Hello, everyone! I haven't written a one-shot in a while, and I just came up with a good idea, so I had to write it! And those of you who are In Happy Hiding and Escaping Oblivion readers, don't worry. I did some more work on the first chapter of the third story today, and it should be up soon!
Things to know: I don't own Sailor Moon and this is pretty AU-ish.
Now, without further ado, my newest story!
-rosa lunae
The StormChiba Mamoru looked out his window in dismay. The sky was dark, and shuddered with thunder, each crash sending a stronger spray of rain.
"A thousand curses on organic chemistry," he muttered angrily, stuffing a 20 page technical paper into his bag, before slinging it over his shoulder.
He stomped down the stairs, grumbling to himself. "Hirundo-sensei should have just accepted the stupid paper tomorrow, but no… he never pushes back a deadline."
With a deep breath, Mamoru braced himself then threw open the door to the apartment building, and took off running, full speed to his car. When he reached it, he flung opened the door, and dove in, soaked to the bone.
"At least if I'm in a wreck during this stupid storm, I can sue the baka for all he's got," Mamoru said to himself, trying to make himself feel better. It didn't help much.
He drove at maddeningly slow speeds, but he refused to drive any faster for fear of damaging his car. And he seemed to hit every single stoplight en route to the university.
When he got there, he was practically dry. He grumbled various foul words in Japanese, then launched himself from the car, and sprinted to the door to the university. Of course, since the fates were set against him, the door was locked.
"Kuso!" he swore loudly. "I've fought Queen Beryl, Ail and Ann, and the bloody Black Moon Clan! I'll be damned I lose to a moody chemistry professor!" he yelled, banging on the door.
Finally, a janitor saw him, and began to make his way to the door.
"Oh, Kami. For crying out loud, I'll have died by the time this man gets to the door. Well, why should he care, I'm already SOAKED TO THE BONE!"
He took a few deep breaths, and looked behind him at the storm, steadily worsening. "I hope Usako isn't out in this…"
Just the thought made him forget all about his anger. Usagi was terrified of storms. She always had been, ever since the day he met her. Just the thought of her being afraid made him want to be near her, so he could be sure she wasn't.
The janitor finally reached the door.
I'll go by her house and check on her, he decided as he ran up to his professor's room.
The light was on, and the grumpy old man was there. Mamoru knocked, then let himself in.
"Here's my paper, sensei," he announced proudly, dripping water all over the floor.
The old man looked up. His bushy white eyebrows knit themselves together, agitatedly. Obviously, the man was annoyed to have been beat by one of his students, since the deadline was obviously kept to make sure no one made an A.
"Humph. Well, Chiba-san, let's hope your paper is as good as your punctuality," he grumbled, snatching the wad of papers from Mamoru's hand. "Dismissed."
Mamoru didn't bother with a goodbye. He stalked back to the entrance, then raced back to his car.
"I better get an A."
He took off, his need to be with Usagi greater than his sense of caution. When he pulled up to the Tsukino's house, he fairly flew to the door. He rung the doorbell, and an instant later, Mrs. Tsukino snapped it open. Her face fell when she noticed it was Mamoru.
Mamoru began to ask about Usagi, but before he could, Mrs. Tsukino yanked him through the door, and shut it quickly.
"Mamoru! Have you seen Usagi?"
Immediately, the wet hair on his neck stood on end, and a chill that had nothing to do with the rain crawled down his back. "Why, no, Ikuko-san. I came here because I knew how frightened of storms she is!"
This only frazzled Usagi's mother more. "We don't know where she is. She never got home from school. We called the Shrine where she usually goes after school—no answer."
A red flag went up in Mamoru's mind. The Senshi hung out at the Shrine when they were meeting. It was either that or she had been caught at the Crown during the storm.
All other possibilities… he refused to consider just yet. All he knew was his girlfriend was out in a terrible storm and she was probably terrified.
"I'm sure she's fine, Mrs. Tsukino. The phone lines might be out on the other side of the city. I'll go check out where she usually hangs out and pick her up for you."
