Lois Fogg
Fire
email: SireneCall@hotmail.com

Chapter Three: Kiss me, Kate

	Wednesday evening, after the interminable chemistry lab,
became our appointed day for chemistry and Shakespeare reviews.
Well, admittedly there was considerably more Shakespeare than
chemistry, if I had anything to do with it, but sometimes Amy put her
foot down. Since the first day, we used the ice cream parlor as our
designated meeting place. The nights almost always ended in now-
famous debates between Darien and me. Raye had taken to coming
down just for the sake of the entertainment, and the occasional pleasure
of reading Shakespeare with us. I had never thought that I would be
grateful to be taking Chemistry, but I was. If I hadn’t, after all, then I
never would have met Amy and I never would have had these blissful
Wednesday evenings with delicious milkshakes and a gorgeous
debating partner. My debates really had become the subjects of
countless emails and every once and a while I caught a jealous glance
from various girls. I was ashamed to admit it, but it made me feel proud
to be the girl he treated differently than all the rest. Even if he never
acted around me like he felt the not-quite-plutonic sensations I felt
around him, what I had was even better—I argued. I had a bond of the
mind. Besides, I wouldn’t want to be just one of his girls. I wished that
I could believe he wasn’t as much of a player as Mina had claimed, but
almost every week I heard of another of his ‘conquests’. The one
comfort I had was that he was never with one girl for long. I knew that
he believed in love—The Taming of the Shrew debate had told me
that—it just seemed that he had never found it. I never talked to him
about the subject. In fact, I conspicuously avoided the subject, afraid of
what would happen if I opened that particular Pandora’s box.
	One Wednesday in November, I walked into the parlor, for
once in my life the first one to get there. It was practically freezing
outside, and I had bundled up a little excessively. Darien watched with
characteristic amusement as I removed earmuffs, scarf, gloves, hat, and
both coats. I plopped into the chair and sighed expressively.
	“Wow, you sure aren’t used to this weather, are you?”
	“I’m used to DC. The temperature drops below freezing there
and school is closed for a week.”
	Darien laughed. “I know. Remember? I’m from around there
too.”
	“Oh yes, peach boy, how could I forget?” Darien just smiled
and went behind the counter. He came back and placed my milkshake
in front of me. Even though it was cold outside, I couldn’t resist the
lure of a milkshake. To me, they were the drink for all seasons,
although somewhat less appropriate in winter. This was strange,
though, because usually he waited until I came in to make the
milkshake. I looked at him with a surprised smile, and then dove under
the table, where I had dumped all of my stuff.
	“What are you doing under there, meatball head?” He asked,
looking at my antics. I was tossing piles of clothing around
haphazardly.
	“Trying to find my wallet.” I called, voice muffled by various
articles of clothing. I had ceased to get annoyed when he called me that.
It was kind of funny anyway, although my hairstyle was thoroughly
impractical during winter.
	“Hey, don’t bother.” He said softly, and I looked up at him.
“I’ll pay for it” He interrupted me when I started to protest, feeling a
glow suffuse my body. “I get a discount anyway. And…I want to.” He
laughed self-deprecatingly, while I stared at him in awe from under the
table. “You know not to get in my way when I want something, don’t
you?”
	I smiled and nodded mechanically.
	“Hey, are you going to get out from under there, or what?
Your milkshake will melt.” He left to serve a customer and I crawled
slowly from under the table. I sat down carefully, still in shock over
what he had done.
	And just like that, I knew that I loved him. I knew that since
that very moment I had seen him two years ago, I had loved him and
that I loved him more every day. It didn’t matter that he called me
meatball head, or that he was always laughing at me. He was gentle, in
his own way. And so passionate he made my head spin. I loved him.
The realization was startling, and I held my milkshake tightly. I could
have jumped for joy, or cried, or screamed at him or gone into
hysterics, but I did none of these things. Instead, I sipped quietly and
waited for Mina, Raye and Amy.

