Happy Birthday Usagi!
The 4 inner senshi speculate on just how Usagi and Mamoru choose to celebrate June 30th this year.
"Pass."
Makoto leaned back with a sigh. Nothing could save her now. No way to pull victory from the jaws of defeat like she had so often done.
"I pass too."
Minako was in the same unfortunate situation. Rei smiled. Her turn was coming up soon. This was it.
A soft voice interrupted these dire proceedings.
"Minako-chan, you've been holding out on the ace of hearts. Play it or Rei will be daifugo again 2 hands."
"Oh! Thanks Ami-chan! I take back that pass then." The ace of hearts landed on the table. "She's picking tonight's movie if she wins and I'm not up to watching Casablana again. BORING."
"Hey! It's a classic for a reason! Not my fault you have no sense of culture. Ami-chan! Stop helping her count cards!"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Ami's poker face didn't slip an inch.
Makoto covered her cards possessively like Ami could see them from across the table.
"Awww, let her do her thing." Minako couldn't resist a further dig at Rei's expense. "Aren't you the one that always says that the world of gambling is very severe?"
"Fine" Rei fumed. "Ami gets to use her special abilities, I get to use mine"
"EVERYONE COVER YOUR BRAINS! Rei's going psycho again!"
Rei concentrated over Minako's dramatic wailing.
Let's see...Makoto first. She had the least amount of cards left and her mind was usually an easy read. She was so straight forward.
Hmmm... a pair of 4s. Looks like she used all her good cards early.
Onto Minako...wow a full house of queens and...oh no... Minako was onto her. She was now concentrating on funky classic rock tune... oh god...now she was mentally undoing her shirt. Slowly. One button at a time. Hands and body moving to the increasingly urgent wail of the guitar.
Minako was imagining herself stripping to said funky rock tune.
Rei's eyes widened in shock. Minako burst out laughing in victory.
Ok...she didn't need to see that. Onto Ami then.
Brrr...a wall of ice. Move along, nothing to see here. Wait...what's was that sound? Music started thumping though Ami's mind. Why was Ami thinking of the same damn song as as Minako?
GAHH!...WHY WAS AMI THINKING ABOUT MINKAO DANCING NAKED?
WHAT THE HELL!? She did not need to see that.
"Sorry." Ami smiled apologetically and pointed at the cackling blonde. "Her fault. Minako told me to imagine that in case you decided to cheat using psychic powers."
Rei clutched her heart in an overdramatic wounded gesture.
"Et tu Ami-chan? You're impure!"
Rei knew that would have been more convincing if she wasn't currently starting to have a nosebleed.
Makoto sighed and tossed her pair of 4s onto the table.
"Arugh, I fold. so this game is clearly going nowhere. What should we do instead?"
Ami put down her cards as well.
"Mmmm... I do wish Usagi would get here soon."
"Well, you know it's her special birthday date with Mamoru. I bet that's going well. What do you think they are up to?"
Minako jumped in with her usual freakishly high energy levels.
"Oooo! OOOO! I know! I bet its something like this:
"The golden twinkle of the City of Light shimmered on the water all around them. Usagi stared lovingly into Mamoru's eyes as the totally romantic song of the gondolier hit a particularly stirring note. Oh yeah! They are on a gondola by the way. I should have mentioned that off the bat. Anyways, Usagi leaned in to kiss him passionately and -"
"Promptly fell out of the boat. This is USAGI we are talking about."
Rei snickered at her own comment. Minako glared at her for the interruption of her beautiful scenelet.
"The City of Light... wait, are they in Paris? Paris doesn't have gondolas. Did you mean Venice?"
Ami piled onto the 'derail Minako's fantasy' train...
"Yeah, I don't get it either. Usagi's supposed to be here for cake at 9 o'clock, she can't be halfway across the world."
...and now Makoto with the finishing move.
"Ugh, you bunch of spoilsports. Fine! I'll start over You want realistic? The Goddess of Love shall provide!"
Minako cleared her throat dramatically and began her tale anew.
"So, Usagi and Mamoru are in a hotel room together in nearby Shinjuku (Mako, is that better huh?). So there they are, looking lovingly into each other's eyes, when suddenly there was a knock at the door..."
