:: Bittersweet Goodbye ::

By: dreams-of-mist

Summary: Mamoru's heading to America today to finish his studies and become a great doctor. Usagi goes with him to the airport to send him off. Can they survive this bittersweet goodbye?

Author's Note: Here's chapter 4. I managed to write two chapters during this last week and a bit which I'm feeling pretty good about. I've never been to Japan so I don't know what the airport in Tokyo (if there even is one) looks like. If there are problems with that, I'm sorry! Again, there are some Japanese words and phrases here and there. If you don't know what something means, just ask me. Please read and review! Thanks.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or any of the characters in the anime. To the people who do own the rights and trademarks, please don't sue me. The story below, however, is mine, and please don't use it without my permission.

'…' – thoughts
"…" – spoken

Bittersweet Goodbye - Chapter 4: Last Call

Usagi watched as Mamoru and Motoki took the suitcases and bags out of the car and onto the airport cart. She felt displaced; there but not quite there. Her body was standing there on the cement pavement, dispassionately watching the scene unfold. But her mind and her heart seemed elsewhere, unable to process what was happening. The airport loomed ahead, a giant menace to her eyes. Everywhere people were being dropped off and picked up. Some were crying, others laughing, hugs going around. She looked at Mamoru, watched as the summer breeze mussed up his glossy black hair. She saw his firm, generous mouth lift up into a grin, listening to his best friend crack a joke. She remembered the way his dark cobalt eyes would seem to darken to black when the flares of passion overwhelmed them both.

Her heart was already breaking.

With all the bags loaded onto the cart, they made their way inside the airport, Usagi's small hand tucked into Mamoru's larger one.

"Usako?" Mamoru leaned down and tenderly brushed his hand across her cheek. "Daijobou?"

"I'm fine, Mamo-chan." Even saying this, she gripped his hand a little tighter. "Where do we line up?"

"Over there, at the international flights section. See, there's a booth for my flight to Boston."

"Well, buddy, let's get you checked in and unload these bags," Motoki added in loudly, hoping to dispel a bit of the downer mood they kept getting sucked back into. He patted Mamoru loudly on the back and slung an arm around Usagi.

"Don't worry, Usagi-chan. I'll keep you company until this crazy lug comes back for Christmas. Plus, we all know you're just waiting for him to go so that you can make a move on me!" He gave her a conspiratory wink and pretended to be hurt when Mamoru gave him a light punch on the arm.

"Hmph! Usako wouldn't go for the likes of you if you were the last guy in the universe. Isn't that right, love?" He gave her a devil-may-care smile, his eyes full mischief. Usagi couldn't help but smile back. Sometimes, with just one look, he could weaken her knees, make her insides flutter like butterflies, and her heart jump into her throat. He had the face of an avenging angel, dark and beautiful with its angles. His poet's mouth was firm and sensual, but always so soft when they touched hers. He had a lean and rangy body underneath hardened muscle that never failed to hold her lovingly and protectively.

"You'll always be the one for me." She said this while drowning into his eyes and watched as his face gentled. They both understood that she wasn't teasing.

"Sames goes," he murmured, leaning down to place a kiss on her forehead.

They lined up and eventually got to the front counter. The woman validated the flight tickets and Mamoru and Motoki put his suitcases on the conveyor belt.

"Everything seems to be in order, Mr. Chiba. Have a pleasant trip." She handed him back the tickets and his passport.

"Thank you, miss."

The three headed back out the airport atrium while Mamoru rearranged his belongings. Usagi looked at the large clock up ahead.

12:32 PM.

Mamoru's boarding time was 1:05 PM.

Half hour left. 'Breathe, just breathe, Usagi.'

"Hey, Usagi-chan?"

"Hmm? What is it Motoki?"

"Aren't the other girls supposed to be here?"

"Yeah, they are. I told them to meet us here at twenty past noon but I guess they're running late. I'm sure they'll be here soon."

"Sounds like fun. Four more teenage girls coming to see you off. Man, Mamoru, you're one lucky son of a bi–"

Motoki's cellphone started ringing.

"Hold on a sec guys. Hello? Hello?? HELLO?? Hmm…bad reception here. I'm going to take this outside. Be right back."

"Well I guess it's just the two of us, Usako," Mamoru said once Motoki left.

"Mamoru, I –"

"MAMORU!!! USAGI!!!"

