Hi everyone,
I hope you've all had a great week so far.
Here's chapter 20 of "The eyes long, the heart cries".
Originally, I wanted to end this story in 20 chapters; 20 is such a pretty number. Back in the motherland and in schools, the grades were alway based on number 20 (not 100) and I rarely ever received the full grade:D So I thought, I couldn't control my brain to soak up that much math and science and get a 20, but I sure as hell can control my story and end it at 20. Well...guess not.
So there will be another chapter (21 is a prettier number after all.)
Thank you for sticking with me until now. Special thank you to my dear DarkenedHrt101 for her friendship and help. To be honest, I was a little disappointed at the small amount of reviews I got last week, but then after talking to DarkenedHrt101, I remembered why I had started writing fanfic in the first place; this is a safe haven for me. A place where I can just put down the words that are stuck in my head and be able to share it with someone other than myself (hubby is not a fan of fanfic:( )
Special thank you to all of you who have reviewed every single chapter; it truly warms my heart when I know there are readers out there who are waiting for Tuesday to roll around and I update a new chapter. Kisses and hugs my kings and queens.
Tryntee13: I hope you enjoy this chapter. And again, thank you for all your reviews and sticking with me this long. Cheers.
DarkenedHrt101: Girl, I love you. Thank you for your shout out for the plane disaster. Thank you for listening to my babbling about this chapter and the difficulties I had writing it. You are my rock:*
Zanahana: So no, this week is not the final chapter:D Thank you for your kind words and thank you for taking a moment to remember the victims of the plane crash. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Cheers.
Krys7: Congrats on your pregnancy:) I'm so happy for you. My nephew turned 2 months old yesterday and he is as big as a pea:) I hope your pregnancy goes smoothly. and I'm so glad you are out of the hospital and feeling better. I hope you like this chapter. Let me know your thoughts. And take of yourself Mamma:)
Enjoy.
Golak
Makoto had never experienced anything like this before.
The euphoria was there; that unspeakable feeling that you are looking at yourself from above and what you see is not exactly what you've always thought of yourself. At least, that's what she felt at that moment. She wasn't exactly standing above herself, but it felt a lot like an out of body experience.
Yes, the euphoria was there, but so was pain.
She grunted and tried to roll on her back, but it was as if she'd been hit with a sword; it was as if she'd been hit by a thousand swords.
She opened her eyes, slowly, so very slowly, and tried to look around as best as she could.
Even with her eyes closed, she could feel the commotion around her. And now, with her eyes wide open and moving, she could see the horror first hand.
Sailor Mars was sprawled on the ground a few feet from her and Makoto could see traces of blood around her. Her head was turned away and Makoto could only see her mane of black hair that always shone brilliantly and now, it only looked dull and rough; it looked as if a dozen crows had been denied of their furs.
Sailor Uranus was fighting with what seemed to Makoto as the last bit of power she possessed. Sailor Neptune was on her knees behind the Senshi of wind and Sailor Uranus took blow after blow and could only dodge so many of them; she wouldn't let a single one of them hit the love of her life though; no; Makoto knew she would die first before she would let anything touch Sailor Neptune; just then Sailor Neptune doubled over with pain and Sailor Uranus dodged another blow. She will fall soon too, Makoto thought; I hope they go together; she felt her eyes burn with unshed tears.
An enraged scream pierced the humid air; Sailor Venus. Or was it Sailor Pluto? Makoto knew the scream couldn't possibly belong to Sailor Mercury; even in the most absurd circumstances, their little beloved Ami-chan wouldn't raise her voice like that. Plus, Makoto had seen her fall at the very beginning; the fucker's blow had been so hard, it had hit her right under the skin. She had arrived there as Sailor Mercury and had fallen on her feet as Ami-chan.
Just like Makoto.
Another howl reached her ears; that's definitely Sailor Venus; she probably saw Sailor Uranus fall to her feet as well.
Where was Sailor Moon?
And then, darkness engulfed her once more.
One hour before:
"Can you see anything yet?"
Sailor Mercury's eyes were fixed on her little computer, "No. I see some strange movements, but nothing too…" she looked ahead at the empty street in front of them, "nothing dangerous. Which makes it even more dangerous."
