Disclaimer: I've noticed that everyone seems to do this, although I don't see the point because I don't own Sailor Moon, but since everyone else is doing it…I don't own SM, never have, never will.

A/N: This is my first shot at a fic, so bear with me and keep it in mind that this might not be the best. Basic idea: Mamoru is acting distant and Usagi doesn't understand why. When things go wrong, Usagi turns to someone for comfort, but who will it be? (I don't know myself yet but there is a possible f/f thing coming up…lemon? Is that what it's called?) Reviews are appreciated and wanted. Thanks!

Chapter 1: Heat Wave

Usagi sighed and pushed back a strand of hair that fell across her eye listlessly. The old green fan clicked and clattered as it struggled to churn the thick air, and on its last slow rotation, it coughed and died. Usagi groaned and sat up slowly; the heat was making her thin silk shirt cling damply to her body and her shorts stick to the tops of her thighs. With the old fan now dead, the air hung heavily in her room. Usagi pushed the yellowed buttons of the fan, hoping that maybe the button had just gotten stuck. When the fan did not start again, Usagi moaned.

She didn't have enough money to buy another fan and even if she did, it was too hot to walk to the store. Usagi sighed and pushed herself to her feet. The agonizing heat was unbearable, it made it hard to move or even function.

"Wish I'd have gone with Mum and Dad." She mumbled as she shuffled to the bathroom, turning on the shower. Even a boring business trip would have been better than boiling inside her home. Then again, she hadn't known that the temperature would exceed 110 degrees in the first couple of weeks of summer.

Usagi peeled off her clothes and slipped into the shower. The cold water beat down on her face and she sighed as the sticky feeling of heat was washed away and replaced with the calming fluidity of water.

She sank down against the wall of the shower, content to let the water massage her scalp and trickle over her nude body. As she sat, she let her mind wander. Mamo-chan had been acting odd lately…distant, impatient and preoccupied. No matter how hard Usagi tried to reach him, it was as if he didn't hear her…he was just off in some sort of fog. He studied all the time and never had any time to spend with her. When she tried to ask him what was bothering him, he would brush her off and tell her he didn't have time for her to be overprotective and immature.

Usagi clenched her fingers into the palm of her hand, not noticing when the little half-moon crescents pooled with blood and trickled onto her thigh.

She tried not to let Mamoru's coldness get to her, and as usual, hid her emotions beneath a clumsy mask. His distance really didn't hurt her. She knew he was just stressed out about school and things going on with the Scouts but his detached replies and snapped out answers hurt her.

She couldn't think of anything that she had done wrong and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't figure out what was wrong with him.

Her stomach clenched painfully. Usagi wrapped her arms around her middle. Tears were starting to burn her throat and her eyes and she blinked rapidly to try to clear her vision. There was no reason for her to cry. Things would work out just fine, they always did. Mamo-chan was just stressed out and he would be back to normal in a couple of days. There was nothing to worry about. Usagi sniffed and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. Then she stood up, squeezed some shampoo into her hands and worked it through her hair mechanically.

As soon as all the fruity smelling shampoo was out of her long tresses, Usagi turned the water off and stepped out of the shower. The mirror was fogged up because she had forgotten to turn the fan on and she had to wipe at the mirror to see her reflection. As she did so, blood smeared across the surface of the mirror and Usagi stared at it. She hadn't realized that her hand was bleeding.

Her eyes shifted and focused on her reflected image. She was standing there naked; beads of water still rolling down her round breasts and collecting in her bellybutton. Her long hair was slicked down with water, stuck in thick strands to her arms and the backs of her legs. Usagi looked at her face. Her eyes were the same dull blue color they had always been, and they were filmy with tears and lack of sleep. Her nose was still the same nose, slightly turned up at the end, dusted with a few freckles. A new light brown mole had just come in above the corner of her lip, and she frowned at it. She didn't need anything else messing up her face. It was undesirable enough as it was. Usagi glanced back up and met her own eyes in the mirror. They were smudged with purple underneath them. She hadn't gotten much sleep lately, what with Mamo-chan being the way he was being.

Usagi sighed and smoothed some moisturizer onto her face and body, before leaving the room with a towel wrapped around her body.

Back in her room, she opened the window, hoping that maybe a breeze had started. No such luck. She groaned and pushed the inert fan off her desk and into the garbage can. Desperately, she looked through her closet for some cool clothes. Pushing aside her denim shorts and pants, she couldn't find anything.

"Maybe Mum has something…"she mumbled and opened the door to her mother's room. It was cooler in there, with the shades drawn. The sun didn't hit this side of the house, and it was notably cooler. Usagi made her way to her mother's closet and pushed open the door. She fumbled around in the dark for a moment, trying to find the light switch, and then flicked it on. It took a moment to turn on but then it hummed and the walk in closet was lighted.

Her mom had packed almost all of her summer clothes for the trip with her husband, leaving behind only the things that didn't fit anymore and were way outdated. Usagi pushed around the clothes on hangers, thinking that maybe there was something among the winter wardrobe but nothing was. She sighed and sat down. It was nice and cool in the closet for some reason, Usagi noted. She shrugged and looked through her mom's shoes.

Then something caught her eye. There was a shoe box in the back corner, hidden beneath a duffel bag. Usagi pulled it out and opened the lid hesitantly. She felt bad for snooping and hoped that it wasn't something embarrassing like love letters from her dad to her mom or anything.

It wasn't. Inside, folded neatly was a white silk summer dress. Usagi pulled it out of the box; it was long, light and breezy. She had to try it on.

Usagi pulled it over her head, not minding that her hair was still wet or that the silk would cling to her like a second skin. The silk slid over her skin sensuously, sending goose bumps down her arms and legs, making her nipples pebble.

She looked at herself in the full length mirror hanging on the door. The dress had thin straps, and a low, scooped neckline that showed a little hint of cleavage. Three tiny pearl buttons adorned the center of the bust, and the dress clung to Usagi's curves and flowed smoothly about her thighs down to just below her knees. Usagi smiled. It felt as if she was not wearing a thing, and she felt beautiful wearing it.

Maybe Mamo-chan would forgive her if he saw her wearing this. Usagi smoothed her hair, which was flowing free about her, and smiled again. Yes, maybe Mamo-chan would want to spend time with her if he saw her like this.

Making up her mind to go see him that very moment, Usagi ran to her room, put some gloss on her lips and a spritz of rose perfume on her wrists and neck. Glancing at herself in the moon-shaped mirror, she decided that she looked pretty. The white color was good on her, bringing out her glowing complexion and sparkling eyes. She smiled at herself, put her wide-brimmed, floppy straw sunhat on her head, slipped her feet into some white, high heeled strappy sandals and ran out the door.