Well, here I am again. A new fic by me…and it's actually longer than my usual ones. This is the first chapter of about…seven, I think. Either that or six. This is sort of a sequel to 'Understanding', but you don't have read it to understand this. However, it might be good if you do. ;)

And this might sound like a really strange thing to write in an Author's Note but, a couple of friends of mine and I are going cosplaying later (probably by the end of this month) as Pluto, Neptune and Saturn –I'm Saturn, by the way - but we would like to be the whole Outer Senshi, so if anyone of you happens to be a Swede who wouldn't mind being Uranus (or alternatively a bad guy… or Tuxedo Kamen. I really wouldn't mind that ;)) and who wouldn't mind joining us…drop me a review, okay?

And for those who want photos…drop me a review as well. :P

Well, okay, please enjoy! Reviews make my world go around:)

-Cherry

Angels and Demons

Chapter one – The Magic Can Begin

It was raining. The raindrops pounded on his injured shoulder mercilessly and he cried out in pain. He didn't know how long he'd been lying there; all he knew that it had long since gone dark and the streetlights had flickered to life quite some time ago. He had tried to get up, but his injured shoulder proved the movement impossible. He was too weak and the blood loss had been too great.

It had all been a fluke. An injury caused by extreme bad luck, topped with a hint of arrogance.

The crystalline youma they battled had been a weak one. Or, at least weak enough for the Sailor senshi to beat it without his help. Yet, he'd waited patiently from his hiding place in the trees, should the senshi – or, rather, Sailor Moon – need his assistance.

The battle had ended quickly. A well aimed tiara and it was all over.

Or so they had thought. No one had ever counted on the fact that the youma might not turn into dust the moment Sailor Moon's tiara connected with it. Instead it shattered, exploding into millions of projectiles, flying everywhere.

The senshi had reacted quickly, throwing themselves to the ground faster than his eyes could see. That way they'd managed to come out from the battle relatively unharmed, save some cuts and bruises. He, on the other hand…

He had been so certain of the fact that he was a safe distance away. So certain he didn't pay attention to the deadly projectiles. Instead he watched over the senshi, making sure they were all right. He never even saw the flying shard before it was too late.

A large crystalline shard had flown towards him, piercing through his left shoulder as if it had been made by papier-mâché.

He had staggered backwards, falling off the tree by the sheer force from the shard, his head hitting the ground below with a muffled thud. The world had spun around him before darkness had enveloped him completely…

Soft clicks from soles on asphalt echoed through the silence and jerked his mind back into the present. He forced his eyes to open when the soft footfalls suddenly stopped. A small female figure stood bent over him, and even with his befuddled mind he managed to register how beautiful she was. Water dripped from her white, almost transparent, dress and it clung onto her like a second skin, showing off her every curve. Her thick, silky hair was up in two odangos, one on each side of her head and the streetlights illuminated her uniquely styled hair softly, giving it a golden - almost ethereal - glow. But what really caught his eye were her eyes; the beautiful sky-blue eyes that seemed to shine by a power of their own.

He wanted to reach up, just to see if she was real. She looked simply divine. "Are you an angel?" he whispered.

Her eyes widened and her lower lip quivered as she spoke. "Tuxedo Kamen-sama?" she asked softly, her voice trembling with worry.

He bobbed his head once, too weak to do much else.

Her eyes seemed to fill with tears as she bent down, gripping his arms tightly. "Can you stand? I-I'll help you, Tuxedo Kamen-sama."

He moaned, his shoulder protesting widely, but with her help he managed to stagger up onto his legs, leaning heavily onto her side. He glanced at her and he noticed that she looked nervous, as if she wasn't very happy with what she had to do. It was then it dawned on him – he was dead. He'd died and she was supposed to take him. "T-Tenshi…" He nodded, a small smile gracing his lips. "It's okay."

She nodded; a determined glint sparkled in her eyes. "Here. This way," she said, bobbing her head to her right.

