Author's Note:

Lessons Learned
Chapter Two:
Festival

"I've never seen her like that Motoki," Mamoru whispered, watching the bubbly blonde in the mirror. He could see it now. The mask so like his own. He didn't know what was bothering her, but something was obviously different about her, and he wondered just how long he'd been missing it. She laughed, still loud and annoyingly, but he could see now just how much she was hiding behind the smile.

"I don't know what to tell you Mamoru. She looks fine now. Maybe she did just have a bad dream." Motoki looked at him carefully. "It could be something like yours," he added after a moment. Mamoru nodded. Motoki was the only one who knew his secret identity, and about his dreams.

"It was like she was holding herself together." He sighed. "She was holding her belly like it hurt. Do you think..." he trailed off, uncertain how to continue. "Could she be..."

"Spit it out Mamoru."

"Being abused?" He finished, unsure if it fit.

Motoki was shaking his head. "I doubt it. Her father dotes on her, though he seems to think she's still three. Her mother can be tough on her, but loves her. Her brother is a pain, but he would never actually hurt her."

"What about a boyfriend?" Mamoru asked, ignoring the clench in his gut at the thought of her with another guy. She wasn't his, and he had no right to be jealous.

"No. She hasn't even had her first kiss yet, thinks all the boys in school are too immature, and dreams of her prince charming." He grinned at Mamoru's startled look. "Don't be surprised. You aren't the only one who spills their guts to me. She thinks of me like her big brother." A short bark of laughter followed. "It's certainly better than the days she had a crush on me."

Mamoru smiled back. He hadn't even realized Usagi had ever had a crush on Motoki, though he could see why. The guy was always smiling and happy, just like her.

Suddenly the little blonde they were discussing walked to the counter and sat in the stool next to Mamoru's. He checked the mirror and saw her friends leaving. Rei was scowling and Ami was frowning.

"What's up Odango?" Mamoru asked, hoping she was up to one of their little battles.

"My name is Usagi! U.S.A.G.I." She gave him a little glare and a frown, but the heat didn't really reach her eyes. "Mamoru-baka, you call me stupid, but you can't learn one single name?"

Mamoru could only smirk at her. "You know you love it Odango," he said, and tweaked her hair, reveling in the silky strands before releasing it.

She snorted. "Yeah right." Now her grin seemed more real. Mamoru realized she might enjoy their arguments as much as he did.

"So, run into any poles today?" He asked with a laugh, remembering one funny incident when she had apologized profusely to a street sign.

"No," she answered, "pick on any children today?" She was facing him completely now, and smiling.

He grinned back. "Nope, but if you want I can pick on you."

"Oi, be nice to Usagi!" Motoki tried to interject, sliding a chocolate shake to her in a move reminiscent of old-time bar tenders depicted in Western movies.

Mamoru snatched it and stole the first sip before sliding it back to her. She glared at him and hovered over her chocolate treat protectively before sucking down a huge gulp of the shake. Then she let out a frustrated cry of pain and held a hand to her head. "Every time!" she muttered. "I forget every time!"

"Not another brain freeze?" Mamoru mocked, laughing. "Don't you need brains for that?"

"I notice you staring in the mirror a lot Mamoru, worried it will break?" She giggled.

"Hey Usagi-chan, you going to the festival this weekend?" Motoki interjected, trying to stop them before they got out of hand.

Mamoru watched as she excitedly talked to Motoki. At times their arguments were awful and even mean, and at other times they seemed almost pleasant. Fun even. He wondered why that was. With a shrug he turned back to the conversation.

The day had not been a good one. He'd lost most of his work on a paper, spilled hot coffee down his thigh, and had slipped in the shower, banging his head and bruising his pride. He wasn't sure he could handle a festival in his current mood. He'd met Motoki at the arcade and they'd driven over together. Motoki was in a cheerful mood and Mamoru was determined not to ruin it, but he knew Odango and her friends were meeting up with them later, and he wasn't sure he could keep any arguments civil today.