	A week later Mina was really exceeding herself in
tactlessness. It was getting closer to Christmas, and therefore, to exams,
and Amy had forced us to do nothing but Chemistry during the past
few study sessions. I suppose just to let out some pent up energy, Mina
continually said the most obvious things and made long suggestive
winks to both Darien and me. He was simply amused, but I felt terribly
embarrassed. I kept kicking her under the table, but she only winked at
me harder, and made so many insinuations until I thought I might tape
her mouth shut. Amy was no help either. She obviously thought that
Mina was doing the right thing when it came to getting me and Darien
together. All they were doing was embarrassing me. I didn’t want him
to know how much I liked him, but at the rate they were going, there
was no way he could avoid knowing. This had been going on for three
hours, and it was practically closing time. I knew, unfortunately, that
that wouldn’t stop them.
	“Combustion reactions, huh?” Mina said, lowering her eyelid
in that wink I had come to dread. “I can think of—“ And I couldn’t take
any more.
	“Darien!” I said, rather too loudly, but it shut Mina up.
	“What?” He asked, barely concealing the laughter in his voice.
	Well great, I hadn’t really had a plan. I had only wanted to
shut them up. Unfortunately, if I didn’t say something soon, the torture
would start again. I said the first thing that came into my head.
	“Will you read with me?” Although the four of us put on
performances nearly every Wednesday, Darien had not once
participated. He did, however, seem to have an entire Shakespeare
collection in that back room of his. We almost always borrowed from
it, but he had never expressed any interest in play-acting with us. He
looked at me hard, as if wondering where I was planning on going with
this. I couldn’t have told him—to tell the truth, I was as curious as he
was.
	“Sure,” he said finally. “What do you have with you?”
	“Titus Andronicus” I said, and he made a gagging noise. Well,
I had to agree with him there. One of Shakespeare’s lesser efforts.
“Taming of the Shrew,” I said, finally, wondering if he would realize
why I had kept that particular play in my bag after all this time. He
probably would, Darien realized everything. I found, to my surprise,
that I didn’t care.
	“That sounds good,” he said, and went to the back closet to
pull it out. The parlor was more crowded than it usually was, even
though it was several minutes past closing time. As I watched him
jump over the counter, I wondered what would happen tonight. The
waves were in my stomach stronger than they had been for a while, and
an odd hush had fallen over our audience. It seemed that they knew, as
well as I, that this would be a crowning glory performance.
	“What scene?” I asked him, deliberately letting him decide. I
saw the look he gave me—he knew why I had done that. He accepted
the challenge.
	“How about right before they attend the wedding, I think it’s
act five.” [AN: this is, for all interested, Act 5, Scene 2, lines 145-156]
Of course. When Darien does something, he does it well. That was
easily the most romantic scene in the book, the scene that could
convince even skeptics that Petruchio and Kate were in love. I took a
deep breath. There was no question as to who would play which part. In
fact, it was as if Shakespeare had written them just for us. We moved to
the center of the floor, and all conversation died. Taking a deep breath,
I began.
	“Husband, let’s follow to see the end of this ado.” I barely
looked at the book; I had already memorized this scene. Instead I stared
in his eyes, trying to read what lay there.
	“First kiss me Kate, and we will.” And he said it just like he
always did, with that subtle mockery that always held something
deeper. But, this time, and I can’t explain how he did it, you knew that
he loved her—that he loved me, in fact. For this blissful moment, every
one could tell that he was completely in love with me.
	“What, in the midst of the street?” I said, looking around at
everyone around us. There was a gentle ripple of laughter.
	“What, art thou ashamed of me?” He asked, feigning hurt, and
yet somehow conveying that he was genuinely upset at the same time. I
couldn’t believe that Darien had never acted with us before—he was
incredible.
	“No, sir, God forbid, but ashamed to kiss.” And I looked at
him longingly, yet sheepishly, obviously desiring him, but afraid to
show it. He stepped in closer to me, until we were nearly touching.
Neither of us looked at our books; we were too far gone.
	“Why then” He teased, daring me with sidelong glances, “let’s
home again. Come, sirrah, let’s away.”
	“Nay, I will give thee a kiss.” I whispered, but everyone could
hear me. Standing on my tiptoes, desperately aware of what I was
doing, and yet unable to stop myself, I kissed him. And the world
around me crumbled. We responded immediately to each other. Like he
had said so long ago, fire meeting fire that only created a bigger one. It
was an explosion. My book clattered to the ground. We reached into
one another, my arms convulsively around his body and his around
mine, kissing until we lacked the air to survive. His mouth was gentle
and sweet, his tongue stroking my mouth with practiced precision. My
body felt like it would explode with pent-up pressure. I opened to him
immediately, quickly running out of air, but genuinely unwilling to
give up the pleasure of his touch. I had never loved a man more than I
had in that moment, and I knew I never could again. No one but Darien,
after this moment, would ever satisfy me. I was vaguely aware of the
catcalls and hoots in the background, but we were in our own world,
and nothing could intrude. Reluctantly, his lips left mind, gently, and
he placed me back on the ground. I was not even aware of having been
lifted. Darien looked around the room, and in an instant, it was quiet
again.
	“Now pray thee love, stay.” I said, in a hoarse whisper of
unmasked love.
	He took his long-fingered hands and lifted my face to his eyes.
“Is this not well? Come my sweet Kate.” It was no longer a play. It was
my reality, and he was telling me what I had always wanted to hear—
that he loved me. “Better once than never, for never too late.” He
kissed me again, to the sound of thunderous applause. It was over
entirely too quickly, and I stared at him with unadulterated awe. He
regained his composure more quickly than I, but I saw his hands
shaking and his ragged breathing. Mechanically I smiled and bowed,
and then collapsed in my seat again, unable to believe what had just
happened.
	“Go, Serena!” Mina said happily. “I knew you could do it.” I
looked at Darien, who was smiling at me in that way that made my legs
turn to Jello. He winked at me, and then began bellowing for people to
get the hell out of there. As the crowd reluctantly dispersed, several
guys patted him chummily on the back and several girls gave me evil
looks. I didn’t care. I had just had my first kiss, and it had been the
most incredible experience of my life.
	“You too, girls.” Darien said when we hadn’t left. Exuding
disappointment, I reached under the table to pull out my bag, when I
felt his hand on my shoulder.
	“Do you want to go?” He asked frankly, and my mouth felt
horribly dry.
	“No,” I whispered hoarsely.
	“Me neither.” He said, and kissed me again.

