Theme: Unworthy
Title: Exposed

It had been a routine evening. Well, as routine as fighting paranormal monsters ever could be, but Tuxedo Kamen was rather accustomed to waking up at all hours to aid his favorite blond senshi against the youma of the week! And these encounters were amazingly predictable. She would stay out of the creature's reach, just barely until she didn't, and then he would swoop her out of the way in time. He would say something encouraging and she would smile and then dust the creature.

That was how it was supposed to go.

How it had always gone.

But in his one moment where his timing needed to be absolutely perfect, he had stumbled, tripped over his own blasted cape. In that terrible instant, the wraithlike creature had flung the guardian of the moon against a tree like she weighed no more than a grain of rice. Its fist struck her in the chest right at the red ribbon tied into a perfect bow that she wore around a heart shaped broach, like lightning.

She screamed, not in fear or panic, but in absolute agony – her voice shrill, sending dread crawling across his skin. Flashing colored lights pierced through the blackness of midnight, and her transformation dissolved. He leapt to his feet in panicked anger. He charged forward angrily - a tingling power pooling in his fists. It felt both alien and familiar, and in his righteous rage. He swung his fists – now glowing with golden power into the back of the skull of his unsuspecting foe.

He struck again and again, as his fury consumed him, until the beast turned to ash from the power of his blows.

The girl crumpled to the ground like jelly, and she remained unmoving like a puddle on the ground, her body bathed in moonlight. He approached the blond heroine cautiously – her hairstyle suddenly uniquely and amazingly familiar with the magic of her transformation gone. His chest twisted with mixed emotions he could not name.

No, it couldn't be her. It wasn't possible. Tsukino Usagi was home safe in her bed, wrapped up in pink blankets and dreaming of ice cream and part time arcade workers. She was not here – putting her life on the line by facing off youmas in the middle of the freezing dark night, protecting people that were ignorant of the fact that their life and world was in danger at all.

She sat up slowly clutching her head.

"Don't try to move too fast," he warned softly, holding out a snow-white gloved hand to steady her. "You may have a concussion."

She jerked her head away from him anyway, pulling her hair in front of her face to hide her identity. But it was too late – he had already seen the flash of blue eyes sparkling in the light of the full moon, and the slight blush of her cheeks.

It was her. And he stood frozen, completely in awe as this barely fifteen-year-old girl collected herself. This girl who barreled down sidewalks as if ghosts were after her, who wailed everytime she got Game Over on the Sailor V arcade game or every time he called her "Odango Atama". She protected all of Tokyo by herself from evil creatures that should not exist at all. And she did it well!

Of course, that didn't mean she enjoyed it, but who in their right mind would? His chest tightened with sadness. He really had never wished the responsibility of being Sailor Moon on anyone – least of all Tsukino Usagi, who was bright, joyful, so kind, and so very young. She deserved to have carefree afternoons and all the safety and protection that the world had to offer for a young teenage girl.

How disappointed would she be upon discovering the masked hero that she crushed on and adored was none other than the obnoxious older boy her teased her about her hair and her grades? The mysterious man that rescued her was just an orphan who was never adopted because he was too jaded and dark. He feared she would despise him once she knew his name – that she would see the same truth so many others had before they vanished from his life.

He could not live with her scorn. He had never realized it before this moment, but he needed her in his life – he needed her smiles and the compassion she bestowed so easily to others. He needed to crash into her every morning on the way to school and he needed to see the indignation and fiery passion in her eyes at every perceived injustice in the world.

She huddled into a ball, clutching her knees to her chest as she bowed her head down, again hiding her face. The fear pulsing from her form killed him. Had he not yet earned her trust after the dozens of encounters where he fought by her side, defended her from danger?

He clung to the security of anonymity his mask provided even as he put a finger on her chin and urged her to look up at him.

She bit her lip in uncertainty. Her eyes shyly met his own.

"I hope you're not disappointed," she commented, her blue eyes once again shifting away.

The comment threw him. How could she think she was unworthy of him?

"Not disappointed at all," he told her sincerely. "Maybe completely terrified," he admitted.

"Terrified?" she repeated in surprise, her eyes widening and landing on his domino mask once again. "Why?"

"Of how you might react to who I am."

"You know me?!"

He gulped and then nodded.

She reached up to his mask. He did not stop her. But her raised hands froze an inch from his face.

"May I?" she asked.

