PG			  To Be In The Spotlight
				Part Four
			    Trial by Microphone
					by: Shell Presto

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.

Note: You won't recognize the song because I was working with the 
translation of it. Go to my web page ( 
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Bridge/3542/index.htm ) for the original 
lyrics, my translations, and a link to get an mp3. By the way, I don't own 
the song, You Are Just My Love, some company does.



	"The line would be this long," Darien complained. There were another thirty 
people in front of them waiting in the middle of the mall to sign up for the 
talent contest. He sighed in his impatience. "What are they doing up there? 
We've been in this line for twenty minutes already."
	The blonde girl looked at him with a bit of pity; it was evident he didn't 
particulary want to be there. He was hunched over a bit as well, she 
noticed. <He should be resting. He's still hurt.> Placing her small hand 
over his unharmed shoulder, she gave him a silent smile, expressing her 
gratitude of his assistance. It was all the comfort he needed to make it 
through the next half an hour of sign ups.
	After some hassle of getting the workers to accept an act as a duo, they 
both stood in the center court of the mall looking over the little stubs 
with their audition times. Darien nearly collapsed when he saw just when and 
where the auditions were to be held. "Tomorrow in the mall!?! We have to 
audition in the mall!!?" <In front of everyone??> Although his face was pale 
he tried to conceal his fear. He couldn't understand it himself, why singing 
in front of a crowd should scare him so. <It's not the crowd,> he reasoned. 
<But the singing.>
	"Darien," Serena said, "Hey, are you okay? You look kinda woozy."
	He turned to her, and realized just how drained he felt. His wounds were 
still giving him quite a bit of agony, and he did feel lightheaded. With a 
distance in his air, he looked at his watch. "I should take my pills," he 
mumbled to himself. "So, Meatball Head, how about we get something to eat."
	He laughed as her face lit up with more passion than the Northern Lights. 
"Really!? I'm starving!"

	He watched with amusement as Serena ate. <How on Earth can she eat so much 
and stay so thin?> he mused. She had already eaten a double-decked 
hamburger, four chicken nuggets and a large pack of fries. Darien was still 
on his first cheeseburger, about to start his second, when he started to 
completely ignore his meal. Somehow, the girl sitting across from him 
captured his attention better than his hunger.
	When she noticed his eyes on her, brought her hand to her face, asking, 
"What, do I have ketchup on me?"
	His thin black eyebrow turned up at the edge as he replied, "Nah, I'm just 
wondering how you manage to pack it away like that and keep that figure of 
yours."
	Her glance narrowed and her lips curled into a deep scowl as she began to 
retaliate, "You...!!! I can't believe you'd... oh.. OH!" Her anger turned to 
fright as she pointed at her companion's collar, "You're bleeding!"
	Eyes wide, he checked himself, and indeed, deep crimson seeped through the 
blue material of his shirt from his collarbone to his shoulder. He's been 
ignoring the pain to such an extent he hadn't noticed. Serena gasped, 
leaning over the table to pat his shoulder with a napkin. "Oh, oh! We have 
to get you..." Her face contorted into a sad, concerned, horrified 
expression, one that brought a pain to Darien's heart to behold.
	He watched her with distant shock and wonderment. The young man wasn't 
completely with her as she led him out of the mall and down to the bus stop. 
All the while, she was still holding some napkins on his injury.
	She led him into her own house, watching him grow more and more distant, 
and wan. Suddenly, he was losing only slightle less blood than when he was 
initially injured, and Serena was bawling her eyes out.

	When he completely recovered his sense, he noticed he was lying, topless, 
on a couch in a house he'd never seen before.
	"Thank god you're okay!!" he heard her cry out, then kneel down beside him. 
"I was so worried! You were, like, completely out of it, Dare! I thought 
you'd pass out or something."
	He couldn't quite recall what happened. Hazy images of Serena's mother 
wrapping his shoulder passed through his mind. As he thought of it, Serena's 
mother entered the room, carrying a tray with a kettle of hot, steamy tea 
and two cups. Darien was about to sit up on the couch, making room, when she 
interjected, "Oh, don't get up. You should rest a bit more. Both Serena and 
I were very worried. Here." She offered him a cup of tea as he leaned foward 
slightly. "Hopefully, this will make you feel a little better."
	He expressed his gratitude with a slight nod, then winced as pain shot up 
his arm. Ilene then left her daughter with her friend.
	Serena looked him over a moment as he sipped some tea. When he placed the 
cup down, she slammed her palms against the coffee table, rising from her 
chair. "Just WHAT were you thinking!?!" she yelled. "You nearly passed out!! 
Why on EARTH are you out when you're this weak!?!"
	He offered her a blank stare as he stated, "But... you needed me to sign up 
with you, didn't you?"
	His answer took her aback. "No! I mean, yes, but I didn't want you to come 
if you were feeling that bad. You had me really worried!"
	"Really?"
	She nodded in affirmation.
	He smiled, ever so slightly.
	Then the blonde growled in anger and frustration, "You...!!!! I was really 
worried about you, and you SMILE!!!!!?????"
	Darien laughed, torn between her expression and the wonderful fact that she 
cared.

