Title: A Moment of Passion
Author: JadeHeart
Fandom: Sailor Moon: Sailor Stars (anime)
Pairing: Seiya/Usagi
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance
Summary: Usagi makes a choice to walk a different path to destiny when Seiya holds out the hand of love to her.
Author's Note: I decided to make a small 'what if?' scenario – what if when Seiya confesses to Usagi on the school roof top in the rain towards the end of Sailor Stars she actually accepts him and the others aren't there to interfere?
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this, they belong to the creators of 'Sailor Moon', nor am I making any profits from it.
-oOo-
"Am I not good enough?"
Usagi gazed up into the dark eyes looking down upon her, eyes filled with warmth and love.
"Am I not good enough?" Seiya repeated the question, kneeling there before her as the rain fell down upon them both.
She was chilled to the bone now, her thin school uniform doing nothing to keep the dampness seeping through the cloth to her skin. She continued to gaze upon Seiya, seeing his hair become heavy, plastering to his brow, but his eyes remained warm.
Usagi felt her heart begin to respond to that warmth. She had felt so cold inside for so long now. Mamoru was gone and she had been left alone. She had lost him after everything they had been through, all that they had suffered to try and remain together. Perhaps now was not the time they were to be together. Perhaps that was it. Perhaps now was not their destined time.
But now… now as she knelt there in the rain looking at this young man before her, now she wondered if she was truly meant to be with Mamoru again. Perhaps their time had come and gone and should remain in the past. Or perhaps their time should only be once again in Crystal Tokyo in the 30th century and not here. For if it was to be their time, if now was truly meant to be for her and Mamoru, why then was this person with her now able to make her feel like this? How would they be able to warm her frozen heart just by their presence being so near?
From the moment she had met Seiya she had liked him. He'd been strange and funny and teased her. At first it had been like having Mamoru back in some ways. It had all reminded her of him so much and it had made her feel happy.
But then she had begun to notice something different. Yes, Seiya had made her feel like Mamoru had. Yes, she had begun to experience those same feelings when they were near, when he put his arm around her and held her close, when he gazed upon her with those eyes filled with caring. Yes, she had felt all of that with Mamoru also, but then she began to realize that she was becoming more and more aware of not how much alike Seiya and Mamoru were in how they made her feel, but the differences between them.
She realized that soon she was able to see that they were different; different people, different ways in behaving. Seiya wasn't Mamoru at all, and she suddenly realized that she was no longer thinking of him as a replacement of Mamoru but only as a person in his own right.
That realization had shocked and confused her greatly. She knew the feelings that she had for Mamoru were real. It was a love that had existed for many centuries, a bond between them. But there had been many times before when they had been separated and yet they still seemed to find their way back to each other. So was this just one of those times? Was it in this life that she was not supposed to be with Mamoru? Was that why Seiya had been sent here, for her to find happiness with him?
Still, although she had sometimes thought about these things still his confession at this moment, in the pouring rain on the roof of the school, caught her completely by surprise. She hadn't realized that he might have had any such feelings towards her. She knew how much he loved his own Princess, how hard he had fought to find her. She knew that he had a special someone too who filled his heart, how else would his song have been able to reach the Fireball Princess? It was that love he had for her that made that possible. So to hear him say this to her now was a surprise.
Seiya's hands on her shoulders were holding her tightly. Not so tight that it could hurt her, but firm like he wasn't going to let her go. She found that she liked that feeling, that feeling of being wanted, of being needed. That feeling of being safe with someone else. She knew that she should be stronger, but she also accepted that she wasn't. She didn't like being on her own. She wanted to be with people, be with the people she loved and cared about. She wanted to share her life and her time and her love with those people. And Seiya was one of those people.
Seiya's fingers tightened further on her shoulders as he smiled softly down at her.
"Come on," he said gently, lifting her to her feet. "Let's get you out of this rain." He slipped out of his jacket and laid it gently around her shoulders. "Sorry it's not very dry but it'll keep the worst off you." he apologized, slipping an arm around her shoulders and gently leading her towards the stairwell.
They walked in silence through the darkened corridors of the school, their footsteps loud in the silence. When they exited out the front doors Seiya lifted his jacket up, holding it over Usagi's head like a tent to try and protect her from the worst of the rain. She glanced up at him and he smiled down at her.
"Can't have the dumplings getting soggy, can we?"
One corner of her mouth rose in a small half smile at his weak joke and they continued on.
Soon they reached Usagi's house and Seiya accompanied her to the front door. She fumbled with her key, the cold rain having frozen her fingers. "Here. Let me," Seiya took her keys and quickly opened the door, ushering her inside.
He flicked on the switch, illuminating the darkened hallway. "Isn't anyone home?" he queried, listening to the silence of the house.
Usagi shook her head as she slipped out of her shoes, standing there with Seiya's sodden jacket held in her hands, shoulders slumped and eyes downcast.
"Hey, Dumpling,"
She looked up to see Seiya had drawn close.
He smiled at her. "Go and get warm. I'll stay until you're okay."
"I…I'm sorry," she murmured turning her head away, hands clenching in the wet material they held.
"There's nothing to be sorry about," Seiya said quietly, reaching out and taking the jacket from her hands. "Do you mind if I put my clothes in the dryer while I wait?" he asked.
"Uhm," she thought about it then said, "Why don't you….have a shower first?" She felt her face flushing and continued hurriedly. "They can dry while you are washing."
He reached out and lightly touched her chilled cheek and she jumped a little at the sudden contact. He took his hand away quickly although it felt like the place he had touched was on fire.