He hesitated. Once she knew, there would be no going back. He would never be Tuxedo Kamen-sama to her again. He would be Mamoru-baka. She didn't look at Mamoru with stars in her eyes. She certainly didn't pine after Chiba Mamoru. To him, she gave scorn, frustration, and scathing impatient comments.

But she was giving him the choice. She did trust him. How could he not return that trust?

He nodded ever so slightly.

He heard the sharp intake of breadth as his naked cobalt blue eyes landed back on her form. She stared at him, unmoving. This time it was his gaze that turned away – focused on the tree behind her.

"So, are you?" he asked softly, like a child.

"Am I what?"

"Disappointed?"

Cerulean blue eyes turned to him and smiled. "Relieved actually."

"Relieved?" he repeated, his eyes shooting back to hers.

"Well, it was agonizing having feelings for two different people and not being able to pick a favorite!"

Her words – so unexpected, took a second to register. "You have feelings for Mamoru?" he asked the question, as if he couldn't believe it.

Her cheeks blazed with heat and her eyes dropped. "Kami-sama!" she cursed. "I can't believe I just said that! You must think I'm so ridiculous. There's no way you could feel anything for Usagi. Usagi who cannot even make it to school without tripping over her own feet. Who is clearly so stupid, so silly, and immature for ever thinking that a guy like Chiba Mamoru, let alone Tuxedo Kamen, would ever be ever be interested in her." Her self-condemnation continued. He was both amused and horrified by her words.

He stopped her rambling with a gloved hand to her bare one, squeezing it in an attempt to reassure her.

She looked up at him then, her eyes swirling with something he could not name.

"I thought you hated Mamoru," he whispered.

She shook her head violently in objection.

"Mamoru is real. He knows my name, and I can irritate him immensely. I can confess to my best girlfriend that I like him because he's dignified, intelli…" her eyes jumped up to his and she rapidly turned away with blushing cheeks.

"Tuxedo Kamen is like a celebrity crush," she said, changing the topic ever so slightly. "I mean, no one was really going to take my crush on Tuxedo Kamen seriously. No one knows that I actually know him – that he saves my life on a regular basis. But at the same time, I never see his face. He doesn't even know my name. And how can you really fall in love when you can't look into someone's eyes?"

She looked up at him then – with swirling compelling blue crystals – as if looking into his soul. He felt more vulnerable than he ever had – felt himself slipping – like he was going to be forever lost.

The only thing that saved him from bolting that instant was that she was there, standing before him just as nervous - just as vulnerable.

Why was she nervous?

He cleared his throat, searching for words. But he couldn't find any. Words were inadequate to describe the feelings that were bubbling in his chest – that suddenly felt light and free, instead of tightly twisted into a knot of tension.

"It's okay if you don't feel the same," she said into the extended silence. "Just because we're Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen, doesn't mean anything has to change."

Her voice was calm, but her eyes were glassy with suppressed hurt. Kami-sama, why was he so bad at this? He was so good at hurting her whether it was with thoughtless words about her hair or his inability to express how he felt.

"No," he said. "I want things to change. How could they not?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm sorry," he said, nervously running a hand through his hair, only to knock the top hat he had forgotten was there, to the ground. "I don't know my way around words sometimes, especially when it comes to feelings. But Usako, you have always amazed me and I don't want things to stay the same. I want… I want to be with you. I always have. My feelings for Sailor Moon confused me. But the fact that you are her, simplifies everything. So, I want to be with you. I mean, if you'll have me," Now, he was the one rambling.

She grinned. And suddenly she was in his space, her lips were on his. And he wasn't sure he knew what to do with that either, except he didn't want her to think he didn't welcome her touch as he had let her for a moment believe that he didn't welcome her feelings, so of course he was kissing her back.

Normally, he hated it when his routine was broken. The routine was reliable and sure, the one aspect of his life where he could feel certain and secure.

But when she pulled away, a grin as bright as the moon glowing from her face and her cerulean blue eyes sparkling with sudden joy he was excited for the shift, for the change. Almost glad he had stumbled for once in his life.

And as lost as he was in her gaze, he could not resist her, and this time it was he who pulled her back into another kiss where he tried to pour all the passion and awe for her that he could not articulate to his own satisfaction.

A/N: Awkward and unsure Mamoru is fun to play with. Hope you enjoyed. Send me prompts on Tumblr to give me ideas!

Reviews are love!