	We didn’t even notice when Amy, Mina and Raye left, and we
were alone together. He lifted me up, easily, and sat me on the
countertop. He kissed me lazily, his mouth completely encircling mine.
My arms were still wrapped around him, like if I refused to let him go
physically, he would never leave me. I did not want him to leave me. I
honestly didn’t know what I would do if he did. It was like he held my
essence in his hands, and if he let me go, I would fall forever. I kissed
him remorselessly, and gasped as he explored other parts of my face,
his lips flitting from my eyelids to my neck. I whispered his name
softly—too softly to hear, but somehow he knew. I sensed his smile
and felt my entire body tremble. I didn’t ever want this to stop. I always
wanted to be with him here, existing completely within him and he
within me. I never wanted to have to leave his arms or even come up
for air. All too soon, however, he stopped, and held me at arm’s length.
He seemed about to say something, his eyes totally unmasked. There
was a smile on his face, but it was completely genuine and without a
trace of mockery. My lips remained parted, and I stared at him, waiting.
	But his face regained his mask again and he wrenched
violently away from me, releasing his grip from my shoulders. Not
realizing that I had been leaning on him, I fell off the counter. I saw the
floor rushing perilously close to my head, and I braced myself for
impact. And just when I expected the pain to hit, I felt his arms around
me. He lifted me gently, and pulled me to my feet. He lifted my face,
and smiled, but I recognized that his mask was back into place. What
had happened? I wondered with disappointment.
	“You know, Serena, you really are a klutz.” He said softly,
and kissed me again. I wanted more—more than I could possibly
have—but he stopped again, and turned abruptly away from me,
shutting down the shop.
	“You know, Darien.” I said finally, when I had regained my
breath and some semblance of composure. “You really are a sap.”
	He looked up from behind the counter, happily accepting the
dare in my eyes. “A sap, am I? Well, we’ll see about that. You go
mummify yourself and I’ll show you how much of a sap I am.”
	A grin split my face. “Really? What are you going to do?
Something romantic, I hope?” I fidgeted slightly and clapped my
hands. This was too much!
	Darien looked at me and then laughed in that deep voice of his
that made me want to jump him. I politely refrained, confident I would
have an opportunity soon. “So *I’m* the sap, huh? You just wait and
see.”
	Excitedly, I grabbed my sweater, two coats, mittens, gloves,
hat, earmuffs and scarf. Darien laughed again as I waddled to the
counter, eager to see what he had planned.
	“Well, are you finished already? Let’s go!” I said, my voice
somewhat muffled by the layers of clothing.
	“All right, all right!” He said, looking nearly as eager as I. He
went to the back closet, got out a leather jacket and some gloves.
	“Aren’t you going to be too cold?” I said, concerned. “Here,
take one of my jackets.”
	“Don’t worry, I don’t get cold easily.” He said, shutting off
the lights.
	“Well, at least take my scarf.” I insisted, holding it out to him.
He paused, and I didn’t dare look him in the eye. I understood Darien a
little now. He hated to depend on anyone, and hated to be thought in
need of anything. He wanted to appear totally self-sufficient, but he
wasn’t, not really. So I didn’t look in his eyes, and didn’t see the look
of indignant pride that I knew was there. But he must have been
touched, somehow, because he took it silently, and shut off the last
light. For a moment we stood together in the dark, and I dared to look
into his eyes. They were eerie in the moonlight, looking like pools of
black water.
	“Thank you.” He said finally. My muffled hand held his. I
knew how much that had cost him.