The festival was loud. It wasn't what he had expected. In fact, it was very western. Much like he assumed theme parks were in America in fact. Rides and food and haunted houses. Costumes were worn by many of the people attending, though Mamoru wasn't wearing one. Motoki looked around with a grin as he waved the girls over.

Mamoru groaned. There was no way he could deal with all the squealing and screaming all night without arguing with the Odangoed one. Ugh! She was so loud, and so clumsy that he was sure there were going to be problems for the next several hours. The other girls weren't so bad. Ami and Rei seemed much more down to earth. Ami especially was calm and studious.

Usagi was staring around her as though looking for someone. He looked around too, wondering of they had brought anyone else with them. Perhaps the little red-head that used to be with Usagi all the time. His suspicions were confirmed a moment later when she and the young boy she was dating came running up to them.

"Naru! Umino!" She hollered, rushing to give them both hugs. "I'm so glad you could make it."

Behind him Rei snorted angrily. He looked between the little blonde and the raven-haired priestess. Ami went to say hi to the newcomers as well, receiving a hug from Naru.

They went through the food vendors first, as a hungry Usagi was not fun to be around, and all of them knew it. She wanted to try something new and fun. She ended up with a caramel apple in one hand and a candy apple in the other. She took one bite of the candy apple and passed it to Naru, who seemed to enjoy it. She tried the caramel apple next and when Rei held out a hand for a bite she squealed and took another large one before handing it over.

They found fried dough covered in cinnamon and sugar, caramel corn, strange pies, subs and hotdogs and a type of burger covered in chili and cheese. The Odangoed one made a mess of herself and Mamoru couldn't help teasing her a bit for it. Usagi seemed to abhor candy corn and he heard her mutter that it was "worse than carrots."

After that they found an activity where people attempted to grab apples with their teeth. The apples floated in a large metal bucket of water, and when a person was attempting the task they had to keep their hands behind their back. To Mamoru it seemed very unsanitary. Usagi attempted it and came up with one, so did Naru, but when Umino made the attempt he fell head first into the bucket. No one else wanted to try after that.

For the next several hours the group went through activities, games, and rides. Usagi won herself a Tuxedo Kamen doll and a Sailor Moon doll at the ring toss. She kept making them smooch, much to Rei's disgust. She pulled Usagi roughly aside and gave her a lecture. For a moment Mamoru experienced an overwhelming feeling of deja vu.

After a moment he broke between the two of them and pulled Usagi away from her and over to challenge him with water pistols. He couldn't stand the look of sadness in her eyes as her friend berated her for everyone to see. He was the only one allowed to torment her.

As a whole the group headed for the line at the haunted house and the fun house.

"I don't want to go into the haunted house!" Usagi whined, loudly.

"Well the rest of us want to go," Rei hissed. "We went through all the food and the games with you. The least you can do is go with us now."

Usagi sniffled. "It's scary."

"Oh Kami you're pathetic." Rei huffed.

"You are!" Usagi said, and stuck her tongue out at the fiery priestess. The girl did the same, and everyone grinned. Except Mamoru.

Mamoru wasn't too keen on the idea of a haunted house himself. It wasn't that he was afraid, but rather that he would do nearly anything to avoid hearing Usagi scream for twenty minutes. Not to mention he knew she was already dealing with nightmares.

"I'll take the Odango to the fun house instead. That's just mirrors." He offered finally, after a three minute tongue war between Usagi and Rei had driven him nearly insane.

Everyone turned to him with startled looks. He chuckled. "Do any of you really want to hear her screams through the whole thing?" Suddenly understanding the others began to nod and smile. Mamoru grabbed Usagi's hand and pulled her away before she could argue. The last thing he needed was another argument.

"You didn't have to embarrass me," Usagi hissed, still obviously upset by her fight with Rei.

"I didn't have a lot of choice." Mamoru insisted. "Rei wasn't going to back down and we both know it. You would have been screaming and we all would have ended up with a headache."

