Part 2

He was holding a hand, tugging someone along behind him. The woman he loved was in danger and he would do anything to protect her. They reached the steps, but their path was blocked, hundreds of bespelled humans crowding the stairs and the street below.

"Come to me Endymion," the voice was harsh and angry, coming from the mouth of a red-haired woman who stood three steps in front of the rest. "Let the moon trash go, and take your place at my side."

"Never!" he shouted.

"Still you choose her over me?" The woman's face turned purple in rage. She lifted a hand and let out a blast of energy. "Die moon whore!" She screamed. He could do nothing but step in front of his love and take the blast meant for her.

He fell, the cold stone hitting his back. Warm arms wrapped around him, begging him to be alright, not to leave. Sad blue eyes looked down at him, and he reached one hand for her, attempting to touch her cheek. "I love you Serenity." He breathed, the pain in his chest overwhelming now.

The woman's blonde hair fell over him as she screamed and clutched him to her chest. "Don't leave me Endymion!" But his vision was fading. The last thing he saw was her reaching for his sword. Oblivion came.

Mamoru woke with a start. His chest hurt and he clutched it. Beside him in the bed, Usagi was moaning and crying out, though he couldn't make out what she was saying. She yelled, then moved her arms, suddenly clutching her stomach, and screamed. He grabbed her, noticing tears covering her face and pillow, and clutched her to him, running his hands over the smooth skin of her stomach.

"Usagi!" He held her close and whispered comfort into her ear. She buried her face into his neck and sobbed.

"It hurts," she whimpered.

"Do you need to go to the hospital?" She shook her head violently. He wanted to take her anyways, but she was pressing up against him, and her body had begun to relax out of its rigid stillness.

"It's going now," she said, with a sigh. He rubbed his hand up and down her back, sliding it under her silky hair to touch her smooth skin. She relaxed into him more, her breasts pressing up against his chest.

"Are you sure? That was..." horrifying, he thought, but didn't say the word out loud.

She rubbed herself into him, purring a bit, and nibbled his neck. "I'm better now." She murmured. "Hold me." and he noticed her hardening nipples lightly brushing over his chest as she moved. He kissed her, and rolled her onto her back so that he could run his hands over her body. He slid his tongue out and traced her lips, and she sighed, opening for him.

Their kiss changed from gentle to passionate as she wrapped her legs around his waist. His body sprung to life, and his now throbbing cock tapped her thigh. He moved from her lips to her neck, playing his hands over her skin in waves, crushing his thumbs over her nipples before pinching them lighly. She rubbed against his hard cock, the tip slipping in the moisture of her slit. They pressed into each other and he slid inside her, seeking her furthest depths.

She moaned as he filled her completely. Both lost control and they slammed against each other again and again, the passion building as he buried himself deep, ebbing as he pulled away.

"Mamo... Mamo..." she moaned his name and thrust against him. His pace increased, and he pulled his upper body up to deepen the angle, thrusting again and again into her until she clenched tightly around him and screamed his name, biting his shoulder hard as she spiraled out of control. Her muscles hugged and released and his own release came, spraying her insides, and coating them both.

It was a pleasant Saturday morning, marred only by the memories both held but didn't share. The sun was bright, the neighbors laughing, as they sat on their balcony. Mamoru was drinking his coffee and reading the paper, and Usagi sat, holding her own against the palm of one hand, and pretended to be interested in the magazine in front of her.

Her adventure had inspired incredible new ideas for a manga, and she thought carefully about what she would draw, and how she would express the fear, and the need. She couldn't tell anyone she was Sailor Moon, so she decided she would make the hero a teenager. She smiled, inspired, and thought back to her own teenage years. Back to a time when she considered Mamoru her nemesis, and his teasing had led to arguments, and eventually tears.

It made her consider what it would be like if the heroine had a masked hero to help, like she had the night before. Her fingers traced a sketch on the table. The cloaked man could be like her Mamoru. Aloof but teasing in normal life, but a hidden depth of warmth and caring showing through only to his heroine. She dashed inside for her sketchbook and raced back out to the porch, her pencil flying over the pages as she remembered their first argument over a test she'd thrown.

