Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Usagi ran for what seemed an eternity. She finally lost Mamoru a while back and began a slow walk. She wiped her remaining tears and sighed with exhaustion while looking down to the ground deep in thought. Why did she run? Why did she say those horrible things to Mamo-chan? She knew it wasn't anymore Mamoru's fault than it was Apollo's. She tried to comprehend all the information that her and her friends acquired from Setsuna-san. Apollo was the princess of the sun…betrothed to Endymion by birth…she was heart broken when he confessed his love for Serenity and rejected her…he probably didn't even notice or know about Apollo's feelings for him. Apollo maybe never got the chance to confess her love for him. What bad timing. She felt sorry for her now. They didn't plan to fall in love, it just happened. Not that she regrets it at all…still she was to blame for the events that took place in the past. It was all her fault. She was the one who triggered Apollo's anger and that's why she helped Beryl. It was all because she didn't listen to her mother.

Usagi eyes saddened. She looked up and found herself in the Juuban park. She found her usual bench and sat down with folded hands. She looked down at the ground again and frowned.

Her past mother, Queen Serenity, must have been so angry with her. She defied her mother and descended to the earth without her permission or knowledge, she fell in love with an engaged prince, disregarded her kingdom and her senshi, and was utterly and completely selfish about it all. She didn't care whether she hurt the people around her. All she ever cared about was Endymion.

She sighed heavily and looked up at the fading sun. She wondered why Queen Serenity even still cared about her. She ruined everything.

She buried her head in her hands and closed her eyes. Tears were threatening to fall again. She couldn't hold it all in any longer.

"Usagi-chan…"

Usagi looked up to see who belonged to the voice and saw Luna looking up at her with worried eyes.

"Luna…" she trailed off.

"Usagi-chan…are you alright?" she asked her mistress as she took a step closer.

"Oh Luna!" she wailed as she picked up her furry friend into her arms. She hugged her while beginning to cry. "I-I'm so sorry Luna!"

Luna offered what little comfort a cat could offer her and leaned into Usagi's embrace.

She looked at her and frowned.

"What do you mean you're sorry? You haven't done anything."

Usagi revealed her tear stained face and looked down at her.

"I'm the one to blame! It was all my fault! You and Artemis and Rei-chan, Ami-chan, Minako-chan, Mako-chan, and Queen Serenity worked so hard to keep our kingdom peaceful and protected! I was so selfish! All I ever cared about was Mamo-chan! I never stopped to think about the consequences! I'm so sorry Luna!"

Luna frowned at her again and shook her head.

"Usagi-chan…it wasn't your fault. Our future was already decided for us even before we were born. It was our destiny. It's your destiny to become our future queen and Mamoru-san king. Everything happened the way it was supposed to so don't blame yourself."

Usagi by this time had stopped crying and a little hope gleamed in her glittery eyes. She smiled lightly down at her encouraging friend. "Thanks Luna…"

"Usako…"

Usagi turned to see Mamoru standing a few feet away. He looked out of breath and seemed to have an understanding expression.

He had been listening to the two since Luna came walking up and frowned inwardly. This whole mess was making his Usako unhappy and the main reason was because of him.

She looked at him with tears in her eyes as Luna plopped down from Usagi's arms and onto the ground. She looked down and waited for him to speak.

"Usako…I'm so sorry about all of this. I had no idea that this was going to happen. I feel like such an idiot for not being able to give you some answers and for causing you so much pain. I only remember certain parts about Apollo. I don't know why I don't remember or why I didn't tell you in our past life but I do know that I don't care what happened in the past. The only thing I care about is loving you and making you happy. And Luna is right. It was destiny to meet you and love you. You are my past, present and future. I'm sorry if I made you doubt it for one second. I--"

Before he could say another word, Usagi ran up to him and wrapped her arms tight around his waist. She cried into his shirt and leaned her head onto his chest.

"Mamo-chan!!"

He smiled down at her and wrapped his strong arms around her as well. He stroked her back, trying to calm her.

"Mamo-chan…I should be the one to say sorry! I'm so sorry for treating you the way I did! I was just upset and maybe I was jealous…but I was so confused about everything!"

"Shhhh, it's alright. I understand, u don't have to explain." He comforted her.

