I Never Knew I Loved You

Michelle Nguyen

...dedicated to that once crazy week of December 25-31


    The massive building reached up over forty stories high. A man, catching the glare of the noonday sun, quickly entered the IRC building. He checked in with the desk labeled "AOL," and received his nick. He pinned the "PrinceJ" tag on and headed toward the elevator. Passing through the lobby, he saw numerous groups of people lounging in the big leather chairs centering around coffee tables. He found a group of men waiting for an elevator. The elevator door popped open, and he found himself listening keenly in on the other men's conversations. As the ten men packed in, one man turned to him. Looking down at his nick tag, the man said, "PrinceJ. Hehheh that's a funny name. I'm sure it stands for something nice. Say, what floor?"
    "S," PrinceJ said after looking at the panel with all the floor names. There was every letter of the alphabet, numbers from one to ten, and several floors for miscellaneous channels. The number of the men in the elevator thinned as four men got off at floor C and two at floor E. The man that had asked PrinceJ for his floor asked if anyone else was getting off at floor G.
    "What's of interest there?" PrinceJ asked.
    "Oh, #Gayboston. I go every day that I can," the man replied. "Whoops, here's my stop." He quickly got off the elevator with a slight skip. The other men in the elevator took a sigh of relief.
    "I don't have a problem with em," one man with the nick PowerTux said, "It's just that I like my women if you know what I mean."
    "Yeah," the other man said, "I know what you mean." The elevator stopped at floor S, and the three men stepped out into the hallway. It seemed as if there was an unending line of doors lining the hall on both sides. The men walked along looking at the different channel names. "Here's my stop!" the third man said proudly. PrinceJ and PowerTux both looked at the door where the channel name #SailorMoon was inscribed on a gold plate. Suddenly the door opened, and the man was pulled inside. The door quickly closed again, but PowerTux and PrinceJ could still feel the bad vibes radiating from it.
    "I hope that doesn't happen every time," PrinceJ said with a bit of shock in his voice.
    "Nah, not if it's a good channel it doesn't," PowerTux answered. "Say, I know a good channel called #SailorFriends. Why don't you come on by? The people are a bit weird, but I think you'll like it." PrinceJ gave his approval and followed PowerTux down the hall.


