Title: Shipwrecked

Author: Lisa

Chapter: 8

Rating: PG

Author's Notes:

Here's Chapter 8! One more short epilogue to go…the end is finally in sight! :)

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and the others don't belong to me, but this story does.


"Aishiteru, Mamo-chan." Usagi couldn't remember a time when her words rang more true. She had felt drawn to him from the first instance they had locked gazes, when she had immediately fell prisoner to those bottomless depths of stormy blue that had engulfed her in one swift wave of startling intensity. Those same beautiful orbs bore into her now as she bit her bottom lip out of habit before her rosebud mouth was consumed by his. He kissed her with a force that shook her to her deepest core, speaking in deed where mere words failed to do her declaration justice.

"Usako…" Mamoru had never been good at verbally expressing his feelings, even before his mother's unexpected passing. He had always leaned more toward introversion, able to charm a crowd with ease but much preferring to be left alone with his own thoughts. Yet now his angel was in front of him, announcing her love with such openness that left him trembling, and all he could think to do was kiss her. Her lips just felt so…right against his, all softness and sweetness and willingness, until he feared his heart might burst from the closeness of it all. "I…"

"Shh…" She brushed a feather-light kiss across his temple when they finally parted for air. "I know, Mamo-chan…I know." Still, she admitted to herself, it would've been nice to have his feelings for her reaffirmed. But for now, his addictive lips would suffice.

They stayed like that, limbs entangled, mouths panting, and hearts thumping in unison, until well into the morning. Through the warmth they drew from each other, the day to come suddenly didn't seem so bad.


"Mamoru-san, are you sure you don't need…"

"I'm fine," Mamoru snapped back instantly with a matching frown. The young sailor before him immediately raised his hands in surrender and took a step back for good measure.

"Just trying to help," he mumbled half to himself, eyes downcast.

"Mamo-chan, you have got to stop being so stubborn," Usagi chirped beside him in a voice that sounded too cheerful even to her ears. His frown only deepened in response.

Usagi and Mamoru found themselves standing on the edge of the ramp leading off the ship and onto the shore, where at least a dozen reporting were busy shouting indiscernible words and peppering photographs at them.

"Usako, I—" Mamoru had opened his mouth to complain but quickly shut up when he felt her arm slip across his waist in one decisive swoop, supporting his weight as they began their daunting trek across the narrow platform. The ramp shifted and groaned under their weight, and Usagi swallowed the large lump that had formed in her throat as if on cue, instinctively clutching Mamoru closer to her. Outwardly, she was helping him get across without causing him any unnecessary pain. Deep down, however, she knew it was partly for her own sanity as well. She needed him, needed to feel him next to her, to get through this next leg of their journey.

"We're almost there." Her smile didn't reach her eyes. The faint shouts of the reporters and curious passersby grew louder and more distinct with each step forward. She sucked in a shaky breath and forged ahead with a determination she did not feel. There was no point in hiding now, though a part of her—a sizeable part, if she were being honest with herself—wanted to run back into the ship and bury her face under the covers.

"Chiba-san, Tsukino-san, what can you tell us about your experience? How did you survive the initial storm? What did you have to do to stay alive all this time? What can you tell us about the other passengers? What are you going to do now that you're back? Chiba-san, Tsukino-san!"

The questions, the excited faces, the microphones that were shoved unceremoniously in her nose…it was all too much, all too soon. Usagi felt hot tears prick the corners of her eyes and blinked furiously to get rid of them. 'Now is not the time to lose it, Usagi,' she berated herself. No, she would not cry in front of these cameras and expose her wounds to the world's morbid curiosity. Yet it was becomingly exceedingly difficult, in the blur of cameras and hands, to maintain her composure.

Mamoru, for his part, felt anger course through his veins like a shot of adrenaline. This was his worst nightmare come true—he had become a living spectacle, a human specimen to be gawked at and fussed over. "I just want to see my father," he declared gruffly to whatever microphone was pointed closest to his face. "Someone take me to him." That apparently got the point across, and he soon found himself and Usagi escorted swiftly through the increasing number of people into a black car.

Usagi let out a breath that she wasn't aware she had been holding as soon as the door closed behind her. The shouts of the people died down to indistinct chatter again, and she shook her head to rid herself of all those voices.

"Mamo-chan…"

He understood immediately and pulled the blond toward him wordlessly. The tears she had so bravely fought back now returned in a sudden downpour, streaming down her pale cheeks in two salty trails. "It's alright, Usako...it's alright. It's over now."

"Is it though?" She lifted her head to stare into his stormy eyes and sniffled. It wasn't the most attractive sight, but she had passed the point of caring to impress him.

Mamoru sighed and kissed the top of her head. "For now at least," he conceded quietly.

