AN: ::runs in an begins throwing things out to crowd:: Ohayo everyone! Grab a cream puff, they're quite delicious!

Thank you everyone who reviewed! Just a few notes to certain readers:

star0704: All this time travel stuff is very confusing. There's just so many different ways and theories to look at it. It's kinda hard to explain, but the way I see it, all times are happening at once in different dimensions. So, to put it simply enough, every time a Usagi-hime would fall, there would be a Trunks-kun to catch her. I could go on and on with this topic, but it's still very confusing and I don't really understand it. Nor do I think I ever will.

Katlin Grace: I love your fics! Domo arigato for the review. You guessed some of what's coming up, but unfortunately there's not a happy ending to this fic. After all (still on the topic of time), if Usagi-hime didn't die and wasn't sent to the future, there'd be some kind of paradox and the first enemy to come would destroy it all. That would give Puu a bad day and we don't want that. Gomen!

And to everyone that wants to teach Mamo-baka a lesson: I agree completely!!! Only a few chaps left so I'll see if I can work it in. If not, I'll try to put some bashing in the sequel. I won't go overboard, but some is always fun. ^^;;

Thanks again to all who reviewed and without further delay here's chapter 9!

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Usagi sat down on her throne with a "huff." Rei looked up from the drink she was sipping. "What's up, Usa?"

"Ugh, he disgusts me. That baka! I can't believe he would do that to me! He's worse than I thought!"

"Ok, slow down, Usagi. Start at the beginning. Who?"

"Endymion," replied Usagi with disgust.

"Mamoru?" said Rei. "What did he do?"

"I turned to Minako and that beast grabbed me and kissed me. It was horrible!" Usagi began wiping her lips again. "And then he called me Usa- CHAN. Ugh!!!"

Rei smiled. "He KISSED you? Oh, Usa, you are SO lucky. I think I'd die if he kissed me. Oh, he is SO kawaii. And he called you Usa-chan? Usagi, you're a VERY lucky girl." [I can't believe I just wrote all that!]



"Are you kidding? He is a monster, a beast, a jerk, and I can't believe my mother wants me to marry him. You can have him if you really want, Rei."

Rei smiled and continued sipping her drink as Usagi stared off into the crowd.



Rei looked up a few minutes later to see Usagi still staring at the crowd, but with all anger erased from her face and a faint smile lingering on her lips. Rei followed her gaze and saw a lavender-haired young man approaching. [Finally!]

'He looks so familiar,' thought Rei, 'but I just can't figure out from where.'

He walked up to the platform in front of Usagi and bowed low. "May I have the honor of a dance, fair Princess?" he asked.

Usagi smiled. "With pleasure, kind sir, with pleasure." She gracefully descended from the throne, and the two were soon lost somewhere in the crowd.

'I know where I saw him!' thought Rei as she watched them. 'He was the one Usagi introduced to us on the day of the locket incident. He was so polite . . . and SO kawaii. Almost hotter than Mamoru.' [::cough cough:: ALOT hotter than Mamo-baka.] 'But I can't remember anything else about him, not even his name. Hmm . . . I wonder . . . . . . .'

o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ o~

"Thank you for coming," said Usagi quietly as they walked.

"I told you I would," replied Trunks.

"Thank you for coming AND thank you for saving me."

"From what?" asked Trunks seriously, turning to look at her.

"Well..." replied Usagi, looking away. "I'll tell you later. Come on, you asked me to dance, so let's dance."

"Um... ok," laughed Trunks nervously as the music began.

Trunks wondered about it afterward, but for some reason dancing with Usagi came much more naturally than dancing with anyone else. He figured it was probably because he wasn't worrying about it- he wasn't thinking much at all. His feet somehow knew the exact steps and moved there perfectly.

o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ o~

Usagi noticed it as well. She thought she would have to get Haruka or Michiru to give Trunks lessons, but he was an excellent dancer. She gracefully followed his every step. She smiled (genuinely) as she noticed couples moving out of the way to watch the two of them dance in perfect unison with each other.

The music ended and everyone applauded. "Come on," Trunks whispered in her ear, "we shouldn't get this much attention. We need to go somewhere quieter and more private."

Usagi nodded and quietly followed him through the crowd and the huge hall to the crystal doors. Quietly, he pushed one open and they slipped out into the night.

o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ o~

"This will do nicely," said Trunks, walking onto a deserted deck. It was a cool night, and everyone else had remained inside. They walked right up to the stem [AN: Remember? The very tip of the ship at the front.] and leaned against the rail, Trunks wrapping his arm around Usagi to keep her warm.

"I may not have ever told you this before," he began, "but from the first time I saw you, I thought you were a megami, a goddess, or . . . something. The night you fell, I was sure you must be an angel. And tonight . . . well, let's just say simply that you are beautiful beyond words."

Usagi blushed at this statement. "And . . . well . . . I mean... Do all Lunarians look like tenshis, or is it just you?" Usagi blushed even more when he said this.

