A Drunken Confession

"MAMO-CHAN!"

Mamoru braced himself for impact as Usagi launched herself enthusiastically towards his body. She clasped her hands around his neck and hung from him, beaming, her body loose, swaying, and slightly sweaty. Gripping her waist, he kissed her flushed forehead and chuckled at his wife, who was obviously drunk.

Makoto was several weeks away from the highly anticipated re-opening of her recently renovated cafe. Charming and dreamy and feminine, the cafe had steadily become a beloved staple in the Juban District over the past five years. However, it wasn't until The Japan Times had written a raving review that the business had been thrust into the spotlight of the greater Tokyo area.

The surge of business had given Makoto the resources to transform the original space (in all of its mismatched table, handwritten menu, chalkboard special glory) into the cafe of her dreams. While the heart and personality of the cafe remained, the fresh paint, new furniture and enhanced lighting (termed "sexy glow lighting" by Minako) had it looking better than ever.

The menu had been updated as well, with the additions of several new sugary confections dreamed up by the talented senshi with the auburn brown hair. It had been an exciting, wonderful, chaotic few months and all of the scouts had chipped in to help, however they could. As a way to celebrate and show her appreciation, Makoto had arranged for the girls to come to a pre-opening party to taste test the new menu.

By the look of scattered shot glasses across the bar, liquor had been involved in the taste testing as well.

"Sorry Mamoru," Makoto laughed sheepishly, combing her fingers through one of Usagi's tangled pigtails, "Our test tasting may have turned into a drinking game that got a little out of hand."

"She's not sorry," Minako brushed past him bumping his hip with hers, giggling conspiratorially. She leaned against the counter and took another bite from a delectably fluffy looking cheesecake, closing her eyes and sighing in bliss.

"Rei came up with the game. One sip for every yummy dessert and a shot for blow-your-mind delicious," Usagi's voice was muffled against his chest, "All made by Makoto soooo…"

"...so lots of shots," Mamoru finished for her, his eyes twinkling with affection.

"Uh huh," Rei emerged from the backroom snickering, her eyes bright and mischievous, "Even Ami is tipsy."

Mamoru chuckled and glanced over at the blunette, who was laying down in a booth, waving her hand.

"Mildly tipsy," her voice drifted across the room, "Just a little."

"Thanks for coming to get her. The other girls are crashing with me upstairs, but Usagi was insistent that she go home and I didn't feel comfortable with her taking the train on her own," Makoto explained, pushing a brown bag into his hand, "I packed up some of the leftovers for you."

"It's never a problem," Mamoru smiled warmly, "And thank you."

And he meant it. The ping of the text from Makoto had sounded earlier as he had been finishing up a tedious consultation with a rather pompous colleague.

Hey Mamoru, sorry for the late notice - can you come pick up Usagi from the cafe after work?

Unable to hide the small smile that had crept onto his face, he politely excused himself from the sour-faced doctor, all unpleasant feelings from the interaction fading away.

Of course he would go pick up Usagi. He would always show up for her, no questions asked. Even in this peaceful post-Galaxia reality, his deepest calling was to love and protect the future queen of Crystal Tokyo. Whether he was a designated driver or a masked superhero, it felt undeniably good to be needed and wanted by Usagi and he would never tire of it.

The drive from the hospital to the cafe had been quick, despite rush hour traffic due to his, uh, assertive motorcycle driving skills.

"Mamo-chan," Usagi whispered in a not-so-quiet voice, "I told them you're usually so stressed after a double shift and that I'm super good at helping you relax." She took his face into both of her hands and clumsily (and adorably) winked.

Color bloomed across Mamoru's face at her blatant innuendo and the girls burst into another fit of giggles.

"Ah, okay Usako."

Any embarrassment lingering in Mamoru soon dissolved into amusement as he watched Usagi make her final round of the room, hugging each girl tightly and gushing slurred words of love and affection to them.

After securing the takeout bag in the storage compartment, indulging in a rather wet (but oh-so-enthusiastic) kiss and fastening her helmet straps under her chin, Mamoru revved the engine and sped off into the night. The lights of the Juban District glittered around them as he expertly weaved in and out of traffic. Usagi leaned her cheek against his back and squeezed him tightly, unaware of the self assured grin on her husband's face.