    "So is he cute?" Fuu-hime asked her best pal MoonKnigh.
    "Yeah, I would say so. Have you seen his picture, MB?" MoonKnigh asked her friend of six months.
    "No, MK. You have a copy, right? Please say that you have a copy!"
    "MB! Calm down. I have one right here," MoonKnigh said while reaching into her pocket. She pulled out a black and white computer print out of PowerTux's picture. The girls "Oooed" and "Awwwed" over his picture. They were both reclining on one of the #SailorFriends many couches. This was where the girls had their conversations about guys.
    "It's so dead in here," Fuu-hime complained. "Belldandi!" she ordered one of the bots. "Put the #SailorFriends tag on the door and take it off +secret mode!"
    "Yeah," MoonKnigh joined in, "We need more people." The bot Belldandi quickly did as ordered. "Ken sure did a good job of programming those bots. They always drive the boys crazy in those uniforms." MoonKnigh was referring to the fact that the bots were female with police-like tight uniforms. Fuu-hime rolled her eyes at MoonKnigh's obvious sarcasm. Just then the door opened and two guys walked in.
    "You would have never known this was here PrinceJ. The channel name is usually not on the door," PowerTux said to his new acquaintance. PrinceJ looked around the spacious room. It seemed as though they were no longer in a building. They were in fact in a large room equipped with a bar, kitchen, lounging area, men and women bathrooms, and a balcony. After the open balcony, there was a short drop of no more than five feet. PrinceJ saw a large oak tree in front of a lake, and beyond the lake was a dense wooded area. PrinceJ's eyes wandered back into the room. He saw three female bots named Belldandi, Skuld, and Aerith. Then his eyes fell on the two girls in the lounging area who were now standing up. The dark-haired one whispered something to the light-haired one, and they both giggled.
    "Skuld, op them both," MoonKnigh ordered one of the bots. The bot hurriedly went over to one of the larger kitchen cabinets and pulled from it two hats with the @ sign on the top. It looked heavy to PrinceJ, but when it was slipped on, it was surprisingly light. He glanced at the girl's nick tag who had given the order and saw the nick "MoonKnigh". He looked over at the dark-haired girl and saw the nick "Fuu-hime". Both girls approached the newcomer just then and held out their hands.
    "Hi, PrinceJ. It's nice to meet you," they said in unison. MoonKnigh then hugged PowerTux.
    "PT, how are you?" she asked him.
    "I've heard lots about you PT," Fuu-hime said turning to PowerTux.
    "Uh, nice to meet you too," PrinceJ said looking over at PowerTux nervously. PowerTux leaned over to whisper in his ear.
    "Watch out, these girls are kind of crazy."
    Fuu-hime pulled MoonKnigh off a distance and said, "MK, these guys are ours! You get PowerTux, and I get PrinceJ!"
    "Yeah, but how?" MoonKnigh asked her friend.
    "Just talk to him while I pull PrinceJ off for a tour!" Fuu-hime giggled. "He's soooooooooo cute!" Fuu-hime then approached PrinceJ. "Since you're new, I'll give you a tour." Fuu-hime grabbed PrinceJ and pulled him away from PowerTux.
    "Don't worry, PrinceJ. I'm pretty new myself," PowerTux reassured him.
    "Hi PT. So what's up?" MoonKnigh shyly approached PowerTux again.
    "Not much MK. Not a lot of people in here," he really hated these conversations, but he couldn't say no. Especially when he looked into her eyes and saw so much trust. They sat down and were in lovely conversation when Kahlan walked into the channel. She took one look at the two standing on the balcony and the two sitting on the couch, and wondered what she had missed.
    "Hi Aka!" Fuu-hime waved from the balcony where she had been explaining about the Undefined Territory. Kahlan waved back and then went to talk to MoonKnigh. Fuu-hime continued to explain to PrinceJ. "You see, it's dangerous for anyone to go past that lake. It's called Undefined for a reason. No one knows what will happen if you go back there especially without a nick tag. You could get lost in the IRC world forever. No magic can be used back there. Really, you shouldn't go in the lake either, and never, NEVER take off your nick tag!"
    "IRC can be pretty dangerous," PrinceJ said. "I'll protect you though." He put his arm around her. She turned bright red but leaned against him.
    "Romance on #SailorFriends. Take a look at that!" Kahlan pointed toward the couple at the balcony. MoonKnigh scooted a bit closer to the uncomfortable PowerTux.
    "If MB can get PrinceJ, I can get my guy," she thought to herself.


    "He's so wonderful!" Fuu-hime swooned. She was still standing on the balcony while the others gathered in the lounging area. Alita, Kahlan, and Rini4 were listening intently as Fuu-hime prattled on about her new-founded love. The sun was beginning to sink behind the Undefined Territory, and darkness began to set into the chat area.
    "You should have seen him," Aka contributed. "He was handsome. When am I gonna find a guy?"
    "I hear you," Alita agreed. Rini4 just nodded to show her agreement.
    "Did I do something wrong?" came a distressed and slightly pathetic voice from a dark corner of the chat room. All four girls jumped and turned toward the sound. MoonKnigh sat by herself in the darkness of one of the corners. She had her knees drawn up with her chin resting on them. "He always seems so far away when I try to talk to him. Does anyone else notice this?"
    Fuu-hime came over to put her arms around her friend. "He's probably just shy or something MK. Maybe you should just give him some space. I'm sure he'll miss you." The rest of the girls came to give their sympathy, too.
    "Yeah, MK. You be OK," Rini4 said sitting down next to the two.
    "And if he doesn't start being nicer to you, we'll kick his ass!" Kahlan declared.
    "Right! I've been itching for a nice fight!" joined Alita.
    "I'll just be back later," MoonKnigh got up to leave. The other girls murmured among themselves after her parting.
    "Oh geez! Look at the time! I've really gotta go!" Fuu-hime parted also.