"Well," she replied, taking his comment as a chance to clarify the myths about the people of the Moon, "normal Lunarians- regular people who happen to live on the Moon- actually don't look any different from the normal people on any other planet- whether it be Earth, Jupiter, Mercury, Pluto, or anywhere. But the royalty . . . You see, we- I am a descendent of Selene, Guardian of the Moon. The royal Lunarians have been called tenshis on more than one occasion. The last stage of Lunarian maturity is the growth of wings. But I . . . (she blushed slightly) . . . these are not my real wings," she continued, gesturing to them. "These are only temporary; at the end of the party they will vanish and become no more than a silvery mist. They were a gift from Helios."

"Helios? Who is Helios?" asked Trunks.

"Helios- or Pegasus- is the Guardian of dreams. He lives in Elysium."

"Elysium - isn't that--"

"Yes," Usagi's face darkened. "Elysium is the home of Endymion." She paused. "It was he you saved me from earlier."

Trunks grabbed her by the shoulders [lightly; he's not abusing her or anything!] and turned her to face him. "What did he do to you, Usa-chan?" Usagi looked toward the ground. "Usagi!" Trunks held her chin in his hand and lifted her face up. "What did he do to you?" he asked again, softly.

"I . . . I . . ." He let go of her as she broke down into tears and collapsed against his chest. "Oh, Trunks, it was horrible! He made me dance with him, dance with his until I thought I would pass out from exhaustion, and then I-I turned around for a moment and he . . . he pounced on me like I was his prey. He kissed me, Tru-chan, but it was like the kiss of evil, the kiss of hate, or something. It was horrible, Tru-chan, horrible!"



Trunks now had his arms around her and she was sobbing freely into his chest. "There, there. I'm sorry," comforted Trunks.

"No, no, it's okay," said Usagi, trying to compose herself.

"Look up," said Trunks simply.

"Wh--" began Usagi, though obeying and looking into his eyes.



She was interrupted as Trunks leaned down and gently kissed her tender lips. After getting over the initial surprise, Usagi would have smiled but instead kissed him back. Deeper and deeper. Usagi thought she was seeing all the galaxies at once. They stood their for countless moments, in each other's arms, until they broke apart gasping for air.

"Did that successfully wash away Endymion's filth?" asked Trunks with a smirk.

"Well, I suppose so," panted Usagi, "but only my lungs would say no to another."

Trunks laughed. "Then I will give your lungs a rest before we do that again. The stars are beautiful tonight." He turned to look at her again. "But none are as beautiful as my tenshi." Usagi blushed yet again and turned her gaze toward the endless cosmos.



The moments passed. Abruptly, Usagi spoke. "If only I truly could just fly away." Trunks stared at her, confused. "I mean, these wings are only temporary and I don't even know if I could really fly with them. But . . . I wish I could just fly away from all my problems."

She turned to Trunks. "I mean, I forgot up till tonight, but a month ago I made an agreement with my mother that I had up until tomorrow's dawn to find my true love. And I have found him, Tru-chan; I have found you. But I was- am so afraid . . . afraid that she- my mother- won't approve, and she would force me to stop seeing you. And I wouldn't be able to bear that, Tru-chan. Now that I have found you, I can't go back to the life I live before . . . alone. But I . . . You are a prince, Tru-chan, that is in your favor. But you are so mysterious and there is so much about you that I don't know . . . I'm afraid, Tru-chan, afraid I'll be forced to be alone again . . . Or worse, with that beast that calls himself Endymion."

Trunks wrapped his arms around her from behind, and she clasped his hands together in her own. [A hug from behind.]

"Oh, Usa-chan, I'm so sorry. I never knew."

"It's all right, Tru-chan. We'll just have to tell her and hope for the best . . . tonight, before the dawn."

"Yes, yes of course. But let us just wait . . . a little longer," said Trunks fearing the time when his secrets would be revealed.



"You always wanted to fly, didn't you?" said Trunks after a moment's pause.

"Yes, I always did."

"Well, step up on the rail, stretch your arms out, and close your eyes," instructed Trunks. Usagi obeyed with a smile, and Trunks stepped up from behind her to prevent her from falling. [Titanic theme playing softly in the background.]

"Feel the wind across your face?" Trunks whispered in her ear. Usagi smiled more in reply. "Feel yourself floating and your body leaving the ground? That's what flying feels like. Or the closest to flying you'll ever do without actually flying. Believe me, I know. I-I was given this ability . . . this gift . . . to be able to fly." [Well... he was taught.]

Usagi was about to reply, but suddenly there was a huge explosion from above and the entire ship shook. The two were thrown off the rail; Trunks managed to stay on his feet and caught his tenshi. There was harsh laughter from above, and a gruff voice rang out. "We thought we'd drop in for the party."

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::gasps and mock-faint:: OH NO!!! There is a fight in the next chapter if you were wondering. And no, they did not just hit a talking iceberg/asteroid. Sorry it's a cliff, but I think it's my first for this fic. Please REVIEW this chapter!!! Thanks alot. Ja ne!