Until You Come Back to me Again

Chapter 9: Breakthrough

Rated PG-13

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is not mine. Sailor Moon and all the characters within the series belong to Naoko Takeuchi.

Summery: (A/U) Usagi and Mamoru grew close, growing up together in the local orphanage, never wanting to each others side. But after Usagi gets into a life-altering accident and Mamoru is adopted, will the two reconnect after years of separation?

A/N: Hi everyone, thank you to those who continued to review this story even though I took FOREVER to update it. I could use the lame excuses that all of us authors use, but it simply came from lack of inspiration to finish this chapter. It took me over a year to finally come up with an idea that could bring back my muse! There are only going to be two more chapters left to this story, which I'm going to be ever so slightly revising along the way (not deleting chapters and then reposting them like some authors do in order to up their review count) to correspond with, well, stupid errors I've made as well as using various editing techniques I've picked up in my creative writing courses since last winter. I hope you guys like this new chapter… I even included a bit of a cliffhanger to bring you back for more. Mwahaha!

PS - Don't mind my quirky coffee comments down below. You'll notice I swiped from from movies/tv shows :D

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For a diene to undergo Diels-Alder reaction it must…

"Hey man, you got any packing tape left over!?!" Ryo shouted from the common room, his voice carrying itself through the crack of his shut bedroom door.

a. be substituted with electron-withdrawing groups…

"Yea, man, here!" Yuuichiro's equally-as-loud voice chimed in, followed by a large clanking sound against the hardwood floors.

b. be able to adopt an s-trans conformation…

"Dude how was your last final?" Ryo asked as the stripping noise of packing tape intertwined with his voice.

c. be substituted with electron-donating groups…

"Dude, it sucked! I swear half of the questions on there were not even covered in any review!" Yuuichiro complained, the plopping noise of a heavy box hitting the floor soon following his statement.

or d. be able to adopt the s-cis conformation…

"Hey, you're talking about Huong's final, right?" Motoki's voice joined in as he dropped a stack of boxes, the weight of the load from the boxes causing vibration through the walls.

"Yea, man, what was up with that?"

"You do realize most of his questions he gets from the footnotes, right?"

"Are you serious? Shit, That's not fair!"

I'm going to say it's d: be able to adopt th-----

"Sucks for you, dude!"

Sighing in frustration, Mamoru tossed his study guide and stood up, his concentration completely ruined. Yanking his bedroom door open, he looked at his three suite-mates, exhaustion and anger reflecting in his eyes.

"Guys, I know you're done with finals and are going home, but SOME of us have a SATURDAY final and don't get to LEAVE tonight," Mamoru exasperated, quickly getting the message across as he turned around and slammed his door.

The voices now barely above a whisper, Mamoru picked his book up and circled choice d, then proceeded on to the next question.

Which of the following would give a positive Tollens Test… a. CH3CH2COCH3, b. CH3CH=CH-CH=CH-OH...

Groaning in frustration, he placed the book down again, his head pounding from all of the questioning he had been doing all afternoon and evening. Of all classes, he took the class that was one of the only few to have Saturday finals, meaning while everyone went home yesterday, the day before, tonight, or tomorrow, he was going to wind up stuck on a deserted campus for at least a night before he could go home to Hiroshima for the holidays. Luckily all of his packing only involved clothing, some CD's, and his computer gear since his dorm room wouldn't change until the spring, but the hassle of packing alone to go home for a month was stressful on top of studying. In fact, he hadn't bothered to pack a single thing yet, meaning he would most likely wind up staying another night, disconnecting his computer, packing up the cords… he let out another groan as he rested his head against the cool window looking out to the campus sidewalks. Looking outside, he saw groups of students with boxes and suitcases, giving hugs to their friends, waving as they walked away, the snow cascading around them as they walked off into the parking lots. He sighed in envy; he loved being home in Hiroshima when the snow was falling, being in Tokyo did no justice to the sight of the mountains topped off with snow. He was looking forward to going home to rest up for the next semester, considering it would be the last semester before he put in his application for medical school, and he needed to do his best to go to the best.

Stretching his cramp muscles out, he grabbed his jacket and scarf and quickly slid it on; he was in need of a serious coffee break if he was going to continue to study. Opening his bedroom door, he quietly snuck out of the room, not wanting the guys to know he was gone so they could continue to shout and laugh and ugh… the memories were already giving him a headache. After successfully making his way to the hallway, he proceeded down to the coffee cart in front of the library.

---

Usagi sighed as she looked around the library, the bittersweet silence welcoming her. As she walked in, she sat down at the table near the heater, placing her study guide and notes down as she slid her winter coat off. Taking a seat, she opened her study guide and notes, and began to read aloud the questions.

"For a diene to undergo Diels-Alder reaction it must: a. be substituted with electron-withdrawing groups, b. be able to adopt an s-trans conformation, c. be substituted with electron-donating groups, or d. be able to adopt the s-cis conformation. Hm…"

As she thought about the answer, her mind wandered for a moment, thankful that the library was empty for her to read the questions out loud, and then snapped back as she tried to process the choices.