    A large crowd had gathered by the time that PowerTux arrived again. The sun was fully down, and the moon began to come out. Looking over the crowd, he saw new and familiar faces. "Hm, she's not bad looking," he mumbled to himself while staring over at Kahlan, Alita, Gumbi, Rini4, and HyperGal. He walked over to the bar and got something to drink. Just then, MoonKnigh showed up again, and went over to greet PowerTux.
    "Hi PT. How are you tonight?"
    "Busy," he said coldly. "Can't a guy just get his drink in peace?" Her face fell although she tried not to show it.
    "Oh um, ok," she said while walking away. PrinceJ, seeing MoonKnigh jump over the balcony, went to talk to his friend.
    "Hey PT, I just saw MK, and she didn't look too happy. What's the matter? Charm not working?" he goaded PowerTux.
    "Prince, ever heard of that saying? Girls are like TVs, always a one-way conversation and never anything good on," he said without feeling.
    "Yeah, but you could at least give MK a chance. Imagine what girls say about guys!"
    Elsewhere, MoonKnigh threw another rock into the water. "Take that!" she yelled pretending the water to be PowerTux's face. "Guys are just like buses! When you get off one, another one will be along in twenty minutes! Well, if my bus doesn't come soon, I'm finding me a new bus stop." MoonKnigh continued to throw rocks at the water until her energy was spent from letting out frustration. She sat down under the oak tree and stared up at the rising moon. She felt like someone was watching her, and she was right.
    "Cold night," PowerTux said sitting down beside her. MoonKnigh became shy and giggly again. Also, she was at a loss for words.
    "Uh yeah," she agreed.
    "You wanna take a walk or something?" asked PowerTux.
    "Sure, but where to?"
    "Those woods look OK I suppose," he motioned to the woods behind the lake. "We could go around the side."
    "I don't know. That's Undefined Territory," she explained reluctant to give up her chance with him alone. "Maybe for just a little while." The two walked around the lake and entered the woods. Walking deeper into the forest, they found a small hill where there were no dense trees. MoonKnigh laid on her back to get a better view of the stars.
    "There's the Big Dipper," PowerTux pointed out while laying down next to her.
    "Le sigh," MoonKnigh leaned her head on PowerTux while still admiring the clear night sky.
    "She's not that bad," he thought to himself. "Maybe I have been a bit too harsh in my judgment. She's young, three years younger than me, but at fourteen she looks pretty good." All of this he thought to himself as he watched her watching the stars.
    "Baka! He doesn't really care for you!" she scolded herself inwardly. "He was so mean up until now. When we get back to being in front of everyone, I'm sure he'll be cold again." A contented silence enveloped the two young people as they just enjoyed the other's company. PowerTux felt a strange peace when he was beside her though. Suddenly, his "rabbit" jumped up looking around frantically.
    "Oh no! Where's my nick tag?" she screamed.
    "You mean you don't have it on?"
    "No, I must have lost it when I was throwing rocks into the water!" she explained.
    "We'll go back and get it then," he said. "Now, which way did we come from?"
    "I don't know!" she almost went hysterical. "We're lost!" She looked to him for reassurance. However, he could say nothing that would comfort her. For he knew, too, that they were lost.