Honestly he couldn't help himself - he was still hopelessly smitten with her. Their life had shifted from battles and magic transformations to bills and work schedules, but the feeling of her body pressed against his still made his heart flutter and pulse quicken. And when they entered their shared apartment and she peeled off her sweater, revealing a sky blue bralette that he'd seen (and taken off of her) too many times to count, he still stared at her with an expression that was both lovestruck and desirous.

"Mamo-chan, I have a secret to tell you," Usagi's singsong voice broke through his thoughts. She emerged from their bedroom wearing pajamas, which he noted with amusement were inside out.

"Tell me."

Usagi flopped backwards onto the couch and spread her arms above her head, sighing contentedly.

"My heart is so happy that I think it might explode."

Mamoru smiled tenderly, and settled on the couch beside her, pulling her legs into his lap.

"I'm glad you had such a good time with your friends Usako."

"Nooooo," her forehead furrowed slightly, "I mean, yes so much fun. But I mean I'm really happy. Like crazy, deliriously, deliciously happy."

Mamoru raised an eyebrow, impressed with drunk Usagi's vocabulary.

"Deliciously happy, huh?"

"Yessss, the most yummy type of happy you can have," she awkwardly scrambled around until she was positioned in his lap with her hands clutching the front of his shirt. Her face crinkled in concentration, as if she were trying very hard to form the words that she wanted to say.

"I didn't know if I would ever get to have this."

As her words settled over him, his heart clenched with the realization that she was talking about much more than the evening's festivities.

"Have what Usako?"

She looked up at him with watery eyes that were so pretty and open and vulnerable.

"This life. With you."

Mamoru felt a lump rise in throat because, yeah, same.

It was never lost on him how precious their shared life was or how fucking lucky he was to be married to her. How many impossible hoops had they jumped through to get the stars to align so perfectly? How many battles had they narrowly scraped by as the victors? How many internal and external barriers had they overcome just to get to this point?

"Like, how cool is it that we get to live together? Wake up together? Fight over stupid stuff like where to get the best soup dumplings?"

She lightly traced his bottom lip with her thumb thoughtfully, as if she were mesmerized by her own actions.

"Mamo-chan I get to kiss you anytime I want. Touch you anytime I want. This life is ours and it's all I've ever dreamed of. So many things could have gone wrong so many times," she closed her eyes, "but somehow we made it and now we have this life that I love so much it hurts."

A single tear escaped, trickling down her cheek.

"I love you so much it hurts."

Mamoru pulled her face to his, feeling storng emotions rise within him. He was used to hearing Usagi express her feelings openly, but this was a sentiment that she had not articulated before in such a clear manner.

"I love you too Usako," he kissed the tear that was hanging off of her chin.

She whimpered and then pressed her lips against his, desperately, as if she were trying to pour into the kiss all of her feelings at once. Mamoru released a groan and gladly returned the sentiment, kissing her fiercely. She tasted fruity and boozy and sugary and Mamoru could feel himself drowning, very willingly. In a matter of moments she was under him, with her legs wrapped around his waist and her hands tugging at his shirt.

There was nobody else on this planet (or in this universe for that matter) whose heart would fit his like hers did. Serenity and Endymion had longed for a normal life like this, but had been denied. Despite all odds, here they were, making out on a Thursday night, with no worries about kingdom alliances or monsters or crystals - where Mamoru's biggest concern was how to help Usagi unbutton his jeans as her tongue explored the inside of his mouth.

She hiccuped loudly, breaking the intensity of the moment.

"Oops," she giggled. She hiccuped again and covered her mouth with her hand.

Mamoru eased himself off of her and smirked at her tousled hair and disheveled pajamas.

"Struck with a case of hiccups?" he teased.

"Mmm-hmm," she nodded, "I think eating more of Makoto's cake will make them go away."

"Haven't heard of that remedy before," he rolled his eyes affectionately.

Usagi's eyes widened in mock indignation.

"Well Dr. Chiba, sounds like your research is not up-to-date."

"Uh-huh," he said dryly, watching her eagerly pull out a piece of chocolate roll cake.

"Hey Mamo-chan?"

"What?"

"After I finish this cake and I've cured my hiccups can we go back to what we were doing?" she batted her eyelashes at him. Even with smudged makeup and a smear of chocolate filling on her face she was stunning. There was no way that he was going to deny her.

"God, yes."

Yeah, their life was pretty damn good.