"Oh, domo arigatou, Mamoru-kun!" Mrs. Tsukino said, pumping his arm vigorously. "I don't know why she's so afraid of storms, but I just know that she is, and I want her home."
As Mamoru was driving towards the Hikawa Shrine, he realized he didn't know the answer either. Usagi was Sailor Moon—in all his experience as Tuxedo Kamen, he had never seen her frightened when the danger was real. Why the sound of thunder or the sight of lightning would make the warrior Sailor Moon—Princess Serenity, for Kami's sake!—tremble, he couldn't begin to fathom.
Mamoru's gut instinct pointed to trouble. But from his senses told him Usagi had not transformed, and this told him two things. There was no battle that required the Sailor Senshi or Usagi was unable to transform.
The very thought made his hands shake.
He pulled up to the Shrine, which was deserted because of the weather. He knocked on the door, and Rei answered it.
"Mamoru! What are you doing out in this weather? You know there's a tornado watch out for Tokyo!"
That didn't register. "Has Usagi been here?"
Immediately, Rei's whole demeanor changed. Her eyes narrowed, alert and alarmed. "Ie. Doushite? Where is she?"
"I'd love to know that, Rei. She's not home, and she's not here. My next stop is the Crown."
"Hold on. You mean to tell me Usagi is somewhere out in the storm?"
Mamoru fought to maintain composure. "Hai."
Rei honestly looked worried. "I hope you find her very, very soon, Mamoru-san. Soon."
"Do you know why she's so afraid of storms?"
Rei closed her eyes, placing two fingers on her temple. "Ie. But it was something from the Silver Millennium… something horrible happened to her that scarred her and made her horribly frightened of storms because they reminded her of the memory, even when she didn't have the memory."
"Kuso. And I know nothing about it. Or where she is. Kuso!"
He runs off, and leaps into the car, and speeds off, despite the terrible road conditions. Rei watches him until he's out of sight, then immediately runs down to the Sacred Fire to intercede for both her Prince and Princess.
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The Crown was closed, but because Motoki lived on the top floor, he was there. Mamoru hoped against hope that Usagi had camped out there to ride out the storm.
"Motoki! Motoki!" he screamed, banging on the door.
Motoki came running down the steps, and ran faster when he saw Mamoru. He quickly unlocked the door and yanked it open. "Geez, Mamoru, what in Kami's name are you doing out?"
Mamoru was growing tired of telling the story. "I don't know where Usagi is, Motoki! Has she been here?"
Motoki knit his eyebrows, puzzled. "Yes, but when the tornado watch came over the radio, she said she was going to run home.
Mamoru fought to keep from strangling his best friend. "And you LET her GO out there?"
Motoki grabbed his friend's shoulders. "Whoa, Mamoru, calm down. She said it was an emergency. She said she was going to call you when she got there!"
"Well, she's NOT THERE, Motoki!" he said through clenched teeth. "But thanks. At least I know where she was going… I could have driven right by her!"
Mamoru began to leave, but Motoki grabbed his arm. "Mamoru, you CAN'T go out there!" The radio in the background blared out a message to stay indoors because of rumors of a tornado touchdown! Usagi isn't stupid; she'll find shelter!"
"Not if she's unconscious, Motoki!" Mamoru yelled, running out the door.
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Terror coursed through his veins. Mamoru drove slowly down the road to Usagi's house, praying fervently for a sign that Usagi had been there. Just as he was about to get out and walk down the sidewalks, he saw Usagi's school bag on the side of the road. It was next to an overturned baby's stroller. He slammed on his breaks, and leapt from the car. He was completely oblivious to the rain, thunder, and ominously swirling clouds.
Judging from the way it had fallen, he guessed she must have panicked, tossed it aside, and run into the woods. He began to make his way through them, following muddy scuffmarks in the dirt, nearly faded.
Mamoru concentrated. He closed his eyes, and blocked out everything. The rain, the thunder, the danger, the gnawing worry… he just reached out with his senses, searching for Usagi.
