For Your Happiness

Chapter 10

Usagi couldn't quite bring herself to believe what had just transpired. She had hoped, when she'd given Mamoru an ultimatum, that he'd determine he'd loved her but, another part of her, the part that always questioned whether she was good enough to be Sailor Moon, hadn't quite been willing to put all of her faith in a positive outcome. Yet, here she was, wrapped in Mamoru's embrace as he led her out of the command center and back into the bustling chaos of the Crown Arcade. She was vaguely aware of Endymion following behind them as she was led to the somewhat private booth Motoki always set aside for her and the Senshi.

Mamoru sat her down in the booth and clasped her hands in his as he knelt at her feet. He dipped his head and tilted his chin so he could meet her eyes, "I need to talk to Motoki for a minute. Will you be alright if I leave you here with him?" The last part he asked as he gave petulant nod in Endymion's direction.

"I'll be fine. After all, I've been dealing with him off and on for years, right?" Usagi responded with a teary-eyed smile. Mamoru responded with a slight nod and a final glare in Endymion's direction before he kissed her on the top of her head and made his way over to where Motoki stood watching them from behind the counter. The Earth Prince opened his mouth to speak but Usagi cut him off, "Before you say anything, did you erase his memories of his parent's on purpose?"

"No, I was trying to help him. It was an accident."

Usagi stared into his eyes for several minutes before nodding, "I believe you. Serenity's memories of you don't paint you as the type of person who would do such a thing."

"I apologize, for the way I behaved earlier." Here Endymion paused, "I meant what I said about you not being like Serenity, however, I neglected to mention that you possessed positive traits that she does not just as she possesses positive traits that you do not. What I said I said out of…"

"Fear." Usagi finished, even as the prince looked at her in stunned silence, "You said cruel things out of fear. You wanted Mamoru to remember my flaws in the hope that he would say he had only stayed with me because of your influence and feelings for Serenity."

"You are correct and I am sorry for that."

"It's alright, after all, I know better than most what it's like to fear losing someone you love."

There was a long pause before Endymion asked, "How did you know?"

"How did I know what?"

"That you loved him and not me?"

"That's a good question. I asked myself the same thing once I found out about all of the reincarnation stuff. It wasn't until I realized you had a similar arrangement to Serenity and I that I could tell the two of you apart."

"A similar arrangement?"

"Serenity's spirit doesn't surface in me unless I need her to. You and Mamoru had a similar unspoken agreement. You only interfered with Mamoru when I was around, either as Usagi or as Sailor Moon, correct?" At Endymion's confused nod, she continued, "It wasn't how Mamoru treated me that made me love him. It was the way he treated everyone but me. I fell in love with the way he treated Motoki and how he wants to become a doctor so he can save people so no other child ever has to go through the same loss he did. I love him because he works hard and is intelligent but he never acted conceited or superior about it to anyone but me. And even when he had no powers and no memory of who he was, he still tried to protect people, including me."

The pair were silent for several minutes. Eventually, it was Endymion who spoke, "I tried to separate from him once, give him the opportunity that you were trying to give him." Usagi watched him pensively, "The Moonlight Knight told you the truth when he said he was Mamoru's memories of Usagi and Sailor Moon as opposed to those of Princess Serenity. When we died during the battle with Queen Beryl and you brought us back, I felt bad for what I had done to him back when he was a child. I honestly did it to save his life but, with you giving everyone a second chance, he wouldn't have been in danger if I left this time. I tried to extract my consciousness from his but his feelings and memories of you latched on to my own. That consciousness overpowered my own which is why he became the Moonlight Knight instead of Tuxedo Kamen. It was his enforcement of his own will that made me realize the threat he posed to the future I wanted with Serenity. If he loved Tsukino Usagi, he would exert that will to bring her back when Serenity revealed herself and, if he asked you to stay, you would fight. Serenity cannot defeat you, she knows this as well as I do. I was afraid of losing her forever, as you said."

"Why would Mamoru's feelings for me attach to your consciousness?"

"I had wondered that myself until recently. I honestly believe the two of you shared the same fears and doubts about your relationship. I think he sent those feelings with me believing that you would only accept them if they were attached to me, as Endymion."

Endymion was surprised to see a soft smile grace Usagi's face, "For someone so smart, Mamo-chan sure can be an idiot sometimes."

"I thought it was a justified fear at the time." Mamoru responded, walking up and taking the seat beside his princely counterpart. "After all, there you were, the bouncy, bright, outgoing, friendly odango atama… and there I was, the quiet, withdrawn, abrasive, aloof guy who made your life miserable. You questioned our relationship too, I don't see why I'm the only one being called and idiot."

"You're an idiot because you forgot the most important thing… I followed you as Mamoru, protected you as Mamoru, and cried for you as Mamoru before I ever acknowledged you as Endymion's reincarnation. During that fight with Zoicite, I didn't even know you were Tuxedo Kamen until the moment you pulled out that rose… I was simply trying to protect the person I loved." With that she reached over and clasped Mamoru's hand in her own, "You, on the other hand, didn't seem to show any feelings toward me at all until you found out I was Sailor Moon."

"That's not true! Before I knew who you were, I tried bargaining with Zoicite to let you go. Even then, I didn't want you to get hurt because of me."

"So, the solution is that you're both colossal idiots." Motoki piped in as he set a chocolate milkshake down in front of Usagi who shot him a grateful smile.

"What'd I do to deserve another milkshake?"

"I figured you'd need one before trying to figure out what to do next. After all, you now have Endymion and Mamoru separated but, you're unable to separate yourself from Serenity right? How's that going to work?"

"Motoki has a point."

Endymion looked questioningly at Mamoru and then Usagi, "Perhaps Sailor Mercury could lend her assistance?"

"Ami-chan? I don't know. The Senshi don't know about this whole thing and asking for Ami-chan's help would entail telling them what's going on." Usagi responded cautiously.

She felt Mamoru's hand tighten around her own in gesture of reassurance, "I think Endymion's right." The expression on his face then turned sheepish as he continued, "Actually, I already told Rei about what was going on." At Usagi's look of outrage he hurried to explain, "I was having trouble figuring things out and I thought a fire-reading might help. I tried to get her to help without telling her but she was being uncooperative."

Usagi remained silent as the three men stared at her, awaiting her decision. Eventually, she sighed, "I guess there's no choice. If you managed to tell Rei-chan everything without her tracking me down and setting me on fire then it means she understood what I was trying to do. If I already have Rei on my side, the others won't be difficult at all."

"Would you like us to accompany you?" Mamoru and Endymion offered at the same time.

Usagi laughed as the two men glared at each other, apparently annoyed at their unintentional synchronization, "Not immediately. I think I need to explain things on my own first, but thank you for offering, I appreciate it. I'll let you know when I'm ready for you two to show up."

Endymion nodded as Mamoru gave a slight tug on Usagi's hand, drawing her in for a quick kiss, "It'll be fine, you'll see."

Usagi seemed momentarily frozen, "You… you just kissed me… on the lips… in public…"

Mamoru looked confused, "I guess I did… is that a problem?"

"No, no, it's not a problem at all… I just always thought you hated public displays of affection."

"That wasn't my idea… it was his." Came the annoyed response as Mamoru levelled a glare at the Earth Prince seated beside him.

Endymion muttered something about extraneous breaches of decorum even as Usagi's face lit up in a brilliant smile, "Oh, well, in that case I suppose I could get used to it." She then leaned down and gave Mamoru a quick kiss on the cheek before racing off to call an emergency Senshi meeting.