"You should shower first." he said. "You're frozen and you're gonna catch a cold otherwise. I can wait."
"Oh. Okay," she said making her way towards the stairs. She paused and turned. "You can wait in my room. I'll put the kotatsu on if you want."
He grinned at her. "That would be good! How about some hot tea?"
"Oh, I'll make you some…" She turned fully to make her way back down but he put his hand out to stop her.
"You go and get cleaned up," he said. "I can find things in the kitchen." He winked at her. "Don't worry about me. Go on." He made a shooing motion with his hands. "Don't be too long."
"Okay. I won't."
Usagi ran up the stairs to her room, reaching in and pulling out the small kotatsu. She quickly set it up around her table and turned it on. By the time she had finished that she found that she was shivering. Seiya was right. If she didn't get out of these wet clothes she probably would become sick.
She slipped into the bathroom, taking her robe with her. As much as she would have liked to have had a bath she didn't want to keep Seiya waiting. He was soaked through as well and she was worried about him, so she quickly had a shower.
The touch of the hot water on her chilled skin made her shiver at first at the contrast but then it felt so good as it chased away the coldness in her body. She closed her eyes and clasped both hands over her chest. The warmth she was feeling inside didn't come from the shower but was the warmth that had begun from the look in Seiya's eyes tonight. A soft smile curved her lips, a smile that was actually happy. That warmth made her feel good. It made her feel happy again.
She stepped out of the shower and quickly slipped into her robe, rubbing her long hair as best she could to try and dry it. She ran a comb through it, tugging at the snarls until it was smooth once more. She wasn't too concerned that it wasn't fully dry yet. She knew that it would most likely dry swiftly from sitting under the kotatsu.
She made her way back to her room, opening the door to be greeted by the wave of heat and the sweet aroma of oolong tea. Seiya was sitting at the table, legs tucked under the kotatsu already, one elbow propped on the table top, chin in the palm of his hand. She could hear the soft sound of her radio in the background and guessed that Seiya had turned it on.
"I see that you did find everything to make the tea all right," she said, kneeling next to him.
He grinned at her. "Not a problem," He winked at her again. "I'm pretty good in the kitchen you know."
She smiled at him, beginning to feel a little like her old self. "You'd better go and have a shower before the tea gets cold," she said to him.
"Sure thing," he replied, standing and headed out. He stuck his head around the corner and grinned at her. "Don't you fall asleep while I'm gone!" then closed the door behind him.
Usagi checked the teapot, noting that it had brewed nicely. Seiya obviously hadn't completely exaggerated when he had said he was good in the kitchen. She could hear the faint sounds of the running water and imagined Seiya showering.
Her hand shook dangerously, making the teapot lid rattle as she flushed. Why had she thought that? She carefully set the pot down and raised both hands to cover her face, feeling the flesh burning hot. Why had she just thought that?!
"Hey, what are you doing?" A soft voice said as gentle hands clasped both of hers, drawing them away from her face. "You're not crying again, are you?"
She looked up at Seiya, noting his hair was still damp with a few bits sticking up in a scruffy but delightful manner at the front. She hadn't heard him come in. Then she noticed something else. All he was wearing was a short towel wrapped tightly around his waist. She could see the sheen of moisture over his torso, defining the well toned muscles across chest, abdomen and upper arms. All the dance training they did, not to mention the special training they had to do for their various TV action series kept him in peak condition. She felt her face flush furiously again and she turned her head quickly.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Seiya asked, obviously puzzled by her behaviour.
"Ah, you…." She stammered unable to even think of what to say. It wasn't that she could say he wasn't nice to look at! "You… aren't….wearing anything!" she managed to blurt out.
He sat back on his heels and scratched at his head. "Yeah, sorry, but my clothes are getting dried, they were completely soaked through." He shrugged. "I don't have anything else to wear."
"Uhm, well," Usagi quickly scrambled to her feet and hurried over to her closet, reaching towards the far end and pulling something out. "You could wear this," she said, holding it out.
Seiya looked at it in horror. "You have got to be kidding?!" He pointed an accusing finger at the bright pink, frilled and beribboned robe with rabbits all over it. He looked up at Usagi with a pained expression. "You can't really want me to wear that?" he pleaded. "Haven't you got something more…manly?"
"Ah, not really," she replied. She was finding it difficult to not look at Seiya where he sat on the floor, one knee raised as he leant on it. She flushed again becoming more and more aware of this man's body with every passing moment.
"Okay," Seiya finally said in a long suffering voice, giving a deep sigh. "Give it here."
He held out his hand and Usagi gazed down at him, surprised. Was he really going to wear it?
He half grinned at her. "I can't bear to see your face get any redder than it already is. I'm not here to try and embarrass you, so I'll wear it if it makes you feel more comfortable."
She smiled at him in gratitude as she held it out. With a last distasteful look and another sigh and eye roll he slipped into it. It only came to mid-thigh on him, and he wasn't able to fully do it up as his shoulders were much broader than Usagi's but it did cover a little more than what the towel had.
"That better?" he asked.
"Yes. Thank you." she said, kneeling again beside him.
He grinned at her and ruffled her hair. "Just don't you ever tell anyone that I did this!" he threatened, then slapped a hand to his forehead with a pained expression. "I would never live it down!"
She giggled. "I promise."
"Good." he smiled at her. "It's nice to hear you laugh again."
She met his smile with one of her own. "Thank you for making me do so," she replied.
"Anytime, Dumpling. Now how about that tea?"
End
Note: The sequel to this, 'An Eternity of Pleasure', will be posted to Adultfanfiction due to the more mature content.