They turned around and were embarrassed to see four girls flocking towards them in a slightly tangled mess.

"Can we pretend we don't know them and don't see them?" Mamoru lifted his hand and shielded his eyes from the view.

Usagi couldn't help but laugh at his futile attempt to hide behind her.

"PHEW!! We finally got here!"

"What took you so long Pyro? You guys are almost ten minutes late."

"Oh, don't get me started on the troubles we had getting here in the first place. We're late mostly because of THEM."

"Them?" Looking past Rei's shoulder, Usagi caught a glimpse of turquoise hair.

"Michiru? Haruka! Setsuna! Hotaru-chan! You guys came!!" Usagi rushed over to Haruka and gave her a huge hug. Pulling away, she smiled brightly at the other three outer senshi. "Minna! Thank you for coming. This is such a great surprise."

"Well, prince charming over there is going to be my future liege one day. Guess he deserves a proper sendoff." Affectionately, Haruka gave Usagi a pat on her head, ruffling her bangs.

"Haruka," Michiru admonished lightly, "show a little more respect, would you?"

"What? What did I do?"

Usagi giggled and went back to Mamoru's side. "By the way, where's Yuuichirou? Didn't he drive you guys here? And how did Haruka and the others make you late?"

"ARGH!! Don't even MENTION that dumbass! I can't believe his complete idiocy!!"

Nobody except Mamoru and Usagi seemed surprised by Rei's outburst.

"Huh?"

"Don't mind her, Usagi. She's still a little upset, but with just cause. Yuuichirou's car is…well…"

"Old. Crappy. A piece of junk. A bane of humanity. A youma in machine form sent to make my life a living hell."

"Uh…yes, what Rei said. Anyways, to make a long story short, when Haruka cut in front of us–"

"After signaling of course," Haruka interjected hastily.

"Rei, already irritated beyond reason, honked the horn before Yuuichirou could stop her. We didn't know it was Haruka who cut in front."

"Why would he try to stop her?"

"Well, Mamoru-san, it turns out that the horn malfunctions."

"Once it honks, it just won't stop," Minako added in jokingly, earning her a few frowns.

"So…the horn kept going and Rei was angry so she opened her side window and started yelling at Haruka's car. Haruka didn't know it was us so she opened HER window and started yelling at US."

"Wait a minute. Wasn't Haruka DRIVING?"

"Um…yeah, I was. I had Michi hold the wheel for me."

"Which led to the next problem. Traffic stopped all of the sudden on the highway –"

"This was on the HIGHWAY??"

"Um…yeah, Usagi-chan, it was. So Haruka swerved the car and punched the brakes to avoid hitting the car in front of her –"

"But we weren't so lucky," Makoto finished off for Ami. "We slightly hit Haruka's car so now there's a tiny dent in the back of her yellow sports car. And amazingly enough, Yuuichirou's car didn't suffer any damage. So then the police came and gave us all hefty fines for reckless driving and human endangerment. Luckily no one was hurt. I'm sure he was going to haul of off to the station but Haruka there slipped him a fifty."

"Oh my God, that's one of the most ridiculous stories I've heard yet. That still doesn't explain where Yuuichirou is… Rei, you didn't kill him did you??"

"Don't think I haven't thought about it! Stupid pea-brained dirtbag. Apparently, two of the doors on the car don't lock properly so he's outside in the parking lot protecting his precious baby. Like anybody would try to steal that heap of garbage," Rei muttered darkly.

"But let's move on to brighter things now, shall we?" Minako skipped over to Mamoru and held out a box. "For you, Mamoru-kun!"

He untied the lacy ribbon and opened the box. Quickly, he pulled the lid back down before Usagi good take a good peek at it and stammered out a quick "Thanks, Minako." His cheeks were pink and he was staring straight up at the airport ceiling.

"What was it Mamo-chan? I couldn't see."

"Well, Usa-chan, I got him a –"

"MINAKO!!" Clearly mortified, he stuffed the gift into one of his lighter carry-on bags.

Giggling, the senshi of love put a finger to her lips. "I guess it's a secret. You'll find out someday, Usagi." She winked suggestively and stepped back so that someone else could give Mamoru a gift.

Makoto stepped up and held up a tin box. "Well, here's my gift. Hopefully, it'll get a different reaction."