Mamoru got up from the bed to answer a knock at the door. He tipped the bellboy generously and wheeled the room service cart into the room himself.
He took inventory of the food on the cart. Strawberries, whipped cream, chocolate sauce. Everything he needed to make this a memorable night.
Usagi was going to be so excited. She was waiting for him on the bed, covered in candlelight and nothing else.
"Mamo-chan..."
"Happy 18th Birthday Usako. I am going to make this extra special for you."
Mamoru blew out candle out. The last thing she saw was his warm gentle smile as he reached down for her -
"MINAKO-NO-ECCHI! A hotel room?! What are you thinking?"
"Dammit Rei-chan! Quit interrupting! A girl can dream can't she? It's a good thing to have big dreams."
A long sigh sounded from across the table. Both Rei and Minako turned to see Makoto sitting there with a dreamy look in her eyes.
"Y'know I liked that story better. I kind of liked where you were going with the food actually... Ok. My turn!"
Makoto enthusiastically began her version of Usagi and Mamoru's birthday date:
Usagi and Mamoru sat across the table form each other at that fancy french place that's been getting the amazing reviews online lately.
Because Usagi didn't understand a word of French. It was up to Mamoru-san to order the food.
"Oh Sempai, you always take such good care of me."
"Sempai?" Minako jumped on the chance to nitpick at Makoto's story "I don't think Usagi has ever called him that before."
"Heh. Right. OK. I'll rework that. It's not the important part anyways. Moving on..."
"Oh Mamo-chan! You always take such good care of me. This is the most wonderful meal I've ever had!"
And so it was. The first course of rare imported Tsarkaya oysters from Cancale came and went. They were so perfect that they did not need the usual accompaniment or lemon or horseradish...although I bet Usagi would like a mignonette with a sweet champagne vinegar, lots of black pepper and a bit of chopped shallots...
Anyways, the waiter came and dropped off the second course – an old classic: Magret de canard a l'orange with melted leeks and pomme pont neuf. The duck itself was perfectly seared. Crisp skin, succulent meat, with a slight smokiness that hinted at maybe bacon? The pink of the meat contrasted with the deep velvety mahogany of the sauce.
Fresh orange juice, white wine, duck stock, orange zest, and a splash of Grand Mariner...the citrus notes of the orange sauce should cut through the richness of the meat and create a beautifully balanced flavour profile. I bet they would add a little tarragon to the sauce too...that's what I would do...
Oh! I'm getting sidetracked. The real surprise is coming. Mamoru leads Usagi to the private room of the restaurant. Inside is a buffet table of desserts, and a beautiful frosted birthday cake int he middle. With roses. Lots of roses...and then while she's looking at all teh goodies, he's going to yell something like:
"Happy Birthday Usagi! May they all be as sweet!"
"Dammit Mako-chan! Now I'm hungry. That was not at all where I was going with the food."
Minako's stomach growled to punctuate her point.
"What? I can't help it! Not my fault you didn't eat before you came. We should wait for Usagi to come back before we eat her birthday cake this year."
Rei offered up her two cents worth for free.
"You think she could eat cake after that huge imaginary meal of yours Mako-chan?"
"It's Usagi! She totally could. You guys didn't even let me get to the best part. There was going to be creme brulee, and an almond custard tart, and profiteroles, and chocolate mousse, and some crepes, and -"
"Enough with the food! Even Usagi can't eat that much. I hope anyways...You two are terrible at this. Ami-chan, got any ideas? You're being awfully quiet here. Please distract the bottomless pit here."
The girl in question tilted her head, thinking for a moment at Rei's request. Soon enough, the words came to her and Ami began to tell her tale...
The soft silvery moonlight filtered through the swaying trees. A gentle wind carried the fragrance of roses to where Usagi and Mamoru sat in the park. They drank deep of each other's presence, both mutually lost in the moment.
The stars themselves shone their blessing on the lovers below.
Mamoru looked into Usagi's eyes. The shining blue of a clear summer's day, yet without the harshness of the garish sun. Simple at first glance, but with a depth that invited one to dive in and drown in the purity of the light within. Usagi's eyes were as expressive as a well written book.
How did he get so lucky? Mamoru thought to himself.