Luna smiled at the two royals and sighed from relief. She had hoped that everything would be alright between them. If something was to happen between the two, the future would be at stake. She decided to return to the other senshi and give them their privacy. They needed to rid any ill feelings and work it out before it was too late. Who knows what else could be thrown at them.

"Mamo-chan?"

"Hm?"

"I was wondering...did you ever know that Apollo was in love with you?"

Mamoru looked up at his bedroom's ceiling. The curtains in the room were closed half way only to reveal the faint light of the moon outside. They had laid on his bed for several hours now, contemplating on a plan of their own.

He tried to recall the little memory he had of her and turned back to her.

"Hm, it didn't seem like it. We were friends. I guess I didn't notice it."

Usagi nodded in recognition. She frowned when she thought about it.

"I feel sorry for her. I can't imagine the pain she went through. I mean, she was in love with you and was convinced that you'd be marrying her. She probably figured that you'd always be there and she waited on confessing her feelings to you. It's sad…"

Mamoru rolled over and turned towards her with a light smile on his face. He lifted his hand and traced the side of her cheek. She noticed his touch and turned to see his smile.

"We'll work everything out so don't stress out over it. We've gotten through a lot of hard times, so we can get through this one."

She returned his smile and rolled over on her side to face him. Her hand flew up to catch his before he set it down and held it to her cheek.

"I know we will. We know that there's a future for us and I know we'll see it someday. I'll protect the earth, our precious friends, and you, Mamo-chan."

"We'll protect them together." He corrected.

They laid there smiling at each other and moved to embrace one another. Usagi closed her eyes and sighed. She was determined to resolve the problem with Apollo and hoped that she could one day become friends with the girl. She wasn't evil. She was like everyone else but the pain and angry jealousy has her by the hair. She would have to talk to her tomorrow at school and try to reason with her. She knew that if she wanted to, she could stop her from realizing her revenge. It wasn't going to be easy but she had to try.

The next day, Usagi had surprised Luna by getting out of bed early enough to make it to school on time. Usagi wanted to get to school early to be able to talk to Apollo without a lot of other students around. She walked down the street heading towards her school and rounded the corner to see familiar faces.

"Haruka-san! Michiru-san! Good morning!" she called to the older girls, waving her arm.

They both looked up and smiled at their waving friend.

"Odango, you sure are up early today." Haruka noticed.

"You seem happier too." Michiru added.

"Yup! Mamo-chan and I worked it out! I wanted to go to school early today to finish some homework."

Haruka glanced at her knowingly before gently nudging her partner. Michiru looked at Haruka from the corner of her eye and looked back at Usagi. They knew she was lying.

"Your not trying to act on your own are you?" Haruka asked her and noticed Usagi flinch at her question.

"You know you shouldn't try to resolve this on your own. She could lash out at you at any moment." the aqua haired girl reasoned.

Usagi sweat dropped and tried to play it off.

"No! That's not why! I really do need to do some homework. Well, better be on my way! Don't wanna waste any time! Bye!" she waved and walked passed them down the street.

Their eyes followed her and when she wasn't within hearing distance they looked at each other.

"I don't buy that, do you?"

"No, I don't. We should monitor her just in case."

Haruka frowned.

"But we can't go onto the school grounds, we'll get thrown out."

"We don't look that old, do we? And besides, what choice do we have?"

The dark blond smirked at her and started to walk in the direction of the school.

"We look old enough. We could always go back to the house instead. Setsuna and Hotaru aren't in."

Michiru followed with a smirk of her own.

"Maybe later. First our princess."

Usagi walked down the hallway and looked around. She was right to have come at this time of the morning. There were only a few students and faculty members. A perfect chance to talk to Apollo. She opened her classroom door and peeped in. There wasn't anyone in the room. Apollo always showed up early, or so that's what her fellow classmates boasted about. She noticed something from the corner of her eye and turned to see Apollo walking down the hallway towards the flight of stairs.

"What's she doing? She's going to the roof?" she whispered to herself.

She followed her quietly and stopped when she opened the door leading to the roof of the school.

"Should I go out there?" she asked meekly. Then she narrowed her eyes with determination. "No I can't turn back now. I gotta talk to her!"

Usagi then walked slowly out of the door way and looked around. She wasn't there! She panicked while looking around frantically.

"Hello, Serenity."