"Is he…"

Mamoru approached the hospital bed slowly, as if one step out of turn could send his cautiously increasing hope crashing to his feet. Never was he more grateful for anything in his life than the feeling of Usagi's hand gripping onto his with silent encouragement.

The doctor cleared his throat and chose his next works carefully. "He's…shown positive signs that he'll regain consciousness."

Mamoru felt his body tense reflexively. "What does that mean?" Perhaps the question came out a bit too harshly. He watched Usagi's sky blue eyes cloud over and darken slightly with concern. "Gomen, I didn't mean..."

"It's fine." The doctor raised his hand in reconciliation before rubbing his temples tiredly. The past weeks had not been kind to him, with all the patients he had cared for due to the wreckage. "The truth is…" He drew in a breath and let it out in a low whistle before continuing. "The truth is, the brain is a powerful yet finicky organ. It always keeps us guessing, no matter how hard we try to study its functions, its reactions, and try to predict how it'll respond. The truth is that your father suffered a serious blow to his head during the storm. We're doing everything we can to help him, and his condition is stable, but as to when he'll wake up…well, that's up to him."

Mamoru's eyes were glued to his father's sleeping face, memorized by the rhythmic movements of his chest and the steady beeps of the monitors beside him. "Arigato," he whispered finally, "truly. As long as he's still alive, that's…that's more than I had dared to hope for."

The doctor placed a comforting hand on Mamoru's back. "You shouldn't be on your feet for too much longer yourself," he said gently. "We've prepared a room for you next door, so you can be close to your father and visit him whenever you're up for it. You need your rest too."

"Just a bit longer," Mamoru responded, his voice barely above a whisper. Had it only been a few weeks since they last sat together for dinner, like it had been any other ordinary evening? The captain looked like he had aged years…

"Of course." The doctor took his leave of the pair, and soon the only sounds in the room were the steady beeps of the machines took up almost half of the small space.

"Mamo-chan." Usagi pressed her lips against his arm, his shoulder, his face, until he graced her with a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Like you said, he's alive. And as long as he's alive, there's always the promise of tomorrow."

"What would I do without you?" Mamoru buried his face in her golden tresses and closed his eyes, momentarily shutting out the rest of the world until there was nothing but his Usako and her intoxicating sweetness.


They were sitting together on Mamoru's bed, recounting their initial meeting and spats with some fondness.

"I thought you were so arrogant back then," Usagi laughed, carefully watching his reaction through the corner of her eyes.

"And I thought you were beautiful. The most beautiful woman I'd ever seen."

Usagi swore her heart skipped a beat. "Charmer," she mumbled, feeling the familiar burning in her cheeks as Mamoru chuckled. She thrilled at the sound, glad for the momentary distraction.

"Mamo-chan, I…"

"Usagi! Usagi…is it really you…oh, Usagi!"

Usagi and Mamoru turned toward the new voices by the door. Before the blonde even had time to register the faces, she was engulfed by a sea of arms and lips, each desperate to have some tangible evidence that their beloved daughter and sister was indeed not a figment of their overworked imaginations.

"Mom, Dad…Shingo!" The tears came on command, like a cleansing rain after an unbearable haze of suffocating heat. All the fears that Usagi had voiced to Mamoru yesterday (had it only been a day ago?) about her family no longer recognizing, or worse yet, wanting to be around the "new" her evaporated as the Tsukino family stood huddled in a circle amid frantic whispers of relief and mutual tears of joy.

"Thank whatever higher power was watching over our daughter," Ikuko cried as she showered kisses all over her eldest's cheeks. "Every night I dreamt of you, alone in the darkness and…" She couldn't continue the though and instead pulled Usagi ever tighter toward her, until the girl had some difficulty breathing. Not that she minded though. "You have no idea how glad…how glad I am that you're safe."

"I never thought I'd be so happy to see my stupid big sister again," Shingo quipped lightly and promptly earned a small punch in the shoulder from the blond.

"I missed you too, Shingo," Usagi beamed, playfully mussing up his hair and earning an annoyed groan from her brother.

Throughout the entire exchange, Mamoru watched silently as the love of his life was reunited with her family. The entire family radiated true love and warmth, and suddenly Mamoru understood where Usagi's light and optimism came from. It wasn't difficult to see the best in everyone if you were surrounded by it daily, he supposed.

"Oh! But we're being rude." Ikuko wiped her eyes quickly before extending a hand toward Mamoru. "You must be Mamoru…we've read so much about you already."

He smiled warmly at the blue-haired woman as flashes of his own mother bombarded his mind. Yet this time, instead of causing him pain, he felt oddly comforted by those happy memories of his past. Mamoru had loved—and would always love—his mother dearly, but she would've wanted him to move on, to forge ahead and grow his new family. "It's very nice to meet you."

