PG To Be In The Spotlight Part One I Have Talent? by: Shell Presto Another alternate reality fanfiction, proving that one instant in time, one little, insignificant change, can alter the course of history, or at least a relationship. Disclaimer: I wish I owned Sailor Moon, but that honor goes to Takeuchi Naoko and a whole slew of companies. On the other hand, I worked hard to write this story, and it is mine, so don't take it. Thank you. "Who needs you anyway!!" she screamed at the cat as she ran off, crying. Serena didn't want to be a soldier. Far from it, she wanted to be a star. Saffron, a popular idol star, was holding a talent contest, the winners of which would get to be stars as well. Serena had always wanted to be on that big silver screen, she desired it so much. There was only one problem, to be in the contest, you needed a partner. Serena's best friend, Molly, had ditched her from previous attempts, and Luna refused to help. Something about popularity drawing too much attention to Sailor Moon. Serena didn't care, Sailor Moon was taking away her life. Serena closed her eyes and ran as fast as she could. She just wanted to get away, from everything. So she ran... ...straight into her arch nemesis, Darien. Her momentum took them both to the ground. "Why don't you watch where you're going.....!!" he yelled in a rather annoyed tone. She cringed, more tears spilling from her eyes. She was a screw up, she deserved to be yelled at. However, Darien never liked to see a girl cry. "Meatball Head?" he questioned her tears, a tone in his voice that Serena had never heard before, something like concern. "What?" she asked, shocked. "Are you alright, Meatball Head? You're crying... is something wrong?" For once in his life, Darien found himself sincerely concerned about Serena. He couldn't explain it, but her tears went right through him. "I..." Serena carried herself like a little lost child, sniffling and reluctant to make eye contact. "Mea... Se...." "YOU'RE SUCH A JERK DARIEN!" she wailed as she shot up and ran down an alley, one with a dead end. Even more confused, Darien followed. He caught up with her as she slumped against a wall. "Meatball Head, what's up?" he asked while gently brushing the back of his fingers against her cheek, removing the tears. After a long moment of silence, he realized he was in a one sided conversation. "What are you even doing here? I thought for sure you'd be at that contest..." Her mind deceived her as she heard his mocking laughter. If she had only opened her eyes, she'd have seen his concern. "IT'S NOT SILLY!" she bawled, throwing herself into his chest and crying. "It's not..." Her tiny hands clutched his blazer, her body accepting the support. In the softest whisper, he reassured her, "I never said it was." She gasped as she heard the kindness in his voice, and moreso when he gently rested his arm over her back. she realized in a panic. She quickly stepped to the side, making a half turn away from him. She denied the warmth she felt. "I don't need your pity!" she yelled. Darien seemed to return to "normal" with her change of mood as well. "Who said I'm giving any?" he snapped with animosity. "I'd only pity you if you were AT that contest. With your so-called talents, even I'd be ashamed to be on a stage!" "Well, you...!" Serena's lower lip quivered as she tried to think of a comeback. "You....." she sobbed. she conceded. Her hand came up to cover her face as she broke down into tears once again. Darien couldn't have been more alarmed if she'd decked him. "I didn't mean that!" he retorted. "I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean it, Meatball Head, really!" He continued to ramble, trying to stop the stream of tears he had caused to run down her cheeks, "I'm sure you have lots of talent!" "Yeah, right," was all she could manage to choke out between sobs. "No, really!" he insisted. "Like, uhm...." He trailed off as he cupped his own chin in deep thought. He studied her a moment, her red face covered by her small hands. "You're pretty," he stated. "I suppose you could model, or something like that." As if to drive the point home, he said it again, "You're pretty." She met his gaze with skepticism. "You really think so?" He didn't answer, as a matter of fact he averted his attention to the wall. Serena didn't get any reassurance except that Darien wouldn't have said anything nice to her that he wouldn't be able to admit saying later. "So I'm pretty....." she murmured softly. "Still... I can't be in the contest if I don't have a partner...." She eyed him over, summoning all the courage she had. "You're good looking," she chanced. "I bet you'd win a contest easily, if you were modeling, that is." She let the idea hang in the silence a moment before adding, "At least, it would be fun to try...." "Believe me, it's not as fun as it looks." Serena's eyes widened. "You were a model?" He nodded. "You have to get up early and follow a strict diet. It's really hard work; I don't think you'd like it, Meatball Head." She burst out into laughter. "You a model!?!" she could hardly speak she was laughing so hard. "I can see it now, on the cover of 'Dorks weekly' Darien Shields!" Scowling, he informed her, "I was a model, and a damned good one, too." "Right," she snickered. "And I'm the Queen of England." Darien could've started growling he was so mad. Without a word, he took Serena by the wrist and stormed off with such speed she nearly had to run to keep up. He led her across town to his apartment building, then up twelve flights of stairs and into his home. He didn't even take the time to shut any doors, instead he took her straight to his room before letting go and pulling a shoe box out from under his bed. "Here." He slid it across the floor, hitting her shoe. Serena set the box on her lap and opened it. She pulled out the magazines and catalogues one by one, setting them in a pile next to her on his bed. She was shocked to see him on the covers of some rather well known store catalogues. There were a good twenty magazines as well. She flipped through them until she found his pictures, in each he was wearing the latest fashion of the time, usually a suit. She finally found her voice as she uttered a detached, "You... really... were.... a model." By now he was standing over her, watching her reactions. She