2/22/06

Title: Paying Respect
Author: Raya
Theme: Usagi &/or Mamoru (Optional: Graveyard)
Genre: General
Version: Manga (post StarS / pre Crystal Tokyo)
Rating: G

Disclaimer: All characters were created by Takeuchi Naoko. I have merely converted them into paper cutouts to play with for a little while.

Paying Respect

A small poster in the book store caught Usagi's eye as she scanned the manga and magazines. Curious, she turned to look at it, and then smiled. O-bon. It was that time of year again: time to visit graves, eat, and dance the night away.

As she turned to get Mamoru's attention, it suddenly occurred to her that was their first o-bon together as husband and wife. She paused and let this thought float and settle in her mind. Their first o-bon as a married couple. That meant that they would be visiting Mamoru's family grave site as well as her own. Hopefully, they would be located in the same area.

'It won't matter,' she decided. 'If they're too far apart, Mama, Papa, and Shingo can take care of our grave site while I help Mamo-chan with his.' She frowned. 'But what will I wear? I don't have anything appropriate!'

She turned her worried eyes towards her husband. He was glancing through a medical journal, apparently unconcerned. "Mamo-chan," she said tentatively.

"Mmm?"

"Um, O-ban is coming, isn't it?" she asked uncertainly. It suddenly occurred to her that he might not celebrate o-bon. It was a Buddhist festival, after all, and since it was a celebration for the dead it might bring up bad memories of the loss of his parents.

"Mmm," he agreed as he flipped a couple of pages.

"Do... do you do anything special?" she asked as she turned to run her fingers over the manga covers.

"Hmm?" he asked as he lifted his head. "What was that, Usa?"

"For o-bon. Do you do anything special?" she asked as she lifted the latest book by Leiji Matsumoto out of the rack and pretended nonchalance.

"O-bon? No, not really. Why?" he said curiously.

"Oh, no reason," she said breezily as she flipped through the manga. "I was just curious."

For several days, the thought ate at her. It just seemed so unnatural to not have any special plans for o-bon. It occurred to her that she had never seen Mamoru visit any family grave sites. That seemed so disrespectful that she was sure that she had to be wrong. But, it was true, and that bothered her even more.

A week before o-bon, she met her friends for ice cream at Crown. Even though she smiled, and joked, and tried to act like usual, her friends saw through her quickly.

"Usagi-chan?" Ami asked. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing," she replied as she leaned forward to take a long sip of her ice cream soda.

Rei snorted. "Right. Then why are you drinking Minako-chan's soda?" she asked pointedly. Usagi's eyes widened in shock and she sat back to look at the table. Sure enough, she was drinking out of Minako's straw while her fellow blonde stared at her with a surprised expression.

She flushed with embarrassment. "Oh. I'm sorry, Minako-chan!" Her voice trailed off as Minako shook her head.

"Nah, it's all right, Usagi-chan. You're not sick or anything are you?" When Usagi shook her head, Minako nodded. "Then don't worry about it. But Ami-chan and Rei-chan are right. What's wrong? Is it Mamoru-san?" Her eyes lit up, and she leaned forward, ready to hear every detail.

She sighed. From experience, she knew that if she didn't tell them now, she would tell them soon. And now that Minako thought it had something to do with her marriage, it would be better not to wait. "It's really nothing. O-bon is coming up, and I just realized that I don't know where Mamoru's family grave site is." Her friends looked at her in surprise, and she shifted uncomfortably. "Well, he never goes, you see, and so I thought I should, but I don't know where, and even if I did I don't have anything to wear, and..." She paused as Ami held up her hand.

"Mamoru-san never visits his family's grave site?" Makoto asked in surprise from across the table. "That's odd. He's always seemed such a traditionalist to me." Usagi nodded, her face as puzzled as Makoto's.

"Maybe it's because..." Ami's voice trailed off. When she saw her friends looking at her expectantly, she continued the thought. "You said once that he does not remember anything, right? That he is not even sure that his name is Mamoru Chiba?" Usagi nodded. "Well, maybe, since he does not really feel he knows who he is, he does not think he knows where his family lies?"

Usagi sat back and pondered this for a long moment. "Maybe..."

Makoto, Rei, and Minako all nodded. "That makes a lot of sense, Ami-chan," Rei said. "He may not want to offend by presuming to be kin when he is not, and so he just doesn't go."

"Then what do I do?" Usagi asked agitatedly. "His family is my family now. I have to do something to show my respect..."

Her friends looked thoughtful for a moment, and then Makoto spoke up softly. "His parents were real, right? They have to be buried somewhere. If you can find out where..."

Usagi's face lit up. "Then I can show my respect to them at least. That's a great idea, Mako-chan!" Her face fell again. "But, how do I find them? I can't ask Mamo-chan." Her friends looked at her curiously. "He was so young, he probably doesn't remember," Usagi explained. "And if he does, maybe it's still too painful for him..." They nodded, but did not seem particularly convinced.