He nodded again as he staggered forward, placing even more of his weight on her. She gasped, her legs wavering under her.

"Gomen," he whispered, the pain from walking straining him visibly.

She shook her head. "Daijobu." She continued forward, basically carrying his whole weight on her shoulders. "We're almost there."

He nodded again, causing the world to start spinning around him once more. He just didn't have enough energy to continue anymore. He slumped against her as the darkness overcame him.

Usagi gasped as she felt Tuxedo Kamen go slack. She wavered under the extra weight, nearly toppling to the ground. "Tuxedo Kamen-sama! Wake up!" She lowered him to the ground as carefully as she could. "Tuxedo Kamen-sama!" She stared at him helplessly, her eyes filling with tears. He wasn't dead, was he?

The sight of his chest slowly rising and lowering spread shockwaves of relief through her body. She scrambled up onto her legs shakily. She had to get help.

She dashed off, running faster than she had ever before. She reached her front door mere minutes afterwards. Not wasting time on trying to regain her breath, she raised her hand, pounding on the door with a power she didn't even know she possessed. "Mama! Papa!" she called, desperation evident in her voice.

Ikuko opened the door some few moments later. "Usagi? What is it? You-" she broke off as she noticed her daughter's disheveled appearance. Her, before white, dress was soaked both with water and blood. "Usagi! What happened? Are you hurt? Did someone-"

Usagi shook her head. "Iie. It's not me." She gripped her mother's arm, trying to tug her with her. "I found that hero - you've seen him on the news, mama - Tuxedo Kamen-sama lying on the street. He's hurt! We have to help him. I tried to get him here, but he fell unconscious. Mama! We have to help him!" she shrieked.

"Kenji!" Ikuko called as she grabbed Usagi tightly in her grasp. "Usagi, I need you to calm down. You're panicking. It won't help if you panic."

"Demo, mama-"

Kenji rushed out, the evening paper still in his hand. "Koishii? What is it? Has something happened?"

Ikuko nodded. "I'll explain in the car. Usagi - you show the way."

After hearing his daughter's strange tale of finding an injured hero on the street, Kenji cursed and proceeded to floor the accelerator. His driver's license would have been history, should a police have seen him. But, he didn't care. A young man was lying out there dying: A young man who'd done so much to protect the city.

"Mama, papa…why didn't we call an ambulance?"

Kenji smiled weakly at his daughter through the rear-view mirror. "I'm afraid that it won't be an option, koibito."

"Nani? Why?"

Kenji's smile widened slightly. That was his daughter, all right. Pure hearted but naïve. "Because, do you know what would happen if the media would hear about the famous Tuxedo Kamen lying helpless in a hospital?"

His wife continued, silently urging him to keep his focus on the road. "It would become a media circus over night. And not only that, as honorable as doctors and nurses are…the temptation to find out his identity might still prove to be too big for them to resist." She shook her head sadly. "I'm afraid that bringing him to the hospital will be a last resort."

Kenji slammed the breaks suddenly and the car skidded to a halt. "This is where you said, ne?"

Usagi glanced through her window, spotting Tuxedo Kamen's still form. "Hai," she blurted quickly before rushing out, her parents following closely. "Tuxedo Kamen-sama…" she whispered.

Ikuko was the next to reach him. She kneed beside him, inspecting his injury as carefully as she could in the dim light. "It's not as bad as it looks," she stated softly. "But we need to stop the bleeding; he's already lost a bit of blood. Usagi, when we drive home I want you to press against his wound like this." She pressed both her hands over his injury, one hand on each side of his shoulder. "As hard as you can."

The trip home passed by in a blur. Afterwards, Usagi's only vivid memory of it was her hands slowly getting soaked by the masked man's blood.

"Usagi," her mother called softly, "we're home. I need you to get some bandages, a compress, alcohol…and bring it to our guestroom."

The first thing Tuxedo Kamen knew when he started regaining consciousness was pain. His head was pounding and his shoulder felt like someone had prodded it with a heated iron bar.