Yes. She was near. And she was terrified. He could feel her haggard breaths in his own lungs and her agitated heartbeat in his own chest. But he could feel something else from her… something he couldn't quite read. It was fierce emotion, protective…
Maternal.
Suddenly, he remembered. Because of road construction, there was a huge ditch at the end of the residential landscaping forest beside the road. "Good thinking, Usako. Good girl!" he whispered to himself, running faster.
He came to the ditch, and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Usagi in it. But she wasn't moving. She was face down, still.
Before he could do another thing, he heard it—the sound of a freight train coming towards him. Instinctively, he threw himself into the ditch, covering Usagi with his body. He was vaguely surprised to feel her pushing against him, as if trying to carry his weight on her back. She was awake, obviously.
He covered his head with his arms, but gently kissed Usagi's hair, long blown from the odangos. She'd tucked it into her shirt before jumping in apparently. She nodded quickly to let him know she was okay. He could feel her trembling beneath him, both from fear and the strain of holding his bodyweight, something he could only imagine why she would do.
There was a loud screaming sound, a whoosh, then nothing but the rain and the thunder.
For a moment, no one moved. When Mamoru judged it to be safe, he hefted himself off of Usagi.
"Usako," he breathed, tears rolling down his face. "I was so scared, so worried…" he began, but stopped mid-sentence.
As Usagi sat up, she revealed why she hadn't laid flat under Mamoru's weight. Under her, was a little child, maybe five years old, that she'd been shielding with her body.
Mamoru was overwhelmed. Pride for Usagi, worry for both their conditions, and the tiredness that came with relieved panic threatened to suffocate him.
He looked at Usagi, who cradled the ebony-haired little girl weakly. She was breathing rapidly, short, deep breaths, and she was deathly white and shaking violently. Mamoru could tell that she was inches away from hyperventilating.
Mamoru drew both of them close, and transformed into Tuxedo Kamen, and wrapped them into his cape.
"Usako, you were so brave. Just hold on, we'll be out of the storm in no time. Don't let her go, Usako. Take deep breaths, and just hold on to the girl. I love you, Usako, you were so brave…" he soothed into her ear, hefting them up into his arms. When he stepped from the ditch, he noticed the destruction around them. Trees were down, shingles from the roofs of houses were scattered around them.
Mamoru detransformed, and laid the two girls gently in his back seat and drove carefully to hospital. Usagi's breathing eventually calmed to where she could speak.
"Endymion…" she whispered, plaintively.
"I'm here, Serenity, and everything is okay. You were brave. The little girl is fine," he said back soothingly.
It was true. The little girl's sharp and keen violet eyes were wide open, but she was silent and her breathing calm. No tears.
He reached the hospital, and carried them both to the door, then doctors whisked them both away, and because he wasn't married to Usagi, they didn't allow him in.
------
By the time the two girls had been thoroughly examined, the injury count was small. The little girl wasn't hurt at all—just terribly exhausted. Usagi was suffering from severe anxiety—it was causing her heart to beat irregularly—and the fading symptoms of shock. And apparently she'd been hit with debris, because she had also been found to have one cracked rib and one broken one. The only other injuries were various minor cuts and bruises.
When the doctors finally came out, the waiting room was full. Usagi's family, the Senshi, and various reporters were dying to talk to the girl, whose story had already fill the city as rescue efforts ensued.
The doctor said that the patient was heavily pumped with pain medication, which made her very sleepy, but that she was asking for a person named Mamoru.
Mamoru looked at the Tsukino's for permission. They nodded kindly, just glad to hear their daughter was okay. Besides, they could go in the room any time they wanted as immediate family.
Mamoru opened the door, and heard it shut quietly behind him. When he saw Usagi's battered appearance, he immediately began to cry. Her eyes opened, and they were bright and alert, despite what the doctor had said.