immediately shot up to face him, saying, "You HAVE to be in the contest with me! We could win, Darien!" He was completely taken aback, moreso with disgust than surprise. "After what you just put me through, you expect me to help you!?!" "I won't leave until you agree!" she threatened. It wasn't until she stayed in his apartment, not moving from a chair in his living room, for two hours that he believed her. After three hours, he reluctantly gave in, saying no more than. "Alright, I'll help. Go home." She showed up bright and early the next day, absolutely beaming. Darien could've strangled her after she rang the doorbell for the fifteenth time. She was shocked when he opened the door to let her in. Darien stood in front of her in a pair of blue sweat pants, and nothing else. His hair was sopping wet, messy and hanging down in his eyes. "You know, Meatball Head, you could've stopped ringing the bell long enough for me to get properly dressed," he chided. Serena just gawked for a moment, studying his bare chest. He wasn't really built up, but he did have a nice shape to him, rather square with wide shoulders. Nor did he have killer abs, but he didn't have a gut either. There was a fine indentation down the center of his stomach that extended up his chest to where his neck began, seemingly splitting him in half. she mused. "Meatball Head?" That shocked her out of it. "Well," she began in a flurry, "You shouldn't be sleeping in so late. I just got up a half an hour ago and as you can see I'm all ready and raring to go. When you ask someone to come at eight PM sharp, you should be prepared, Lazy." He made a crooked frown and cocked an eyebrow up. "Actually, I wanted you to come at ten, but I was afraid you wouldn't get here til noon if I told you so. Besides that, I wasn't sleeping, I just got in from jogging. Some of us have to set a time for that instead of running to school late every morning." In a snobbish sort of way, Serena closed her eyes while wagging a finger at him. "You know, Darien, you'd be a lot more attractive if not for that big mouth of yours. As a model, you'll have to work on that." "Your shirt is on inside out," he laughed, then walked back into his bedroom to change. "IT IS NOT!" Serena yelled. Although, just in case, she reached back for the tag, finding it was indeed on the outside of her shirt. She changed it before Darien reentered. He came out dressed in tan pants and a pink shirt. "That's not very dynamic," Serena commented. "As if you're decked out in your best array there." Not to say she looked bad in her white shirt with a pale blue jumper over it, she was just too plain to model anything. "I brought my outfit," she announced, holding up a little pink bag. "Now let's check your closet." It took less than three minutes of searching before her eyes lit up. "You have a tuxedo!? Wow! Put it on," she instructed. Instead, Darien fell backwards into a sitting position on his bed. Sighing, he told her, "Look, Meatball Head, I know I said I'd help, but why modeling? I told you I don't like it. Besides, modeling is a class of its own. Unless the right judge is there, they won't see any talent in it at all. I was looking into that contest of yours last night. Saffron is a sports model, which means her agents would only know about that category." He paused to prop his head up on his arms, barely making eye contact with the girl in his room. "Believe me, Serena, you're not sports modeling material, and neither am I. Modeling in this competition is a dead end talent, honestly." "And what do you suggest?" "I dunno. Are you good at anything else?" She grinned. "I can sing, wanna hear?" He pulled himself into a sitting postion, leaning foward attentively with his head propped up in his hands. "Sure." Serena then serenaded him with an off key, ear piercing rendition of the Sailor Moon theme song, "Fighing evil by moonLIGHT! Winning LOve by dayLI..." "STOP IT I'M GOING DEAF!" Darien yelled over her, covering his ears. "That isn't singing, that's suffering! Lower the decibles, Meatball Head." Her voice abruptly stopped, and a sob hiccupped in her throat. Darien cringed, He tried to explain himself in a calm yet swift manner, "Don't sing so loud, your voice wasn't meant to sound like that. Try a softer song, not something so bold, and don't force it like that." "Wha... what should I sing?" she inquired, swallowing back her sob, relieved he didn't make fun of her. He couldn't think of anything off hand. "Just a song you know, any will do, but a slower, softer one." Her eyes turned to the ceilng as she thought a moment, then a lightbulb seemingly went off in her head. Slowly, lightly, and surprisingly gracefully, she let a few soft chords go, "Deep in my soul, A love so strong, It takes control. Love we both know, the secrets bared, the feelings..... What are you staring at?" He was staring, eyes wide in horror and delight. The delight was from her beautiful, wistful voice. The horror was from the fact that she was in fact a pretty good singer. However, when he did snap out of his funk, he complimented her, "That was beautiful, Meatball Head. You're really good at that." "Great!" she laughed. No one had ever praised her singing. The thought rang through her head like music, beautiful. "We have an act!" The blonde was jumping with joy. Then stopped dead when she heard Darien. "No, I'm sorry, we don't." She frowned. "Why not." His hand scratching the back of his head, he was blunt, "I can't sing. Sorry." "You have to be able to," she protested. He smiled with a bit of embarassment while shaking his head slowly. Detemination welled up in Serena's eyes. "Then I'll just have to teach you." To be continued.... No, I'm NOT using an American dub song in this story after this part. I like some of the songs, but the choices were limited. I should have some things at my web site set up so you can hop on by and download the songs used in this story by the time you read this, okay? Hopefully, you'll all like them, although I had to rewrite some lyrics to one. Oh well, I'd love feedback! The more you send, the harder I work on this. ^_^ ( mangetsu@email.com ) Have an utterly lovely, stupendously, spectaular day! -Shell Presto http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Bridge/3542/index.htm ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com