"That's easy, The Diels-Alder reaction must occur with s-cis stereochemistry on the diene, so its d. Ha!" she smiled as she circled "d" on her guide, and then worked her way down the guide. She didn't even get to start the next question when she heard knocking against the glass, causing her to look up. There was Mamoru, smiling as he pointed to the coffee cart, signifying for her to come out and join him. Lightly smiling, she shook her head no and waved her hand, hoping he would take the hint to leave her be for studying. One pet peeve of hers was that she hated anyone who came around her when she was studying, even Ami, who studied just as quietly, she couldn't take the tension of someone being around her. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw him nod his head and walk away, and then made her way back down to the question.

"Which of the following would give a positive Tollens Test: a…."

Throwing her head back and slumping in her chair, her mind was officially distracted by the junior who she had become quite friendly with this passing semester. She frowned as she knew she shouldn't be thinking of him, but couldn't help the rush her body felt whenever she thought of his genuine smile. He was always there, studying with her, offering her help, buying her coffee… even through the one-month period of confusion and silence, he was there, silently helping her by slipping her his notes. Sure, it took her a little while to catch up and a lot of extra studying, but she finally got to the point where her classes were back up to where she should be and her grieving was minimal.

Continuing to think about his generosity to help her out, she began to wonder if she even thanked him for the extra effort he put in to help her catch up. As she looked outside the window, she watched the snow dance with the wind, student going home for the holidays to be with their families, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mamoru walking back towards the window with his coffee. She gave him a gentle smile and a wave, and he waved back, walking in the distance to his dorm. She continued to stare off, the snow spiraling all around, and it gave her an idea. She smiled the biggest grin, then went back to her studies, a plan formulating in her mind.

---

"That... was brutal," Mamoru sighed as he slid off his jacket and placed it on the back of the chair before pulling it out to take a seat.

"It was really tough, much tougher than I expected," Usagi agreed as she followed suit, placing her jacket on the chair and taking a seat.

"Well, at least the days of organic chemistry studying are over!" Mamoru grinned as he stretched his arms out. "The holidays are now right around the corner, we get to go home, and I can sleep right up until we have to be back for round 2!"

"You mean the joys of Organic Chem 2? Not much to look forward to, but I'm with you on the sleeping in portion." After reached over for the menu that was propped up in the condiments holder, she began to scan the varieties of lattes and coffee flavors sprawled out on the laminated sheet. "It's amazing. Twenty years ago people simply drank coffee, now we can make orange mocha frappuchino's in the blink of an eye."

"Orange mocha frappuchino's? That sounds like a disgusting combination." Raising one eye, Mamoru snatched the menu from Usagi's hands and scanned down the list himself. "Gingersnap White Mocha Latte? With gingerbread crystals? Why would I want to drink a crystal?"

"Tis the season to drink oddly flavored coffee, Mamoru-san. I'm pretty partial to the candy cane coffee, actually. It has just enough peppermint in there to think you're actually sucking on one, but you're drinking coffee."

"Sorry, but I'll always be loyal to the lone pot of regular, black coffee. No cream, no milk, no sugar, just strong and black." He plopped the menu down on the table in front of him and glanced out of the large window that their table was propped up against, staring at the spiraling snow. "Can you believe it's already winter? It was only a few months ago I was playing soccer and now you can't even see the field."

"I know, Seiya was honestly saying the same thing. He can't stand training in the gym. Claims that it's too overbearing with stereotypical bodybuilders on steroids."

His light hearted smile turned into a quick frown. Of course she'd mention Seiya; hell, they played together. His thoughts wandered off as he thought about Seiya and Usagi. He hadn't seen the two of them around each other a lot, actually. He was silently hoping that they had a breakup, hence the period of time she spent isolated in her room a few months ago, but apparently not. He hadn't heard her mention him in quite some time, actually.

"So, you and Seiya are still good?" He didn't want to ask, but he didn't not want to know.

"Yup. Actually, we're celebrating our anniversary in a few weeks by going skiing in Yuzawa, so that should be fun."

"Skiing? I never would have pinned you as a skier," Mamoru chucked, shaking his head.

"Why not?! I'll let you know I am very athletic, I actually played volleyball with Minako in high school for a while!"

"Okay, okay, I apologize!" He raised his hands up in mock surrender, hoping that he didn't offend her. "Seriously, I'm sorry."

Smiling, Usagi was about to laugh it off until something caught her eye. She didn't know why her eyes decided to focus on it, but it stuck out when Mamoru's arms raised in his mock-surrender. It was probably the ugliest, most discolored thing she had ever seen, a dirty, braided bracelet tied around his wrist, but it nagged at her.

"What's that on your wrist?" She didn't know why she felt the need to ask, but it chewed at her mind. She immediately caught his facial expression, melting from one of happiness to surprise, shock even. His eyes darted between hers and the faded bracelet on his wrist, making her bubble more with confusion and questions.

