AN: Here is the long awaited update to WDYLM? I'm not entirely sure if I liked how this chapter turned out, but I hope that you guys enjoy this. Another update shall be some time soon.
"So, this is your house?" Maker hummed, examining the eloquent structure with many thoughts brimming her mind.
Healer rolled her eyes. "More like cheap replica of the queen's home on Gasvora if you know what I me – OW! COULD YOU NOT?!"
Maker ignored her companion's displeasure at being nudged extremely hard in the side for her comment. She offered the green-haired woman a smile.
"Your home is actually quite lovely, Meioh-san, " the brunette complimented, taking another moment to swat at her comrade – who gave her a look that could kill if it were possible.
"Why, thank you very much, Maker. I'm glad that you find it homely. Mamoru has been quite busy with expanding our home that I'm afraid he'll pass out soon, the poor thing …" Setsuna replied, leading them into the house.
Minako's eyebrows furrowed. "But why would you two expand when it's just you -?"
"Setsuna? Is that you?" called a man's voice from someplace inside the house.
Setsuna said, "Yes, it's me. I'm over here."
A man, who made Maker and Healer almost take a step back at how much he resembled their longtime friend and leader with the exception of height, eye color, and a few distinct facial features, stepped out from presumably the living room. His hands, covered in dirt, patted away at a towel in an attempt to clean them.
"What are you doing home so early? Didn't you have some kind of assignment that involved helping a patient with …. " he trailed off when he noticed the other women at his wife's side. "Oh, I see that you have some company. Nice to see you two again, Minako-san, Ami-san. It's been awhile …" He nodded at the two young girls, receiving different reactions from each one.
Ami gave a polite nod and a courteous smile. "Nice to see you as well, Mamoru-san. Your home is looking quite lovely since the last time we've seen you."
Minako made a face. "It still hasn't been long enough since we've last seen you, though, " she spat with such venom that had even Healer giving her a look of shock for a moment before she just shrugged it off.
Mamoru, making it a point to ignore the iciness of Minako's 'greeting', moved his attention onto the two Starlights. "And you two, what an honor to have you here today, " he said and gave a bow. "What is the occasion that has made two honorable warriors on my doorstep?"
Healer opened her mouth to snap at him for his 'ass kissing', but was silenced by another nudge from Maker – who took it upon herself to deliver the news of their visit.
"We are here in regards to Tsukino-san."
His eyebrows furrowed in concern and confusion. "What exactly is going on with Usako? Did something happen? Is she ill?" the dark-haired male prattled on, questioning the two senshi to get answers about what happened to his friend.
"Mamoru, darling, why don't we all have a seat before we start this discussion, OK?" Setsuna cooed, nodding over to the room he had came from.
Nodding, he moved back into the room with all of them following behind.
They all took a seat in different spots of the room, staring at each other with varying degrees of emotions.
"So, what is going on? Did something happen to her?" Mamoru questioned his wife even more. His hands, now clean, folded over his lap as he stared directly into her eyes.
Setsuna bit her bottom lip. "Well, you do remember how Usagi-san was getting married to Sailor Star Fighter months ago?" she started, waiting patiently for his answer.
"Yes, I do. But what exactly does that have to do with right now? Is something wrong with both of them?" he wondered out loud, his eyes scanning her face for answers.
"It has everything to do with right now, Mamoru-san, because if it wasn't for you – Usagi-chan would not be in a loveless marriage with someone who hates her!" Minako snapped before Setsuna could get out any more words.
"'A loveless marriage'? What exactly possessed you to say such a thing?" he cast a confused expression onto the blonde youth, waiting for her answer.
"It's a loveless marriage because Fighter sees Usagi as nothing more than a blockade to her own happiness, so she's been lashing out at Usagi in every way possible for 'damning' her to a life of misery, " she answered without her glare faltering one bit. "So, what exactly did you tell her that made her decide to marry Fighter? Because Usagi seemed to have trusted you enough to confide in you about that for whatever reason."
Mamoru sat there for a moment, taking in everything that was said. His face not giving away any emotions as he processed everything.
Minutes ticked by in silence before he parroted, "What I said to her?"
Healer barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she answered, "Yes, whatever you said to her some time in the past that convinced her to marry my dumb sister."