	“This is incredible!” I screamed over the wind and the roar of
the motorcycle. My hands were wrapped securely around his waist, as
much for the feel of his body underneath his jacket as for safety. My
pigtails soared happily behind me and I threw my head back and
laughed in unadulterated glee. This was the best day of my life, hands
down. I was with the man I loved, riding down a highway on his
motorcycle in the middle of the night to God knows what destination. I
could feel his laughter on my hands, traveling through my body and
making me laugh even harder. We seemed, again, to exist in harmony.
	“I love you!” I shouted into his ear, suddenly, without
thinking. I could feel him hold his breath and his sudden tension. He
smiled back at me, though, and I breathed in relief. Not until much later
would I realize that his reaction had been a warning. Although I
thought I understood Darien, there was a part of him that he had closed
off to me. It was that part that kept his fire in check, that part that
stopped him from giving me all of himself. He suddenly veered off the
highway and down several backcountry roads.
	“Where are we going?” I asked, trusting him absolutely, but
curious.
	“Just wait.” He called, keeping his eyes on the road.
	I could tell that we had been skirting the edge of the shore for
a while, and it seemed like he was inching his way closer to it. Finally,
in a place absent of both houses and lights, he stopped. Taking my
hand, we walked for a little while down a dirt path through the woods
on the side of the road.
	“Where are we?” I asked, my teeth chattering. Darien smiled.
	“Look.” He said, eyeing me speculatively. And I looked. We
were on the edge of a small inlet, rocks on either side and in the water
immediately surrounding made it obvious that it was not a hospitable
place to either sailboats or the tourist industry. It was like a last 
vestige
of the untouched beauty that this shore must once have held. In the
cold, glittering light of stars and moonlight it looked eerie, like a gate
into another world. The waves crashed on the rocks creating a glittering
cascade of pearl foam, slowly trickling back into the sea. I released the
breath I had not realized I had held.
	“Darien,” I breathed, my breath crystallizing in the air. “It’s
incredible.”
	His hand held mine. “I’m glad you like it.”
	I came dangerously close to telling him that I loved him again,
but something held me back. After a while, staring in silence, we
walked onto the sand, barely out of reach of the waves.
	“Now, Serena,” He said softly, warming my shuddering body
with his own by hugging me from behind. “Look up.”
	I wondered if he had planned this from the start. If he had
known how to do everything that would make me fall more in love with
him than I already had. But no, this is Darien, I thought. He made me
fall desperately in love with him just by being himself. So I looked up.
	I had never seen so many stars in my life. There are far too
many lights in Georgetown and downtown DC; I’d never had a chance
to see the night sky like this. Of course I had heard about it and read
about it in books, but I had never seen the fully glory of the sky before
that night. He hugged me tightly as I stared, too mesmerized to even
speak. It was as if God, in some demented, wild moment, had sprayed
the heavens with pure droplets of beauty. They were crazy and
formless, and beautiful because of it. The moon hung low in the sky,
pregnant. Darien seemed to notice it at the same time I did.
	“You remind me of the bunny in the moon.” He whispered
into my hair.
	“The bunny?” I said, turning my head to look at him. He
stared into space, remembering something painful.
	“In Japan, they say there is a bunny in the moon, not a man
like Westerners think.” I was shocked at the way he had said ‘in Japan’
like Japan was his home. But it wasn’t, was it? I knew he lived near
DC. He wasn’t looking at me, and didn’t notice my confusion.
	“Do you see it?” He asked, gesturing towards the moon. I
looked up again. At first I only saw the lips and eyes I had been taught
to see. But as he described the bunny, I began to see it. The floppy ears
and hands formed, and suddenly, there it was—like it had always been
there, but just out of reach.
	“I do!” I said finally, my voice still quiet but excited.
	“Yes, that’s what you are.” He said, musing. “ Tsuki no
Usagi.”
	He spoke the Japanese with a perfect accent.