"Usako. Your eyes...when I am with you, I feel the truth in the beauty of these words."
Mamoru dropped to one knee as he recited words of poetry to his beloved.
"...And on that cheek and o'er that brow
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent
The smiles that win and the tints that glow
but tell of days in goodness spent
A mind at peace with all below
a heart whose love is innocent"
Usagi sighed happily and melted into Mamoru's arms.
"Oh Mamo-chan...you always did understand me so well..."
"Happy birthday Usako. I bless the day that you were born."
Makoto sighed with a glassy-eyed look in her eyes.
"Ami-chan...so romantic!"
Minako chimed in with a near identical expression on her face.
"You big softy. I knew you had it in you!"
They sighed again in unison. Ami blushed at their overreaction.
Rei patted the embarrassed genius on the head affectionately.
"That's lovely Ami-chan, but in what world would Usagi understand that poem? Her English is terrible."
"Hmm? It's a Lord Byron poem. 'She Walks in Beauty' We learned it in class last week. I assume she's caught up on her readings."
The assembled senshi all had a bit of a chuckle at Ami's rather optimistic view on Usagi's academic prowess. As the laughter died down, Minako turned to Rei with an order.
"So, Rei-chan. We've all gone. How about you? You don't get to sit out of this one!"
Rei made a sour face.
"Ugh, knowing her, Usagi's probably dragged Mamoru into a the mall and has spent the last few hours trying to decide what he should buy her for her birthday. He's probably just following her around carrying a bunch of bags and worrying about his credit card statement at the end of the month."
Makoto raised an eyebrow at Rei's bluntness.
"Rei, isn't that a rather...lame? Mamoru-san can be a bit of an ass sometimes, but he means well. Even he's got to be more romantic than a date to the mall."
Each senshi went over what they knew of Usagi and Mamoru's miracle romance.
"Well, there was that year when his gift turned out to be a diamon. but he made it up to her! I don't think that was really his fault anyways. He was just trying to make up for not knowing it was her birthday in the first place..."
Ami's voice trailed off as Makoto picked up her point.
"And he did develop a split personality once just to protect her. That's kind of romantic right? Really really weird, but romantic?"
"Yeah! Rei-chan, you dated the guy yourself for a while. What did you see in him?"
Rei smacked Minako on the arm for bringing up that embarrassing episode of her life.
"Ok, fine. He does take pretty good care of Usagi. I can live with that. Still, I just do not like men."
A new voice jumped into the conversation.
"Not to worry Rei-chan! They don't like you right back!"
Usagi appeared in the doorway with the final comeback of the evening. Surprisingly she was on time.
She winked at the rest of her friends. They were all laughing again, except for Rei who was busy sticking her tongue out at her Princess. Usagi smiled so innocently that even Rei had to laugh.
The senshi all spontaneously pounced on Usagi as one for a birthday group hug. There was more laughter as it took everyone a moment to untangle themselves. Usagi didn't mind it at all.
"Happy birthday Usagi! How was your day?"
Usagi considered the questiont. She spent the day with her family, her evening with Mamoru and now, she was having a sleepover with her friends.
It was the most perfect birthday she could imagine.
A.N.
What more can I say? Happy Birthday Usagi!
Wait, nevermind! I have lots to say! Lots of trivial things.
First off, "daifugo" is a fairly common card game in Asia. English speakers might know it as "President" or "a-hole", Chinese players might know it as "Big Two" or 大老二 / 鋤大D. so on and so forth.
Secondly, just for funsies, the song that I pictured Minako stripping to (ok, didn't actually picture her stripping, you get my point) was Jimi Hendrix's cover of "All Along the Watchtower".
Thirdly, one of my favourite episodes in the original anime was the season 5 episode where everyone crashes at Usagi's house. Lots of inspiration and stolen lines here from that episode. A great fanfic author once told me: "All Art Is Theft!". Yup. I stand by those wise words and choose to call the whole opening scene of this story an "homage" to Sailor Moon Stars ep 184: Night Between Us! Usagi's Pinch!
Thank you for reading! Here's a happy birthday to all of you, whenever the heck your respective birthdays are.
Cheers,
-Drifter
P.S. Of course reviews and PM are appreciate. Hope you all enjoyed the story!