"This?" he practically choked out, shaking his wrist to move the object in question. Shaking her head yes, he was at a loss for words. How was he to explain to her that this discolored, faded bracelet on his wrist actually came from her? That he never took it off because he loved her still to this day? Choosing his words carefully, he forced himself to speak. "This… came from someone very special."

"Really?"

"Yea… it came from a girl who I've been in love with since we were kids." He could feel his mouth go dry as his stomach twisted, unable to bear the look of confusion in her face. He knew that she didn't remember and talking about it hurt that much more. "Damnit, where is that waitress?" He couldn't continue to talk about the subject.

"That's admirable, Mamoru-san, to love someone for so long and continue to wear that. I respect that, it's so romantic." She tossed him a smile, but inside it bothered her. She should have known that such a great guy had someone who he was in love with. Then again, she shouldn't even be concerned about another woman in his life; she was in love with Seiya. Seiya... Seiya... She tossed another glance to the bracelet before a powerful headache overcame her senses. She squeezed her eyes shut, the sudden splitting pain silencing her thoughts.

"Miss? What would you like?"

"Huh?" Looking over, she noticed the waitress finally approached their table. "Uhm, actually, I have to go. I'm sorry, Mamoru-san, but I need to get back. Have a nice break, bye." She grabbed her coat and fled the small shop, leaving Mamoru at the table with a confused look on his face. She needed air, she needed silence, and she needed to lie down. Running through the snow, the painful sensations continued to pierce, her vision blurring as it became harder to run. She grabbed her head, a piercing noise overcoming all senses, causing her to tumble down to her knees as she grasped her head.

"Oh, Kami-sama," she cried as she doubled over in pain, the intensity too overbearing to handle. Ever since she started school these intense headaches overcame her at random times, each one becoming stronger, more painful. Each one brought a sudden flashback from her past, reveling pieces of information that had been sealed away since her accident. The last one uncovered was about her mother's murder and her stepfather's imprisonment. Before that, random images of flowers, sunlight, fields, smiles, and blue eyes. What now? What would come now?

Everything felt warm suddenly, soothing the pounding in her head, causing her to somewhat relax her tensed muscles. Muffled noises were breaking through the piercing noise in her mind, which she soon identified as Mamoru's. She couldn't quite hear what he was saying; it sounded something like Usa-ka… Usa-ki…. Usa-ko?

"Stop, Mamo-chan, it tickles!"

"Gee, Usa-ko, everything tickles you…"

She felt sick, like she could throw up everywhere. Two voices echoing in her ear, calling her Usa-ko, her calling someone Mamo-chan, Mamo-chan… Mamo…

"Mamoru?" she muttered under her breath, trying to answer her own riddle.

"Usagi-chan! Kami-sama, are you alright?!" She opened her eyes, sapphire orbs meeting her own.

"Mamoru-san?"

"Hai, Usagi-chan, are you okay? You bolted out of the café and suddenly collapsed." Slowly, he helped lift her off of the snow covered sidewalk to her feet, keeping a firm grip on her as she readjusted her balance.

"Thank you, Mamoru-san. I'm sorry about that," she slowly said as she tried to calm the rushing sensations in her body, to calm down the two voices that continued to echo in her mind.

"No, no, Usagi-chan, I'm just glad that you're okay." He began to dust off Usagi's coat, but her question startled him enough to cause him to freeze on the spot.

"Mamoru-san, did we know each other before this? Were we friends in the orphanage?"

"Wh-what?" Widening from shock, he stared at Usagi, who averted her eyes to the ground before she began to speak softly.

"When I was in the orphanage, around the time I was eleven I was in a car accident. Some drunken man apparently hit me when I was playing soccer with a bunch of the kids one afternoon, which resulted in my total memory loss. When I got back, I had no memories of my friends, family, or even the women who took care of me at the orphanage. But lately… ever since coming here, pieces of my past continue to resurface, which are accompanied with a splitting, painful headache." She looked back up at Mamoru, her eyes glassed over with tears, her voice beginning to crack. "A few months ago, during the time I wanted to be alone, I had a dream, one that helped me to remember why I was placed in an orphanage, about my Mother's murder. It hurt so much, finally remembering the truth of why I was left alone in this world. And just now, I guess when you grabbed me and called my name, it sounded like you said Usa-ko, and it triggered something, two voices in my head where the boy called me Usa-ko and I called him Mamo-chan." She paused for a moment, the tears finally flowing freely down her rosey cheeks. "Tell me, Mamoru, were you Mamo-chan? Did we know each other?"

He looked her, milliions of thoughts running through his mind. He wanted more than anything for her to remember him, and here it was, a chance for her to know everything about their past, about his devotion to her, about how she inspired him. Yet, he never would have thought of if she even wanted to remember. He never once considered that remembering their past would also include the recollition of her tormented childhood, her isolation, and her pain of losing her mother. As he looked at her tear-stained face, her cornflower blue eyes full of sorrow and confusion, he knew he couldn't lie to her anymore. She didn't deserve to not know anything, especially when the truth was right here. Slowly, he nodded his head for confirmation, speaking the one word that would forever alter their newly developed friendship. "Yes."