Never Gone R
By: Jecir
Chapter Twelve: A Picture Worth A Thousand Words
Mamoru was not sure how this happened. Was it a stroke of luck? A trick of Fate? Or simply a happy coincidence? Whatever it was, Mamoru was very grateful.
"Please get comfortable. This is going to take a while."
Mamoru sat down on the offered couch and watched with delight as Tsukino Usagi sank down next to him. Her spine was straight and her head was turned away from him, but she was sitting next to him—him and not Hero. It was perfect!
Now if he could get her to stop shooting unhappy glances at him.
He had not meant to upset her. He had been shocked to see her outside the battlefield and had stumbled over his words, resulting in an insult where he meant a compliment. Before he could explain himself, a young woman with a brown braid and large glasses grabbed his sleeve, declared that he was perfect, and proceeded to drag him and Usagi-chan into her studio. There, they discovered the truth.
The braided brunette was Yumeno Yumemi, romantic artist and recluse. She had just opened a new exhibit in Juuban and was seeking models to help her finish a few of her paintings. "There is one image I just can't get out of my mind!" she had said as she led them through her studio. "And I have not been able to find the right models until today! Oh, you must help me, please? It will be the crown of my collection!"
And what a collection it was! Each picture had awakened a longing in Mamoru that was too similar to how he felt after his dreams. Her pictures were about love; love lost, love found; love longed for; and each one had a frightening feeling of déjà vu. As they passed into the backroom, Mamoru was struck again by the paintings there. These were not romantic. They were mythical; filled with battle scenes, fallen kingdoms, and magical creatures. His mind was overwhelmed with the thought that he should know all of this, but he could not think why.
Yumeno-san motioned to the couch in her backroom, and there they found themselves. The artists sat on a stool in front of them. "Just relax," she instructed. "I am a fast sketcher. Once I capture your images, I think I can proceed from there."
"I have nowhere to be," Mamoru said.
"Well, isn't that fine for you," Usagi said. "So free with your time that you can invite yourself to stay longer than asked."
"That's not what I meant," Mamoru replied. Usagi's anger was new to him. He did not know how to navigate it. He wanted to enjoy this rare occasion with her; a chance to get to know her outside of their adventurous encounters. It was hard for him not to say, "Please don't be angry, Usagi. It's me, you Hero! You know me. You know I would never hurt you." Such a confession would not go over well, thus Mamoru resigned himself to wait for the right moment to apologize.
Yumeno-san hummed to herself as she sketched. It added a cheerful air to their sudden change in plans. Usagi could not maintain her affronted mask for long, and soon she was engaging Yumeno-san in a lively conversation. Mamoru smiled as he watched Usagi. She was glowing. Her smile was contagious. She drew out of the reclusive artist secrets and hopes and dreams and then encouraged the girl in each. Mamoru was so proud of her.
Mamoru's phone buzzed. Yumeno-san looked up over her sketchbook. Mamoru muttered his apology as he reached into his pocket. He glanced at the screen. A text message from Seiya, saying simply, "Found the Cat."
Oh, good, Mamoru thought. Another crystal in our hands. After their encounter with Urawa Ryo, who Seiya later identified as the Seer from his vision, the team had taken to the offensive. Instead of waiting for Zoicite to appear, they searched the city for the carriers—all of them—based on Seiya's hunches and potential profiles. So far, they had found the Lover—a woman named Reika who was dating Motoki, a young man who worked at a local arcade and café. They had found her coming from her classes. She had been surprised and understandably frightened by their intentions, but once she understood the importance of keeping the city safe, she had agreed to help them. They retrieved her crystal and defeated the monster with little trouble and no Dark Kingdom interference. Their triumph evened the score; two crystals to them and two to the Dark Kingdom with three crystals to go.
Mamoru typed out a quick reply to Seiya, asking them to keep him updated. A few minutes later, his phone buzzed again; and then, again another minute later; and again a few moments more. His phone buzzed through the rest of the afternoon and into the evening. He was about to check it early on after the fourth buzz but stopped when Usagi raised her eyebrow and said with a disapproving tone, "I thought we were supposed to be sitting completely still."
Mamoru pocketed his phone after that and utilized his willpower to its fullest in order to ignore the continual buzzing. Sorry, guys, he thought as he watched Usagi from the corner of his eye. This chance, right now, was far too important to lose.
Before he knew it, Yumeno-san was closing her sketchbook. "There," she said. "Done. I'm sorry. That took longer than I thought, but you two are such perfect models, I couldn't help sketching more pictures! You two inspire me so much!" Yumeno-san looked lovingly at her sketch book. "I could paint a whole new series just from these. You two will return next week, I hope, to see the finished product?"