Sailor Uranus leaned forward and looked into the computer, "What is that?" she pointed at the thin purple line stretched on the center of the device.
"This line indicates the energy of our surroundings."
"Ok. So what does it mean then; right now?"
Sailor Mercury exhaled deeply and looked around the street once more. It was dark, darker than a moonless night and the air was thick with the unspeakable. Yet, nothing was out of the ordinary; there were a few cars parked on either side of the semi-wide empty street, tall trees were still intact and pretty and ready to rest on the sidewalk and the only lights were from the few stores that had left their entrance lighting on. But...Sailor Mercury focused on what was deeper than this display of calmness and originality; the trees stood still and unmoving, not even a quiver of one single leaf and as she listened carefully, she heard the sound of water flowing somewhere deep inside the earth.
"When the line has a purple hue and straight like this, it usually means we're in a safe zone...but," she looked into Sailor Uranus' confused face, "the line is never this immobile. Even when it's dark purple and perfectly centered it still moves on its spot."
"Speak a lower-level intelligence," Sailor Venus shrugged, even as she took a few steps closer to Sailor Moon.
Sailor Mercury pursed her lips together, "It means that either we're in a safe spot, or…"
"Or what?" Sailor Moon looked at Sailor Jupiter who put her arm around her shoulder just then.
"Or this thing has the power to seduce energy."
Sailor Mercury wasn't sure if she'd been able to finish her sentence completely when the blast came. She wasn't sure if her comrades had been able to hear her over the loud screams that seemed to belong to anything, but a human.
She couldn't quite fathom what happened next.
One moment, they were all standing in the middle of the street, trying to come up with a plan, and the next, they were hit with a blow that hadn't even felt like a blow. It had felt like an autumn breeze that carried a poisonous aura.
Sailor Mercury felt the exact moment her power escaped her; she felt how the element of Mercury vanished from her body; she even felt the flutter of her pajamas against her legs.
And before she hit the ground, as Ami Mizuno, head first followed by her unmoving limbs, she saw the fallen bodies of Sailor Mars and Sailor Pluto.
And then, darkness engulfed her.
"Tell me a story…"
"What kind of a story?"
"I don't know…," he brought the blanket under his chin, "tell me my story."
"Oh, you want your story then," She gave him a beautiful smile, "once upon a time, there was a little playful prince and his name was—"
"Mamoru."
The ring of her laughter was louder and more precious than the story; he didn't need to hear a story, as long as she kept laughing like that.
This was the only memory Mamoru had of his mother. Or at least, the only memory that resurfaced every now and then.
"Yes...his name was Mamoru. My beloved little prince…"
Tuxedo Mask opened his eyes and blinked.
Did she know? Did his mother know about his past life? She couldn't have. Could she?
But a mother's intuition... had she seen something in him, something that only a mother could see? He wasn't sure. But he'd spent a lifetime guarding that memory and nourishing it into something that could make him believe that he remembered them both; that his parents weren't just illusions that he knew had once lived because he was there and breathing. He needed to believe that they had existed beyond the fact of his own existence; he remembered them because he had never forgotten them.
He was sure his eyes were open, but why the hell couldn't he see anything?
He blinked.
No, his eyes were definitely open, but he was surrounded by darkness. Thank God I'm not blind.
He tried to lift himself from what he assumed was a very wet surface. His cape was practically soaked; he flinched at the shooting pain on his right side. Fuck.
He tried again and this time, he was able to lean forward. He closed his eyes against the pain that tripled as he steadied himself in a sitting position.
Where were Sailor Mars and Sailor Pluto? He looked around. Was he trapped in a void? Where the fuck did this endless darkness end?
They had arrived at where Sailor Mars had felt the tiniest strange energy.
"Have each other's backs," Ami had said, "this thing, this evil is not showing us much. Be aware of your surroundings."
So they had tiptoed around the area, taking note of every movement, every sound; which really hadn't been much.
"Are you sure this is the right place?" He'd asked Sailor Mars and had regretted the question right away; he too could feel a turmoil in his gut. The earth was speaking to him, and on that specific spot, he could feel it scream at him.
