AN: Yaaaay for quick updates! I think this is the fastest I've ever updated a story. =D Aren't you proud that for once I updated quickly like I said I would? :) Anyways, the main person you have to thank for the quick update is my friend, even though she doesn't watch Sailor Moon, she's been reading this story, and has been bugging me to update. Also, I have a lot of free time on my hands. Of course, thanks to the people who reviewed last chapter: Writesoonplease, mangamania, and idfcv. It makes me a little sad that I only got 3 reviews, I put a lot of work into the last chapter, I do for all of the chapters. Although I'd love to get to 80 reviews with this chapter and the next one, numbers don't matter all that much. Mainly I just love hearing what people have to say, if I don't get many reviews, then I don't know what people liked about it, or didn't like about it. So pleaaaasssseee review, even if it's short. :) It means a lot to me. Anyways, read this chapter, and hopefully you'll enjoy it and review! :) Oh yeah, hopefully I'll have the Epilogue up soon, and then this story will be done!
Everyone rushed towards the fallen Sailor Moon, but Tuxedo Kamen got there first.
"Usako!" He yelled, picking her up into his arms. "Wake up! Usako!"
He gently shook her, trying to get her to wake up. Why wasn't she waking up? Was she… no. She couldn't be… dead! Was she? Suddenly all of the medical knowledge Tuxedo Kamen had ever learned in his civilian form went flying out of his head. He panicked, just staring at her, begging her to wake up. He should never have let her use the Silver Crystal; it was too dangerous! It wad tied in directly to her life energy. It used her life energy for it's power, and if too much power was fed through it, it could burst. It hadn't shattered… but had it sucked all of her life energy out of her? He couldn't bear it if he lost her… no, he refused to even think about that possibility. She would wake up. They had a whole future ahead of them, now that Mamoru knew his nightmare prophesies were false, planted by Wiseman in an effort to weaken Usagi so he could kill her off. Had Wiseman's plan succeeded? Mamoru had never gotten to tell Usagi how truly sorry he was, how he'd made a terribly mistake, and how all he wanted was for her to take him back so they could be together again.
"Please, Usako!" He whispered. "Wake up!" He was vaguely aware of the other girls crowding around them, worried for their friend. Only Mercury seemed to keep a clear head as she knelt beside her leader and checked her pulse. Tuxedo Kamen and the other Senshi waited in agony for what seemed like hours as Mercury searched for a pulse on Sailor Moon.
"She's alive," Mercury said with a smile, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. "Her pulse is very weak, though; the Silver Crystal must have taken more out of her than it usually does. Probably since she was already in a weakened state due to the use of the Black Crystal on her."
"When will she wake up?" Tuxedo Kane asked.
Mercury shook her head. "I don't know, she's very weak right now; it could be minutes, it could be hours."
"Usako," Tuxedo Kamen said again, gently stroking her cheek. A slight movement caught his eye. "Usako? Please, wake up!"
Sailor Moon stirred a bit more, her eyelids fluttering. She struggled to sit up, looking at everyone gathered around her.
"Why does everyone look so worried?" She said weakly. "Did I miss something?"
"Usagi, you baka, you almost died!" Rei said, reaching forward to grab her friend in a bear hug. "We were worried about you!"
"Oh," was all Sailor Moon could say, as her oxygen got cut off by Rei's tight hug. "Sorry to worry you, but I told you I'd be fine."
"Fine? The Silver Crystal used up all of your energy! You were barely alive! I wouldn't call that fine," Rei said.
"Well, did we defeat Wiseman?" Sailor Moon asked.
"Yup, he's a nice big pile of dust now," Jupiter said. "Thanks to you; as much as I don't like you using the Silver Crystal, without it there's no way we could've defeated Wiseman."
"As much as I love this happy reminiscing over beating Wiseman," Venus said. "We should really get home before something else keeps us from leaving. Usagi, we can support you so you don't have to use as much energy to teleport back home as you normally would."
"Thanks, Mina," Sailor Moon said. "Yes, let's get home, and forget all about this awful place."
Sailor Moon stood up, and joined hands with Tuxedo Kamen and Sailor Mars, as the rest of the Senshi did the same. One by one, the color of their planet erupted form each of them as they prepared to teleport back home.
Back home on Earth in the 20th century, the Sailor Senshi and Tuxedo Kamen sat on a rooftop as they watched the world go by. It was a habit of theirs, after particularly tough battles to sit on this rooftop and watch the city below them. It grounded them, seeing people doing their everyday work, never knowing just how close the world had come to ending. Never knowing the cost the Sailor Senshi and Tuxedo Kamen had to pay to keep their world safe. It was sunrise, and the world had never seemed more breathtaking than it did now. Slowly, one by one, the Sailor Senshi waved their goodbyes, and headed home to their families before they were noticed missing. It was hard to believe it had only been a little over 24 hours since Usagi had been kidnapped, and the Senshi and Tuxedo Kamen had gone to rescue her, and then of course, the big battle with Wiseman. Luckily, no one was worried about the girls being missing for so long; Rei had said they were al staying over at the Hikawa Shrine. During the time Ami had been researching on how to get to Usagi, Rei has convinced her Grandpa to take a much-needed vacation, so they didn't have to worry about him wondering where they were, either. It had been a long, long day, and everyone was exhausted. Finally, Mars said her goodbyes as well, and left, leaving Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen sitting on the roof together. Sailor Moon stood up, de-transforming into her civilian form, and Tuxedo Kamen did the same.
"Usagi," Mamoru began. "Before you leave, could we please talk? I… there's a lot I need to tell you."
"Okay," Usagi said, nodding her head. "I'd like to talk to you, too."