"I hear you and my daughter had to share…a…what did the papers call it? A close living space?" Kenji cleared his throat and grimaced as Ikuko not-so-discreetly nudged him in the side with her elbow, all the while smiling openly at the young man. Ikuko had always prided herself on being an excellent judge of character, and she liked the looks of him already (not to mention he was quite easy on the eyes, though she certainly couldn't admit that in front of her already disgruntled husband).

"Actually," Usagi chirped beside a suddenly tongue-tied Mamoru, "it was a small cave. Barely big enough to fit the both of us comfortably." Mamoru groaned silently at her casual declaration; no doubt this new piece of information wouldn't help him win points with Usagi's clearly over-protective father.

"A c-cave?" Kenji sputtered, his face growing redder by the second. "Can you explain to me why…"

"I think that's enough for one day," Ikuko interjected smoothly, stepping in front of her husband, who looked like he could really use some fresh air. "Usagi." She clasped her daughter's uninjured hand tightly. "The doctors told us you're cleared to go home with us today. We have your room all ready for you, just like you left it."

Usagi's eyes widened and instinctively darted over to gauge Mamoru's reaction. For his part, he kept his face as neutral as possible, trying his best not to show the utter fear and panic at the mere thought of not having Usagi by his side to get through the painful transition back into reality.

"Mama, if it's okay…I'd like to stay here another night…with Mamo-chan." Her hand slipped easily into his bigger one, and he regained the ability to breathe again.

"Usagi…" Kenji looked like he was about to give the young couple a piece of his mind, before one unmistakable look from his wife ended his tirade.

"Of course," Ikuko said kindly. "Should we plan to come by and get you tomorrow then?"

"Hai…and it's not that I don't want to go home, I do more than anything, but…" Usagi fidgeted uncomfortably, unwilling to continue given the present company. What could she say? That despite knowing Mamoru for such a short time, she couldn't bear even the thought of being away from him? That without him, she felt…incomplete somehow? That was crazy, right? Yes, she was certainly going crazy, driven to madness by his impossible beauty and strength.

"We understand, no need to say anything more." Ikuko pressed her lips against Usagi's temple and ran a hand through her hair, infinitely grateful that she could simply touch her daughter again. She couldn't even begin to comprehend what Usagi had gone through, how hard she had to fight to survive. Usagi seemed older somehow, wiser, as if her horrific experiences had helped her develop into the strong young woman that Ikuko had always known was buried inside. It made Ikuko's heart swell with pride to see her now.

"Arigato…" Usagi whispered into her mother's ear, soft enough so only she could hear. "He's the one, Mom…I have no doubt."

"I know," Ikuko smiled back knowingly. "I'll see you tomorrow."

As soon as they were gone, Usagi plopped back onto Mamoru's bed with a sigh, feeling drained from the whirlwind that had been the last few hours.

"That wasn't so bad, right?" She tried to keep it light, but inside she was dying—no pun intended, of course—to know what Mamoru thought of her family. Kenji was a bit hard to deal with, she thought, yet he would come around. Usagi was sure that he would, especially since Ikuko was on their side. And her mother…Usagi could tell that Mamoru had immediately warmed to her, as most people did. Ikuko just exuded comfort and understanding, a trait that Usagi had envied and desperately hoped she'd inherit growing up.

"Not at all," Mamoru replied, his eyes staring up at the ceiling. "Your family, Usako…"

"They're a handful, I know," she responded nervously.

"No, they're perfect."

"Mamo-chan…" Usagi found his lips on hers for the second time that day and succumbed to their overwhelming power as her mind grew fuzzy. She felt like she was being filled to the brim and drained to the bottom simultaneously, and the equal giving and receiving of love took her to a whole new level of exhilaration.

"Usako…I want your family…I want you…I want all of this, today, tomorrow, always."

"Mamo-chan…"

Mamoru ran a nervous hand through his already tousled hair, frustrated that the right words always seemed to dance away from his reach.

"What I want to say is…" He paused, feeling himself at the edge of a cliff peering into an endless abyss. What did they call love? A leap of faith? He remembered that night, hands clasped for dear life, her eyes fearfully glued to his as he told Usagi to follow him, to trust him. She had wholly given herself to him as he led them into the churning black waters. Now, it was his turn to trust her. It was his turn to jump unconditionally.

"Aishiteru, Usako."

This time, however, instead of crashing into those knife-like waves, he crashed into her soft, warm body, drowning in the bliss of her arms as they gripped him as if her life depended on it.


Yay, only one more short epilogue to go! Finally! Hope this chapter was enjoyable, and please review! I live for reviews. Until next time, take care! :)

This chapter was written and posted August 2016.