading towards the counter, when she ran into someone else carrying a big stack of books and knocked them both from their feet. She gasped as her book flew out of her hand and landed on the floor, quickly joined by the books of the person she ran into.
"Meatball Head?! What are you doing in the library??"
Serena cringed as she looked up and stared into Darien's deep blue eyes. She shot him a glare as she snatched her book from the pile and got to her feet. She was about to shout out a rude response when she remembered what Luna had said the previous day about the Moon Princess not being mean.
She took a deep breath to calm herself. "I expect that I'm doing the same thing you are, Darien – I'm checking out a book." She turned on her heels and walked away, leaving a stunned Darien behind her.
As she reached the check-out counter, she grinned, insanely proud of herself. Her self-satisfaction was cut short when she was asked a question by the librarian. "Theories of Molecular Dynamics? That's a pretty advanced book for you, isn't it?"
Serena's heart stopped as she grabbed the book from the woman's hands and stared at the cover. Realizing she must have grabbed the wrong book in her efforts to escape Darien, she turned quickly. Fear welled up inside of her as she saw Darien picking up her book from the pile.
His laughter cut through the silence of the library.
She failed to find a place to hide fast enough before she was spotted and watched as he made his way over to her, a grin plastered to his face. He held out her book, "I believe this is yours."
Serena hesitated, tempted to deny that the book was hers. She finally took it from his hands and placed the book she had taken by mistake on the top of his pile. Blushing madly, she turned back around and handed the correct book to the librarian, trying to ignore her suppressed laugh.
Darien appeared next to her, placing his selection down on the counter. "A guide to being a princess, huh? Well, just make sure that you don't drool on this book like you do with your school books."
Serena took a deep breath and chanted to herself, 'Be nice, be nice, be nice, be nice, be nice, be nice.' "Yes, well, this book is hopefully going to be more interesting than those are. Now if you'll excuse me…" She took her book and started towards the doors.
Darien raised an eyebrow at her, noticing the fact that she hadn't snapped at him yet. "Well, I wish you the best of luck, Your Highness." He bowed at the waist as he laughed, cheering himself at the glare that he received.
~*~
Luna jumped down from the short wall of bricks that surrounded the tiny garden as Serena stormed passed her. "Let me guess, Darien was in there." Her assumption was confirmed when she heard Serena grumble, as Darien was the only person that could make her react like that.
When they finally reached her house, Serena marched upstairs and shut her bedroom door. Falling back on her bed, she sighed as she stared at the image on the book's cover. A beautiful woman walking gracefully down the stairs, holding her gown in one hand as her other hand glided across the banister. She smiled as she thought back to the gorgeous white fabric she had purchased the day before. Somehow, she was going to make that into a gown as beautiful as the one this woman was wearing on the cover.
Sighing happily, she finally opened the book and started to read.
Luna watched a frown emerge on Serena's face as she slowly flipped through the pages. "What does it say?"
Serena glared at the book, "It says that a princess is expected to be kind, dress elegantly, act like a lady, and among other things, she's supposed to do well in school."
Luna nodded approvingly, "That sounds about right."
"Well, I'll just do a few things like be nice and… oh! This one! It says that a princess is expected to socialize. I can definitely do that!"
"Serena! You can't pick and choose which qualities of a princess you want! If you want to be a proper princess, you should follow everything that book says!"
Serena sighed as she flipped through a few more pages. She suddenly sat up straight and grinned. "Luna, you support me in my efforts to try and act like a princess, right?"
Luna nodded, "Of course I do. Despite the fact that you aren't a princess of anything, it's still important for the leader of the Sailor Scouts to properly blend in with the Moon Princess and other people of importance."
"And you said that you approve of this book and that I should follow everything that this book says, right?"
Luna frowned, taking on an uncertain tone. "…Yes."
Serena dropped the book in front of Luna and pointed half-way down on one of the pages.
Luna sighed and began to read where Serena's finger was, "After dressing like a princess, it is important that a lady of status smells like a princess. Number one: Lightly spray high quality perfume on your wrists and on your neck, behind the ears."
Luna skimmed the rest of the numbers, "Number Two: Scent your personal space. Number three: Grow perfumed flowers," Luna smirked, interrupting her reading, "So much for that one. You wouldn't even be able to keep a cactus alive!"
Serena only smiled and told her to keep reading.
"Number four: Suck on peppermint lozenges. Number five: Scent your shoe liners…?" Shaking her head, she proceeded to read the next one. "Number six: Wash –", Luna stopped mid-sentence and worriedly glanced up at a grinning Serena.
Serena stood from the bed, picked a squirming Luna up and headed to the bathroom, ignoring Luna's hisses. "You said that you support my efforts in becoming a princess and you said to follow everything that book says. And number six says that I should wash my pets regularly!"
I can see you over there smiling!
You know what to do!
*Points to the button below*
Gotta love that Smile Law :D