HIDDEN EYES
				By MoonKlutz


	She skipping down the street cheerfully, her hands swinging in time as she smiled 
brightly, humming something I can’t hear.  Her hair is swaying behind her and she seems as 
happy as ever.  But I know there is something more too her.  I can’t quite place it, a memory, a 
dream perhaps?  She has no idea that I am following her.  Naïve, but it suits her.  I walk slowly 
behind her at a more stately pace.  As slow and controlled a step as hers is boisterous and 
unconfined.  Who is she?  The girl all call Serena, and some say looks like Sailor Moon.  But that 
is impossible.  She couldn’t handle the responsibility.  But from the conversations of the scouts 
that I, in my other form have listened too, they plan to meet at the temple today.  Could it be the 
Shinto temple she is always racing off too?  I have written down the time this time.  I hope, that 
maybe chance will guide me to them, maybe I could help them… We have never shared 
information before, but I would help them as much as I can.  Especially their leader, as flighty as 
she seems, I am drawn to her, as I am drawn to the other two.  My princess and yes, this girl who 
has caught my eye by a chance test paper, or shoe to the head.  Chance meetings that I can savor 
for the few moments they last.   I look at my watch.  The meeting the scouts would hold today 
should start right about now.  Maybe she isn’t her…  But wait!  She stops, looks at her watch and 
wails at super-sonic levels, (we really should measure that on the decibel scale, I note to myself) 
“OH NO!  I’M SOO LATE, REI’S GONNA KILL ME!” And dashes off in the direction of the 
Shinto temple.  I duck into a back-alley, change to my other form and follow the dust trail she has 
left behind.  She does end up at the temple and as I land on the roof, a very angry Rei stands at 
the steps, which Serena is racing up.
	  “Serena you ditz!  Why are you late this time?  You’re our LEADER, the least you 
could do is show up on time!! Sailor business is important business!” she screeches at her.  I hold 
down the urge to come to her rescue, and sweep her away from the whole scene.  I have perfected 
resisting that urge by now. 
	She sniffs a few tears back miserably.  “I’m really sorry Rei, but being Sailor Moon is 
really exhausting and I didn’t get much sleep lasts night, and…” she trails off at the smoldering 
look in the other girl’s eyes. ‘Ah ha! She is her!’
	Rei sighed resignedly.  “Forget it Serena… I’ve heard that one already.  Lets get down to 
business shall we?”  The other girls who have stood in the background until now nod and make 
small sounds of agreement.  The all take a place around the small pool to my left and start talking.  
The blue haired one…(Ami?) speaks first. 
	“I finally finished the program on my mini-computer to locate the seven rainbow 
crystals.” She says in a small voice.  The others brighten immediately and smile, Serena patting 
her on the back.
	“Wait a go Aims!  I don’t know what we would do without you!”  She says supportively 
and Ami seems to gain some strength and courage, softly thanking her.  
	“So who is the next rainbow crystal carrier?”  Lita asks curiously. 
	“A local artist named Peggy Jones, alias Lonnie Loni.”  Ami replies.
	“Why don’t we check it out?” Mina offers.  “The exhibit I mean.  Maybe get some 
information on her and check it out the paintings while we’re there? Maybe remove the rainbow 
crystal without any pain?”
	“It’s a good idea Mina, but you’re busy today.”  A small white cat speaks up.
	“Yeah and I have temple work to do.” Adds Rei.
	“Cooking seminar.” Lita says glumly.
	“CCAT testing.” Ami gives in.
	“I guess that leaves me!” Serena says brightly.  “I’ll call Molly and Melvin and we’ll 
check it out!” She finishes, standing up.  “See you guys around!” and she flies off the temple 
grounds, hopping onto a bus before I could follow her.  ‘Well, I might just check this out… Two 
birds with one stone.’ I figure to myself as I fly away to my apartment.  ‘See Serena and gather 
information on the rainbow crystals…. Perfect.’
	I walked briskly towards the building, glancing at the posters of this girl’s artwork as I 
make my way to the exhibit.  One painting caught my eye and I pause to look at it.  A man in a 
tuxedo and my princess, skating on a beautiful lake.  It takes my breath away, that she could 
depict my dreams so readily…  But I must concentrate. I start forward again, only to slam into 
someone as her books and glasses fall to the ground.  
	“Oh hey, I’m really sorry… Let me help you.” I offer as I start putting her books back in 
order.  She manages to find her glasses and stares in shock at me.  
	“It’s YOU!  It’s YOOOU! I don’t BELIEVE it!” she gasps, standing up at the same time 
as me…  After a moment she starts begging me to model for her.  Me?  Model?  Never again!  It 
was… I don’t want to get into that. And then, from nowhere, Serena appears at my side.
	“Ah-ha!  Caught you in the act, Darien!  Oh, Rei will be sooo steamed!” she squeals 
happily.  The girl glances at her and her eyes open even wider, if that’s possible.
	“You’re perfect!  Please say you’ll model for me!” she begs, grabbing Serena’s sleeve.
	“ME?  MoDeL?!”  She repeats incredulously.  
	“I’m making a painting, I was looking for the perfect models!  You two are them!”  She 
exclaims happily.  Somehow, I mange to get myself talked into it.  An afternoon with Serena was 
something I just couldn’t miss.  