"I'm sure…" Sailor Mars had said curtly. She was standing there with narrowed eyes and head tilted to the right and for a moment, Tuxedo Mask had remembered the very last image he had of her in their past lives.
Endymion had slashed open monster after human-turned-monster from right to left to get to Serenity. He could feel the danger surrounding her; he could feel the trembling of her soul. Wait for me, my love. I am coming for you.
Everywhere he looked, he was met with blood and corpses and nasty wounds. He knew even before getting there that the moon kingdom was going to fall; the earth had already fallen. The enemy had taken over his people; it had taken over their souls. No man could ever be turned pure from that.
On his desperate dash to the moon kingdom, he had seen Serenity's Senshi fighting until their last breaths. He'd seen the Senshi of Mercury falling to her death. He'd leapt to save the Senshi of Jupiter from a monster aiming at her heart. No words were exchanged between them as Endymion steadied her on her feet and ran to the palace.
Sailor Mars had blocked his passage; her eyes were narrowed and her head was tilted to the right. He'd demanded entrance and she was all but willing to let him pass.
"You have no jurisdiction here…" she'd yelled at him, "you are a nobody to me."
Tuxedo Mask tried to shove those memories away. There was no point pining over them now. Not when they were standing in the middle of Tokyo, looking for an alien, an evil alien, that was threatening their lives and most probably, the lives of the whole city, if not the whole world.
"Shh…" Sailor Pluto had whispered. She held her garnet rod in her right hand and closed her eyes, "I can feel it," she mumbled, "I can feel it messing with time."
"How so?" Sailor Mars looked around as if she could actually see something moving in front of her.
"I can feel it summoning its power...but I think...what I see has already occurred in the past…" she opened her eyes sharply and the look that she gave him and Sailor Mars had been wild, "a near past…"
She wasn't able to finish her sentence, because just then, a breeze had lifted them all up from the ground and Tuxedo Mask had felt an aching burn under his skin.
After that, all he had heard were pained and anguished screams. His or the Senshis', he did not know.
He grunted and blinked hard. No, there was nothing there but complete darkness.
Where were Sailor Mars and Sailor Pluto?
After the first blow that had pushed the three of them almost a block to the east, he had crawled his way to Sailor Mars and pulled her into an alley. Sailor Pluto was already there, nursing an ugly wound on her arm.
They had tried to focus on the source of that invisible energy; they had summoned the power of their planets to aid them; but blow after blow they had been pushed to the ground, pushed harder into the wall of a Family Mart and none of them were able to locate where those attacks were coming from.
He had lost his hat and later, his mask and he hadn't given a damn. Because chances were that he was going to die on that street, who cared if his identity was finally revealed to the world?
He had leapt onto his feet when he felt dark energy closing in on Sailor Mars.
"Mars...watch out," he'd screamed at her and thank God, he had gotten to her just in time.
And just then, he had heard Usagi's whisper, "Wait for me."
Her voice sounded so strong, so ready to face the unknown that had kicked a power in him. He felt it surge through his veins, as he lifted Mars by the waist and managed to dodge the blow.
Sailor Pluto landed by their side, "We have to beat it on its own timing...or else, we'll all be buried here."
"Have you figured out the time-lapse?" He steadied Sailor Mars on her feet.
"Less than five seconds. Not too long—"
"Long enough to fuck us over…"
Sailor Pluto lifted her perfectly shaped eyebrows at Mars; they all called her Setsuna-san after all, and she probably had never seen any of them curse like this before.
"We need to hold down the fort until the others get here," she then said, "we need to push back."
"We're ready when you are."
"Watch for my signal."
Tuxedo Mask watched as Sailor Pluto stood in the middle of the street and held up her rod. His body tensed with the prediction; the power Usagi's voice had pumped into him was still there. I can do this, he thought, we can do this.
"I won't let anything happen to her. I just wanted you to know that." He didn't know why he had felt the need to say those words to Sailor Mars. Endymion had never got the chance to reassure any of them of his vow to Serenity; his eternal promise. He needed to use his opportunities. He knew that much. He knew life might not give him any third chances.
