No dream.
Nothing.
Neither of his princess, nor a dream of Usagi.
Just nothing.
As if dreaming had become forbidden in his world, Mamoru had become a person without any dreams.
Absolutely dreamless.
Frustration was just one feeling, followed by anger and the inability to blame anyone for this horrifying gap in the nights. The fact that Mamoru had two different identities with being Tuxedo Kamen at night and being Mamoru Chiba through daylight could have kept him busy for a certain time but actually he was just deeply disappointed that every of his dreams had stopped.
'Perhaps it's because I received the order to find the Holy Silver Crystal and am on a kind of a mission now?'
This explanation should have been plausible and Mamoru's mind was indeed preoccupied with the questions around this stone but actually he didn't see any possibility how to get it. Everything he knew about this crystal had come from this strange dream with the princess.
A week had passed since he had made the connection between him and his alter ego but there hadn't been any more of those super hero calls since then.
But then the dream sequences with the princess asking him for the Holy Silver Crystal had started again. Mamoru was somehow relieved to have them back but was also very confused of how to bring her this crystal at all. She never gave any hints. All she did, was begging him...as if this could set something free.
'Perhaps my lost memory?'
Mamoru couldn't think further about this issue since he had a booked out schedule today. Last week had been quite busy with the first exams but lucky him, he was able answer nearly every question without even thinking them over that much. At least this didn't hold him up.
The professor who had given him the assistant job asked him to accompany him to a one-day conference in Yokohama. Quite a lot of praise for his outstanding efforts, as he had confirmed. Contrary to his normal behavior, Mamoru decided to take the star locket with him on his journey, as he had a strong feeling that it might be useful for him to carry it around.
Mamoru was just happy to escape the city for a day in order to refresh his mind.
'No super hero's, no dream girls, no Odango Atamas at all...'
Was he cheerfully thinking while he was crossing a street when a more than familiar silhouette of a cheeky blonde pigtailed school girl came into his view.
"What on earth is going on here? Is she stalking me or what?!"
Mamoru muttered under his breath. However, he couldn't take his eyes off the small group in front of him. Usagi was accompanied by two other teenagers. He could easily identify one as Naru, the other was Umino, a boy he had once met briefly in the park.
Without saying anything else, he decided to stay on his side of the street and observed the group from a safe distance.
Something must have happened to Naru as she seemed to be endlessly sad and not really following the conversation Usagi was having with Umino. He quickly remembered Usagi's worries she told Motoki and him about the other day and concluded that something must have happened to the tall guy he saw at the masquerade ball once together with Naru. Something which was not that good since the dark red haired girl silently and unnoticed by the other two had made her way down to the graveyard.
He didn't want to eavesdrop their problems any further and had to go back to the conference anyway as the lunch break was about to end soon.
He didn't make it longer than a couple of hundred meters when the all too familiar headache started flooding his mind. A few moments later he was masked, dressed in a tuxedo, a black cape with red lining completed his super hero outfit and while he was positioning the dark top hat on his head, he jumped over the walls of the graveyard and could see a certain damsel being in distress.
Something else caught his attention, too though; in the grass next to Sailor Moon was laying something sparkling. An orange colored crystal.
'Could this be...?'
His attention was back on the blonde Sailor Senshi when a frightening boxing youma tried to throw his boxing glove to her direction. Without even thinking and by having an unnatural speed and jump capabilities, he picked Sailor Moon up bridal style and jumped with her in his hands over to a grave stone.
Obviously to this disguise was something like an introduction needed in order to make the monster aware of who had been the rescuer of the blonde heroine. A catchphrase was appropriate in this weird situation.
"How dare you destroying the peace of this holy place?"
The boxing devil seemed to be distracted by him and Sailor Moon was somewhat melting in his hands when he noticed her flushing deeply and making moon eyes to him. He felt kind of flattered and a strange feeling of golden warmth was about to reach his heart. But he was on a mission and there was something else of interest for him.
He put Sailor Moon to the ground and jumped over to the little gem. While he picked it up, he turned his attention over to the evil commander of the youma who apparently was also after this special treasure. Mamoru could nothing else but grinned triumphantly over which made the floating bloke with the blonde long hair even more upset.
It has been indeed a quite enlightening trip to Yokohama. He had missed the second part of the conference but it was worth it. From the first second he had this shining fragment in his hands, something started to work within his mind.
Deeply buried memories of a bygone era came to light in fragments while this little stone made Mamoru changing back into his civilian form without using any further features such as his transformation rose.
"I understand now. I had been Tuxedo Kamen once. Slowly I can remember this."
He uttered by watching the sun going down.
When he arrived back later in the evening, Mamoru noticed the absence of a very special item for him. By changing back he couldn't find the star locket in his pockets. He was sure that he felt it in his inner pocket of his jacket when he became aware of Usagi and her friends.
"I hope it is coming back to me once I transform into Tuxedo Kamen again." He murmured while he was putting on his Pyjamas.
He didn't expect to dream of Usagi tonight. She didn't see him in front of the graveyard, that's why it was unlikely that she would appear again during his sleep. Furthermore, this stone and its story kept him busy. Somehow he hoped to find some answers concerning this fragment in his sleep.
'I could ask the princess who keeps asking for the Holy Silver Crystal.'
As he thought about it, he noticed something wet falling on his head. Several other drops quickly followed, turning into a continuous dribble that resulted in proper rain.
It was pouring rain and he was back in the cemetery.
It was also pretty cold, more like autumn than spring. And he wasn't alone at all. Mamoru turned his head to a group of people, all dressed in black. They listened to a priest standing in front of a grave.
Mamoru froze to the spot when he recognized two people who had been introduced to him fairly recently.
'Why is Kenji here? And Ikuko? What is going on here????'
It was far from any imagination of Mamoru to dream of a funeral, but obviously the ceremony presented before his eyes was dedicated to someone who had just passed away as most of the people were crying and holding each other. The worst part for him was that someone was missing in that cruel scene. Someone whose absence caused him tremendous pain in his heart.
He didn't know what to do and was very afraid to find out the truth about this sad occasion. The rain had soaked his clothes, his dark hair was messed up and sticking out in every direction, but Mamoru didn't care at all. He just watched Usagi's parents cry and shiver in disbelief. He couldn't move, his heart was on the verge of breaking into a thousand pieces when he saw them both walking towards him. They looked heartbroken and tried desperately to hold on to each other.
"This...This...it's not true!" He heard himself saying, stumbling backwards in utter disbelief. Kenji raised his head and with endlessly sad eyes, he managed to reply.
"I'm afraid, it is true. Son."
"No"
He was stillstumbling backwards, blindly and desperately trying to find something to hold.
"No, NO!"
He was nearly yelling at the couple standing in front of him with heartbroken tears escaping their eyes.
"This. Is. A. Dream. This. Is. Not. Real. She. Is. Not. Dead. She. Is. Alive. Usagi. LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!"
Mamoru woke up.
He was sweating like hell, tears were flooding his face. He was shaking, breathing heavily. White as a sheet. Finally he was able to find his voice.
„She lives, she is alive. This was only a cruel damn dream."
He tried telling himself this again and again. For probably two hours until he realized that the sun was rising up and single beams made it through some tiny gaps of his blinds.
He was still in a certain state of shock but made a resolution when he got up.
"I need to find her and will protect her!"
Although she had been something like his former arch enemy in reality. Usagi played a key role in his life now and Mamoru would to anything to protect her.
"I will not loose her!" He clinched his fist, the orange crystal fragment lying in his hand. The blood red of the rising sun was mirroring the flames of his just awakened desire for the little bunny whose life just had ended in his dreams.