A/N: Originally this was supposed to be short, two-part story, but then creativity kicked in and I decided to combine it with an idea I had for ages. Anyway, hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Sailor Moon. It all belongs to the lovely Naoko Takeuchi.

Prologue

July 14 , 1994

"You like her, don't you?"

Drops of the bitter, brown liquid had spewed across the marble counter top as dark blue eyes stared in disbelief. "Excuse me?"

"Don't pretend. I know for a fact that you have perfect hearing," the young blonde man replied as he wiped the mess with a cloth. He knew the question would catch him off guard, but his reaction was priceless.

"Sorry, Motoki," the startled man replied, slightly embarrassed. He had tensed so much, it was a miracle he was still holding the coffee cup. "You, uh, surprised me with that little question of yours."

The topic had been brought up countless times before… in a much lighter atmosphere. It had been suggested in a teasing manner by many, but was never taken as more than just a joke.

"I'm serious, Mamoru."

Apparently, not anymore, Mamoru knew that he would have to come to terms with it, particularly with his best friend. It was hard, especially after becoming so well acquainted with these people and seeing them almost everyday. As each day passed, the barriers he had built around himself as a child were furiously torn down, making his insides visible to the world. Mamoru didn't know if he enjoyed that or detested it.

"Of course, I like Usagi. She's a great girl. Did you think that I hated her?"

The look on Motoki's face could only be described as that of an annoyed mother dealing with an uncooperative child.

Mamoru's first instinct was to deny it, which tragically would have failed, so he tried to work his skills of manipulation to talk his way around the original question. Looking up at Motoki, he knew that this, too, would fail. He sighed. Might as well come clean, right?

"Why do you ask if you already know the answer?"

He stared out the arcade window as the passing cars flew by-- anything to avoid the penetrating green eyes in front of him.

It was a sunny, Thursday evening and many of the students that frequented the Crown Arcade were heading home. Mamoru intentionally had his focus set in the opposite direction of the girl in question. He always felt her presence, no matter where she was. As soon as she entered the room, it instantly brightened, like the sun gleaming through gray clouds -- lovely and imposing. It was their eternal connection -- a harsh blessing and a beautiful curse.

She sat in her usual booth, on the edge by the multi-colored gumball machines, while her studious friend preferred the comfort of the textured, green wall. The other three girls shared the seat opposite them -- her 'almost' twin by the wall, her intuitive raven-haired friend in the middle, and her gentle but aggressive friend on the end. She tried to listen intently to the conversation between the other four as they enjoyed their refreshments. But her eyes would betray her and search for the dark-haired senior at the counter across the floor of the establishment…

He wasn't wearing his red school blazer -- school had been out for over a month. He still liked to dress nicely and seeing him in black slacks and a white shirt reminded her of a mathematics professor, a very good-looking mathematics professor that she could watch and listen to forever until she loved the hated subject. His top two buttons were left undone and she began to imagine what the rest of the buttons covered…

"Usagi?"

"Hmm? Oh… what?"

"You're spacing out again."

Usagi turned to Makoto who was sitting directly in front of her. Her left eyebrow was raised as if daring her to say "no."

"No, I wasn't!" she cried, trying to think of something quickly. "I was just thinking. We go back to school in less than a month and I'm not really sure if being in all advanced classes next semester is a great idea. That's all." It really did worry her. It wasn't a complete lie.

"Usagi," her academic friend to her right said, "These past two years, you've gradually shown that you are capable of handling a challenging education. I believe you'll do fine. You're ready."

"Thanks, Ami that means a lot to me. But it's also been stressful and hard and I couldn't have done it without you guys, especially you," Usagi smiled as she hugged Ami. In middle school, Usagi barely managed a C average.

"That's for damn sure."

"Well, I'm happy I have your support, Minako," Usagi grumbled as she threw a French fry at her look-alike friend who was busily reading a manga.

"Hey!" Minako yelled as she took the piece of food out of her hair. "I was only saying the truth. Even you have to admit it must have been an act of God that made you get this far with such great marks."

Usagi's face fell and her heart began to sink.

"Even I've done better because-- "

"I think what Minako is trying to say," Makoto cut Minako off, "is that we all put in an effort. And not just for you, but for all of us. We blew off a lot of things when we first became teenagers. It was time we all started acting like adults."

Minako nodded gently, assuring Usagi with a small smile that she had meant it with a good heart. Usagi returned the smile in understanding.

"Unless of course you're like Ami who was born brilliant or filled with age-old wisdom like this old lady next to me."

They all laughed as an elbow jabbed Makoto on her side.

"Ouch, Rei! That really hurt!"

"Serves you right for calling me an old lady!" Rei scolded as she rolled her eyes playfully. "But the thunder-head is right, we saw the light and began to take things seriously." She smiled tenderly at Usagi. "You surprised me most of all, and such a thing is rare. I'm proud of you, of all of us."

"We all should be proud of ourselves. We did great even without the use of our powers."

The group suddenly grew quiet as Ami's cheeks burned with embarrassment at what she had just said.