"I know…" Sailor Mars had whispered as she readied herself for Pluto's signal, "I think...I even knew back then that you would die for her…I just…" she looked at him, "I just thought I knew what her happiness was…"
Pluto's rod came down and they all jumped forward.
It was as if they had surged into hell. Pain, horror, more pain.
And then, darkness had engulfed him.
He didn't know how much time had passed. How long he'd been out. But he could still feel the burn under his skin. What kind of an evil was this? They'd never faced anything like it before.
He tried to stand up; a task that proved to be very difficult. His legs were wobbly and his soaked cape felt heavy on his shoulders. With excruciating pain in his right arm, he unlatched it and let it fall into a filthy pile by his feet.
"Is anyone…" He coughed; he needed to raise his voice, "Is anyone here? Can anyone hear me?"
Silence.
The energy surrounding him told him that he was still on earth; he could hear his planet whisper to him. He closed his eyes and tried to listen.
He tried to listen beyond the hustle and bustle of the strange energy that tried to break his focus. You won't win this battle, he thought, I am linked to this planet, it runs in my veins.
He could hear distant hushes and noises. Someone was gurgling; blood, maybe? Could it be one of the Senshi? Was it Sailor Moon?
Fear gripped at him like an old friend; just as tight, and just as familiar. He tried to focus on her. He tried to expand their link and find her through everything else. No, those sounds didn't belong to her. But she was there, he could feel her.
"Where are you?" He whispered in his mind, "Where are you?"
He thought that he should try and escape. He didn't know where he was or if there was an end to it at all. But he needed to break free. He needed to find the Senshi. He needed to find her.
"Tuxedo Mask?"
He froze.
Her voice was so close, closer than the one that had whispered in his mind.
He fell on his knees and crawled forward.
"Can you hear me? I can hear you...talk to me." His voice was desperate; he was desperate.
He moved forward and tried not to think about the wetness under his palms, under his legs. He could smell the blood.
His right hand came into contact with something and he recoiled. He couldn't see anything and he didn't know what he was up against.
"Mamoru?"
He reached out his arms in the dark and touched soft skin and soft, long hair.
"Are you okay?" He pulled her against himself feverishly and tried to feel her with his hands, "Are you hurt?"
"I don't think so…" Sailor Moon mumbled and allowed him to pull her onto his lap, "Are you okay?" She touched his face and Tuxedo Mask leaned into her.
"I'm fine…" He said, even as the shooting pain in his right side blinded him for a moment.
"Where are we?" She asked and Tuxedo Mask felt her moving her head around, "Where is this place?"
And then, the ringing started.
"We need to find them—"
"We need to know what this thing is first—"
"But we need to—"
"Listen to me," Artemis had never raised his voice at his mistress like that. But right now, he couldn't think straight. All hell had crashed down on them in the matter of a few minutes and he couldn't help but think that they have already lost the battle, "We need to make a plan first. We can't just walk into this…" he looked around the empty street; was it the same street they'd been ambushed at? "...into this unknown. We don't even know what we're up against. We don't know how we can defeat it."
They had lost sight of all the other Senshi. Sailor Venus had managed to stay on her feet while they'd been attacked by what felt like light winds; light deadly winds.
She had grabbed Sailor Moon at some point and pushed both of them to the ground.
The severe pain in her abdomen had her shut her eyes tightly, and when she opened them, she was alone; Sailor Moon was gone.
"How we can defeat it?" Sailor Venus hissed, "Take a look around Artemis; there's no one here. There's no we. It's just me…" she clutched her midsection and tried to stay up on her feet, "I'm all alone. And I…" her legs finally gave in and she collapsed on the cold ground, "I let her down. I let her down...again."
Images of Serenity's panicked eyes bombarded her mind. She remembered how she'd been pulled away from the princess at one point and how Serenity had run outside with promises on her lips that she'd be fine and that she was going to save them all.
Sailor Venus had found her, through the dust and the blood, over Endymion's dead body. She had rushed towards her then and hadn't seen that monster marching at her from behind.
She had died watching her princess raising the Silver Crystal over her head, taking her own life, and her unborn baby's, in despair of losing the one she loved and everyone else that were already gone.
