Mamoru shut the door and leaned heavily against it, squeezing his eyes tightly shut to hold back the threatening tears. When he opened them again, he saw Chibi Usa standing in the entryway, concern showing in her red eyes.
"You'd better run along, kiddo," he spoke with a rasp in his voice.
The girl nodded and let herself out, pulling the door shut behind her with a soft click.
Mamoru paced his apartment. He wanted to run out and find Usagi, tell her that he didn't mean it and of course he still loved her. He picked up a framed picture of the two of them smiling happily. His arm was around her shoulder, her head resting against his chest. She trusted him to take care of her: to do what was right. And that was what he was doing. He saw the image again, Usagi, no, Serenity, torn away from him, plunging to her death; a hauntingly familiar voice warning that this was her fate if he stayed with her.
Lifting the picture again, Mamoru looked at Usagi's cheerful, innocent smile. He would stay away, even if it broke both of their hearts. He roared with frustration and launched the picture at the wall, glass shattering; the photo fluttered to the floor, free from the frame. Usagi's tiny, perfect lips smiled up at him, taunting him.
"Enough!" he shouted, turning and marching in the opposite direction. Several paces brought him into his kitchen where he opened and slammed cabinet doors, trying to work out his feelings of helplessness. Sitting at the front of the shelf with his oils and vinegars, was a new bottle of sake. Mamoru was not a big drinker, but at this moment, he wanted nothing more than to drown out his feelings in a bottle of alcohol. He selected a small sake cup from another cabinet and carried it to the coffee table.
Filling the cup, Mamoru took a sip. Sake had never been his drink of choice, but he drained the cup and quickly poured another. At his feet, Usagi's sweet face smiled up at him and his heart constricted painfully. He pushed aside the cup and lifted the entire bottle to his lips and drank deeply.
After several swigs, Mamoru's mouth was too dry to carry on. He set the bottle down and leaned back heavily on the couch, shutting his eyes tightly. He tried not to think of Usagi, but images of her danced through his mind: walking together through the park, kissing ice cream from her lips, fighting alongside Sailor Moon, and finally, embracing the captivating Princess Serenity. Mamoru awoke knowing that he could never stay away from his princess. He jumped to his feet, eager to right the wrong he had made in breaking up with her, but the room spun and he sank back down onto the couch. Anxious as he was, his love would have to wait for tomorrow.