Disclaimer:
insert standard disclaimer here.Author's Notes:
It's been a while and I'm still very much alive and with an update. I can't believe it. And I just want to thank everyone that reviewed. It really meant a lot... I mean it. So thank you.~-*-~
Lost Love
Chapter 8 : Everything
Usagi looked up to the dark ceiling above her, lying on her bed, the setting sun serving as the only light filtering through the room. She was all but trying to ignore the black cat whose dark red eyes were watching her every move. Its eyes holding unanswered questions that she felt no need to answer any time soon.
Luna had not spoken a word to her ever since she was taken home from the temple, but with the look of apprehension in those eyes, Usagi was sure that Luna was far from done with speaking to her.
She then sighed loudly at the thought. Heero...
He had come for her. Just like she had hoped, dreamed... She had known that he wouldn't let her down, but to see him here in Japan. To come all this way just for her. It made her heart constrict with such pain and love that she just couldn't understand how he could invoke such emotions from her. He had such power over her that it was just unimaginable.
She then grinned. But then again, I have that power over him too.
She nearly laughed at the thought. Dr. J's Perfect Soldier at her whim. It was nearly hilarious if their situation wasn't so serious.
He hadn't exactly told her he loved her in those few moments that she was with him at the arcade... but she knew. She knew that he loved her. Just as much as she loved him, if that was even possible.
Usagi's expression then turned serious. With them, anything was possible. They would make everything possible... in more ways than one.
It was strange how with his appearance today that everything just seemed a lot brighter. Even though she knew that their fight was far from over... the senshi having proved that by trying to reason with her earlier. They had talked to her, after he had gone. Taken her to the temple. All of them. The 8 senshi, Mamoru, and the 2 cats. Telling her, ordering her, trying everything to get her to see what they were trying to say. But she paid it no mind. She knew what they were trying to do.
They were just worried about the future. Thinking that with the appearance of Heero that she would abandon her destiny. And in all truths... she would. She knew she was being selfish. But she didn't care. She had had to put up with what they wanted for 2 years. It was about time that she did something she wanted. Not what they wanted.
So when their reasoning didn't work. They had just gotten mad at her. Not that she minded at all. She was quite good at blocking people out, which of course she had done, which of course only made them angrier. In the end, she just found it all funny. A little of her old character finally being shown to them.
And that made them all the angrier. To see how she wasn't the Usagi that they were used to. The Usagi Tsukino that they had grown to know as the klutzy, bubbly girl with the open heart that couldn't seem to think for herself. No, she acted like Usagi, the sixth Gundam Pilot. The one that knew how to keep her own emotions in check, the one that knew how to hide them behind her mask. The one that was a lot smarter than they thought her to possibly be. Nothing more, nothing less.
So when they finally got fed up trying to talk to her, to gauge a reaction from her, they had brought her home. With only Setsuna's parting words ringing in her mind. "We will be watching you, princess. Do not think that you can escape so easily."
The words had brought a chill down her spine, but she ignored it. She had faith in her and Heero. They could get through this. Usagi felt her hands clench. They would get through this.
"So what happened today?" Luna who had finally deemed it the right time to talk to her then brought her out of her reverie.
"Nothing happened."
Luna's eyes flashed at the answer. "Don't lie to me Usagi."
Only then did she meet Luna's eyes. "Then don't ask questions you already know the answers to."
"But I want to hear what happened from you. Not the different versions that the others have given me." Luna watched her expression carefully, saw her turn her head once more to the ceiling, as if deeming this conversation not worth her time. She bristled at the move, not use to this Usagi. "So, what exactly happened?"
Usagi's eyes flashed at the question. "They interfered. That's what happened."
"Interfered with what?"
Usagi glanced at her again patronizingly, but kept silent.
Luna sighed tiredly. She didn't have the patience to play this game with Usagi. She considered her next questions, already knowing the answers, but needing to hear it from her charge herself. "What does this boy mean to you, Usagi? Would you risk everything? Risk everything for him?"
Luna watched as Usagi's shoulders quivered and heard her loud sigh.
"Everything, Luna. He is everything."
~-*-~
Heero could hear them talking about him in the next room.