"I let her down," Now, she whispered to Artemis, and really, more to herself, "and I let her down again. I've fucked up again." She looked up at the sky. There were no stars, no moon, nothing. The sky looked emptier than her mind. She laid on the pavement.
"If I hadn't meddled back then...if I hadn't meddled now..."
Artemis stayed quiet; he watched the thin line of tears that disappeared in her hair.
"I knew she loved him and deep down...I knew he loved her too. I just don't know why I thought he'd be her ruin—"
"They were each other's ruin at the end…" Artemis laid beside her and leaned his tiny head against her arm. Her sadness broke his heart.
"No…" Sailor Venus sobbed, "I think, if they were allowed to be together, their power, their togetherness would've saved us all. Everyone and everything broke them apart and at the end…" her face twisted in a rush of tears and she covered her eyes with both hands, "he died for her and she...died thinking that he didn't love her as much—"
"Get up."
They both turned their heads and met Luna's determined glare.
"Luna…" Artemis ran to her, "Where were you? Are you okay?"
The other feline only nodded and allowed Artemis to rub his head against hers. Her auburn eyes never left Sailor Venus and she continued to look at the Senshi of love with an unspoken expectation.
"Get up…" she repeated, "get a hold of yourself. You are a leader, Sailor Venus...Minako."
The blonde covered her eyes once more and sobbed. She felt the weight of Luna's little paws against her chest and a moment later, she came nose to nose with the cat.
"You are the guardian of love…" she said and this time, her serious tone was underlined with a motherly affection, "love is the only good thing true in this world; any world. And only love can get us out of this shithole."
Sailor Venus watched her with confusion and respect; she forgot that a moment ago, she'd been crying her eyes out.
"Did you just say...shithole?"
Luna looked heavenward and jumped down to allow Sailor Venus to get up, "Is that all you heard?"
"Luna, the ultimate badass." Sailor Venus stood up and wiped a hand over her face.
"Listen…" Luna looked at them both, "we need to find the others and—"
"There are no others…" Sailor Venus whispered, "I saw them falling...one by one, and I couldn't do shit…"
She saw the flash of horror in Luna's eyes, but even if the cat felt like vomiting hearing that news, she didn't let it show on her face.
"So we need to find Sailor Moon...and Tuxedo Mask…" she raised her voice over Artemis' inevitable question, "You're right…" she looked at the Senshi of love, "if they come together, they can defeat this thing. They can defeat anything."
"Minako…"
She looked at Artemis; he'd been with her through thick and thin, from the moment she had remembered who she was and her purpose in life, he had been by her side.
"You can do this…" He stood beside Luna, "You can find them and you can help them defeat this."
Sailor Venus had had a shitty couple of months. With all the emotional turmoil she'd faced and now this, a part of her wanted to crawl under a rock and stay there for the rest of her days.
But as she looked at those cats and when she saw the confidence in those eyes, confidence that was directed at her, she felt something blossoming in her heart.
"I love you so much V…" she heard Serenity's voice in her head, "You're crazy, but I love you...Minako." And she heard Usagi's voice in her heart.
So she wiped the remaining tears off her face and straightened her shoulders. The pain in her abdomen be damned. She had the most important mission in her life ahead of her.
"Say Luna…" she said as she gazed ahead and tried to listen to the energy of Venus showing her the way.
The cat looked up at her.
"If you can say shithole, you can probably say fuck too, right?"
Hiro had come in and out of a coma-like state a few times.
The complete silence around him, made him believe that everything and everyone around him had probably died and he wasn't ready to face that.
He'd felt cool fingers against his forehead and when he opened his eyes, dreading what he might face, he'd looked directly at the man he'd just saved.
"You're alive…" the man had whispered and Hiro was horrified to see a thin line of blood on the side of his mouth.
"I am...are you okay?"
"I just wanted to make sure that you're alive...I just needed to know…"
Hiro tried to push himself up, but something was heavy on his back and he couldn't move.
"Hey…" he called out to the man, "can you hear me?"
"Did I tell you…" the man whispered, and something in his voice made Hiro shiver, "that my daughter was a ballet dancer?"
