an unsatisfying tale of separation.

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1. Fragged.

Usagi hadn't given up on their love until now. When they'd watched Esmeraude disappear with her high-pitched screeching, and Tuxedo Kamen had finally offered to bury the hatchet, and she'd chased after him, promising to take only what they could have at that time, she had more hope than ever before. She'd win him over yet! Nothing could be so bad, she'd thought, that she could ever wish to be separated from her prince. The price her mother had paid to give them this new chance, she'd known he was her soulmate.

And it had been hard before that point. He'd broken her heart constantly; given her several THOUSAND reasons they shouldn't be together ...most chiefly that he wasn't in love with her. She had ignored his cruelty, or tried to, always hopeful that some explanation would be made that would make him stop lying to himself. But there were times when she allowed herself to doubt his love. Even then, thought, she had blamed only her own shortcomings, which were many, and had hoped that one day she could improve herself enough to please him.

—That had been the hardest part for her back then, when she had realized that even Chibiusa, a child, had felt sorry for her.

And yet, Usagi had persevered, never giving up, even though it made her friends and Luna so uncomfortable.

She now winced in pain. Dimande held her hands high above her head and then forced his kisses on her. He invaded her mouth with his tongue, albeit gently, clearly trying to elicit some feeling from her besides absolute and total disgust. She hadn't come close to kissing Mamoru like this, much less a demon from the future who claimed to love her.

She had begged, pleaded, for him not to touch her… she didn't know him! She was fourteen!

He told her that Endymion had given her to him, in exchange for the Rabbit — Chibiusa, who had been this Black Moon Family's ultimate goal. It made no sense, Usagi thought as she struggled with the demonic pervert; and no, she would never believe that!

Oh but yes, Dimande insisted. "You can't possibly know what a boon this way!" Dimande insisted with impassioned glee. "We wanted the Rabbit, but ultimatley, it was only to get to you." Dimande was positively gleaming with pride. "So when your so-called 'prince' offered a trade..." and he laughed as he climbed over her.

"He'd never do that!" Usagi struggled, knowing her powers were sapped in this strange palace. And she screamed her disbelief until Prince Dimande quieted her protests with his mouth.

She bit his tongue, one of the few powers she had left, and tasted blood. But she she opened her fearful eyes, he looked at her with even more excitement, then opened that strange black moon on his forehead, revealing an awful third eye, and suddenly her body felt like dead weight. He kissed her then, and this time, screaming inside that she didn't want to be doing this, she'd kissed him back, in ways she didn't even know a pair could kiss. She couldn't control her own body; it was reacting in ways she didn't even know were possible.

He picked her up and, as if she were really responding to him instead of his sick mind control, he lathed her neck with soft kisses as he took her to the bed. Her mind screamed in horror anew as he lay on top of her, deepening their kisses; the humiliation was worse than anything she'd ever known, and she'd had a lot of humiliation before. This was different; soul-tearing, and when his kisses grew too forceful and he nipped her neck, to her own horror, she moaned in approval instead of screaming in horror.

Her seemingly positive approval was invitation for Dimande to start unzipping her dress… a dress he'd put on her when she was blacked out. Just the thought of what he'd already seen and possibly done made her scream inside with horror anew! He couldn't possibly be even human; she was crying inside, and begging him to stop, but …didn't he HEAR her anguish, somewhere within his mind control of her body?

She finally had a moment, when thinking of what Mamoru would do if he could see her now, when her sheer will bent Dimande's control back on itself, and she'd fought him successfully, if only as a 14-yr old could do: she brought her knee up forcefully into his groin and scratched his face, then hoisted her body up, rolling him off her. At the same time, she rolled the other way and kept rolling until she dropped off the bed and slammed to the hard floor. Now she tasted blood in her own mouth...

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That was a long time ago, Eternal Sailor Moon sighed as she stood in Elysion with the whole troupe, including Tuxedo Kamen. When it had come to light that Tuxedo Kamen held the power of the Golden Crystal in his soul, much as she held the Silver Crystal which Nehellenia was seeking, both her Silver Crystal and Kamen's Golden Crystal found each other, and bound together of their own accords, to powerfully and without doubt defeat the self-styled 'moon queen'.