"Oh, Usako…" he breathed, tortured, taking her face in his hands and pressing his forehead together. "You were so brave, and I was so scared for you. I know how much you hate storms, Usako…"
Her eyes became cloudy at that, but she still smiled. "I knew you'd find me," she whispered weakly, a fragile smile on her bruised lips.
Mamoru kissed them, very, very gently, fighting back his passion, fighting back his relief to have her in his arms.
"Usako… do you want to talk about it?"
Usagi looked up, and Mamoru saw her shoulders rise slowly, as if a weight had been lifted off of them. Her eyes closed, but her brave smile remained.
"Yes."
Mamoru eased her carefully to the side so he could sit on the bed and be close to her. He very carefully held onto her hands, as if it were made of glass.
"Ok, sweetheart. Tell me why you are afraid of thunderstorms. And how you found that little girl. Don't hold anything back, Usako, you will feel much better afterwards."
Usagi kept her eyes closed. She was not sleepy yet, Mamoru could tell, because her voice was strong.
"The Silver Millennium… that's where it happened. I was just a little girl." Her voice trembled as she spoke. "I was five years old. I didn't understand that I was a princess, that my family was royal and came from ancient riches., or that I needed constant protection."
She took a deep breath as the memory Mamoru wasn't sure he wanted to know about surrounded her. "I…made a game out of escaping the silent guards that followed me everywhere."
Usagi locked eyes with her prince. "This was before the princesses of each planet were chosen to be Senshi. My mother invented the idea of me having guards my own age, guards I could be friends with…guards that would want to protect me." She closed her eyes. "The Senshi didn't come until… later."
Mamoru's mouth went try and his throat closed. Usagi spoke as if the horror he knew was coming had happened to someone else. He ran his thumbs gently over her hands, giving her encouragement.
"It was rainy outside that day. My mother was in a very important meeting with some diplomats from some other system all day. I was bored, and when I tried to go out into the gardens, one of my two guards for the day said it was raining. I didn't care. So I ran off through the palace halls, as I usually did when I wanted to get away from my silly guards. Because they grew tired of watching me, they made little effort to keep up. So, I was able to go out into the gardens, and yes, it was raining. I was enchanted, and started dancing with flowers in the rain."
Usagi clenched her eyes shut.
"Suddenly, I was grabbed. An arm like iron wrapped around me, pinning my arms to my sides, a hand clamped my mouth shut, in seconds, I was tied up and thrown into the back of a carriage."
Mamoru clenched his eyes shut, tears rolling down his race. Not this horror, not at so young…
Usagi continued relentlessly. "All I remember about the ride is the storm. Rain pelting down on me. Thunder crashed twice a minute. Each time it did, a new wave of tears fell from my eyes, mixing with the rainwater. I was shaking violently, and lightning flashed seconds behind the thunder. I had never seen lighting before. I tried to scream each time it flashed, but they'd gagged me. No one could hear, but I screamed until my voice was raw.
"Finally, the carriage stopped. The man who'd kidnapped me yanked me from the carriage by my hair, and tossed me over his shoulder, then walked into his shack. I remember it was in the middle of nowhere. He dropped my on the ground, sobbing silently, shivering, and terrified. I opened my eyes, and when I did, I met the cold eyes of a girl who must have been his daughter. Her eyes were a sick and covetous green, contrasting with her rusty red hair. She must have been only ten years old. The hate in her eyes was deeper than anything I had ever seen. I was young… I had never seen hate before. Especially towards myself. It poured from her eyes, drowning and biting me. She stood up, and kicked me viciously in the stomach. I gave a silent cry, and she kicked me again. This time I made no sound at all. This satisfied her, and she sat back down, glaring at me.
"I listed to her father, ranting and raving about blackmailing my mother. I didn't understand what that meant. So I just stayed as still as possible on the floor, closing my eyes, blocking out everything. Well. Almost everything. The only thing I couldn't block out was the crashing of thunder, the flash of lighting, and the maddening pounding rain, attacking the little shack I was in."