"I'm gonna get you out of here…" Hiro said as he tried to lift himself up again, "hold on. I'm gonna get us both out of here—"
"She was the most beautiful dancer on that stage…" the man's voice started to quiver and the thin line of blood on his mouth darkened.
"Fuck…" Hiro pushed up and up and up, and still, he couldn't move, "listen to me…" he said to the man without looking at him, "you still have so many things to live for. Think about your wife, think about your friends; think how much your daughter wants you to be happy…" he pushed again; fuck. Why the fuck couldn't he move?
He didn't want to look, he didn't want to see, but he knew the man was already gone. He pushed up again as he felt desperate, angry and frightened tears stained his face.
He pushed up again and this time, he felt something moving. He pushed again.
He was out of breath and he collapsed and finally, looked over at the man.
His eyes were open as if he'd been watching something; a tiny shadow of a smile was plastered on his blood-soaked lips and it made Hiro believe that he was probably watching his daughter.
Maybe she'd been in her ballet dress and waving at him as he went. Maybe, what was left for him in this world was just not enough anymore.
More tears came.
Usagi...Sailor Moon...where are you?
She couldn't feel any of the Senshi. She tried to focus on each of them, but every time she was met with a stone-cold wall and she couldn't pass it. She felt hopeless. She didn't want to say it out loud, she didn't even want to think about it. But what if…
"Don't go there…"
Her head turned to where Tuxedo Mask was walking beside her.
"They're fine and once we get out of this place, we will find them." He stopped and took a deep breath. He had broken ribs, he was sure; he was probably even sporting a nasty cut on his thigh. But all those wounds be damned; he needed to figure out where they were and get them both out of there.
Sailor Moon stood beside him. She could hear his shaky breaths. He was in pain and she couldn't do a fucking thing about it.
But…
"Why won't you heal yourself?" It hit her suddenly and she chided herself for not thinking about it sooner; why the hell hadn't he thought of it sooner?
"I can't…" he said, as he started moving forward; he'd laced their fingers together, keeping her close, and she didn't protest one bit. It felt so natural to be this close to him. It felt natural to have his fingers hugging hers like this.
"If I do, I'll lose a lot of energy and I don't think…" he wiped away cold sweat from his forehead, "I don't think I'd be any good without any energy. We need to find a way out."
"But you're losing blood," Sailor Moon stopped and reached out to touch where she had felt blood rushing out of his flesh, "and I mean, you're the doctor, but won't that kill you too?"
Tuxedo Mask tried to stifle a chuckle, really, it hurt every time he even said one word, but how could he, when her voice sounded exasperated, worried and angry all at the same time. He wished he could see her face. He remembered all the times she had used the same tone with him, in the middle of the arcade, in the middle of the street, during a battle.
He reached out and cradled her cheek into the palm of his hand, "Listen…" he pulled her closer, "I won't die...not this time," he whispered. He'd pulled her so close he could feel her warm breath against his chin. God, could he kiss her? He wanted so badly to kiss her. The past couple of hours, nay, the past couple of days, no, the past couple of months and really, years had them on an emotional loophole and he was so damn tired. He was tired of all the pretending, of all the feelings he had to keep at bay, just because he walked in the shadow of a dead royal who'd been too naive and probably even too young to understand what life was; what love was.
"You can't promise me that...we can't promise each other that…" Sailor Moon felt the sting of tears behind her eyelids and she tried hard to push them away.
She won't cry. She didn't have the luxury to cry right now. Her Senshi, her friends were somewhere out there, probably hurt and left to their own wits and it was up to her to save them. And this man...this man who shared a spiritual and physical link with her, her soulmate, was bleeding nonstop and it was up to her to save him as well.
"I can promise you that. I am promising you that...hey," he moved closer, "I need to tell you something...I," he gulped down the knot in his throat. Fuck Mamoru, get it together. Enough is enough. He was not going to die here today and he'd be damned to hell and back if he let anything happen to her. He needed to be honest, once and for all.