They hardly ever talked about it, not even when they were assigned to go on patrol. It didn't, however, mean that they didn't think about it or get the sudden urge to transform and search for danger. They were the famous Sailor Senshi whom today many believed had never existed. Those few months they had endured defending the innocent and seeking justice seemed more like a myth than an actual occurrence. If it hadn't been that they had all experienced it together, they would have believed it had just been a dream.

And then, of course, there were their feline advisers, Luna and Artemis, whose purpose was to guide the young warriors through the development of their powers. But ever since the disappearance of their enemies, they were normal, talking house cats.

The strangest part, the one that still had not been explained, was the vanishing of the Dark Kingdom. First, they were thrust into a world of evil and magic and monsters, and then those tumultuous days ended -- almost as fast as they had appeared. Since that last battle, no sign of any malevolent force had been detected, not once. In a way, they were relieved that they were "retired" and could now lead normal lives, but a heavy sense of incompletion had been burned into their souls.

"I can't believe it's been this long," Usagi, who had been leader of the Sailor Senshi, whispered. "It's been what, years?"

"Almost two years," Rei responded. Rei had a strong gift of intuition that was almost psychic. She rarely used it, not anymore…

"I had to bring it up, and here of all places." Ami looked down in shame. Why didn't she have a book with her to cover up her reddening face? Why did she have to learn to lighten up?

"Don't sweat it, Einstein," Minako said, reaching for Ami's hand. "It's a part of our past that only proves how great we are, because, dammit, we are good!" For added effect, she pounded her fist on the table knocking over the saltshakers and spilling her coke, which she was now wiping up with napkins.

"Hell, yes!" Makoto yelled, thrusting her fist into the air.

"Shh!" Ami cried. "Okay, girls, calm down! There are people looking at us!"

One of the things that had never changed was the girls' natural tendency to be loud, especially in public places. Luckily, there were few customers left, including a pair of handsome young men who were giving them strange looks from the counter. It only made the group of girls laugh hysterically.

"The look on Motoki's face!" Rei barely managed to say in between breaths.

"Mamoru's frown looks like it's going to stay like that!" Makoto laughed.

Motoki and Mamoru just shrugged and continued on with their conversation. They were used to the girls and their wild antics.

"Oh, girls, speaking of Mamoru," Ami interrupted, "Did you hear about what happened?"

Usagi's heart began to race and she tried desperately to look like she wasn't worried. She stole a quick peek at him to see that he was actually fine and casually asked, "What do you -- what happened?"

"Oh, well, it wasn't bad or anything, but kind of funny."

Urgh, Usagi thought bitterly, She says this after I practically have a heart attack!

"Apparently, there were a lot of universities fighting for him. I mean, he did graduate at the top of his class," Ami said.

Over-achiever, my wonderful over-achiever. Damn you…

"They were offering him full scholarships-- one even offered him a car! Seriously, how degraded is that?" Ami hated when schools were wasteful and indulgent.

"I really want to hate him," Makoto muttered through her teeth.

"If I wasn't dedicating my life to the shrine, I just might marry him," Rei admitted.

"Amen," Minako agreed. Even Ami was nodding.

Usagi rolled her eyes at her friends who were staring dreamily at the oblivious Mamoru. She was pretending to be annoyed when in fact a wave of jealousy was sweeping over her. He was only human. She wanted to retort but thought better of it. "Yeah, he is pretty outstanding." There, she said it. Simple.

Makoto raised her eyebrows, noticing Usagi's forced tone. "Usagi, I remember when you and Mamoru used to fight like cats and dogs. It was to the point that I thought you guys would murder each other."

Rei laughed. "That's right! He even had that nickname for you! What was it? Oh, yeah! Odango Atama!"

Usagi cringed. "I really hated that name. And Makoto, yes, there were times when I considered doing serious damage to him."

"Thank God, you didn't!" Makoto cried. Mamoru was a fine and rare specimen. To scar or tarnish him would be sacrilege.

"I used to think that Usagi and Mamoru liked each other. I used to think they were perfect for each other."

Once again, everyone sat speechless as they turned to Minako who had a distant look on her face.

"I know, it's weird," she continued, "but I really felt that. It actually sort of pained me to see them fight like that." There was something -- something about them…

"Oh, honey, it pained all of us. Usagi has some powerful lungs. I think I'm deaf in one ear!"

"Ha-ha, Makoto. You forget, I wasn't the only one involved in those little spats."

No, she wasn't. Usagi hardly ever started their arguments. Mamoru always found something to pick at on her and it annoyed her immensely.

"Well, you sure as hell ended them." A brief feeling of nostalgia filled Makoto and she wondered why those hectic times had changed. They had been tiring, yes, but fulfilling, somehow…

Rei sat silently, carefully studying Makoto's face. Whatever Makoto was suddenly feeling, she felt it, too. It was amazing how much Rei knew without anyone uttering a single word. She, like Makoto, also missed the "old" days. She even agreed with Minako's odd confession about Usagi and Mamoru. Life had been very good to them these past few years, but deep in her mind, she knew it wasn't right.

"I'm just glad you two are on good terms now," Ami said to Usagi, startling the others out of their thoughts. "I looked up to Mamoru a lot-- I still do, actually. But you were my friend, and he was my friend and it was hard and confusing. I think we should also be glad that Mamoru was there for us. He helped us study a lot, especially you, Usagi."