"I can probably find out by scanning the public records," Ami said helpfully. Usagi turned and smiled brightly at her. "Mamoru-san was six then, right?" When Usagi nodded, she pulled out her computer and began to key in her search.

"But... What will I wear?" Usagi asked suddenly.

Minako laughed. "That's the easiest part of all, Usagi-chan. Hurry up and finish that soda," she said as she drew her own glass close to her. "Then, we'll go shopping." Makoto's and Rei's faces lit up as they quickly lifted their spoons to eat their ice cream.

Mamoru stood in the shade of an old ginkgo tree, and looked at the young blonde girl who stood in front of his parents' stone. The plain kimono that she wore looked a little odd on her. Its mature cut and color seemed out of place on her young body. But, the dark indigo color looked good on her. It brought out the clear moon white color of her skin and the soft golden sheen of her long hair.

He smiled at the look of intense concentration on her face as she scrubbed the old stone. She scrubbed it so hard, he was sure that she thought that she had to gouge out years of dirt and neglect. Sweat beaded her forehead as she worked under the blazing hot August sun. Just as he moved forward to help her, she put her brush down, lifted a dipper full of water, and began to rinse the stone.

He paused again, strangely unwilling to disturb her. She finished rinsing the stone, and then sat back with a sigh. "Your son is doing well," she said softly as she lifted a small white towel. "I told you that I am his new wife, right?" She smiled as she began to dry off the stone. "I promise to take very good care of him." She paused, and with a frown picked a small weed that she had spotted near the base of the stone. "I'll take care of you, too," she said as she turned back to the stone. "He doesn't mean any disrespect, you know. I think he's just confused. Maybe you still don't seem real to him. He never did regain his memory," she babbled as she dried. "But, Ami-chan says that you were his parents, so you must be. Did you know? He's in medical school now. He wants to be a doctor so he can help people. I think that's wonderful."

She sat back and studied the gleaming stone. A smile blossomed on her face. "I think he's wonderful," she confided as she turned back to the basket that she had brought with her. She reached in and pulled out two bowls. She put them gently on the ground in front of her, and then drew out a small bowl and a spoon. As she dished out two heaping servings of rice, Usagi told his parents about how he had helped her to save the world, how he had saved her life too many times to mention, and how he was always there to help her whenever she truly needed him. He blushed a little as he listened to her long list of praises and thanks.

Finally, she sat back and studied the marker judiciously. Two small bowls of rice, with chopsticks sticking out of them, a small bud vase with a red, blooming rose, and a small lantern sat in front of it. She nodded, and then turned to reach into the basket once more.

She started, and looked up in surprise when a large, tanned hand held out the box of matches she had been going for. She recognized the hand instantly, and her large azure eyes flew up to meet Mamoru's ocean blue ones. "Ma-Mamo-chan," she gasped.

He smiled gently at her. "You should probably wait until we clean the other one," he said softly.

Her eyes widened even more, and then narrowed in confusion. "Other one?"

"My grandparents' stone is over there," he said as he gestured a little bit the right. She blinked in surprise. "My grandfather raised me for a short while, so it is only right that we clean his off, too." Numbly, she nodded.

Gently, he helped her to her feet, and then picked up the basket, bucket of water, and towel, and led her over to the appropriate stone. Usagi followed, carrying the scrub brush and the dipper. Her geta sandals clacked softly on the stone pathway.

When they reached the stone, he put his burden down, and then motioned for his wife to step up beside him. "Sir," he said softly, "I know it has been a long time since I have been here. I apologize. It will not happen again." He turned slightly towards his wife and smiled. "This is my wife, Usagi Tsukino also known as Princess Serenity of Moon." Usagi bowed politely to the stone, and introduced herself.

"Usa, this is Kotaro Chiba-sama, and his wife Keiko-sama. Kotaro-sama took me in when my parents died and tried to raise me properly. He passed away when I was fourteen." He paused, and Usagi saw a flurry of emotions cross his face. Hurt, anger, longing, dislike, pain, love, and respect were the ones that she managed to identify before he smoothed his face out once more into the mask he still sometimes wore.

He took the dipper away from her, and poured a small amount of water over the stone. As he began to clean it, he told her of his childhood in the Chiba household and of the cold man who everyone said was his grandfather. She listened silently. When he was finished, the stone was clean, and tears were slowly tracing their way down his face.

As he escorted her back to his parents' stone, she silently resolved to bring some rice and a lantern to his grandparents' marker the next day. She watched him carefully light the lantern in front of his parents' marker, and then stood close by him offering her love and support. He turned slightly and gave her a small smile.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Whenever you are," she replied softly. "We can stay if you want..." She broke off as he shook his head and reached for her hand.

"Let's go," he said as he bent down to pick up the basket. He handed it to her, and then picked up the bucket. Together, they turned to go home.