"I never apologized properly for all the wrongs that I did to you," he felt her face move against his hand, "I spent months turning away from what I knew was happening in my heart because I was a scared little shit that couldn't face his own feelings; and I made you the villain because that was the only way I knew how to keep away from you…"
He'd been thinking about saying those words to her for a long time. Ever since that day at the Escape Room game, he'd been wanting to tell her what a jackass he'd been and how much he regretted the time he had denied them both; the time they could've spent in each other's arms instead of pining over a ghost of a dead love. The time they could get to know each other better, instead of getting to know other people. Fuck.
"I broke your heart…" he said and closed his eyes when he felt her fingers curling around his wrist, "I broke your heart; Endymion broke Serenity's heart. And I think, I mean, I know, I don't deserve your forgiveness but…" he leaned his forehead against hers, "I'm sorry. I'm...so sorry."
"We broke each other's hearts…" Sailor Moon's voice sounded serene; as if she had finally accepted something, something that had weighed on her heart for so long, "Serenity and Endymion never got the chance to be free. Free of all the responsibilities that tied them to their identities. But we...I mean, we have alter identities, but we can still be free...as Usagi and Mamoru, right?"
"Yeah…" his whispered and kissed her forehead gently.
Sailor Moon thought hard about her next words. Rei always told her that she spoke without really thinking and now, where was she to see Sailor Moon, their silly little Usagi, thinking deep and hard about what she was going to say.
She felt her eyes water once more and this time, she let her tears fall.
Tuxedo Mask's hold on her face didn't falter, he moved his thumb and wiped away the tears that disappeared against his fingers, but he kept his hand steady.
"I'm not angry with you anymore. I'm not angry with anyone...I've even...forgiven myself."
Tuxedo Mask pulled his head away from her and tried to see her eyes in that dark, dark, darkness.
"I think I'd been so angry with myself that it prevented me from thinking of everyone else's feelings. I just felt so...so…"
"Entitled...to your anger." God, that's exactly how he'd felt all those months. He'd been so deep in his own self-pity that he didn't stop to think for one moment, what his rejection was doing to Usagi.
"Yes…" Sailor Moon whispered, "I just thought that I had every right to be mad and it stopped me from seeing that we all had the right to be mad...you had the right to be mad. Destiny...ah…" she pulled away and buried her face into her hands. She continued in her muffled voice.
"What?"
She said it again.
"I can't hear...do you have your hand over your mouth?"
Sailor Moon sighed, a little irritated and looked up, not that he could see her, "I said that destiny really screwed with all of us."
"Yeah…"
"And I want you to know…" she paused. Was she really ready to say it?
"I'm listening…"
But before she could summon her courage, the ringing came once more.
"There…" Sailor Moon yelled, "It's coming from that way."
They had followed that ringing out of pure desperation; Tuxedo Mask never thought that one day he would welcome that ringing. But it somehow felt as if by following that ringing, they would be able to escape this horror.
"Come on…" he yelled over the shrill of that ringing sound. He took her hand and laced their fingers together. Somehow, it made him feel resilient and safer.
They ran towards where that noise called out to them.
Not knowing that at that exact moment, Sailor Venus was running towards them in a different time loop.
"Damn it to hell. Where is this fucking ring coming from?"
"Can you please use that word less?"
Sailor Venus couldn't possibly tilt her head and glared at Luna; not when she was running this fast; but if she could, she would've given her the nastiest glare she'd ever given anyone; even Chiba.
"It's not getting louder. But it's not exactly getting any lower either. It's just…" Artemis clawed harder at the blonde's shoulder when she picked up her pace.
"Ow...are you trying to dismember me?" Sailor Venus yelled, but she didn't falter in her mad dash towards...where the hell was she running to? That ringing had started and the three of them had started running without even confirming with each other.
And she kept thinking, was this the ringing Chiba heard whenever he was near any of them? What if it was? What if that meant that he was somewhere near and she just needed to find him? What if Sailor Moon was with him and she'd find them both?
The ringing continued steadily and she kept running and running.
She couldn't feel her legs and she felt as if her hips were going to detach from her upper body. But she kept running. That sound, it called out to her and as every second ticked and every step she took, she became more confident that the sound would take her to Chiba, and hopefully, oh God please, to Sailor Moon.