"Of course!" Usagi agreed. She stood and clapped her hands in delight. Then, she came up to Yumeno-san and took her hands in a gesture of friendship. "And I do hope you will consider what we talked about. The world deserves to know the real face behind your amazing art."
"She's right," Mamoru chimed in; happy for a chance to compliment Usagi without stumbling over himself. He still needed to make amends for his earlier blunder. Adding his encouragement to Usagi's opinion would, he hoped, put him in a more favorable light. "You are incredibly talented. It does not matter what people think you should be; masks are a disadvantage." He looked pointedly at Usagi. "They hide the truth and make it hard for people to see the real you."
Usagi titled her head in obvious confusion. She shook it off, though, and turned back to Yumeno-san. She continued to encourage the artist even as the bashful young lady escorted them out. The moon was high and the stars were shining brightly. It was much later than they had realized. Mamoru cheered his good luck. He could offer to walk with Usagi to protect her on her way home.
He waited for Usagi to finish saying her goodbyes before he made his offer. Usagi balked at the request. "I can take care of myself, Chiba-san," she said indignantly.
Mamoru smirked despite her irritation. "I'm sure you can," he said. "But, I would feel terrible if something were to happen to you on your way home. Please?"
Usagi turned her nose up and stalked past him. "Do as you like," she said.
Mamoru fell in step with her. They walked in silence; Mamoru thinking hard as how to start a conversation, and Usagi doing everything in her power to ignore him.
Mamoru's phone buzzed once more, reminding Mamoru that he had left his friends to deal with the crystal without him. He pulled out his phone. He had several missed calls and texts from both Seiya and Kyouya.
Before he could read them, Usagi remarked, "Quite popular tonight, aren't you?" She was watching him from the corner of her eye. When she caught his gaze, she made a show of being indignant. "I don't know why, seeing as you like to insult girls when you meet them."
Mamoru groaned. This was not how he wanted to address the issue. "I did not mean to insult you," he said.
Usagi turned on him. Her eyes were blazing. Mamoru could not help thinking that she looked even more beautiful with that fire in her eyes. "You said my hair looked like buns!"
"No," Mamoru tried to say, but Usagi rushed over him.
"You said my hair was pretty bun-like! Those were your exact words!"
Mamoru was torn between amusement and long-suffering. "There were pauses between those words," he said. "Had you held back your reaction, you would have heard them."
"And how do pauses change your meaning?" Usagi demanded.
"Because I was stuttering!" Mamoru said. His confession stopped Usagi's next reply and allowed him more time to explain. Mamoru rubbed the back of his neck. Embarrassment was setting in as he tried to explain. "I was trying to give you a compliment, but I forgot what I was going to say. I was trying to say that your hair was up in pretty buns, like spun gold in the sunlight." He glanced up at Usagi and grinned sheepishly. "I was trying to wax poetic but, it turns out, I'm not that good at it in the moment."
Usagi was blushing at this point. She self-consciously pulled at one of her ponytails. "You think my hair's pretty?"
"Very pretty," Mamoru admitted.
"But," Now it was Usagi's turn to stutter. "But you barely know me. Why would you do that?"
Mamoru sought her eyes and, once he was certain he had her full attention, said, "Can't a man be enchanted at first sight?"
Usagi's eyes had lost their fire and were now dancing in the moonlight. Mamoru could not help himself. He took a step closer, drawn in by her eyes, and leaned down just slightly...
...and then jumped back at the sound of a scream piercing the air.
He and Usagi turned to look back the way they had come. "Yumeno-san!" Usagi said.
Mamoru took off down the street.
"Chiba-san!" Usagi yelled after him.
Mamoru called over his shoulder, "Get to safety!" Then, he turned to face what he knew would be there. The Artist, he said. One of the carriers was an artist! Of course! He turned a corner, grateful for the cover, and did the thing that summoned his battle gear (a thing he did not understand but could do instinctively). He gripped his cane. Its weight was a comfort in his hands. He ran into the studio, past the paintings, and through the back door. There, he found the scene he feared to find.
Zoicite stood next to a monster in a long lavender dress with large white wings. They looked at him with equal looks of disdain.
"No, Yumeno-san," Mamoru whispered.
"Well, well, Hero, here alone?" Zoicite mocked. "How brave of you. A few meager victories, and you think you can handle us alone?" The blond general laughed. "Make him pay, Binah."