Out of all the rooms in this mansion, they use the one next door. He could only shake his head at their idiocy for thinking that this one wall could keep him from hearing their conversations. And he wasn't even trying to hear their conversation at that.
Oh no. He was just trying to clear his head. Clear it from thoughts of her and from the pain that seemed to be swimming all over him. The bastard must have gotten a lot more hits than I thought.
He looked at the ceiling above him with more interest than a ceiling should deserve. With his arms behind his head, he laid on the bed, staring at the ceiling with a concentration that would make one look twice.
He tried to keep from thinking about her. He tried to stop thinking about how soft her lips had been. How right she had felt in his arms. How she had grown even more beautiful since he had last seen her 2 years ago. How for the second time, she was taken from him.
But this time it was different. This time she was only 15 minutes away from him. This time he could see her without any missions holding him back. But there was still something holding him back.
He felt his lips curl in annoyance and he tasted the blood that was still on them. Those damn onnas and that man.
He remembered what had happened after the arcade was cleared. He hadn't planned on letting her out of his sight. He hadn't planned on letting her out of his sight without his or her consent, but it had happened somehow and it didn't by all means make him happy. Even if he was at fault. He was to put it in simple terms, pissed. Even Duo had the sense to not question him when they had gotten back to one of Quatre's many mansions.
He remembered being annoyed and distracted with what that idiotic security guard was questioning him on and had let her out of his sight for a moment to finally subdue the baka. And the next moment he had turned to look at where she had last been, she was gone.
He had immediately scanned the room and had seen her being dragged off by 4 of the girls that had been at that table. She was fighting them off, trying to get out of their hold, but the tall brunette had a good hold on her and wasn't about to let her go anytime soon.
He was about to go to her when that damned baka of a security guard had the nerve to grab his arm. To say that that man had made a mistake was saying it lightly, because the next thing the guard knew, he was on the ground and holding his stomach in pain.
No one grabbed Heero Yuy and got away with it. Even the other pilots knew better then to touch him or go near him when he certainly didn't want it.
He was about to go to her, when the three eldest women that Usagi was with in the beginning, blocked his way, and with great effort the man, Mamoru had too. He recognized one of the women as Dr. S and could only look at her seething because he knew someway or another that all this was her doing.
"Stay away from her 01."
He watched, as she seemed to contemplate him, to see what his reaction would be to such an order like that from her. Of course, they saw nothing. His face was as always as blank as ever. But his eyes, they were so much colder now. So cold that they couldn't seem to hold his stare. Not even Dr. S.
His lips curled, the first expression that they had seen since the fight broke out. And when he spoke, it made them wonder how one so young could invoke absolutely no emotion in his voice. "Do you honestly think I'd listen to you Dr. S?"
He watched as her face remained blank, but in those dark maroon depths he saw her flinch. He inwardly smirked. He watched as the four other girls had stopped trying to drag Usagi away and had stayed to watch the confrontation. He let his eyes stray over to Usagi and he couldn't help but let his eyes soften as he met her own tearful sapphire blue eyes.
"You have no business here, 01. It would be best if you leave."
He let his eyes linger on Usagi a moment longer before he settled his eyes on who he knew as Dr. S. "Hn."
The one with the short blonde hair that he had originally thought to be a man then spoke out. "Just stay the hell away from her boy, if you know what's good for you."
He only gave the woman a momentary glance before smirking slightly. Not even trying to dignify what she had said with a come back. And this only seemed to anger the woman more because of the slight growl that she gave and the way, the other one seemed to try and restrain her from moving.
"She doesn't belong to you Heero. Not in this time. It isn't meant to be."
Heero snapped his head back up quickly as soon as he heard Setsuna speak, the soft words seeming to strike a cord in him. From the outside, he looked to be completely calm, cold, and collected. But inside, the spoken words caused a feeling in him that gave him such chills and feelings of apprehension that he tried so hard to ignore. She's wrong...
"So just leave Heero. It's not worth it."
His eyes met Usagi's own and as he saw the emotions that he felt for her mirrored in her own, his fears were immediately put to rest. We'll make it work... somehow... and it will be worth it.