	Half an hour latter I found myself walking towards Peggy’s house, when a familiar 
meatball headed girl rounded the corner in front of, me turning onto the same street as I.  I step 
forward nervously, and catch up to her.  
	“Hey Serena, mind if I join you?” I ask in my most confident voice possible as I fall into 
step with her.  She glances at me.
	“You’re actually calling me Serena?” she asks, a bit startled. 
	“Sure.  I can try to be nice, can’t I?” She answers me with a suspicious look.  I smile at 
her.  “Oh come on.  I can’t be that bad, can I?”
	“Sometimes you are… teasing me when I’m down and stuff…” she says quietly.  I can’t 
stand that hurt look on her face.
	“Well then, I’ll stop.  Only to make you happy you know.” I say calmly.  She pauses and 
looks up at me.
	“You will?  I mean, thanks and all… but why?  I thought you hated me!”  
	“Not in the least Serena.  You’re just fun to tease…” I trail off as we come to the steps of 
the house.
	“Yeah?  That’s surprising… Though I never really hated you either.  You just seem to 
pop up at the worst times in my day, you know?”  I ring the bell and nod.
	“Yeah, I know.”  Three simple words, but it makes my day to see the smile they bring to 
her face.  Like sunshine in a storm or something, she always manages to brighten the darkest of 
days for me!  An amazing feat…
	“Oh Hi!  You guys are right on time, come on in!” Peggy says cheerfully.  I note the 
flashing light in Serena’s bag as soon as she opened the door.  A connection perhaps between the 
crystals and sailor moon?   We enter the house, taking the time to admire it.  It’s filled with 
flowers and paintings of my princess and I.  Each painting strikes some forgotten chord in my 
memory, which I can’t quite place.  The paintings of other couples too.  Like I should know them 
by now…   Serena is immediately drawn to a large picture window that looks out over her 
garden.
	“Totally classic!  It’s beautiful Peg!”  She exclaims while staring awestruck at the many 
plants there.  If she reacts like this to Peggy’s garden, how would she react to my rose garden at 
the orphanage?  I could only imagine.  I sit down on the couch where I can watch Serena with out 
looking like it, but Peggy winks at me.  I think she knows, so I give her a look that begs she not 
say anything.  She nods understandingly and smiles to herself.  Great.  Looks like she’s gonna 
play matchmaker on me.  I hate it when people do that!
	“Okay Serena, why don’t you have a seat, and I’ll start on the preliminary sketch?” she 
offers, placing a cushion conveniently close, next to me.  
	“What?  You want me to sit next to that?” She asks, managing to tear at my soul for a 
minute that seems to last an eternity.
	“My thoughts exactly.” I say, trying to brush it off, like I don’t want to sit next to her 
either.  “In fact, I bet you couldn’t sit still for five minutes!” I tease.  She never has been able to 
turn down a challenge from me before...
	“Oh yeah?  You’re on!” she says defiantly and plops down next to me.   Peggy smiles at 
me.  Reverse psychology is definitely a good thing in my world right now.  But can I handle 
sitting this close to her for that long without doing something?  I doubt it… She really is very 
pretty… I note, glancing at her out of the corner of my eye.  I almost cracked a smile when I 
looked away, but knew she was looking at me.  What was she thinking?  Hopefully not that I’m a 
class act jerk again…  
	“Ohhh! Cosmic!”  She says softly, but surprisedly.
	“Problem?” I ask her, looking over.
	“No!  And it’s none of your business Darien!” She humph’s before looking away angrily.    
I smile.  ‘She’s so cute when she’s mad…’ I think and have to keep myself from laughing.  
Instead I smile secretly and look out the window at the roses.  They always seem to be able to 
distract me well enough.  And Peggy sure has a lot of different kinds… The hour flew by and I 
was startled when Peggy told us we could move again.
	“Huh?” I look up and see Serena already walking over to Peggy with a cookie in each 
hand looking at the sketch.
	“Hey that’s really good!” she said enthusiastically.  “Pegs you’re amazing!”  Meanwhile, 
I got up and started to look at the other paintings.  There are a few of them that strike particularly 
strong emotions in me.  Anger, hatred, love, regrets, loss… But one… It is of the Princess and I, 
standing on the balcony in my dream, and she is giving me the star locket!  I gasp and pull it out 
of my pocket where it always rests and lift the top for a moment, savoring a few seconds of the 
music before I close it and put it away, sighing quietly to myself.  When will I ever learn?  I close 
my eyes and look back to the dream for some hint, some clue that will help me.  The only thing I 
see is the locket and the princess, handing it to me.  ‘Until we meet again, so you won’t… 
forget…’ I can hear her say softly.  I hold back the tears and gain my resolve again, opening my 
eyes.  I notice that Serena has been staring at me, probably since I played the music.  
	“I’ve… got to go.  I’d love to see the finished painting sometime Peggy.  See you latter.” 
I say as calmly as I can and walk out the door, leaving the two to stare after me.
	“He’s got a terrible past and some dark secrets doesn’t he?” I hear Peggy ask Serena 
through the door.
	“Yeah… I wonder what?”  Serena replied dazedly, and I step off the porch, heading 
home.   
To be continued…
Just a two parter folks… Have a good day!
Moon Klutz
moonklutz@yahoo.com