The older male sighed, grasping on to one of Setsuna's hands to squeeze. "Well, this happened about a year or even a few months before the announcement …"
1 Year Before Wedding Announcement
"Ummm … Mamo-chan?" Usagi had called out to the dark-haired man from her place behind him. Her voice was tinged with a hint of nervousness and anxiety.
Mamoru glanced up from the paperwork splayed across his desk to look into the eyes of the youthful blonde. A small smile eased its way onto his face as he said, "Ah, Usako, what a pleasant surprise it is to see you. What brings you here today? Did you need something from Setsuna?"
Usagi shook her head. "No, I don't. I'm actually here to talk to you, but it looks like you're very busy at the moment – so I should go now … " she said, turning to leave when Mamoru called to her.
"Oh, no! Don't worry about it! I was about to take a break to eat something, " he rose from his desk chair to move over to her. "Would you like some tea or anything? A snack?"
"Tea would be okay, " she replied, still refusing to meet his eyes.
A sinking feeling started to make a home deep inside his gut, but he brushed it aside in place of offering her another smile as he led her to the living.
"I can do that while you gather your thoughts, " Mamoru said and moved into the kitchen. "But how have you been lately? Has your grades been good? You staying healthy?"
Usagi sat down on the sofa, peering at her feet with a dazed look upon her face. "I've been okay, just experiencing some hiccups at the moment ..."
"'Some hiccups'? What do you mean by that?" the older male scowled, checking on the tea as it brewed. The sinking feeling from earlier returned tenfold accompanied by worry for the young girl.
"Well, there's been that thing with Luna being sick, Haruka-san pressuring me to go to college, and many other things but the biggest thing I'm sort of worried about is ... " she trailed off, gnawing at her bottom lip.
Making sure that the tea was ready and his sandwich was the way he wanted it, Mamoru moved into the living room. He sat beside Usagi and presented her a cup, pouring her some tea.
"What really is troubling you, Usako?" he asked, searching her face for any hints to what was causing the young blonde such distress.
She took a moment to sip her tea after whispering a 'thank you'. There a pause afterwards before her lips parted to say:
"Mamo-chan, do you think I'm marriage material?"
Cerulean eyes widened for a brief moment before their owner regained his composure within a second. "Usako, any man would be lucky to be married to you. You're the most kindest, gentlest, warm-hearted girl that I've ever met, " he reassured her, trying to not appear confused at her question.
What exactly brought this on? Has someone been courting her and have finally proposed to her?
Usagi shook her head frantically. "That's not what I meant. I meant that am I as good as Michiru-san, maybe even Setsuna-san to be married - doing things like cooking, cleaning, making a home ... Stuff that a wife does."
Eyebrow furrowed, Mamoru eyed his friend evenly. "Not every wife has to do every single one of those things, Usako, even though I won't lie to you and say that love would be enough to make your spouse happy."
The golden-haired teen averted her eyes to peer down at her lap again. "Oh ... I see."
"However, what is all of this about? Have you been dating someone and they've finally proposed to you or something?"
Golden tresses shifted as she moved her head from side to side in a subtle shake. "No, that's not it. It's just that ..." she paused, biting her lower lip before taking another sip of her tea in a form of building up her nerve to finish her thought.
"Usako?"
"I'm betrothed."
Eyes widening, the dark-haired man sat back and reiterated, "'Betrothed'? How are you betrothed? The princess is -."
"I'm not betrothed to her. I'm betrothed to Sailor Star Fighter, leader of her guardians, " she stated, a blush coating her cheeks.
"You're marrying Sailor Star Fighter? How is that ...?" His face slackened as understanding settled in, drawing a sigh from his lips. "Ah, I see ..."
Usagi peered at him, confused. "What do you mean by 'I see'? Did I do something wrong?"
"No, you didn't do anything, Usako. I'm just ... Wow, this is quite big news to take in, is all."
"I know, and that's why I came to you for some advice because Rei-chan and everyone else would either be yelling at me or talking over me by now. But, I'm afraid that I may have put too much on you right now. You were just busy focusing on your paperwork and I just randomly barged in with this news, like some kind of -."
"Usako, stop, " Mamoru placed a hand on her shoulder, looking into her eyes. "You don't have to leave or anything. I was just processing everything for a moment to find the right words to tell you because you're obviously conflicted about this marriage, as well as other things."
The blonde youth bit her lip, eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "So, what shall I do? Shall I go through with it? Shall I just focus on my life? Shall I listen to Haruka-san about returning to school?"