Dr. S was watching him. Trying to get a reaction from him. But he didn't give her the satisfaction of knowing how her words had affected him. He only gave her a blank look and replied, "You're wrong."
He then looked back to Usagi, while the short blonde haired woman seemed to deem that time necessary to start ranting and to try and throw a punch at him. But he paid it no mind as Usagi started to mouth something to him. She of course knowing that he could read lips.
Let it be, Heero-chan. Leave and come get me later. You'll know when.
He could only give a slight nod that no one but her seemed to notice, to indicate that he understood. Mission accepted. He let his eyes linger on her a moment longer, before bringing his attention back to the people in front of him. He shook his head at the display that they made.
He brought his eyes back to meet Dr. S and the mask that he had grown so accustomed to wearing only seemed to harden even more as he gazed at the woman. "I'll be back."
And with that he left with no other words, not even glancing back at the surprise that everyone wore on their faces, or to even glance back at the other pilots who seemed to find themselves following him out of the arcade doors.
Just like that, he had walked out of those doors. Had walked away from her. Just because she had told him to. Kami, the power that she had over him. It was unimaginable. He then let a small grin come to his face. He didn't exactly mind though. The power she had over him was power that he would wholeheartedly allow her to have.
He felt the grin fall from his face. His mouth now frowning. There was more to her life than what he had thought. It was blatantly obvious. The way that those onnas had tried so hard to keep them apart. The way that Dr. S was still around was alarming enough. And with what that Mamoru character had said about his Usa-chan being his girlfriend. There was something definitely amiss with this situation.
He felt his hands clench.
He'd find out soon enough. She would tell him. But right now, he had to bide his time. Just like she had said. This was after all his new mission. His final one. And the costs were too great for him to start acting irrational. He needed a clear head for this. And he needed to wait till his wounds healed.
Because he knew. He knew without a doubt that everything was going to be put on the line. And he would need everything he had to succeed.
~-*-~
"So what do we do?"
This question seemed to ring through all their minds. Yet not one had the answer. There wasn't a real solution. They didn't have a foolproof plan. They didn't have a certain course of action to take. They didn't know what to do.
For once even the normally resourceful and brainy Ami Mizuno, Sailor Mercury didn't have the answer.
They were all sitting around the room in the Hikawa Shrine. Their faces set in frowns and looks of contemplation. All 8 of them watched as their Prince seemed to lose it for a moment and punched the wall causing Rei to look up at him sharply. But he paid it no mind as he began to talk furiously. His normally aloof and calm expression gone.
"Why didn't you tell us sooner Setsuna? Why didn't you tell us of her past? If you did we could have avoided this for Kami's sake!" He fixed his sharp dark blue eyes at her, and the stare seemed to bore through her.
She sighed. "And how do you suppose we could have done that?" Not at all affected by his glare.
All the cards had finally been laid down. No more secrets kept. Everyone knew of what was on the line now. They were all finally informed of the dangers that could keep them from their peaceful kingdom that was to come. The kingdom that might not come to be if they didn't take swift and decisive actions.
Mamoru cried out in exasperation, running his hands through his hair. His jaw still sore, actually he seemed to be sore all over from the earlier fight.
"I don't know!" And in all truths, he didn't have a clue on what to do. Having your world just turned upside down on you tend to make you lose yourself. And that was what was happening. He was losing it. At the time that he needed more than ever to be controlled and strong.
He breathed out deeply. Trying to compose himself. But ever since seeing his Usako with that boy, he had just lost himself. Didn't she know that she was his world? Without her, he was lost. He was... alone.
At that thought, his mood seemed to become subdued. The true extent of what was on the line making it even more of a reality to him. The fight, no war had barely even started and he already felt like he was losing.
After that boy had left the arcade, everyone seemed to all breathe a small sigh of relief. But his parting words were all ringing clear in their ears. I'll be back. And with the conviction that he had said it in, they knew that he would be. That's why they had to prepare themselves. But prepare themselves how? This boy was no youma. They couldn't just vanquish him.
No... this boy only held his Usako's heart. The most important thing in the world. Her heart. It belonged to that boy.
