She's My What?!?!?!

By: SilverLunarStar

Chapter Fourteen: Protecting You, Protecting Her

Mamoru woke up, gasping for breath. There was a burning in his chest, as if he had put all his efforts in running while holding his breath. 'That damn dream. Isn't it enough that I'm already avoiding her like the plague?' He buried his face in his hand, running the other through his hair. After taking a few calming breaths, he was still aggravated so he got up and went into the kitchen to get some water. Going to his living room, he sat on his couch and stared out his window. Dawn was slowly approaching. 'It's going to be a long day.' Sighing, he got back up, stretched and headed to his bathroom.

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A week after the attack, Nahele entered the kitchen earlier than usual. "Usagi! What are you doing here?" Nahele was more than a little surprised; in the past month, although the blonde princess no longer ran late, she always tried to get as much sleep as she could.

She shrugged. "I woke up an hour ago and couldn't go back to sleep so I just decided to get ready."

"Daijoubu desu ka?"

"Hai." She nodded for emphasize. "I just needed to finish a homework I forgot about."

Giving her a last hesitant look, he got started on breakfast.

Half an hour later, after several glances at the blonde, he told her, "Why don't you go wake Chibi-Usa-chan and Shingo-kun. Jadeite can help me set up the table, ne?"

The blond, who had been trying to sneak past the kitchen, looked like he had just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Aw man."

Usagi laughed a little as she headed upstairs to wake her brother and 'cousin.' First, she woke Shingo, then went to the little girl's room. Knocking, she opened the door, but froze when she saw the empty bed. After a minute, she forced herself to breathe. 'Maybe she got up before I came.' However, a look in Chibi-Usa's bathroom, her own bedroom, and her bathroom revealed them to be empty. Going back to the small girl's room, she noticed her backpack was on her bed and the window was open. 'Could the Black Moon have taken her?' To the point of hyperventilation, she forced herself to calm down; however, with everything that's been going on, it was difficult.

"Usagi-chan?" Hands settled on her shoulders.

She jumped, startled. "Zsigmond, Chibi-Usa is missing!"

"Nani?!" he exclaimed. Observing the room, it looked to be relatively untouched, so they could rule out kidnapping. Plus, the four of them had taken extra precautions around this place; there was no way anyone could enter unless they were invited. 'Could Chibi-Usa have…?' Shaking his head, he said, "Let's go downstairs and let the others know. We'll have Jinhai drop Shingo off and Kadeem will call yours and Chibi-Usa's school to let them know you're not going in today."

Usagi nodded.

Once they all assembled, they all went different ways; Jinhai would drop Shingo off before looking with his car, Zsigmond would also take his car while Nahele, Kadeem, and Usagi would look for her by foot.

Usagi was afraid they wouldn't be able to find her quickly enough, however, something tugged her in a certain direction. Running as fast as she could, she soon bumped into something solid, something familiar. With dread, she looked up. Her fears were confirmed when she looked up and was captivated by a pair of stormy, midnight eyes. "We didn't plan to meet and I still bumped into you this early," she mumbled spitefully.

"Usa-"

"Sumimasen, demo I have to go."

"School's not that way," he called out to her before he could stop himself.

As if on autopilot, she turned around. "I'm looking for Chibi-Usa," she told him and immediately regretted it when he jogged back towards her.

"Let me help you," he offered. 'Baka, baka, baka. What are you doing? You're supposed to be avoiding her!' He couldn't take it back, though. Plus, what did it matter when a child was missing?

Usagi wanted to reject the offer, but she could use all the help she could get. "Fine," she resigned. Something ignited within her as they searched for her together and not even five minutes later, they were led to a small area that only held a set of swings. Usagi immediately recognized her sobs and, strangely enough, so did Mamoru.

'It sounds like Usagi when she lets out her heart-filled cries,' he thought. Shaking his head, he followed the blonde, but stood a few yards away. He knew the girl did not like him very much and, for reasons unknown, it hurt. He observed as Usagi knelt next to the girl. As he was too far, he didn't hear what she was telling her. What he did observe, however, was Chibi-Usa wiping her eyes and clinging to Usagi's neck. A wave of jealousy passed over him but he couldn't decipher whether he was jealous of the fact that the little girl was clinging to his Usako or that Usagi was giving the girl comfort that he wanted to give her. 'I barely know the girl.'

After what seemed like hours on end, but was really a few minutes, the two came towards him.

"Arigato gozaimasu Mamoru-san," Usagi said.

"It was nothing," he whispered, looking at the two, almost identical, girls.

Usagi knew the only reason he offered to help was because he felt guilty; she knew he would feel bad if he didn't at least offer to help. It didn't matter though; this small gesture was enough to make her heart flutter. 'Stop it Usagi.'

Chibi-Usa stared at the tall, dark-haired man and wondered why he acted so stoic towards the usually bubbly blonde. "Arigato gozaimasu Mamoru-san for helping mama look for me."

"Doushimemashite, demo why did you run off like that? You had Usagi-san worried." The 'san' added at the end of is beloved's name left a bad taste in his mouth, but he had to respect her decision.