The tall male hummed, sitting his plate down on the table to cross his legs. "Start by asking yourself how do you feel about everything, Usako. If you want to go to college, do it. If you want to focus on yourself, do it. If marrying Fighter-sama makes you happy, then do it. It's all up to you; not me, Haruka-san, or anyone else. Your choice."
"So you're telling me to ...?" Eyes wide with wonder, the blonde trailed off in thought.
Nodding his head, Mamoru said, "Follow your heart, not other people's thoughts. Your heart won't lie to you, even if you feel like it does. Just have faith in it and yourself, and you shall find exactly where you want to be."
There was a brief pause as the blonde teen took in everything that her friend had said. Then Usagi's face brightened. "Yes! That's it! That's all I had to do! Oh, thank you, Mamo-chan! Thank you!" she squealed, embracing him tightly before leaping to her feet.
"Uh, you're welcome, Usako. But where exactly are you going?" he chuckled, eyebrow raised as the blur of yellow and green dashed out the room.
"To follow my heart!"
Picking up her teacup, the young doctor called to her, "Oh, but you forgot to finish your -."
SLAM!
"-tea ... " Mamoru murmured to himself, shaking his head as he lowered the teacup back to its spot. "I hope that she finds happiness. If anyone deserves it, she does ..."
End of Flashback
"I didn't think she'd take my words to heart like that, " Mamoru bit his bottom lip, fingers grasping at his hair in a show of frustration. "I should've known that it'd be my fault if she were unhappy. I only meant for her to follow her heart."
"It's not your fault, darling. You could not have known what would've happened after that dicussion. You were just helping a friend out, " Setsuna reassured him, taking his hand in hers to trail her fingers along his palm.
"But I -."
With a shake of her head, the emerald-haired woman continued, "No, it truly is not your fault. If it was, then I share most of the blame for not telling her about our relationship and keeping my one session with her and Fighter secret from all of you."
The doctor squeezed her hand. "I understand your reasoning behind the latter, even though I wish you'd had told me about seeing Usako and everything about her marriage. However, I doubt our relationship has anything to do with Usako's decisions."
Minako eyed the couple with a scowl on her face. "Are you positive about that, or are you just hoping that it wasn't?" she spat with such venom that Mamoru should have melted away.
Cherry red eyes returned her gaze evenly. "Minako-san, I understand what and how you feel towards my husband but you can't continue laying the blame on him when I was an active player in everything. I helped in hurting Usagi-san even though it was not intentional - I still hurt her."
The bow-haired girl bit her lower lip. "But he was the main reason why she got hurt and -."
"There's no buts to it. I equally harmed Usagi whether or not you'd like to admit it. We both share the blame for what happened years ago. However, that is not what we all should be focused on right now. Our main focus should be on Usagi and what is currently happening with her."
Ami nodded, placing her hand on her Minako's shoulder and giving it a squeeze. "Yes, Minako-chan, we must stay on topic. Don't let your emotions of the past cloud your judgment when we're all trying to help Usagi-chan."
The fair-haired teen sighed. "For Usagi-chan ... " her eyes narrowed into a brief glare in Mamoru's direction, not noticing the look that Healer was shooting her. "But this conversation is not over."
"I know and I understand, " he confirmed with a sigh, squeezing Setsuna's hand.
"Now that we're all back on topic, what would you propose was Tsukino-san's main reason for accepting the marriage in the first place? Because, between hearing Aino-san say that it was for love and Chiba-san saying that it was her simply taking his advice, there's only one thing that only she knows."
"Or, you all are missing something entirely even though you all think you have all the answers."
All eyes landed on Healer, who eyed all of them, irritation plain as day across her youthful face.
"What exactly do you mean by that, Healer?" Ami asked, a small frown on her face.
A bored look settled on the pale woman's face as she rolled her eyes. "For people who've been talking about all of this for days now - you're quite dense and missing all sorts of points, " she sighed, exasperated.
Maker opened her mouth to inquire what her companion meant when it hit her upon locking eyes with her. "I see ... How could I have missed it?"
"Missed what?" Mamoru chimed in, a scowl on his face as he eyed the two Starlights like they were two headless people.
Amethyst eyes scanned across the faces in the room with a solemn look. "That the most important thing of this entire puzzle is none-other-than ..."
"... Usagi-san herself ..."