This knowledge that he tried so hard to deny was eating at him. The reasons as to why she always held herself back from him finally made sense. It was because she had nothing to give to him since she had already given it to another. And knowing this hurt. It hurt more than he cared to admit.
He finally sat down with a thud, ignoring the pain that had shot through him from his injuries. His head immediately going to his hands. Kami... why Usako, why?
All 8 senshi watched the range of emotions that had gone through Mamoru. Their hearts going to him at the truly broken hearted expression he wore. Yet none of them went to comfort him.
How exactly do you comfort a man that has just realized that the love of his life, his everything didn't consider him the love of her life or her everything?
~-*-~
"You'd give up everything, everything for this boy?!" Luna sputtered out in rage, yet her remark earned her nothing more than an amused glance. "What is wrong with you Usagi?"
Usagi gave her a small glance of annoyance. "Nothing, Luna. Just leave me alone will you."
"Usagi!! You can't..."
"No Luna!" Usagi suddenly shouted in anger. "You're the one that can't just do this to me! It's my life and I'll live it anyway I want to. I've done my duty as Sailor Moon and completed it. That's the only thing that I have agreed to doing since the beginning. I didn't agree to be the Princess. I didn't agree to becoming Neo-Queen Serenity of Crystal Tokyo. I didn't agree to doing anything else but to protect those innocents from the youmas! Nothing more, nothing less! So leave me be, Luna!!"
She turned her head sharply and put her back to the cat. Signifying that this was the end of the conversation. At least for now...
Luna huffed and glared at her in anger. "This isn't over, Usagi." And with that said, she quickly left the room via the window, but not before hearing Usagi's last comment.
"No, it isn't Luna. It's far from over."
~-*-~
"So who would have thought that Perfect Soldier boy, Heero Yuy had a girlfriend?" Duo asked good naturedly, trying to keep the mood in the room light. And like an after thought, he added with a laugh, "and all this time I thought he had a thing for Relena."
Quatre flushed slightly at Duo's comment since he had also thought the same thing. He then cleared his throat. "Well, Heero was always one to prove us wrong."
Only a grunt from Wufei signaled that he was actually listening to the conversation. His dark eyes seeming to focus on something outside the window. "Yuy seems to also have a tendency on doing almost everything the hard way, his own way."
All 4 of them could only shake their heads at the comment seeing as the circumstances and situation right now proved just how right Wufei's comment had been.
"You got that right Wu-man." Duo replied, grinning despite the seriousness of the comment.
And as anticipated, a small spat erupted between the two as Duo had once more gotten under Wufei's skin.
Trowa could only mentally shake his head at the display as his thoughts went back to the earlier scenes in the arcade. The golden-haired girl and Heero had a history that they didn't seem to know about, but that wasn't surprising. They knew next to nothing of Heero's past.
And Heero had called that dark green haired woman, Dr. S. And she had known that he was pilot 01 as well. He hadn't known that there was another doctor/scientist. He thought that there were only 5. But if that woman was one, then that meant that there was a 6th pilot.
But what was most surprising was how the girl's friends had reacted. They were surprised... which was understandable, but the anger that he had seen clearly etched in their features as they had looked upon Heero had startled him. The way they seemed to look at Heero like a threat... a threat that they needed to get rid of fast.
Heero needed to watch his back. Because for some reason or another, he had the feeling that those girls weren't exactly normal. There was something unreadable and wrong about them.
He needed answers. And there was only one person he knew that could provide it for them.
"We need to talk to Heero."
And just like that. All activities and noise from the room had been silenced as the other 3 could only look at Trowa in surprise.
~-*-~
The unending silence started to annoy her after a while. She wasn't used to being in such quiet conditions. It made her uncomfortable, so she had to end it. If not for them, but for her sanity. "We have to do something. There must be something that we can do." Minako said in absolute conviction, finally breaking the silence that had hung over them.
"What else can we do? We tried talking to Odango... but her being Odango didn't listen to a word we said." Rei replied annoyed.
Their earlier meeting with Usagi still had her in a foul mood. It had not gone well at all. She had just sat there as if she was some sort of doll. Her face blank and uncaring. Nothing that was said even affected her. It was as if she was unseeing and deaf. And after a while they had all gotten fed up. So they had taken her home, ensuring that that boy was nowhere in sight before they did so.