The monster born from the Artist charged.
Mamoru leapt through the studio window. Behind the studio was a large construction site with an open field. Mamoru ran through the yard toward the unfinished building. He wanted to take the fight as far from the studio as he could. He knew it would devastate Yumeno-san to find, after being saved, her beloved paintings destroyed. He looked over his shoulder. Binah was chasing him. He did not have much time to reach the shadows of the building.
He reached in his pocket for his phone, but it wasn't there! Mamoru cursed under his breath. It was something he hated about his strange transformation. His earthly things tended to disappear when he changed. How was he going to alert his team?
Boulders began to fall from the sky. Mamoru danced through the field of flying rocks. He looked up. Binah was hovering over him. She was using the feathers from her wings to draw the boulders. More and more fell from the sky. Mamoru jumped and dodged and searched for an opening.
An opening was not so easily found. Mamoru had been riding so high on their recent victories that he forgot how difficult fighting these monsters was. Binah was a dangerous opponent. She remained out of his reach and worked diligently to make sure he remained in her grasp. Boulders turned to snakes, snakes to fire, and fire to acidic darts. The air was filled with poisonous smoke. Mamoru choked on the fumes and tried to cover his face with his cape. His vision blurred, and he began to stumble about, disoriented.
Somewhere beyond his senses, Zoicite laughed at his misfortune. The blond general was gloating, but Mamoru could not make out her words. The world around him was blurring.
Someone grabbed him from behind and dragged him out of the flames into blessed fresh air. Mamoru collapsed to the ground, heaving in grateful gasps. The clean air cleared his head. Mamoru looked up at his savior.
"You know, Hero, it really isn't smart to run off into battle alone just to impress Miss Usagi," Seiya said with a disapproving scowl. He nodded to the shadows near the studio. Usagi was standing at the edge of the studio, holding a black cat and watching them anxiously.
"You brought the cat to the battle?" Mamoru gasped through his labored breaths.
"Of course not!" Seiya said. "That's the Cat's friend, something you would have known had you answered your phone!"
"Sorry," Mamoru said. "I was...preoccupied."
"Uh huh," Seiya said. "Preoccupied with a certain blond, I'll wager." Mamoru shrugged helplessly. Seiya shook his head. "We can trade stories later. Right now," Kyouya fell to the ground next to them. Seiya winced at the impact. "We had better help."
Mamoru and Seiya jumped into the battle. Kyouya followed a moment later. The three were able to gain the upper hand. They just needed Priest to help finish the job, but, once again, they could not find their newest teammate.
"That's strange," Seiya said. "He was with us all afternoon!"
"He better show up!" Kyouya growled. "We need to end this! Two monsters in one day are not easy!"
Mamoru threw several roses at Binah, driving her toward the scaffolding and limiting her aerial advantage. The winged monster retreated from the sharp roses. Her wings hit the scaffolding, just as Mamoru had hoped, and, once she had, her body went rigid. She fell to the ground. The trio closed in around her. To their shock, Binah lay motionless; a charm on her back. Kyouya raised his blade to strike while Seiya and Mamoru searched the scaffolding. "Where is he?" Mamoru muttered.
A flash of white and black signaled the separation of Yumeno-san from Binah. Mamoru scooped up the unconscious girl and hurried her back to the safety of the studio. He knew now that Seiya and Kyouya could handle the rest.
Zoicite was nowhere to be found. Mamoru was grateful for that. He did not know what he would do if the blond general was waiting in the wings.
He laid Yumeno-san on the couch. She was pale and clammy, but she was safe. That's all that mattered.
"How is she?"
Mamoru looked up to find the Priest standing in the shadows. "There you are," Mamoru said. "We saw the charm but not you."
The Priest's sunglasses hid his emotions well. He walked to the couch and knelt down. "I am sorry," he said, "But I could not risk it. She was too close."
"She?" Mamoru asked, but the Priest did not answer. He placed his hand on Yumeno-san's chest, right over her heart. Mamoru watched in fascination. He had never seen what the Priest did to the crystal carriers. The Priest's hand began to glow; a red haze reminiscent of hot metal in a forge. The glow remained at a steady, low hum. The air in the studio vibrated with power. Then, it was over. The Priest removed his hand and sat back on his heels. Yumeno-san looked much better.
"They have three, and we have three," the Priest mused.
"One last crystal to find," Mamoru said.
"Indeed."
"Hero-san?" Usagi's voice carried through the broken window.
"I'm here!" Mamoru replied. He turned to the window. "I'm in the studio!" When he turned back, the Priest was gone. "Why does he do that?" Mamoru whispered.
