Title: From Across The Room Part 9: A Very Brief Interlude Rating: PG-13 Author: Alsepang E-mail: alsepang@hotmail.com Disclaimer: So I don't own Sailor Moon rights. I suggest that the money and time spent in attempting to sue people like me should be used to save the environment. That would be a far worthier cause since you can't get any money out of me. I'm not taking a single cent for writing this. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* INTERLUDE, LATE NOVEMBER I saw him from across the deck. I was on board the Queen Elizabeth II on a return cruise back home across the Atlantic. It was a hot day, with ocean breezes relieving everyone from the hot sunshine, and I stood leaning against the rail, clad in a simple sundress, sunglasses perched on my nose as I tried to ignore the fact that the breezes were slapping my long hair across my face in a rather annoying fashion. Of course, as fate would have it, I could never go anywhere without running into *him*. Yes, he was on the cruise too. There he was, leaning against the rail some distance away, half-turned away from me, facing the ocean. I watched his profile, outlined in sharp relief against clear blue sky. The ocean breezes played with his hair, whipping the dark strands against his forehead, and I could see him squint slightly as the sunlight glittered on the waves and reflected into his eyes. Then he turned, and I froze, not having anticipated that move. He was smiling. I watched him silently, feeling the familiar sense of desolation as a blonde appeared from nowhere and strode towards him. He was smiling at her. The blonde girl paused halfway and turned. To my surprise, she looked straight at me. I tried to make out her features, but I couldn't. All I could see was that she had golden hair and big, blue eyes, but even those features were unclear. It was probably the sun in my eyes or something like that. Somehow, I knew that I had seen her before, but where? Why did she look so familiar? Then everything changed. Overhead, the sky turned stormy and the ocean, in response, began to rock the Queen Elizabeth II as lightning flashed and thunder crashed overhead. The deck lurched madly and tilted, and I found myself sliding all the way across to the other side as I tried to grasp on to something. Wasn't the QE II built to withstand such-- aargh! The QE II gave an extra enormous lurch and I was hurled overboard. I hit the waves with a shock, cold water closing in over me. I struggled to stay afloat in the storm-tossed ocean, striking out with my arms and legs, trying to keep my head above the water. At the corner of my eye, I noticed a blonde-- the familiar-looking blond girl I had seen earlier. She too was screaming as she struggled to stay above the water. Then a flash caught my eye. Someone had leapt overboard-- leapt, I say, not tossed by the ship. I knew who it was. Black hair, blue eyes-- he was far away, but I could see indecision in his eyes as he looked first at the other girl, then at me. He was swimming straight, heading for both of us. Who would he choose? He had enough strength, at most, for one more person. I swallowed. I struck out, but this time I swam away from him, or tried to. By now, I was getting very tired and my vision was going fuzzy. Then a huge wave swept over me and I watched in helpless fascination as it hovered high above me-- "SERENA!" With a start, I opened my eyes and stared blankly into the five faces above me. My roommate, Molly, and my four best friends-- Raye, Mina, Lita and Amy-- were looking down at me. I felt around. I was safe in my own bed back at the dorm. Oh. It was a dream. It had been a dream. A dream in which he still chose another. He would have, anyway. "Serena? Are you all right?" Molly looked anxiously at me, her brow slightly furrowed. "What are you all doing here?" I asked abruptly, pushing my hair out of my face. I gave the clock a cursory glance. "It's not even eleven-thirty yet! Have you guys forgotten that Friday's the day I get to sleep in late because I have no classes?" "Forget the sleep-in!" Mina cried exuberantly. "You're rich! You're famous! You're a star!" She danced around the room, waving what looked like the college newspaper. "You're rich! You're famous! You're--" I pulled my blanket over me and started to draw the pillow over my ear. "Whoever gave Mina sugar this morning should be shot," I muttered. "Come to think of it, whoever gave those five sugar this morning should be hung, drawn, quartered and then shot...if they're still alive, that is." Raye dragged the pillow and blanket off me. "Sere, get up! You won the third prize! Mina, give me that paper!" She snatched it from Mina and thrust it into my face. "There. Now, do you remember?" I blinked sleepily and stared rather stupidly at the newsprint before me. "I can't read a thing." Amy stepped forward at that moment and firmly removed the paper from Raye and my face. "That's because it's upside down. Here, Serena." She righted it. "You won the third prize in the short- story writing competition you entered. There-- 'From Across The Room by S. Taylor'. We're all so proud of you, Sere!" Amy beamed at me. "Yeah," added Lita, grinning. "We always knew you had it in you! So tell us, when do we get a treat from you?" I stared at the paper, now right side up. (It occurred to me that I was doing a lot of staring today.) "What competition? Short story? I didn't enter any writing competition..." My voice trailed off as I nearly fell off the bed, shock coursing through my veins. 'From Across The Room, by S. Taylor. -- I saw him from across the room. --It was Valentine's Day, the fourteenth of February...' The world spun round as I read on. I knew the words by heart-- I had written them. They had come straight from my soul. "But I didn't send it in," I whispered blankly. "I don't understand...I didn't send it in...I don't understand..." "Oh, I sent it," Mina proclaimed happily. I could hardly believe my ears. "*What*?" Mina just smiled and began explaining patiently. "See, remember the time when I came over to borrow your top, that gorgeous hot pink one?" "Mina, cut to the chase," I said flatly. I was beginning to have a very bad feeling about this. "You see, only Molly was in at that time. She said that you had gone to the bathrooms and would be back shortly, so I waited. Then I saw your laptop. There was this *really* cool story on it and I *knew* that you'd *never* send it in because you're just *too* modest for your own good, Sere," Mina said, shaking her head at me. She flashed us all her trademark smile and a victory sign. "So I copied it on to my diskette, made a few changes-- you know, names and stuff, because I know this guy called Andrew and he works in a café and I didn't want him in a story-- and I sent it in for you and tah-dah! Instant prize money! Not bad, huh?" I wasn't the only one staring at her with open mouth and disbelieving eyes. "And where was Molly in all this?" I demanded. "Oh, I think she left for a lesson. I don't really remember." Mina shrugged nonchalantly. "Now, dear, you have two weeks to claim your prize money. Just step down and bring proof of identification. Oh, yeah, and aren't you going to thank me--" "*THANK* YOU?" I screamed, nearly tearing my own hair out. "MINA, CAN'T YOU READ? THE DAMN FILE SAID PRIVATE! DID'T YOU SEE THE DATES? YOU SENT MY *DIARY* OUT FOR THE WHOLE @#$%^& *WORLD* TO READ!!!" (c) 2001 Copyright original storyline by Alsepang Did you know? There is a Chinese belief that everyone has a star in the sky. Whe you die, the star falls from the heavens. The more important a personage you are, the bigger your star is. If you are a very great leader, your star would be really big and very bright. You can also predict your future by looking at the alignment of your representative star. Me, I don't know where my star is... Eh, so what does it mean when you wish on a *falling star*?