Tears ran down Mamoru's face. He couldn't imagine how Usagi had felt outside in that tornado today. He had felt her fear, but only enough to find her. He stroked her hair, urging her to let it all out, and swearing to himself that she'd never be alone in any storm again.
"I don't know how much time had passed, but suddenly, the door to the shack was blasted open, revealing my mother, the queen herself, in the doorway, backed by hundreds of soldiers. Just behind her, furious and shamed, were my two guards.
"I had never seen my mother angry. But she was furious. She gripped the Crescent Moon Wand so tightly that her knuckles were white. When the man tried to grab me, she blasted him mercilessly to the ground. The young girl took off running, but she wasn't my mother's concern. She moved aside, and the guards swarmed in, and covered him as she swept me up in her arms, weeping."
Mamoru pulled her close. Tears streamed from her eyes, but she continued talking. "I was in such a deep state of shock and fever, that when I woke up, I really had blocked everything out but the storm. All I remembered about that day was being terrified of the thunderstorms. My mother was going to have the man imprisoned for life, but the citizens of the Moon Kingdom called for his death. He was hung in the forum one day while I was playing inside with my new friends, the Senshi. I knew nothing about it.
"A few years later, the memories returned, but by then, I was already deep within the friendship of my Senshi, and it hardly bothered me at all. But I was still terrified of storms."
"The man's daughter was never seen again…until she attacked the Moon Kingdom and murdered you before my eyes."
Mamoru felt a chill fill the room. "Beryl? That man was Beryl's father?"
Usagi nodded. Her tears this time were for her enemy. "It was no wonder that she hated me so much. I was part of the reason her father was killed. All I could think about today was being in the back of that carriage and the look in Beryl's young eyes. Then I saw that girl. She was strapped into an overturned stroller that had obviously been blown from her parent's hands."
Mamoru remembered the stroller next to Usagi's schoolbag, but said nothing.
"I remembered how scared and alone I was, and I couldn't bear for the same to happen to this little girl. So, I un-strapped her, and wrapped her in my arms. I was planning to run to my house, but them, I heard the tornado touch down somewhere down that road, so I remembered the ditch on that road behind the woods, and took the child there. She didn't make a sound the whole time, but I could hear her rapid breathing. I focused on that, trying to block out the memories of the horse's clopping feet and the whip of the man crashing down on their backs, and the feeling of my hoarse five-year-old throat."
Mamoru was overcome with pride and love, and took Usagi in his arms, and cried into her neck. With the focus shifted from her, she smiled again, and stroked his hair. "Don't cry for me, Mamo-chan! That's long over, and now I'm only scared of storms because I know that will make you come running to snuggle up with me!"
Mamoru chuckled at her brave attempt to change the subject and granted it. "Good, then stay afraid, because I'll pretend that you didn't just confess your true ulterior motive to me."
Usagi laughed, clearly and freely. He silenced her with a deeper, more passionate kiss. Then, looking around, he noticed that there were no cameras in the room. So, he placed his hands very, very gently on her abdomen, and healed her ribs and cleared her bloodstream of the pain medication. She kissed him again.
"Excuse me, Miss Tsukino?" a mischevious nurse said, a grin in her eyes. Mamoru fairly jumped off the bed to the other side of the room, his eyes frantic. The nurse just laughed.
"There's someone who wants to see you, Miss Tsukino."
Expecting her parents or the girls, Usagi nodded. "Sure, send them in."
Mamoru moved aside, and sat in a chair on the other side of the room, but smiled fondly at Usagi. An older bespectacled gentlemen entered, tears in his good eyes.
"Thank you, Tsukino Usagi, for saving my daughter," he whispered, bowing low.
Shocked, Usagi climbed from the bed, fumbled with a robe, then ran to embrace the man. He was startled, but embraced her back.
"Do not thank me sir. You daughter saved me just as much as I saved her. I don't have time to explain everything, but take my word for it."
The man smiled, and bowed politely again. "I will take your word without question, Usagi. Hotaru and I both are forever indebted to you."
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Oooh, what do you think? Interesting to think about, ne? Please review!
-rosa lunae