But the more she ran, with the cats clinging to her shoulders, the less she found. She didn't even know what she was looking for.
What if Chiba was dead? What if that was the reason why she didn't get anywhere?
No. He can't be dead. I won't let him die. He can't die.
She picked up her pace.
She wouldn't let history repeat itself.
Tuxedo Mask knew that he probably should've listened to Sailor Moon and healed himself when he had the chance.
But he also knew that if he did, he wouldn't see the light of day anymore. They were trapped in a place so dark that he couldn't even see his own feet tapping tapping tapping against the wet surface. He needed to preserve his energy for the enemy.
Where the fuck was it though? What was this thing that had them running in circles? Why didn't it reveal itself?
The ringing resonated in the darkness steadily; it didn't change volume and it hadn't gone away for a long while now. It sounded so much like the first few months he'd met the Senshi. The ringing in his head was exactly the same whenever Minako was around.
Sailor Moon hadn't questioned his theory at all. In fact, the moment he said it out loud, she had picked up her pace and ran as if the devil himself was at her heels.
"We need to find her…we need to find her…" she kept repeating like a mantra and Tuxedo Mask pushed himself forward.
Something was nagging at him. He really wanted to know what she was going to tell him before the ringing started. He needed to know what she was going to say; somehow, something told him that the words she spoke, would be the end of something.
Something...he just didn't know what it was.
"Sailor Moon...Usagi…" He yelled, out of breath and felt her tightening her hold on his hand, "I need to say this. Because we don't know where we're going and...and…" he panted, "and what's waiting for us when we get there. So I have to tell you—"
"You can tell me when this is all over—"
"No. I need to say this now…" her hand felt so soft in his; she had shed her gloves at some point when she wanted to touch his face; had she felt the need to be skin to skin with him too?
"We can talk after this is over—"
"We will talk then and if…" He tightened his fingers around hers; he wanted to mold their hands together. This just wasn't close enough.
"You complete me…" he said, "I would be a lost little boy without you. I have been a lost man without you. I wouldn't be here, trying this hard, wanting to fight this hard if it wasn't for you...Usagi...Usako…"
Her heart skipped a beat.
"I was born to be with you. I was born for you…" something bubbled inside of him. Something warm and fuzzy and he tried to latch on to it; he felt as though his life depended on that feeling.
"Endymion never got the chance to say the words one last time…"
She remembered. She could see him, lying in his own blood and looking at her with a desperate need; as if he had wanted to carve her face into his mind; his soul. His lips moved, but no sound came from his throat. Serenity had blinked her tears away and when she opened her eyes, he was already gone.
Tuxedo Mask came to a halt and pulled her to a stop as well. Their feet weren't moving anymore and yet, the wet surface beneath them was still moving.
His hands took hold of her shoulders in the dark, "You said destiny screwed us over, and that's only half the truth. The other half is the love you have for your friends, the love and loyalty they have for you…"
Tears and tears.
"The other half is the love that Serenity and Endymion shared; against all odds and all their shortcomings and misfortune. And the bigger half, Usako, the bigger half is the love I have for you…"
That's when it happened.
The trembling of the wet bloodied surface they'd been running on. The darkness dimmed somehow and Sailor Moon saw his eyes through the flicker.
Deep, majestic blue eyes, just like his planet.
"I…" she opened her eyes. A warm and fuzzy feeling had enveloped her. A feeling she had never felt before; a feeling that Serenity had been thoroughly familiar with and she...well she had decided to run away from it. But enough was enough.
"Don't say anything…" Tuxedo Mask said, loud, because the ringing had become unbearable, "Don't say anything now. We will talk...we will talk after this…"
The way he said "this" made her heart drop. The warm feeling inside of her grew and grew bigger. And suddenly, she understood what he was talking about.
She felt her crystal wrapping its power around her. And she felt, before seeing how Tuxedo Mask's chest started to glow a majestic golden hue.
This was it, she thought. This is the end.
Her chest started to burn. She felt his chest burn too.
And then, the ringing stopped, the surface stood still and time stopped ticking.
Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or its characters. All rights goes to its amazing creator, Naoko Takeuchi. I just own the story I tell.