	We lay on the sand, intertwined within one another. Well, as
much as was possible within all the confining layers of clothing I wore.
His lips gently brushed over my hair and face, his arms gripping me
tightly.
	“Do you know I’ve never brought anyone else here?” He said.
	I couldn’t think of an answer. It was possibly the most
flattering thing anyone had said to me. He had let me into his own
personal world, one I knew he guarded jealously. He didn’t seem to
need an answer though, and we kissed again. Something exploded
within us during that kiss. It was like the desires that we both had been
suppressing came boiling to the surface. Fire met fire and we began to
strip each other almost simultaneously. Although it was below freezing,
I was burning up inside, attacked by heat from all angles. I had never
been so consumed with passion. It was unavoidable; we could not stop
ourselves any more than a man can stop a train.
	Most of my clothes lay strewn around me, and I had gotten rid
of Darien’s jacket and shirt. The scarf he kept, and wrapped it around
my head, pulling me closer to him. Slowly, he unbuttoned my last shirt
and bra, freeing my breasts. My nipples hardened almost immediately,
coming into contact with the cold air. I sucked in my breath, but he
caught my mouth with his, and I forgot all about the cold. My lips
trailed down his chest and back up again, exploring places I had
dreamed of for years. We drifted together. I felt as if the sound of the
waves breaking over the rocks was really the sound of me, jumping in
and out on his tide. Except it began to sound more like the roar of a
fire, one that only burned brighter as the wind blew it. Years passed, it
seemed, and then mere seconds. Time was an illusion that burned us,
forced us to linger and then hurry. I abandoned myself to him, entrusted
my soul to him. There was no turning back from this. He would always
be a part of my life.
	And then, he stopped. We had gone further than I ever had
before, clinging to each other like our only hope, and he stopped. With
a wrench that left me gasping, he released me and pulled away. Tears
formed and then crystallized on my face, as I looked at him. He was on
his knees, breathing hard. My heart felt as if it had been ripped from its
rightful place and tossed into my stomach, to be digested. I could not
understand why he had broken away. Was he disgusted with me? Was I
too inexperienced for him? But I had *felt* it, our mutual passion, our
mutual love. Why was he unwilling to give me that? I could not speak,
when I tried to form words, they came out in a shapeless squawk that
sounded more like the cry of a lonely animal. He looked at me,
desperation in his eyes, a little wild. After what seemed like eternity, he
gripped the sand convulsively and then spoke.
	“I’m…sorry, Serena. You—you’re not like them. I just…I just
can’t do this to you.” His breathing was labored, and in the moonlight, I
saw a tear escape from his clear eyes, and trickle down his face.
	Whispering his name painfully, I crawled nearer, and wiped
the tear with my hand. In a strange gesture, I tasted it. He took my hand
in his own, and blue met blue again with an explosive fire.
	“But…kiss me, please?” He said, urgently. “Kiss me, Tsukino
Usagi.”
*********************

Hello everyone! Sorry that this wasn't out last week...but I sort of
forgot to bring the story with me last friday to send in for the
deadline. Wow, I'm really happy about the feedback I've gotten for this
story. But still...one can never have too much email! PLEASE EMAIL ME!!!
All right, all right, enough of that. So, on to thanks for those of you
who've been really awesome: Rinoa, Stelka (I really like our emails),
Bethany and Serenity Raye (who for some reason put me on their site
as a nominee for best quote of the week. I didn't win--but mine was
definitely *not* the funniest quote up there...I thought it was
wierd I got nominated anyway). Thanks you guys! This 'fic is going
to get steadily darker...we're touching on the PG-13 chapters right
about now. Don't worry though, I am a confirmed sucker for happy
endings ;D So, in honor of my *favorite* holiday (heavy on the sarcasm), 
Valentines day, here is an appropriate poem by one of my favorite poets: 
Dorothy Parker.

Unfortunate Coincidence

By the time you swear you're his
Shivering and sighing
And he swears his passion is
Infinite, undying
Lady make a note of this--
One of you is lying