14. The Other Side of Things
Mamoru watched as Usagi fidgeted anxiously in her nearby seat. It was so annoying, but at the moment he couldn't bring himself to tell her off, not when he would very much like to do the same. He felt just as much on edge as she.
In the last weeks his dreams had become more and more disturbed with images of an injured and dying Sailor Moon, but his Princess faded further from them with each passing night. And he thought he knew why.
Sailor Moon seemed to have taken her place in his mind, for he often found himself more worried about her safety than about finding the Princess. His guilt pained him whenever he thought of the short-skirted heroine; he felt he had compromised his mission. Thus he had decided to stop coming to Sailor Moon's rescue. Now whenever he felt her pull transforming him into Tuxedo Kamen, he resisted. It wasn't easy, though. He still felt the same pangs in his chest when she was narrowly missed by youmas, and once he had felt a pain so excruciating that he was almost sure she had been hurt badly.
It seemed though, that the longer he avoided her, the more he could worry about nothing else. The Princess remained as distant as ever, and the only thing that seemed to have changed was the ferocity of his connection to Sailor Moon.
Mamoru took a sip of his coffee as he continued to watch the little blond Odango. She was indeed extremely upset today, as she had been for several weeks now. That stuffed rabbit of her must have meant more to her than he had thought. Even her appetite had changed—for she sat for the first time with nothing but a glass of water on the table in front of her.
Maybe he had given her poor advice, he thought, because neither he nor she had found what they had lost.
Apparently waiting just didn't work.
The Princess had done nothing but disappear completely since his resolution not to aid Sailor Moon, and he felt betrayed. Betrayed, he thought, just as he was sure Sailor Moon must feel too at that very moment.
Mamoru swallowed and set his empty coffee cup back on its saucer resolutely with a final glance at the girl across the room.
Maybe it was time for Tuxedo Kamen to return to Sailor Moon.