    "Hey everyone! Whoa, a full house tonight!" Fuu-hime greeted her friends. They all looked up from their various positions about the room and greeted her back. She found her PrinceJ over by the bar having a drink and went to give him a hug. She glanced over to the open balcony and saw the full moon.
    "Ooooo," she squealed, "I want to go outside to look at it!" Dragging PrinceJ with her, she hopped down over the balcony into the soft grass outside. "Isn't it a beautiful night?"
    "Yeah," he agreed with her. "Let's go sit under the oak tree. It's much nicer near the water. I think MK and PT were out here a while ago, but I don't see them. They must have taken a walk or something." They sat under the grass holding hands when PrinceJ spoke again. "I've only known you for a few hours, but I like you already." He stopped to watch her blush and then continued. "The only problem is that I'm kind of involved in a relationship right now. I have something really good with her, but I don't want to lose you either. That's OK with you right?"
    "Um..." Fuu-hime didn't know what to say, but he took that as a consent anyway.
    "Great! I'll see you later then!" and with that he left the channel. Fuu-hime sat there stunned until Helios- came and sat down beside her.
    "Greetings, Mich-sama!" Fuu-hime just frowned.
    "What's wrong Mich?" he asked, always concerned.
    "I met a really wonderful guy today, but he's taken! And he wants me too! He wants to have two girlfriends! What am I supposed to do?" she wailed.
    "This guy sounds like trouble. Hm... tell him to !@#$ off. You deserve better than that."
    "Gee thanks Helios-. What's that?"
    "What's what?"
    "That!" Fuu-hime pointed to the shiny material lying in the grass a few feet to her left. She scrambled toward it with Helios- close behind her. "Mon dieu! It's MK's nick tag! What is she doing without it?!?"
    "Oh dear," Helios- said apparently worried. "She's not in the channel. I was hoping that she was out here with you."
    "Oh my gosh. PrinceJ said that MK and PT took a walk out here. The only place they could have gone is in the Undefined Territory. If she's out there for too long, she'll become a part of the IRC World!" Fuu-hime panicked and grabbed his shirt by the collar, "We've got to find her!"
    "OK OK, Mich-sama," Helios- tried to calm her down. "We'll find her." Helios- walked over to where he could peer into the chatroom through the balcony. He then yelled, "Everyone! Get out here now! We've got an emergency! And yes, Garret, you have to get out of your hot tub and come, too."
    "Awwww!" SailorMau complained. "I was just getting comfortable, too."
    "We don't want to know," someone replied. Out piled Ken-, TroniK, SKeLeToR, Aaron, Kahlan, HyperGal, Rini4, Alita, {Doad}, and SailorMau. They crowded out onto the balcony and asked what the emergency was all about.
    "MK is missing," Fuu-hime spoke up.
    "What?!?" Kahlan asked unbelieving. Everyone quickly jumped over the rail of the balcony and into the grass below. Their attention turned to the petite girl wringing her hands in a nervous gesture.
    "MK was last seen with PT taking a walk. Helios- and I found her nick tag besides the lake. We think that she and PT went into the Undefined Territory," she explained. Several gasps of despair were heard going through the crowd of #SailorFriends. "If we split up, we can find them before it's too late."
    "Yeah," Helios- agreed. "We can't use magic or anything in those woods, but if we go in pairs, we can find them. Let's see. How about me and Mich-sama, SailorMau and Kahlan, TroniK and HyperGal, Ken- and Rini4, SKeLeToR and Alita, and Aaron and {Doad}? We'll need flashlights too. And marking devices. No one else should get lost back there."
    "Belldandi, Skuld, and Aerith!" Ken- called to his bots. They all came rushing toward their creator. "Search the cabinets of #SailorFriends and come back with flashlights and marking devices." The bots hurried away to check all of the cabinets. They came back with six flashlights and six tubes of pink lipstick. "Just enough for each group," Ken- said as he distributed the items.
    "I'll take MK's nick tag," Fuu-hime said. "When you find her, call for the rest of us."
    "Or they can flash their flashlights three times up toward the sky. It'd be a good signal," Helios- said. The rest of the group agreed, and they each set out at different ends of the woods.