Usagi hurried into the studio; Kyouya and Seiya following behind her. She knelt in front of him. "I was so worried!" she said. "After I called you all, I came here to see if I could help, but then I saw you fighting all alone! Why did you do that? You could have been killed!"
Mamoru smiled under her censure, grateful for her concern. "I couldn't allow the Dark Kingdom to hurt anyone else. I was nearby, and it was a risk worth taking." He reached up, intending to stroke her hair. It had come loose in all the commotion. Mamoru thought better of it and, at the last moment, moved his gloved hand to the cat. It was a poor, pathetic thing with long, unkempt hair and bones sticking out of its skin. "I see you have a new friend."
Usagi looked down at the trembling creature. "Scientist-san asked me to look after her." She stroked the protruding spine. "She is so thin and weak. She needs help."
"I was on my way to the vet when I got your call," Seiya explained. "It is a good hospital connected with a no-kill shelter. They will take care of her, I promise."
Usagi nodded. "How did you find her?"
"We were tracking a crystal carrier," Seiya said. He sat down next to Usagi and reached for the cat. Usagi was reluctant to give her up. "Turns out, one of the crystals was in a spoiled, fat, blue cat that we ended up chasing across town. We finally caught it in a back alley. Turns out, the old boy was taking care of her." He cradled the malnourished creature. "The vet will need to shave off her fur. There are several badly healed wounds under this mess. I can feel them. See?" He very gently lifted the cats head and pointed to the fur bunched around her forehead. "I can feel something on her head; something sticky. I think it's trapped in her hair."
"You will let me know how she does?" Usagi asked.
"Of course," Seiya said. "And, once she is healthy, maybe, amongst the four of us, one of us could give her a good home."
Usagi nodded. "I think we could. She could be our mascot."
"Hm," Seiya hummed. "What do you think, Hero?"
Mamoru ran his knuckles over some of the cat's ribs. "I think that would be fine."
Yumeno-san groaned from the couch.
"We had better go," Mamoru said. The group hurried out of the studio. Seiya said his goodbyes and headed off immediately. He was anxious to get the cat to the vet.
"Hero-san," Usagi said before he and Kyouya could leave.
Mamoru nodded to Kyouya, silently asking him for a moment. His dear friend walked a few feet away and waited. Once he was certain they would not be disturbed, Mamoru turned to Usagi. "Yes?"
"I have something of yours," she said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a locket—a star-shaped, golden locket that was playing a hauntingly familiar lullaby. "You dropped it in the graveyard."
He had? Mamoru was not certain he had ever seen this thing before. He looked at it in wonder. Had it been in his battle gear the entire time? How had he not known? And why did he feel that it was so right for Usagi to have it? He placed his hands over the locket, closing its lid and silencing the lullaby. He, then, gently pushed the locket toward her. "Keep it," he said. "I want you to keep it."
Usagi blushed prettily under the moonlight. "Thank you," she whispered.
Mamoru's resolve broke in that moment. Like before, when it had been them with no masks between them, Mamoru stepped forward and leaned down. Usagi closed her eyes and tilted her head back in expectation. Mamoru pressed his lips to her forehead. He could not bear to kiss her anywhere else. It would overwhelm his heart. He relished the feel of her beneath his lips. It felt like coming home. He lingered for a second longer, then, with great resolve, pulled back and hurried into the night, unable to face her reaction.
Had he stayed, he would have seen her touch the spot where his lips had caressed her and smile brightly. For his part, Mamoru was blushing a deep red blush of a man desperately in love.
Jadeite slid the door of the room of the sacred fire closed behind him. The magic of the room locked him in and wrapped him in impenetrable safety. It was only then that he allowed his strength to fail. He fell, slowly, to his knees and leaned against the door. His fists clenched, and he hid his face from the world. The sacred fire churned and crackled behind him; its warmth bathing him in reassurance. Still, Jadeite could not shake the fear that was gripping him.
"Too close," he gasped. "Too close."
AN: Oh no, poor Jadeite. What is he afraid of, I wonder? :-)
I do know that Mamoru is supposed to be friends with Motoki but for the sake of the story, I did not want to include it. Unnecessary complications and all that. Also, it was mentioned that Ami had not had a lot of screen time unlike the other Senshi I've introduced. I do want to say that I fully intended to have her be in the last chapter, but the narrative changed direction as I was writing. It happens.
As always, reviews are love! We are getting very close to the scenes I have been most excited to write!
Much love!
Jecir