"Baka!" She whined. "That's not fair!" She wailed for a minute and it grated on his nerves. He'd saved her for crying out loud. Couldn't she just be grateful?

"You are so pathetic," Mamoru announced as they entered the fun house a few minutes later.

"You're just mean!" Usagi insisted.

"Only to you Odango!" He growled.

"It's USAGI. OOh-Sah-Ghee. U.S.A.G.I. You call me stupid, and yet you haven't been able to learn a simple name." She huffed and turned away from him.

"Pretty sure you've used that one before Odango!"

"ARGGGH!" She turned away from him.

"It's this way, Odango," he said, grabbing her by the shoulder and pulling her in a different direction.

"Baka! I just wanted to explore," she lied.

"AHHH!" The floor under them was rocking forwards and back wildly and both of them were unsteady. Usagi couldn't hold her balance and fell into him.

"Two more steps and we're done this part," Mamoru said into her ear as he stood her back up. Sometimes she could be a bit pathetic.

"We've been in here forever!" Usagi whined. "We're lost!" Another loud wail erupted and he covered her mouth. A second passed before he felt the wetness on his palm.

"Did you seriously just lick my hand? You are so immature Odango!"

She only stuck her tongue out at him in response. He growled.

They moved off the platform and into the mirror maze. "This way," he said, pointing her in the right direction.

"How do you know?" She asked.

"I have this thing I use. It's called a brain. Maybe, someday you'll get one." Mamoru glared at her.

"Jerk."

"Crybaby!"

"Baka!"

"Wimp."

"Conceited Jerk!"

"Moron."

Mamoru couldn't help but lose his temper when she stomped on his foot. He grabbed her arm and pushed her further into the maze. "You are just such a clueless, immature, spoiled brat!" he hissed at her. "You need to grow the hell up and learn some responsibility. God you're pathetic."

He didn't see the tears. He refused. He wasn't looking! He wasn't going to feel guilty for losing his temper. She'd stomped on his foot for crying out loud. He ignored her occasional sniffles and continued to push her though the maze.

From the side an arm came across both of them and they were pushed through a doorway neither of them had seen. They stumbled into a room, and a moment later the door was closed behind them.

"Mamoru-baka?" She could tell her voice was as frightened as she felt.

They had been trapped in the strange room for several minutes, and no one seemed to hear them knocking. She refused to sniffle and be a crybaby like he assumed. Instead she searched for an exit and wondered if it was safe to use her communicator to call for help. Unfortunately she didn't want him to know she was Sailor Moon, and she wasn't sure the two of them weren't being watched.

"Mamoru?" She tried again.

He turned to her, his hands still on the door that had slammed closed behind them. Whoever it was that had shoved them in here had locked it. The mirrors were lit by an unknown source, and it was beginning to give her a headache. She closed her eyes for a moment, willing the lights to dim.

"You okay Odango?" he asked. She nodded, but didn't open her eyes.

"The lights hurt me," she admitted.

"Me too." He sighed. "I don't think we're going to get out of here without help, and my cell isn't working." He closed his own eyes and covered them with his hands.

Usagi briefly checked her communicator, but when she tried to press the buttons for Mars and Mercury, nothing happened. She closed her own eyes again, after snapping the lid shut.

Suddenly shuffling footsteps could be heard. She opened her eyes and saw Mamoru do the same. He moved closer to her as they saw a strange man wearing a long purple robe coming forward. Neither could see where he had appeared from, but they did notice the lights had dimmed.

Mamoru pushed Usagi behind him as the strange man came toward them. He held up a talisman. It had two pieces interconnected, one male and one female, attached to a larger disk.

"If you two do not learn harmony, the end will come." the man said, before he reached one hand out and spun the figures on the disk. "Learn the lesson."

A moment later the lights became so bright that Usagi screeched in pain and covered both eyes. Mamoru did the same, and he pulled her up against his chest, hiding his own face in her hair. Both of them had to keep their eyes closed for several long minutes, but when they opened them, the door they had been shoved through was open.