    MoonKnigh cupped the water from the stream and splashed it on her face. "If only I could use my knight powers," she was saying. PowerTux was letting her words slip in one ear and out the next. He was too busy admiring her curly locks to be listening to what she was actually saying.
    "Am I getting soft?" he thought to himself. "Maybe I just needed some time with her away from everyone else. Now because of me, she and I are lost, and I might lose her forever." Suddenly, MoonKnigh let out a loud scream. "What?" he asked while rushing up to her. In the water where she was drinking from, there was an alligator-like creature. MoonKnigh was awfully close to falling in from where she was perched. The creature opened it's jaws revealing rows and rows of sharp teeth. PowerTux acted quickly by pulling her away from the stream. The creature made an attempt to follow, but failed to get on land. PowerTux and MoonKnigh ran away from the stream as fast as they could. They collapsed in a frightened heap in some what of a clearing.
    "That was close," PowerTux said while holding her tight. MoonKnigh, too stunned by his show of affection, let him hold her for a good few minutes. Eventually her shaking stopped and he let go to start a fire. "We'll be warm once this gets started. It's the least I can do for you, MK." She curled up by the fire and watched this once cold man turn soft behind the flames.


    "I'm getting tired, and we still haven't found MK yet, Chris," Alita said while sitting down on a log.
    "It's only been two hours," SKeLeToR replied. He sat down next to Alita and shone the flashlight around their surroundings. The beam came to rest on a plant nearby. SKeLeToR walked over to it and picked it up. "Hey, Alita, do you think I could smoke this?"
    "You don't know where it's been," Alita rolled her eyes. "C'mon, we've gotta find MK. We can't do that when you're high."

    "Hm.. no magic in forest?" Rini4 asked Ken- when her third attempt to sit vertically on a tree failed.
    "No magic," Ken- replied. "Rini, we can't rest. MK's out there, remember?"
    "Rini remember," she said and got up to continue their search. "They probably on other side of forest."
    "This forest doesn't end," Ken- said quietly. "Anyhow, let's go on."

    "Hey Tronik! Let's go!" HyperGal shouted. Seeing TroniK sitting dejected on the ground, HyperGal skipped over to him. She yelled into his ear, "What's wrong?!?" TroniK winced but continued to pick at the grass at his feet. HyperGal, getting angry, stated, "Listen, I know you don't like MK that much, but she's out there without her nick tag! You're a jerk if you don't care!"
    "I do care!" TroniK shouted back. "I feel like this is all my fault. I've always called her a 'fat, ugly bitch with no life,' and now she's lost." He finished, deflated, by putting his head in his hands.
    "It's OK, TK," HyperGal gave TroniK a quick hug. "You can redeem yourself by helping to look for her. Your big bad attitude doesn't fool everyone," she added with a wink.

    "Great, just great," Kahlan pointed at the tree. She and SailorMau had been walking for hours, and the tree they came across had the same pink mark that Kahlan made near the beginning of their search. "We're getting no where fast, thanks to you Garret."
    "Me? What did I do?" SailorMau asked perplexed.
    "You are the one leading, and we've been walking in circles!" Kahlan exclaimed while resting on a fallen tree trunk. "If I weren't so tired, my foot would say 'hi' to your ass, you know."
    "You just really like me," SailorMau replied. Kahlan rolled her eyes and grabbed the flashlight.
    "Gimme that!" she said, and they plunged off into the Undefined Territory again with Kahlan leading.

    "Did you ever meet that guy that she's supposed to be with?" {Doad} asked Aaron.
    "No, but from what I heard, he treats her badly, kind of like you, Kenly," Aaron stated.
    "What do you mean?" {Doad} didn't have time to finish all of his questions because a gigantic monster appeared out of the dense trees. It roared three times and looked ready to attack.
    "Hey Kenly," Aaron said while backing up, "We can't become knights in this forest."
    "Yeah, I know," {Doad} backed up, too. "You know all that knight training I put you through? Well, now's a good time to forget about it and run!" With that, {Doad} took off trying to climb a tree. Aaron, being brave, picked up a large oak branch lying nearby. He let out a yell louder than the monster's and ran toward it. The monster, clearly taken by suprise, stood there stunned for a few seconds. A few seconds was all that Aaron needed to spear it through. {Doad}, looking awfully sheepish, climbed down from the tree and congratulated his friend. Together they managed to cut off the monster's bear-like leg with Aaron's pocket knife.
    "We might need this to survive on," stated Aaron.