Chibiusa, at the moment of Nehellenia's defeat, bound towards Sailor Moon, happiness bubbling about her, and latched onto Moon's neck as she squealed in delight. The other Senshi were just as happy. Kamen had, smartly, stayed back, making it easier for them both to part civilly later, as they must always do.

"Yes, it's wonderful," Sailor Moon said with as much joy as she could muster to the ecstatic Sailor Mars. She added, "That woman won't terrorize our world anymore." She swallowed. Hard. How many more detrimental enemies would they have to fight like this? She tried to stay her tears and she followed Mars' animated joy:

"I mean did you SEE that new attack I had?" Mars shouted, spinning in place to mimic it again without actually catching Elysion on fire.

Sailor Venus was just as giddy, gleaming with pride that the love of Kamen and Moon had, again, and miraculously, save the planet yet again! Surely this would be a turning point for the Princess; she forgive now, seeing that Mamoru had the Golden Crystal! She gleamed at a stoic-looking Tuxedo Kamen.

But Jupiter had caught on quickly, watching Usagi — Eternal Sailor Moon — stand there with an expression that nothing could seem to break through, not even the destruction of this ancient Moon menace. 'Damn,' she thought to herself; nothing had changed. Again. Nothing ever really did.

.

Days later, Mamoru drove by the sixteen-year old future ruler of the planet's home and pulled over. He jumped out of the car and ran to catch up with her; she hadn't slowed, but she did turn around politely as he approached her. "Usagi!" he said, somewhat out-of-breath from the quick sprint.

She swallowed hard and bowed her head politely. "Mamoru."

His hands reached for her arms after she smiled, but he halted when she flinched away from his touch. Disappointed, he asked meekly, "Can we at least talk, Usagi? We've just defeated the worst enemy we've faced yet; and we did it together!" —And Chibiusa was so proud: their daughter felt that she was a living testament of the power which had manifested when her parents' crystals had combined to take down Nehellenia.

Unfortunately she had been just as crushed when Usagi had shown absolutely no elation in the same aftermath.

"Usa.. I've, um, considered this a lot; I hope you have too," Mamoru pleaded. "It's clear, more now than ever, that the universe has bound us together!"

"That was clear when you helped me get the new moon rod last year, Mamoru," Usagi said softly cautiously. "But again—"

"—And we'll keep getting thrown together," he argued passionately. "Because we're destined; we love each other! You know it, I know it… our daughter attests to it all the time!"

Usagi bowed her head; at no time had she expected the little girl to continue popping up in the past after Usa had opted to try very hard to avoid that future. As of yet, none of her actions had been enough to have changed their future. The world would die one day, from what she'd seen of the darkened Crystal Tokyo, and it would be essentially by her hand, due to her former desire to stay in a toxic, hateful relationship. To her, Chibiusa was a living testament of that hurt and pain that was to come, and keep coming, for the next thousand years.

—And yet Usagi had no desire whatsoever to hurt the child. "I'm sorry about hurting Chibiusa, Mamoru; it was never my intention."

"I understand you're upset about what happened in Crystal Tokyo," Mamoru said softly, his voice dripping with adoration. "I know you can't stand to see me; I've accepted it all these years; I've given you your space."

"I don't hate you, Mamoru," Usagi interjected, her voice quivering. How many damned times had they been over this? She LOVED the man, and always would.

"But what we accomplished against Nehellenia, Usako…" his eyes had brightened momentarily as he readied his argument, but dimmed when he saw her flinch, yet again, at the term of endearment. He pushed forward: "That couldn't have happened if it weren't for our love! We all see it; Chibiusa sees it! …why can't you see it?"

Usagi steeled herself. "Mamoru, you promised we wouldn't have this conversation again—"

"That was before Nehellenia!" Mamoru argued, this time grabbing her face whether she liked it or not. He KNEW she loved him; he KNEW she wasn't interested in anyone else. He pulled her in suddenly for a kiss, peppering several small kisses on her lips before going for the gold. He was going to win her affections today, and put all this hurt behind them. Strike while the iron was hot—

Usagi fought a strong desire to give in, but when his hands grabbed her face and he started forcing his kisses on her, she was immediately drawn back two years into the past, in Crystal Tokyo, when Dimande had done similarly. Usagi screamed and let out a sob, like she had tried, and failed, to do in Crystal Tokyo. Offended, she pushed Mamoru away as much as she'd wanted to push Dimande away. Tears were streaming down her face as she turned to run from him.