The second thing he noticed was that someone was carefully, almost lovingly, wiping his brow with a towel. He forced his eyes to open and managed a weak smile at the sight. The angel from before stood, hovering above him, fingers playing with a loose strand of his hair.

"Tenshi," he whispered.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "Tuxedo Kamen-sama, you're awake! How are you feeling? Are you hungry?" she bubbled nervously.

His smile widened lovingly as he tried to shake his head. "Iie. Not…hungry. Tenshi-"

She laughed softly. "I'm not an angel. My name's Tsukino Usagi."

His eyes widened. She wasn't an angel? Somehow, he found the fact hard to grasp. She was so beautiful, her eyes so kind… "Where am I?" he croaked.

"In my attic. I wanted to take you to the hospital but okaa-san and otou-san said it wouldn't be such a good idea with you being a hero and…" she broke off as she realized that she was babbling.

He smiled widely, finding the mindless babbling incredibly endearing. "How," his voice got caught in his throat and he had to clear it before he could continue. "How did I get here?"

"I found you on the street, do you remember? Well, we managed a bit on foot, but I guess you'd lost too much blood because you blacked out halfway here. So I ran home and got mama and papa with the car and they brought you here."

"Arigatou," he whispered hoarsely.

She shook her head. "It was nothing, really." And somehow he knew it was an honest answer. It wasn't just an automatic reply, she truly meant it.

She really was an angel, it didn't matter what she said. He knew she was one. She could have left him to die on the street or simply called for an ambulance and gone home, but she hadn't. She truly wanted to help. His heart felt warm just by watching her.

He cleared his throat again. "Tenshi," he whispered, his throat too dry for him to speak any louder and he had to clear his throat again.

She blushed at the nickname, but didn't comment. Then her eyes widened. "Oh," she squeaked, "I'm so rude! Gomen nasai! Your throat must be dryer than—Water, is that okay?" she spoke rapidly, her words coming out faster and faster.

He nodded and she jumped up to her feet, quickly stepping towards the door. She turned suddenly. "Anou… Would you like to borrow the phone? To call your family or…"

He shook his head. "Iie. I wouldn't know who to call even if I wanted to."

"Nani? Why?"

Tuxedo Kamen smiled crookedly, his eyes glinting sadly under his mask. "Because I don't know who I am," he paused, wondering if he could trust her with what he was about to tell her. Gazing at her honest face, he was suddenly ashamed he'd actually thought otherwise. "I am only Tuxedo Kamen. I know I have another life, another identity, if you will… But I have no recollection of it. I simply wake up whenever there's a battle and fall back into darkness whenever I'm not needed anymore."

Usagi's eyes were filled with tears. "That's sad," she whispered.

He frowned. "In fact, I should have de-transformed by now…"

"Anou…why don't you just check who you are?"

"Nani? How do you mean?"

She pointed towards a mirror hanging on the wall. "Couldn't you just take of your mask and look?"

He smiled, shaking his head softly. "I still wouldn't know my name."

She blushed. "Demo…" She bit her lip, her brows furrowing as she thought. "I could check if you want. I might know you."

He pondered her suggestion carefully before replying. "Iie, Tokyo's a big city. I could be anyone…the chance of you knowing me is rather small. And, should you know…I would be putting you at risk. The Dark Kingdome would stop at nothing to know my identity."

She nodded, accepting his decision without a beat. She smiled softly. "I'll be right back with that water."

A warm sensation spread through his stomach and for the first time in his life, Tuxedo Kamen wasn't certain exactly what he was feeling.

To be continued

Japanese translations:

Tenshi – Angel
Gomen/Gomen nasai/Gomen ne – Sorry/Excuse me
Daijobu – It's all right/I'm all right
Nani – What
Demo – But
Koishii – My love
Koibito – Sweetheart
Hai – Yes
Iie – No
Okaa-san - Mother
Otou-san – Father
Arigatou – Thank you
Anou/Eto – Um/Err