Opening the circular green box, Mamoru's mouth began to water. "Oh wow, Makoto. These look delicious." Inside was a variety of different cookies that Makoto had baked. Chocolate chip, triple chocolate chip, macadamia nut, oatmeal raisin, and Mamoru's absolute favourite: dark chocolate fudge chip. "I'll try not to eat them all before I get on the plane. Thanks a lot. After eating all those wonderful foods you've made over the years, campus meals are going to taste so bland."

Makoto blushed at the comment. "Well, all the more reason to come home more often, right?"

Next, Rei stepped up with a small trinket in her hands. "It's a charm I made at the shrine. It has all our planetary symbols inscribed on it – for protection and luck." She leaned in and gave him a quick hug. "Have a safe trip Mamoru. Come back to Usagi," she murmured softly into his ear.

"Thank you, Rei. I'll carry it with me everywhere."

"I guess I'm up next." Ami stepped forward and handed Mamoru a rectangular box about eight inches by five and a half inches. "Usagi said you hadn't bought one yet, so I thought it would be the perfect thing to get you." Curious, he carefully opened the box and let out a stunned gasp. "Oh, wow, Ami. This is incredible… I can't accept this – it must have cost a fortune."

Nestled inside against a velvet interior was a miniature laptop. The frame was glossy black with a silver symbol for Earth in the middle: a circle with a cross inscribed inside. A gold crescent moon rested on the top right hand corner.

"Mamoru-san, this is a gift. It would be rude not to accept. And plus, I already have my Mercury mini-computer – what would I do with this?" She cocked her head to one side and smiled sweetly. "Plus, it really wasn't all that expensive. I had a friend who had spare parts lying around. I just put it together and added some software on it. It has 512 MB of RAM, a 60 GB hard drive space, the most updated software for spreadsheet and word documents, a CD and DVD rewriteable drive, and lots of other little goodies I thought you might enjoy."

She also went up to Mamoru and gave him a light hug. "Study hard, Mamoru-san. And good luck."

"I'll work my hardest. Can't let this laptop go to waste, right? Thanks again."

"Me next, me next!"

Mamoru crouched down until he was at eye level with Hotaru. "What have you got for me kiddo?"

Shly, the smallest senshi pulled out a large bag from behind her. Her large purple eyes were full of excitement; she held her breath to see his reaction.

Mamoru reached inside the bag and pulled out a large white lab coat. "Hotaru-chan…this is perfect. Thank you."

"Papa had a lot of lab coats lying around. I even made a nametag for you." And sure enough, Mamoru found a gold nametag pinned in just above the breast pocket. Mamoru Chiba was etched in with elegant black script. "When you come back, I'll have a new one ready for you. Dr. Mamoru Chiba. Has a nice ring to it doesn't it? Come back soon, Mamoru-san."

Mamoru watched with kind eyes as the young girl skipped back towards Setsuna. In his heart, there would always be a soft spot for the frail-looking Hotaru. As the senshi of silence, she had helped to return Chibiusa to him when her pure heart crystal had been taken. A priceless gift, the life of his future child.

Next, Michiru came forward while Haruka strutted up alongside. He liked Michiru well enough. She always came across as very sophisticated and poised, but polite and kind nonetheless. Haruka on the other hand…for some reason, they never really got along that well. Haruka was probably one of the more protective senshi out of the eight of them. As a result, she held a grudge like no other against those who hurt Usagi. Mamoru doubted he had a positive image in her mind.

"Well, Mamoru-san, today's the day. Haruka and I got you this." The senshi of water pulled out an envelope from her purse and handed it to Mamoru.

Opening it, he discovered a roundtrip ticket from Boston back to Tokyo valid until one year today.

"It's for your first visit back. We thought what better gift for you and Usagi than getting the two of you back together?"

"Thank you, Michiru. Haruka. This means a lot." He stuck out his hand for a handshake with Haruka. She accepted the gesture, and pulled him close so that she could whisper something out of Usagi's earshot.

"You know how much I care about Usagi. If I find out that you've hurt her, made her cry, did anything unfaithful to her while in America, I'll personally fly over there myself and hunt you down. Then we'll see whose sword is made of sterner stuff: yours or mine." Her whisky coloured eyes glittered dangerously behind her choppy bangs and her smile was predatory, fierce and all teeth.

Mamoru responded in kind, his eyes just as determined and unwavering. "If I hurt her, you won't have to hunt me down. I'll be waiting for you."