	When they met at the mall the next day, both were shocked by the other's 
appearance. Serena was wearing a lacy pink dress and her face was lightly 
touched up with make up. Darien had on a black turtleneck and a green blazer 
over his usual grey slacks.
	"Why are you all dressed up?" he inquired.
	"Why are you wearing THAT?" she asked, freaking out a little. "We have to 
look professional!" She paused as she looked at his jacket. "And where did 
you get that jacket? The last time I saw it, it was all ripped up and 
bloody."
	He grinned, then winked at her. "I liked it so much when I first got my 
first, I bought another, just in case. Besides, this is very presentable. I 
think you're a little overblown."
	She scowled, returning her attention to the act that was performing on the 
stage, a girl doing gymnastics. Darien didn't see all the acts, but Serena 
had come for at least twenty of them. A lot of acts were really good, and 
the more she watched, the more nervous she felt. <Do we really stand a 
chance?> She studied Darien's face as he watched the stage. It relieved her 
when she saw that his light tan skin wasn't that bleached color it got when 
he was sick. She smiled, knowing his health wouldn't fail him today.
	Ten minutes later, it was their turn. They had precious few moments before 
the music started. The blonde girl spent it stiff as a board, staring at 
Darien and biting her lip. Her partner was taking long, deep breaths with 
his eyes closed, trying to lock the stage fright somewhere it couldn't 
bother him. Serena found she really wanted to touch him, just his arm, and 
reassure the man that it would be alright. She didn't get her chance. The 
music started, and seconds later, she brought her microphone up to her lips 
to sing.
	Her voice was soft, quiet, and she had to sing while holding back the 
nervous chokes inside of her, "When I look to the sky bright with moonlight, 
it's you that I see." All the while she fretted that Darien wouldn't sing. 
She was relieved when he brought the microphone in front of his mouth.
	With a confidence he didn't know he had, he sang in a low tone, as if in 
response, "I close my eyes whispering your name in near silence."
	"My tears are streams of crystal as the loneliness fills up my heart" She 
was grinning, happy, confident so suddenly, and her voice soared throughout 
the song.
	She led them into the refrain with a power even she couldn't comprehend, 
and their voices seemed to melt into one powerful force. With Serena 
significantly louder than Darien, his voice became her soft, base echo. 
"However great the distance between us may become, my love, for now our 
hearts will shine together as one."
	The shining girl continued as he stopped, "You are just my love. I wish I 
could be near your side meeting your gaze. Could you make it so?"
	"I long to fall in to sleep while holding you close within my arms."
	"Sharing a night filled with deep loneliness, I want to believe in our 
love."
	"Whatever the pain or the number of tears I may cry, My love, when I'm near 
you, I give in to my smile."
	Darien sang, "You are just my love." as the instrumental rift gave them a 
small respite. For the first time during the song, Darien opened his eyes to 
give Serena a smirk, one eyebrow cocked. The eyes on him didn't bother him 
anymore, he was used to the attention from previous times in his life. He 
wasn't afraid of the singing anymore, he couldn't be, because Serena looked 
that confident as they went into the final verse.
	"However great the distance between us may become, my love, for now our 
hearts will shine together as one. Whatever the pain or the number of tears 
I may cry, My love, when I'm near you, I give in to my smile. You are just 
my love."
	Serena bowed as the small crowd before the stage applauded, as they did 
after every act. While they walked off the stage, Darien grinned, 
commenting, "We didn't do half bad, Meatball Head. That deserves some 
lunch."
	She happily nodded in full agreement.

	"The paper said they'd call the winners of the mall contest for districts 
within three days..." she murmured to herself as she stared at the ceiling 
from her bed. It was mid afternoon on the third day after the contest, and 
she still hadn't received a call about it. An unpleasant thought once again 
crossed her mind, they didn't win.
	"It's better this way, Serena," the black cat stated. "After all, you 
wouldn't be a very effective star if you had to run out in the middle of 
concerts to fight the monsters, would you?"
	Serena scowled at her furry guardian. "I don't care about Sailor Moon, 
Luna. What about me? What about my dreams, my life? I didn't ask to be a 
stupid champion of justice, and I don't want to," she told the cat very 
matter-of-factly today, instead of the usual whining or yelling. She was 
simply too worried to argue. They had to call today.
	They didn't though, and Serena cried herself to sleep that night. Luna, on 
the other hand, was relieved. Now maybe Serena could get back to finding the 
other soldiers.

	Serena stumbled home from detention the next day. She was in a daze, unable 
to believe they didn't even make the districts. It had been affecting her 
performance in everything, making her more out of it than usual. Turning the 
corner, she tripped for the third time, and, as fate would have it, right 
into Darien. He laughed almost hysterically as he stood her back up on her 
feet, "I can see the headlines now, 'Sleep-deprived future singing sensation 
Meatball Head is still a klutz despite her good fortune.'"
	"Don't make fun!" snapped back at him.
	He continued to laugh despite himself at how pitiful she looked, deep half 
circles under her eyes and all. "What do you mean?"
	She eyed him over skeptically. "Well, you're not too sad that we lost the 
contest," she hissed.
	"Huh?" His eyes widened in a dull shock. "They didn't call you?"
	It looked like there was a little explosion in Serena's eyes as she perked 
up. "WHAT!?"
	"I guess since we were partners they figured they only had to call one of 
us. We're in. I got the call two days ago."
	She immediately began cheering, as she threw her arms around him, knocking 
him into the wall of a nearby building. He winced through a genuine smile, 
as his injuries weren't completely healed yet, but managed to keep them both 
on their feet. People around them actually stopped to stare at the two, some 
smiling as they heard Serena's elated cries, "WE'RE IN! WE'RE GONNA BE 
FAMOUS!!!!!!"



To be continued...


Another part, another week, and all in a summer day's work. (Well, actually, 
school's not quite out yet, but I've a four day weekend to start off.) Email 
me ( mangetsu@email.com ) with any questions, comments, complaints, or 
praise. All email is appreciated and I pretty much respond to everyone. 
Thank you for reading and the next part will be out promptly next week.
Have a jovial day.
-Shell Presto

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