"Watashi…watashi…" For reasons unknown to her, Chibi-Usa wanted to tell this man, who was basically a stranger, everything. The compulsion to trust him was just as strong as it was when she first met Usagi. "I just thought I was being a burden after everything…"

"Chibi-Usa-chan is going through a hard time. We're going to talk about it as soon as we get home, ne?" she said gently.

"Hai."

"I'll walk you home," he offered. 'Bad idea,' a voice murmured, but he shoved it away.

Usagi wanted to refuse, but he was still Tuxedo Kamen and if Chibi-Usa was in danger, she'd need all the help she could get. "Alright."

Exiting the small area, Chibi-Usa and Usagi headed left and Mamoru right.

"We don't live there anymore," Usagi answered his bewildered look.

"Ara." Silently, he followed closely behind. His curiosity was peaked when, after twenty minutes, they reached a density of trees. "Nan-?" He was cut off when, a few yards later, they reached a narrow clearing.

"It'd be hard to find if one didn't know where to look," Usagi commented. "We'll be fine from here."

He knew he had to stay away; he'd gotten close enough as it was, but… "I won't feel right until both of you are safely indoors."

The blonde smiled wirily. Protector indeed. Even when they hadn't known each other's identities when they first became Tuxedo Kamen and Sailor Moon, he'd always kept her safe. Shrugging, she continued to lead the way.

About five minutes later, they finally reached the huge…

'Manor,' wa the only thing Mamoru could identify it as.

Usagi took out a key and unlocked the door; she was hesitant to let Mamoru in but she couldn't let him go back on his own. Kadeem had taken her, Chibi-Usa, and Shingo on a tour of the terrain because it was easy to get lost if they didn't know the area very well. "Come in; I need to call my cousin and his friends to let them know I found Chibi-Usa. I'll walk you back once they're here."

He looked at the still-quiet child. Nodding, he followed them through the threshold. When they reached the sitting room, what she said finally hit him. 'His friends?' He barely heard Usagi excuse herself.

Chibi-Usa peeked at the dark haired man from behind her fringe; she didn't know why, but despite the cold and tense treatment he and her mama gave one another, it made her heart warm to see them together, to see how this man cared for her mama's safety. Kind of like… 'How papa cares for me and mama…'

A few minutes later, Usagi reentered the room. "would you like anything to drink Mamoru-san?" she asked politely.

"No thank you."

Nodding, she turned to Chibi-Usa. "You didn't have breakfast Chibi-Usa. Nahele fixed some pancakes up; I'll reheat them, even though they won't quite taste the same.

"Hai."

"Let's move to the kitchen." Taken the girl's hand, she nodded in invitation to Mamoru.

After Chibi-Usa had eaten and Usagi had washed the bowl and spoon, four men came bursting in.

"Chibi-Usa!" they exclaimed.

"We were worried."

"Please refrain from doing that again."

"Are you hungry? I'll make fresh pancakes."

"What's wrong?"

"Guys! Urusei, we have guest."

The Shitennou finally turned to face a dark haired man.

"End-!" Jinhai's mouth was covered by Nahele.

When the four had turned to face him, he didn't recognize them right away. An air of nervousness filled the room. After a few tense moments, a muddled part of his brain suddenly cleared. "You!" He got off his seat lightning quick. If Usagi hadn't grabbed his wrist in a surprisingly firm grip,, he would have produced a deadly rose for each man.

"Thank you for your help today, Mamoru-san. I can take it from here." Taking advantage of his surprise, she continued, "Come, I'll walk you out." Her tone was final. Letting him exit the room first, she sent each Shitennou a look.

All four shook their head.

Nodding, she went to catch up to a flabbergasted Mamoru.

Neither said anything as they walked through the path. Finally reaching the pavement, they turned to one another.

Mamoru couldn't take the silence any longer. "Usagi, how could you be living with-"

She cut him off. "They're not the same men you remember. They came to me after my parents were buried." She took note that he didn't seem surprised that her parents were dead, but his eyes did cloud over. "They're here to protect Chibi-Usa and I, even though it's not their task to do so."

"How do you know th-?"

"You don't have to worry about such matters. Thank you for helping me find Chibi-Usa." With that, she walked away.

Mamoru's heart clenched painfully as he balled his fists, looking at her retreating back. He had to stay away from her; it was for her own good, her own safety, and he knew that , no matter what, he'd always protect her.

Too bad for him; the Fate's always have different plans…

As I'm typing this, it's 12:10AM on March 6th. I'm SO sorry. I really tried to post this yesterday but, alas, work and family shove their way into the wee twenty-four hours of the day.

Again, it will be a while before I post because I have a huge paper due on Wednesday that I need to work on, plus a final that day. SORRY! However, spring break is almost here and I have a longer one than usual because my last final is on Tuesday, March 16 and I don't go back to school until the 30th. However, I still have work, but I should be able to post at least two more chapters before going back.

Thanks so much for reading, please review, and THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAD REVIEWED THUS FAR! You all keep me going!

Lots of love,

~*Eli