A/N: Apologies to all bows head humbly, I kind of made a mistake so I'll just make this chapter longer.
A 5-year old girl and 11-year old boy were walking down the road hand-in-hand on their way to the girl's house. Both were silent, knowing that this was probably their last meeting.
They finally reached their destination, stopping at the front door. The boy released the small girl's hand.
"Mamoru, do you really have to go?" the girl asked entreatingly, her big blue eyes swimming with tears.
"Don't worry Usagi, I'll come back." the boy reassured her, stooping down to see her face, cupping her chubby cheeks with his hands.
"You promise?" she asked, her voice rising up a pitch as she tried to quell her tears.
"I promise, Meatball Head." he answered, pinching her cheek. She giggled a little at his nickname for her.
"Goodbye, Usagi." he said one last time as he laid a gentle kiss upon her forehead. He stood up and walked away, leaving a little girl quietly crying under the pale moonlight.
Usagi waited in vain, much to her dismay. Sitting in a table outside a small burger joint, she waited.
"What on earth have I done to deserve this?" she thought sulkily. By 'this' she meant being stood up by a date. Lord only knows what she was still doing there. Perhaps she somehow felt that something was going to happen soon. Something unexpected.
If she only knew how true her thoughts were.
She sipped at her coke can, not noticing the person coming in her general direction.
There was a slight breeze that carressed her long blonde pigtails. She closed her eyes for just a moment. When she reopened them she found, much to her surprise, someone standing in front of her.
"Usagi?" the man said her name disbelievingly, as if he was seeing a ghost.
"Excuse me?" Now some guy she had never seen before was calling her by name. Could this day get any worse?
He smiled, amused. "Don't you remember me?"
Usagi's delicate brows met in frustration. Wasn't it obvious that she didn't know, didn't even recognize, the man?
"I'm sorry, I don't and for your information, I don't appreciate talking to strangers." was her curt reply.
His smile grew even wider. "Stranger? Let me refresh your memory, Meatball Head."
Her head snapped up at the mention of the nickname. Her eyes were mere slits.
"What did you just call me?" she asked threateningly.
"I called you Meatball Head." he answered, unfazed by her irate voice.
It was the last straw. She stood up, jabbing his chest with her finger.
"For your information, my name is Usagi Tsukino, not Meatball Head, and no one has ever called me that since... since..." she broke off her sentence. It finally dawned on her who he was.
"Mamoru!" she shrieked, her voice shrill enough to shatter glass.
"Would you please be quiet." He said as he shook the ringing from his ears.
Usagi could only gape at him. "But... but you don't look the same at all!"
"And you haven't changed a bit." He pointed at her hairdo.
"What on earth are you doing here?" She asked, incredulous.
He gave her a funny look. Was his being here so unbelievable that she had to gawk at him like that?
"I've finished my studies so I came back from the States."
Just then, a red sportscar screeched to a halt in front of the burger joint. A blonde guy was in the driver's seat, calling out to Mamoru: "C'mon, we gotta go!"
With one last wink and a wave of his hand, Mamoru got into the passenger's seat and they drove off. Poor Usagi was left in a state of shock.
"Aargh!" Usagi blurted out loud as she collapsed on her bed.
She couldn't believe it! Mamoru came back! Of all the people she had to meet unexpectedly, it had to be him! It wasn't enough that he called her meatball head. It wasn't enough that he never ceased teasing her. He had to come back!
Usagi had to admit that he was her childhood crush. She was heartbroken when he had left. She could still remember the last time they were together. It was the first time that he had been gentle with her. He wasn't teasing her; he wasn't even being obnoxious. He even kissed her forehead! She cried because he was being too kind. Mamoru had said goodbye too soon. After that, she had longed for him to come back but seeing that it was an impossiblity, she just pushed the thought of him to the back of her mind. It was easy to forget about him since she was still young. There were still lots of things to occupy her mind.
But seeing him again changed everything. The moment he called her by her nickname, she remembered everything. How they had played as kids. How he had taught her to ride her first bike. How she held on to his hand, her small fingers enclosed in his fist. The way he tugged at her pigtail whenever he teased her. His boyish laugh when he pulled tricks on her. His gentle kiss on her forehead. Every single thing.
The worst of it was, he was totally hot! His skinny frame was replaced with a lean, muscular body and he was so tall, she had to look up to see his face. His jet black hair shone midnight blue. His face was fully mature, with expressive black eyes, a patrician nose and not too thin lips. He was just too good to be true.
Usagi groaned out load. She definitely did not want to think how handsome he was. Or even how sexy his voice sounded. She did not want to fall for him all over again. It will be too much for her heart to bear. What would Mamoru even see in a 17 year old like her? He was obviously too mature for her.
Usagi buried her face in her pillow, trying to keep the frustrating thoughts out of her mind.