    "MK!" yelled Fuu-hime. "I hope she's ok. We're running out of lipstick." She looked down at the tube of pink lipstick now only one-fourth full.
    "MK! PT!" Helios- yelled.
    "Oh look!" Fuu-hime pointed to her left. "I think I see a campfire!"
Clutching MoonKnigh's nick tag, she ran toward the source of light with Helios- close behind her. When Fuu-hime reached the small clearing, she saw MoonKnigh lying asleep on a make-shift pillow with PowerTux hovering over her. MoonKnigh was almost transparent.
    "I'm sorry MK," PowerTux was saying while clasping her hand, "That I wasn't a nicer person to you. I never knew I loved you until now." He looked up and saw Fuu-hime. She tossed him the nick tag which he pinned on the still transparent MoonKnigh. Then he bent to give her a kiss. Just then, Fuu-hime felt a hand on her butt and turned around to see the sheepish Helios-.
    "I.. I stumbled," he nervously offered the excuse.
    "Fuu-hime's eyes grew wide and she raised her hand to give him a smart slap.
    "You PERVERT!" she screamed with all her might. Turning her attention back to the couple by the fire, Fuu-hime saw MoonKnigh's eyes fluttering and her complexion going back to normal. PowerTux looked up questioningly at the two.
    "We saw the camp fire," Fuu-hime offered. The other five groups came onto the scene as MoonKnigh fully recovered.
    "Did you guys see the campfire, too?" PowerTux turned toward them.
    "No, we hear Fuu-hime scream," Rini4 shrugged. Helios- turned bright red. Garret approached him with a nudge.
    "The ol' stumble-into-the-butt trick, eh?" he asked. Kahlan turned and gave him a withering glare. "I know, I know," he said. "Your foot wants to meet my ass."
    "No, my twinkie wants to meet your head," she stuck out her tongue before walking over to MoonKnigh. The girls all gathered around their lost friend asking if she was all right. She assured them that she was.
    "PT and I aren't gonna get a moment alone," she thought. "But he admitted it! He loves me!"
    "Hey guys," Ken- brought everyone's attention over to him, "The flashlights are all dead. We must have used all the batteries up."
    "Maybe we should stay here for the night," SailorMau suggested. "The sun will be up in a few hours, and then we can follow our trail back."
    "Yeah," agreed Aaron, "Kenly and I have food." He showed them the leg of the monster that he had killed for. They cooked the meat and sat around the campfire telling their adventures until the sun came up, and they headed back toward the chatroom.


    Seeing the crowd of bedraggled people, Gumbi, Deathwing, RotteD, and Pochacco, got up to stare out the balcony.
    "We missed something, didn't we?" RotteD pointed out. MoonKnigh, being carried by PowerTux, giggled and sighed against his shoulder.
    "No, guys, you didn't miss anything," said Alita sarcastically. After the crowd of people climbed back into the chatroom, Fuu-hime was the only one left outside staring at the water. PrinceJ sneaked up behind her and gave her a big hug.
    "Did you miss me?" he asked her. She was exhausted and dirty, but she turned a brilliant smile to him.
    "Oh yeah, I sure did," her voice said dripping with sarcasm. Her punch took him off guard, and he turned and ran back into the chatroom. Helios- came out onto the balcony.
    "Hey Mich-sama, did you talk to him?" he yelled at her. She came to stand by the balcony.
    "Nah, but my fist did," she smiled. "Ya know, I was thinking, Helios. PowerTux had MK's love all along, but he disliked her until he got to know her. She disliked him when she thought that he didn't care, and he didn't know that he loved her until he was going to lose her. You think maybe love is something that most people have, but don't understand enough to appreciate?"
    "Maybe, Mich-sama, maybe..."

The END


 * BTW, all the people that I mentioned in #SailorFriends are portrayed from MY viewpoint. OK, OK, so I stretched the truth a little when portraying these characters:P

So what did you think? E-mail me. I'd love to hear from you! You can also find me on #SailorFriends.

This fictional story was completed on December 31, 1997.