Chapter 4: Will
There are two big boxes in the limo. The first is probably 2ft tall and 2ft wide. The other is about 3ft tall and 2ft wide and has fragile written all over it. This of course is based off site, and I was never good at judging size.
I take the 2x2 box first. When I open it up I am hit with the smell of chocolate. Inside the box is a really big chocolate teddy bear. It looks like the bulk of the bear is made of milk chocolate, and the paws and stomach are white chocolate. There is also a ribbon around its neck of chocolate that is dyed pink. Of course this will be for tomorrow, and I can't wait to dive into it but at the moment I am full (I know, it shocked me too).
I grab the next box gently. Taped to the top of the box is a sheet of paper with the word 'Will'. I take a tally in my head and figure out I have 'Me', 'Merry', 'You', and now 'Will'. This of course still makes absolutely no sense to me. With a huff I pull off the top of the box. When I do this the rest of the box falls open to reveal a vase of roses. When I look closer I realize that all of the roses are completely made of crystal. The blooms are red with gold stems. I count up the roses and realize there are a dozen of them.
"Wow…" I say in almost a whisper as I look at the roses. I look around the car to see that the girls are all staring at the roses with wishful expressions.
When the car stops I carefully hand the flowers to the driver. Luckily he will be dropping all my stuff at my mom's house while I am at the shrine. Because he will not be coming to pick us up after this we all thank him and start the long trek up the stairs. I have always hated these stairs, and let me tell you I hate them even more after going up them in these shoes. I look up to the top and notice that all the lights are off, this is unusual because usually there is at least one person here at all times.
We reach the top of the stairs when all of the sudden what looks like a million twinkle lights turn on and there is a huge chorus of "SURPRISE!" I am so shocked that I almost fall backwards down the stairs. Luckily someone grabs me before that happens.
"Happy Birthday Usako" I look up in surprise to see that Mamo-chan was the one who grabbed me. I immediately latch on to him in a huge hug.
"Mamo-chan! What are you doing here? What happened with the case?"
"Well since the jury was out I wasn't really needed there anymore. They will let me know the verdict when everything is done. You didn't think I would actually miss your 21st birthday did you?" He pulls me up and gives me a chaste kiss. "You look beautiful. Did you like the gifts?"
"It was you?"I look at him in shock, but I really should have known. I mean really who else would do that? Sometimes I even shock myself at how dense I am! "So what was with those pieces of paper?"
"You'll find out soon enough." With that we start to walk around and mingle with the guests. Pretty much everyone I knew was there. All the scouts, my old friends from middle and high school, even the sisters that we healed from the dark moon were there! We all have fun chatting and dancing on the make-shift stage that was set up.
Suddenly a very familiar song starts to play. Of course I recognize it right away as the song that Mamo-chan and I danced to before we were together. It was before Makoto joined us. I had snuck into a party using the Luna pen to check out if she had the crystal we needed and Mamo-chan was there as tuxedo mask. It was also the party where we had our first kiss. Mamo-chan grabs my hand and we go onto the dance floor as it clears off.
When the song ends everyone claps and we bow. Mamo-chan then pulls me aside from the rest of the party and toward the stairs and down to his car.
"Mamo-chan where are we going?"
"It's a surprise."
We pull in front of our apartment complex and go up to our place.
"Mamo-chan, this is just our apartment. Why didn't we stay at the pa-" I cut off my sentence as Mamo-chan opens the door. The first thing I notice is the dim lighting that is provided by lit candles all around the apartment. I then notice that the main room is filled up by white and red roses and that the floor is covered by rose petals.
"Mamo-chan?" I say as tears start to well up in my eyes.
"There is a one white rose for every time I thought of you when we were apart and one red rose is for every time you told me you love me. Usako, I have been with you for seven years in this time, but I have been yours for thousands of years. And if you let me I will be yours forever. When you through that test at me I knew instantly that you would be the one to save me. I tried to fight it at first by fighting with you every chance I got. I was afraid because I knew that your light would expel the darkness of my heart, and I had lived with that darkness ever since I can remember and I didn't know who I would be without it. Now I know that I was never who I was supposed to be until you loved me. You love me in a way that I have never been loved before." He bends down on one knee. "I sent you those words on the pieces of paper to ask you a question."
He reaches into the pocket of his tuxedo and pulls out a box. A box that is just the right size for a piece of jewelry that I did not already receive today. When he opens the box there lays the perfect ring. It has a gold band and on the top of the ring is a rose made out of white gold. In the center of the bloom is a diamond.
"Usako, will you marry me?" (AN: marry was purposefully misspelled on the paper in order to throw her off the track). I am speechless and crying so the only thing I can manage to do is frantically nod my head yes. He pulls the promise ring he gave me before the Galaxia debacle and places the new ring on my hand in the place where it will stay forever. He stands up and pulls me into a kiss.
MPOV
I pull away from the kiss when I feel her go limp. Honestly I'm not very surprised she fainted. She tends to do this quite frequently when she is overwhelmed. I lift her up and walk into the bedroom placing her gently on the bed before I leave to get a cold towel. When I come back there is a lack of unconscious princesses in the room.
"Usako?!" If she left I would have heard her right? I frantically start to search with so many bad scenarios running through my mind. I am about to call the scouts to get an emergency search party put together when to small hand cover my eyes and a small voice whispers "Surprise."
UPOV
He turns around and I can't help but smile from ear to ear.
"Usako!" He pulls me into a tight hug. "What were you thinking?! I was worried sick! Never, EVER do that again!"
"Well I needed to give you a surprise. Now there are a total of 21 surprises."
"21 huh?" He gets a gleam in his eyes as he steps forward. I step back.
"Yeah, the proposal was number 20. You know, you really should have thought of one more I am kind of disappointed you didn't." We keep doing the one-step forward one-step back thing. "I mean you're a smart guy, wouldn't it have been smart to have 21 surprises for my 21st birthday! I mean come on, I even thought of that!"
"Oh really? Well even if that is the case, you're going to have to pay for scaring me like that." My back hit the wall.
"Like how?" I see him grin as he walks closer to me.
"Oh, I was thinking of tickling the life out of you."
I squeal and make a dash to the door, but am stopped by Mamo-chan's arm around my waist. He starts to tickle me and we fall to the bed laughing. He looks down at me and brushes away my bangs.
"I love you Mamo-chan."
"I love you too Usako." With that he lightly kisses me and we start to cuddle. Right before I fall asleep I remember one more question.
"Mamo-chan, what do the charms mean." He looks at me.
"The past, present, and future. When we met in the past you were on the moon, when we met in the future it was by the arcade where you always had ice cream, and in our future we will be in the crystal palace with our hearts full of love for a certain pink-haired little girl." I stare at him for a moment.
"You are incredibly corny, but I still love you." Even as I say this my eyelids start to drop.
"Sleep Usako." He chuckles as he kisses the top of my head and we fall asleep lying together thinking about the bright future that is about to begin.
AN: Just so it is clear this is the official list of what I consider the counted 'surprises'
Dress 1
Necklace
Flower clip
White shoes
'Me'
Earrings
Bracelet
Dress 2
Black shoes
Salon
'Merry'
Moon charm
Ice cream charm
Heart charm
'You'
Chocolate bear
Crystal roses
'Will'
Party
Proposal
Usagi's Surprise