"I still can't believe that she was trained to be a Gundam Pilot. It just doesn't seem..." Makoto seemed at a lost of words to complete her sentence. Wracking her brain for the word that she was looking for.
"Usagi." Ami supplied. "It doesn't seem Usagi."
Makoto snapped her fingers in agreement, her mouth set in a scowl.
"It doesn't matter what it seems like. The Usagi that you've known for 2 years isn't Usagi. It was a facade. A person that she made up for you. So disregard it." Setsuna said softly, but her words seeming to hit them all hard.
The person that they had thought to know so well... they actually didn't know at all.
"So what happens now?"
Their heads all snapped to the new voice and found her in the form of a black cat looking at all of them from the door, the setting sun behind her made her small figure look foreboding. "Luna!"
She nodded her head at them and assessed them all. "So what happens now?" She repeated once more.
They all looked away. Hotaru then answered for them. "We don't know."
Michiru then clarified. "We don't have a permanent solution. All we know is that we have to keep them apart. But even that we're unsure on how to do."
"We'll take the necessary precautions first. Then we'll take it from there." Luna replied, looking at them as if to look for an objection.
Setsuna then nodded her head in agreement. "Yes. She is to never be left alone. Starting tomorrow morning, one of us must always be with her. And another to always be watching from afar. Always. We'll rotate the shifts. Then we'll see what happens."
Ami looked at them concerned. "Are you sure that's wise? We'll only ostracize her even more."
Luna looked back at her sharply, reflecting on her earlier conversation with Usagi. "We have no other choice. She can no longer be reasoned with. What must be done must be done."
"For the future Crystal Tokyo." Haruka inserted.
"For Chibi-Usa." Hotaru added.
They all nodded their heads, then they all looked at the one that hadn't spoken throughout the whole thing. The one that hadn't paid them any mind. The one that had yet to agree to them. The one that was currently staring at them with an unreadable expression.
Mamoru.
~-*-~
Heero had been staring at the ceiling for what seemed like forever. But he knew that it had only been a few hours if the sun setting at the open doors to the balcony to his right was any indication to that. The talking that was happening next door seemed to have died down and he could tell with what he could hear that they were planning on talking to him soon.
He wasn't exactly looking forward to it. He had talked way too much this day than he would normally do. And he had enough with talking.
And of course, he had had just enough with waiting.
He got up slowly, his mind finally made up. He was going to see her. See her now.
He normally wasn't this impatient. But when it came to her. Everything changed. To him, nothing but her seemed to matter.
He crept silently to the balcony and assessed the jump to the ground. It wasn't that far. He'd make it. He jumped down just in time to hear his door open and to hear Duo's loud exclamation. "Now, where the hell did he go?!"
~-*-~
He looked around the area. Assessing it. Trying to look for anything that could be considered out of the ordinary. But most of all trying to see if any of those onnas had actually thought to stand guard around Usagi's home... and apparently they hadn't.
He inwardly grinned at their apparent lapse of judgment. They must have thought that he didn't know where she lived. They just made it so much more easier on him.
But he still didn't let his guard down. His senses were still sharply in tuned with everything around him. Not wanting in any way to let himself slip or to let himself make a mistake. He couldn't afford that now. Not when his goal was clearly within his reach. Not when he was this close.
He looked up from his hiding place, just in time to see her come out to her balcony. Her face calm and collected, but the emotions that he could clearly see in her eyes showed just how not calm and collected she was.
She was hurting... and he was partly at fault with that. He knew that. He wouldn't sugar coat it. His presence had caused her just as much happiness as it did pain. And he could only hope that the happiness far outweighed the pain.
He looked around once more to ensure that no one else was around and as he saw nothing, he nodded his head and prepared himself to step out.
And as he stepped out and saw her quickly turn her head to see him, their different shades of blue eyes clashing, her face seeming to brighten and a huge smile erupting from her lips. He couldn't help but realize once more, how truly beautiful she was and how she meant absolutely everything to him.
He watched entranced as her smile seemed to widen even more and a small laugh erupted from her lips, her eyes sparkling.
Absolutely everything...
~-*-~
