The ultimate question is out for good now. This is the moment you've all been waiting for: THE TRUTH ABOUT MAMORU! Please do not kill me. I SWEAR to you, promise you, you will love the ending (of the story not this chapter). If you don't like the ending, I will cry. Cry my heart out. Seriously? Just read the story.

SOULMATES

CHAPTER SEVEN – Body, Soul and Heart

Usagi had been avoiding him all week. He was everywhere she wanted to be: the arcade, school, the park, even the hallway to her apartment. No matter where Usagi ended up, Mamoru seemed to be lurking in the shadows. If Usagi did not know better, she'd say he was stalking her. Just to be certain, the blond watched her back a little more and actually bought pepper-spray. She kept telling herself just in case.

Usagi took the two steps down from the sidewalk that led to the door of her employment. She walked to the back and shoved her things in a locker that was assigned to her on the first day. It wasn't much of a locker, more of a cubby-hole to store her belongings, seeing that the door with the lock fell off years ago. She walked to the front counter to release another girl, whose name she could never seem to remember. Not that the girl was forgettable, but that the girl never seemed to want anything to do with Usagi. The blond watched as the girl silently counted her till. The girl's mousy brown hair fell past her shoulders and hid her face. Usagi realized she wasn't even sure what color eyes this girl had.

Her coworker looked up at her, glaring. "What?"

Usagi jerked her head away and looked in the other direction, "Nothing." Noticing the return cart full of books, Usagi said, "I'm going to put up these books."

"And?"

Usagi shook her head, "Just letting you know…"

A little while later she heard the shuffle of the brunette's walk, the 'Employee's only' door shut and then the safe open and close. The book store was dead silent. Usagi continued to put books back up where they belonged. The minutes seemed to tick by and Usagi began to wonder if the girl would ever come out of the back. Had she already left?

"Hey."

Usagi jumped and turned around.

"Sorry," the girl stated giving Usagi an incredulous look. "Anyway, I'm gone."

Usagi nodded.

The girl was halfway out the door before she turned around, "Oh, by the way, if you start wondering about the music, the manager called to say the satellite was out. That's why it seems so quiet. If you were wondering."

"Thanks." Usagi replied, having to reevaluate the girl's actions.

She sighed as she watched the brunette walk up the stairs. Her feet stood still at the top for a moment as if the girl was trying to decide which way to go before they disappeared completely.

Usually, Usagi did not mind closing the bookstore. Though, now, with the music gone and the eerie silence, Usagi wished someone would show up just so that she could pass the time. After putting the books up, Usagi started working on inventory. The numbers made her brain cramp, but tonight was especially slow and there wasn't much else she could do, besides probably clean the windows. So that's what she did.

It was after Usagi had the windows sparkling clean whenever she noticed she was not alone in the bookstore. There was another figure in the store with her. Tall and dark and someone she truly did not want to see. Could he not take a hint? How many ways can a person say no?

"What do you want Mamoru?" Usagi asked, exasperated. She leaned her forehead on the glass, no doubt leaving a grease mark.

"I want to explain."

Usagi turned around. She did not hide her anger from her face, her hurt. She challenged him with her eyes, demanding everything and telling him to back off at the same time.

Mamoru just shrugged as if he knew what she was thinking, "I will not tell you if you're not going to listen."

The blond shoved a hand through her hair, thought about it, and went behind the desk. "Sloppy Firsts," She mused, shook her head, "and Second Helpings."

"What?" Mamoru asked.

Usagi shook her head. "I'm going to let my heart get broken again. Go ahead."

"I never meant to break your heart Usagi." His voice was strained, "I swear."

"Well, you did a good job of shattering it!"

"I wanted the rest of my life with you," Mamoru said, "and I guess in a way, I did."

Usagi's eyes locked on Mamoru. What the hell was he trying to pull? "What does that mean?"

"It means, believe it or not, I was mugged a couple months ago." Mamoru said, shoving his hands in his pockets, a trait Usagi found boyish and yet irresistible.

Her eyebrows shot up when he did not continue, "And?"

"And," he continued, "I was shot."

"So… you've been in the hospital all this time?" Usagi asked, her temper rising by the millisecond. "You think you have the right to come in here and tell me this shit?"

Mamoru took a step back.

"For God's sake, Mamoru." Usagi screamed, "You can't just tell me this! Don't make up lies to try and make things better!"

Mamoru shook his head, "It isn't like that."

"Really?" She asked, taking a few steps closer to Mamoru. "Well then, lover, what is it?"

The dark headed man of her dreams and anger took a deep breath. "I didn't make it."

"What is that supposed to mean?" It seemed like a question she was asking over and over again. Still, it was Mamoru's fault for making it so damn complicated.

"I died?" It seemed more like a question than a statement.

"Then how can I see you?"

"I don't know," Mamoru shrugged. "You shocked me whenever you walked up to me yelling. I've been following you around for a while, tearing my heart out watching you sulk because you couldn't figure out what was going on. I wanted you to know so badly and then all of a sudden you're fighting with me. Blaming me."

Infuriated, Usagi brought a hand up to hit Mamoru. Then she attempted just that. He brought an arm up to stop her from pounding him, a normal reflex for anyone but he never felt the hit. Usagi never felt the satisfying contact of her skin against his that she was hoping for. Instead, she stopped in mid-hit only to find her hand inside of Mamoru.

That was when she fainted.

Usagi woke up to a horrible stench. Her eyes focused on someone she could not recognize but right behind him was her boss. She groaned at the ache in her head and how her right hand tingled with shots of electricity. Her eyes rolled in the back of her head from the bright lights of the store.

"Is she going to be all right?" she overheard her manager ask.

"She'll do just fine," the EMT said, "She's just lucky the customer walked in whenever she fell."

"What did he say happen?"

"He could not tell exactly," the EMT stated. "One second she was upright and the next she was down on the floor."

Usagi watched as the EMT checked her blood pressure, her pulse and her temperature.

"Everything seems fine." He nodded towards Usagi's boss, "Maybe she should go home for the night and sleep it off.

Usagi wanted to laugh at that statement. She would not sleep anymore. Nope. It wasn't going to happen. She'd search the internet for ways to get rid of ghosts. Then she'd make Mamoru go to wherever the dead were supposed to. Without realizing she was crying, Usagi felt a tear run down the side of her face.

Oh gods, he's dead.

The thought crossed her mind without her wanting it too. It was bad enough that she knew beyond a doubt that he was gone. The fact that he was haunting her? That would prove to be unbearable.

"I've called her a cab; he should be here any minute." Usagi's boss stated, her things falling from his hands to the ground.

Usagi fought the urge to sit up, grab her things and run. She waited patiently for the cab. Patiently let herself be helped to the yellow taxi whenever it arrived. Patiently sat through the ride home. Then finally made it to the door to her apartment and slammed the door, locking it fast. The blond ran into her room and fell on her bed.

That was when she lost control of her emotions; she let them pour from her body, soul and heart.