Mamoru was not sure what, if anything he should tell his wife about what happened to him the night before. He pretended to read the paper until she ran off, returning a moment later to begin a new manga. Ah, the inspiration strikes again. He was fond of her moods and creativity. He peeked over the paper and saw what she was drawing. It was his face. Him at seventeen, his mouth open in frustration and harsh words spilling out.

She drew a second picture, his face softened now, as he wistfully watched her walk away. She was good, capturing the emotions of that moment. He'd told her about how he'd felt back then. His irritation over being attracted to her, his fear that if she ever knew she would turn away and break his heart. It had been a miserable few months.

He lost himself in the memory, He'd gone to far, he remembered. Had called her names and treated her badly, but it wasn't until he'd said she was useless that she had broken. She'd run from him then, in tears, and fled to the park. It had been raining, and cold. When he noticed her umbrella still against the arcade counter he'd raced after her, screaming for her to come back, yelling his apology.

She'd fallen, ending up in a heap at the bottom of a little hill. It had taken too long to find her, and he'd almost given up, assuming she'd fled to her home, when the first bolt of lighting had speared from the sky and the thunder had boomed, hurting his ears. He'd heard the little moan of terror and looked down the hill. She'd rolled nearly twenty feet, and was shaking and sobbing, curled into a ball in a small channel cut into the earth. It was filling with water, but she hadn't moved.

He'd raced for her, and had taken her into his arms, apologizing and cursing himself. She'd screamed at the next crash of thunder, so he'd picked up the tiny girl and took her home. By the time she was dried and changed he'd nearly made himself sick with worry. Her ankle had been twisted badly in the fall, so he sat her on his couch and wrapped it. He knew then he was in love with her, and had looked up, surprising her, catching the look of tenderness on her own face. Their first kiss of many had followed.

Four years later, to the very day, he had married her. Now five years had passed, and he was so in love with her it sometimes hurt his chest just thinking of her. He wanted to make her happy, to care for her, to give her his children, and watch them grow together.

And now he had a secret. Would it put her in danger to tell her? Would she be jealous not to share part of his life? And if she learned he was attracted to the moon woman? What then? Would he lose her forever?

Usagi was terrified. She saw the cat sitting on the steps and looked over at her husband, who seemed lost in thought, or perhaps memory. Luna said she had to keep her new powers a secret from her husband. What could she say to him? She didn't want to keep this a secret. She wanted him to be involved. Of course, if she were completely honest with herself, she had to admit she never wanted him to see the man she'd dubbed Tuxedo Kamen. Didn't want him to realize she was attracted to another man.

She was the most horrible wife on earth, she told herself angrily. She sighed and glanced at the cat again. "Mamoru, I was thinking I might go do some shopping," she said finally. He looked up in surprise, then nodded. She stood, gathered her things, and stooped to kiss him. After her drawing supplies were put away, she grabbed her favorite shopping basket and went out, walking down the steps of the balcony, following the little black cat.

"What is it Luna?" she asked with a touch of fear.

"I think there's another Youma," the cat said, jumping to her shoulder so she could talk quietly. "And perhaps something worse, at the radio station," she continued. "Anyone who writes into this new love-letter program ends up falling asleep and not waking up. It isn't a coma as their brains are still fully active, and they respond to stimulie, but they wont wake up. According to the article in the paper this morning, they are declining rapidly, and the radio station claims they have no such program. I think we should check it out.

Mamoru watched his wife walk away, and sighed. He just didn't know how to tell her, and the longer he kept the secret, the worse it would be if she ever found out. A little cat was walking beside her now, and he noticed when it suddenly jumped onto her shoulder. She didn't cry out or come running back to him for help. "Odd." he murmured. She normally screamed when she was startled. He shrugged his shoulders and glanced down at the newspaper. He was drawn in by a startling article about people going into a sleeping sickness. After he read it he stood. He needed to check this out.