Usagi gulped. She sort of felt that she owed her life to him. She shook her head. What a stupid thought.

"But anyway," Ami continued, "back to what I was saying. He got accepted to this great school -- the one that I plan on going to-- so…"

Usagi felt like panicking. This was not happening. This was not happening, Oh, God, oh, God, oh…

"…he's going to America! For the next four years!"

"Wow!" Makoto exclaimed. "That's awesome! He's going, like for sure?"

"Yes," Ami leaned in closer to the table to whisper, "Well, that's what I was told last week at Academics Club. So don't say anything about it, or at least until he tells us, that way we know for sure and I'm not just spreading gossip…"

The noise around Usagi ceased as she slipped into a grief-stricken state. A small almost insignificant part of her being died in that moment. It was rather inconvenient to find out how much you could miss something you never really had and Usagi knew that for the next few years, that would be her dilemma. She began to blame herself, wondering why she hadn't attempted to express her true feelings to Mamoru. He was intelligent and gorgeous and for sure, he would find love while he was away. He might even -- and this thought truly pained her -- never come back.

She looked towards the counter again, this time not caring if anyone noticed her staring, and watched his refined movements. Then she remembered why she had never made a move.

He never showed interest.

No, it shouldn't make her feel bad. You couldn't force someone to return your feelings or love you and Mamoru didn't. She constantly reminded herself of this and although her mind agreed, her heart refused to let this information settle.

There had been times -- like during their study sessions or group outings -- that she felt his gaze on her. How she knew this, she would never know. Her heart would leap into her throat. When she had finally worked up the courage to confirm it, his eyes were elsewhere and his face carried the same blank expression he always had. Then she would berate herself for thinking he had been staring and shove him from her thoughts. She convinced herself that these moments were some cruel illusion brought on by the yearning of her heart.

As she continued to observe him, she tried to imprint his image in her mind so she would never forget. She did have a picture of him from the times they would all hang out, but a memory seemed much more everlasting.

Usagi smiled sadly, as she saw Mamoru spit coffee all over the counter after Motoki mumbled an obviously unpleasant question. He then became flustered and it made Usagi smile wider because she loved it when Mamoru lost his composure. The man brought many feelings to her-- from sadness to anger to happiness-- and now, the only thing left would be sadness.

Motoki watched as many emotions flew across Mamoru's face. Motoki left him to his thoughts as he continued to look out the window. He didn't want to force him -- Mamoru hated being forced -- but it was now or never.

"You're right, I do know the answer. But I want to hear you say it."

"Why?"

"For your own good."

It was at a time like this that Mamoru hated how much his best friend knew about him. At the same time, however, it was a relief.

Having Motoki know practically everything about him helped take the burden off his chest. He still remembered the night he came clean to Motoki about his alter ego, Tuxedo Kamen, and how angry he was to find out that Motoki already knew.

It had been after a tough battle with the Sailor Senshi against the sadistic Dark Kingdom general, Jadeite, and his irritating youma. He had suffered a great many injuries and lost much blood. After Sailor Moon and her tiara destroyed the repulsive youma, he painfully retreated to his apartment. He had underestimated how much blood he had lost and collapsed in a dark alley. He awoke several hours later on his bed to see Motoki's curious eyes looking down at him. He tried to get up but Motoki shoved him back down and told him he knew who he was and that it was pointless to try and deny it. Mamoru then felt that his mask was no longer on his face.

Motoki confessed that he had noted a great change in his friend that had started around the time Tokyo's famous heroes had appeared. After seeing Mamoru abruptly leave on more than one occasion, Motoki had then realized who his friend really was. He had also noticed a young, blonde girl who visited his arcade everyday change, too. Then gradually, her group of friends increased-- just as the appearance of new Senshi occurred.

After the incident that night, Mamoru's respect for his seemingly absent-minded friend increased. It shouldn't have been a surprise that Motoki had figured out his secret feelings for Usagi, too. Now his friend wanted him to say it. What Motoki didn't know, that Mamoru couldn't even admit it to himself. He took a deep breath.

"No, I don't like her."

Anger flashed in Motoki's eyes. "How can you-- "

"It is way more than like."

Motoki saw the pain in Mamoru's eyes as he got up from the counter stool. He had seldom seen Mamoru display so much emotion.

Mamoru walked towards the front entrance, the moment the automatic doors were about to open, Motoki called out to him.

"Mamoru?"

"Yeah?"

Motoki jumped over the counter and walked toward the tall, lone man.

"Do you believe that people will do anything to protect the ones they love?"

"Yes," he replied without hesitation. He knew this more than anybody.

"Even… foolish things?"

Mamoru looked down to the ground. He had asked himself endless times if what he had done were foolish. He looked toward the booth where the young women he would always protect sat peacefully talking. Usagi sat quietly listening. When she noticed his eyes were on her, her smile faded briefly but adorned her face again as she waved at him. The other three girls saw her and they, too, turned to say good-bye. Mamoru waved back.

Motoki grinned. "Good night, old pal."

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