"Well… for starters, I… I want to apologize," Mamoru said. "I know I've been treating you terribly lately, and I'm really very sorry. The breakup was very hard for me, believe me, I didn't want to break up with you. I thought… I thought that if I could make you hate me it would be easier for you."
"But why did you break up with me, Mamoru?" Usagi asked. "You say the breakup was hard on you, but do you have any idea how hard it was for me? I thought you didn't love me, I thought there was something wrong with me. And then, when you started dating Akiko, I could tell you didn't love her. But that just made it worse! If you cared about me, then why did you break my heart?"
Mamoru winced at the reminders of what a jerk he'd been to Usagi. "I know, I know… please, just try to understand. You're right; I never loved Akiko. I just dated her as a distraction. I know it's mean, but I was still so in love with you, I thought maybe dating someone else would take my mind off of that, at least temporarily. The reason I broke up with you is because of this nightmare I kept having, night after night."
"You broke up with me because of a dream?' Usagi asked, upset. "Do you really have such little faith in us, Mamoru? Such little faith in me?"
"Please, just listen," Mamoru begged. "It started out wonderfully, we were getting married. But then, right before the ceremony was finished, you became Princess Serenity and were ripped away from me. The world crumbled all around you, and you screamed for my help, but I couldn't reach you, I wasn't fast enough. I was told that if I didn't stay far away from you, you'd die and it would be all my fault. You have to understand, I watched you die every single night. And not just that, but it was all my fault. It was my fault because I couldn't reach you fast enough, and it was my fault because I had brought about your death. We met tragic ends in the Silver Millennium, maybe we weren't meant to be after all. That's what the dream convinced me of, it convinced me that we weren't meant to be, I had caused your death in the Silver Millennium, and if I didn't stay away from you I'd cause it in this lifetime, too. I couldn't live with myself if I knew I had harmed you in any way, much less killed you! Please, you have to understand!"
Usagi sighed. "I understand why that dream would've scared you. If I had the same dream, I would've been terrified. But I believe, no, I know that our love is strong enough to withstand anything. We may not have lived happily in the Silver Millennium, but that's why Queen Serenity sent us forward, because she knew our love for each was strong enough to survive even death, and we deserved a chance where we could be happy together. That's what our original reincarnation was for, to give us a chance to finally love each other with reservations, and to live a long, happy life together. How can you forget that?"
"I'm sorry, Usagi," Mamoru said. "Please just believe me. The nightmare wasn't just some silly nightmare. It was so convincing, and so real. And you know I've had prophetic dreams before, how was I to know it was just Wiseman manipulating me in order to hurt you? I haven't forgotten why we were reincarnated, I just… I know there's no real explanation for how I behaved, I just want… I'm begging you to forgive me, and give me a second chance. Like you said, we were given a chance to love each other without reservations, and finally be happy together. Let's not waste that because of a stupid mistake I made."
"I don't know," Usagi said. "Honestly, I just don't know. I trusted you, and you broke that trust. I can understand part of the reasoning behind your actions, but why didn't you just tell me about it? I know you were worried I would die if we were together, but honestly, is there any situation you can think of where I'd be safer without you beside me?"
Mamoru winced. Those were the same words his future self has said to him. He knew they were both right. "I wasn't thinking clearly. I just… I was paralyzed with fear, and I thought I had to break up with you to keep you safe, and alive. Please, can you forgive me? I love you, Usagi, I always have, and I always will. Please don't let this get in the way of our one chance at true happiness."
Usagi sighed. "I don't know. Okay? I just don't know. Honestly, if you had just broken up with me because of the dream, then I would forgive you pretty easily. Yeah, a stupid mistake, but everyone makes them. But it's the way you handled it that I find unforgivable. You could've come up with some excuse as for why you wanted to take a break from our relationship, anything really, and it would've been better. But the thing is Mamoru, you didn't. You broke my heart, again and again, not caring at all as to how much pain I was in. You break up with me out of the blue, claiming you just don't love me. But you don't love someone your entire life, and in your past life too, for Kami's sake, and just wake up not loving them! It doesn't happen like that! You broke up with me in the cruelest way possible, and then you act like a cold-hearted jerk whenever I try to understand what's going on, and then, then you start dating someone else! Regardless of whether or not you loved her, it's adding insult to injury to break up with me and days later date someone else! I had to watch Akiko hang all over you, I had to watch you spend all your time with her, caring for her, trying to love her. I know you didn't, but you tried! And then, suddenly, in battles you'd swoop in and save me, and I'd think 'maybe he's gotten over what's been bothering him' or 'maybe he's forgiven me for who knows what that I did' or 'maybe we can finally be together again'. But no, you kept on being an asshole to me in person!"
"I'm sorry, Usako, really, I am," Mamoru pleaded. "I know I was an asshole, but please, just please forgive me."
"I want to," Usagi said. "I want to forgive you, Mamoru, because I never stopped loving you. I don't think I ever can, it's just a part of who I am. Even when we fought all the time, when you called me Odango and I hated you, I still loved you. I just showed it by yelling at you. I wish I could just say that I forgive you for everything, and that we can go back to how we were. But you broke my trust in you, and that's not something that's easily rebuilt. I can't just forgive and forget."
"So…. Is that a yes or a no?" Mamoru asked.
"It's a yes," Usagi said. "Yes, I forgive you. I'm still hurt, and I know at first it won't be the same, because you betrayed my trust. But I love you, and we owe it to ourselves to have a happy life. Together. We are meant to be, no matter what your stupid nightmare said. I love you, Mamo-chan."
Mamoru sighed in relief, smiling at her nickname for him. "I love you, too, Usako."
AN: Review, please! :) I hate sounding like a broken record, but really, it just means a LOT to me.