Satisfied with that response, Haruka tilted her head in slight acknowledgement, gave his hand a final, hard squeeze, and stepped back. Michiru took up the emptied space and gave Mamoru a warm hug.

"Good luck, Mamoru-san." She lowered her voice and spoke again. "Don't worry, I'll keep Haruka in line." Mamoru grinned slightly but before he could pull back, she spoke again, her voice even more hushed. "But make no mistake, if you truly do hurt our princess, our precious hime, Haruka won't be the only one you'll answer to. Drowning is a horrible way to go." With that, she gave him a light peck on the cheek before returning to the embrace of her lover.

And last but not least…

"I guess that leaves me." The tall statuesque senshi of time stepped forward to give Mamoru one last present. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a small silver object and dropped it into Mamoru's hand.

He stared at it and said slowly, "This isn't a car key is it? Because that I REALLY can't accept."

She laughed out loud, a deep throaty sound. "Heavens, no! I don't have that much money. It's for the lock that comes with the bicycle I got you. It should be delivered to your Harvard residence in a few days. I heard that the campus was fairly large and that most students used bikes to get around. I hope it'll be useful."

"This is awesome, really, Setsuna. It'll help me get to all my classes on time. Thank you."

He gave her a brief hug and watched as she too returned to the large group of senshi.

With one exception.

"Usako, I –"

"Mamo-chan, I –"

"MAMORU!!"

'Why do people keep interfering?? I don't have much time left!'

Running a frustrated hand through his hair, he ripped his gaze away from his princess who was starting to panic. She glanced at the clock again and froze. It was already 12:56.

Time was slipping away.

They watched as a harried-looking Motoki ran up to them. Panting, he bent over to catch his breath. "Sorry…it…took…so long." Gulping in another breath, he started again. "Hi girls. Mamoru, buddy, sorry, but I got to run. The arcade is a mess right now and I'm needed back right away. Some stuff about broken dishes, angry customers, and screaming employees. Usagi-chan, I know I was supposed to give you a ride back and all –"

"Hey, it's no problem. We have space in our car. Odango, you can ride with us."

"Thanks, Haruka-chan. That would be great."

"Well, I guess that takes care of that." Motoki rushed up to Mamoru and gave him a big bear hug. Usagi backed away to let the two have a moment. She understood how important he was to Mamoru; his first real friend.

Motoki slapped his friend on the back a few times. "Have a safe trip, Mamoru. Study hard, don't drink too much, and try not to break too many hearts." He pulled back and the two shook hands, but before he could leave, Mamoru tightened his hold.

"Motoki…you were the first person I could truly call a friend. Thank you for everything." He paused a bit, as if uncomfortable about something. "You know that conversation we were having at the apartment just a while ago?"

"Yeah…" he said slowly.

"When…when you asked me if I was worried or afraid of losing Usako to someone else?"

"Yeah." He had an idea he knew where this conversation was going.

"Well…I lied. It's not that I don't trust her; I do. But…she's beautiful, inside and out and whether she realizes it or not, other guys see this. Normally, when I'm around her, they know better than to stare for too long because we're obviously a couple. But with me gone…"

"It's going to look like Usagi-chan's available."

Mamoru sighed and nodded miserably. "I need you to do me a favour. Could you…just look out for her? Make sure she's not…uh…harassed?"

Now Motoki grinned, his face alight with amusement. "What you really mean is to scare off any guys that come near Usagi right? Ward off potential suitors? Become Daddy Dearest #2?"

Mamoru nodded sheepishly. "You get the idea."

"Heehee…don't worry, just leave it o me." But when Motoki leaned in close, his face was all seriousness. "Just make sure you do the same, 'kay? Don't break her heart."

"I won't."

Motoki smiled and patted his back one last time. "Be seeing you around." And then he was gone.

Now there was just one person left to say goodbye to. The one that mattered most.

Mamoru turned to Usagi. But before she could even say anything...

"Ladies and gentleman, final boarding call for Flight 703, Tokyo, Japan to Boston, USA. All passengers please make your way to the boarding area. Last call for Tokyo to Boston."

The last grain of sand had fallen in the hourglass.

Time was up.

:: end of chapter 4 ::

And that's that for chapter 4. I think there may be about 2 chapters left for this story. I'm heading back to school soon so I don't think I'll have time to post another chapter for awhile, but we'll see. Reviews always get me pumped up to write more (time permitting).  Please review and give me constructive criticism! Thank you for reading!