Title: Birthdays and Baseballs
Theme: "Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we 
cannot live within." -- James Baldwin
Version: Anime
Genre: General
Rating: PG-13

	Today was her 21st birthday.

	Normally, that would have meant spending the entire day getting ready 
for the extravagant ball held every year in honor of her and her mother’s 
shared birthday, but Serenity and Helios had decided to spend the day in 
Elysion instead, holding their own private celebration.

	And celebrate they did. As she waited for her husband to return with 
her birthday breakfast, Serenity giggled privately to herself, her skin still 
tingling from their early morning love-making session. She was so glad that 
they had decided to sneak away for the day. As much as she liked celebrating 
her birthday with her mother, it was nice to have the day devoted only to 
herself for once.

	“You certainly look happy,” Helios commented, coming back a short 
time later carrying a breakfast tray loaded with some of her favorite food.

	Stretching blissfully, Serenity sat up and wrapped herself up in the 
silken sheets so that he could place the tray on her lap. “That’s because I 
am happy,” she said, kissing Helios when he joined her back in bed. 
“Extremely, completely, totally happy. This has got to be the best birthday 
ever!”

	“The day isn’t over yet,” he reminded her. “There’s still plenty of 
surprises in store. I haven’t even given you my present yet.”

	“Ooo, present! Give me!”

	Helios laughed, pouring her a glass of orange juice to go with the 
obscenely large stack of blueberry pancakes he had made her. “Breakfast 
first, then present.”

	Serenity playfully pouted, but she had built up quite an appetite 
earlier, so she dug right in to her breakfast, finishing off all the 
pancakes, sausage, and fresh fruit. “Mmm-mmm-mmm, that was delicious,” she 
said, wiping the corner of her mouth with a napkin. “I am full. I don’t think 
I can eat another bite. My compliments to the chef.”

	“Thank you.” 

	Reaching for the tray, Helios set it aside, then walked over to the 
chest of drawers, where he pulled out a small, rectangular-shaped box, 
wrapped prettily in pale pink paper and curled silver ribbon. Serenity’s eyes 
lighted up when she saw it, and she immediately held out her hand, anxious to 
see what was inside.

	“Let me see, let me see!”

	“You know, you may be twenty-one today, but you haven’t lost your 
inner child, have you?” he asked, chuckling as he placed the box in her 
outstretched hand. “Here you go. I hope you like it.”

	“I’m sure I’ll like whatever it is, Helios. Thank you.”

	As she did whenever she received a gift, Serenity first shook the 
small box, wondering what it might be. By the size and shape of it, she 
thought it might be a bracelet or maybe even a necklace, but the box was 
surprisingly light and didn’t make a sound. In fact, if she didn’t know 
better, she would have thought it was empty, but Helios was not the type to 
play such a cruel joke on her, so Serenity untied the ribbon and ripped off 
the paper, her face falling slightly when she opened the box and saw what was 
inside.

	“Oh! Baseball tickets,” she said with as much enthusiasm as she could 
muster, quickly smiling again to hide her disappointment.

	One of their first official dates had been to a Giants/Swallows game. 
Since Serenity hadn’t had much experience with boys beforehand and wanted to 
plan an outing that Helios might enjoy, Sailor Jupiter had suggested she take 
him to his first baseball game. Helios ended up loving it, and ever since 
then, Serenity had feigned an interest in baseball, even though she actually 
thought the game was incredibly boring.

	“They’re for Koshien,” he pointed out excitedly. “Plus, they’re great 
seats, right behind home plate. The game isn’t until later this summer, but…” 
His voice drifted off, and he frowned. “You hate them, don’t you?”

	Serenity glanced up in surprise. “What? No, of course not. These 
are…great. Super, even. I can’t wait to go.”

	“Don’t lie to me, Serenity,” he said. “You actually don’t like 
baseball, do you?”

	“The truth?” Helios nodded, and she sighed, handing the box back to 
him. It looked like it was time for the mask to come off. “You’re right. I’m 
not really a baseball fan. It’s just that after I took you to that one game, 
you liked it so much that I felt like I had to pretend to like it, too. And I 
tried to like it, really I did, but…”

	“…you don’t,” he finished.

	“I’m sorry.”

	Pulling Serenity toward him, Helios wrapped his arms around her and 
kissed the top of her head. “Oh, maiden, it’s okay,” he said. “I didn’t fall 
in love with you because you liked baseball. I just wish you would have told 
me sooner. I never would have given you those tickets if I had known.”

	“We can still go,” she said. “After all, they were my present, and it 
would be a shame to let them go to waste.” 

	“You wouldn’t mind?”

	Serenity looked up at him and shook her head. “As long as I’m with 
you, I always have a good time, no matter where we are,” she declared, 
kissing him on the cheek. “But, you know, there is one form of baseball I 
enjoy quite a bit.”

	“Oh?”

	Wearing a seductive smile, she began untying the pair of drawstring 
pajama pants he had put to go to the kitchen. “The teams only consist of one 
player each, and there are no uniforms, but…if you’re lucky, you just might 
get to second base. Wanna play?”

	“Let’s play ball!”

DISCLAIMER: "Sailor Moon" is the property of Takeuchi Naoko.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Any comments or criticisms can be sent to me at 
ElysionDream@aol.com. Written for the sm_monthly community at
Livejournal.