Hello beautiful people,

I hope you've all had a great Tuesday. It's pouring rain in Vancouver, so I can't really say I had the most cherished day:D But all is good.

Thank you, as always, for checking out my story. It means a lot to me. I hope you stick around until the end.

Serenitysweety: Well, here's the next chapter. I hope you squeal with this one as well:) enjoy.

TropicalRemix: No, I don't think Hiro had lived in the past. But we'll just have to wait and see how his story turns out:) Enjoy.

Darkened Hrt101: I know, I loved that paw thing myself too:) Enjoy the new chapter.

SailorGuardian314: I'm so glad you find my stories intriguing. It means a lot to me hearing that from you. Thank you for your continuous support:) Enjoy the new chapter.

Syluai: I understand your concerns. I hate it when they're apart as well. But you know what, that's life. Sometimes everything just gets messed up, but I'm sure we can always put the pieces back together:) let me know what you thought of the new chapter.

phillynz: They won't be repeating the past, I promise. They'll be making a new future:) Enjoy.

kera69love: Come on. You can do this. The story is just getting more, how should I say, adorable:)

Guest: I've always loved to see Usagi spreading her wings a little as well. I just think for the sake of their love, it would've been nice to see them apart and with other people for a while. They would appreciate what they have more. I hope you enjoy this new chapter:) let me know your thoughts.

UsaMamo: It will be one. Slowly...and with difficulties for sure:D:D Enjoy.

ericsookieforever: Thank you so much for reading the beginning and thank you for the Blue Heart. Peace. I figured if I'm to enter Hiro in this story, he should have the same voice. I liked his character too, I think he turned out to be a very cool person in "Her Eyes". So why crush that, you know? I'm so glad you're liking this story so far. Enjoy.

Guest: LOOOL. I think he's an ass too. Trust me.

Guest: Usagi will definitely receive some love. Don't worry at all (wink). Enjoy.

Enjoy everyone.

Golak


"I knew you would find out sooner or later."

She'd been standing on the stairs, as per usual, in her white almost see-through gown.

Her head had been turned away from Mamoru and he knew, strangely enough, that she'd had the same posture since the night he had yelled at Usagi to leave him alone. She was mad at him and he didn't know how to feel about that.

"Find out what?" He asked. He'd never paid much attention to the person he became in the dreams. He could tell, from the upsetting weight, that he'd been wearing an armor; and he had this strange feeling that he had died, Endymion had died, in the same garment.

Mamoru refused to think too much about him or the life he'd once lived.

"The secret he and I desperately tried to hide from everyone…" Serenity said, her drifted eyes illuminated by the light of the Earth in the far distance.

Mamoru opened his mouth to say something; he paused, because, "wait, what do you mean 'he' and you? Who are you talking about?"

Serenity unclasped her hands and ran them down her skirt; the fabric seemed like a rain-laden cloud, just as soft and just as sad; everything about this place and these dreams were sad.

"Endymion and I." She clasped her hands together in front of her once more.

What the damn? What the hell did she mean? Didn't she intrude on his dreams and clawed away the little rest he had during the day, just because of his past self?

"I am…" he started and paused to collect himself. Was it normal to feel this much anger and hurt in a dream?

"Don't tell me that you are him…" her eyes turned to him languidly, and when they finally stared straight into his face, he wished they'd still been turned away.

For fuck's sake, he couldn't handle any more resentment in those set of eyes. He ran away from it when he was awake, he couldn't possibly do the same in his sleep.

"You're not him. You are not him…"

Mamoru woke up with a start to the tiny arrows of the sleepy sun touching his ceilings.

He took a deep breath and tried to remember as much as the dream as he could. He'd been having the same dream for the past 10 nights; nothing ever changed. She always stood on those cold glassy stairs, she only looked at him near the end, and she kept repeating the same mantra, "you are not him. You are not him."

His bedside clock told him that he had almost 40 minutes to when he had to get up and get ready for the busy day ahead.

What did she mean by "the secret"? Was she talking about their secret union?

He needed coffee. He needed one whole pot of coffee.

He padded to the kitchen, clad in a pair of black shorts he always wore to bed. Ayane loved that short, "I love what's under it even more," the little minx always said before attacking Mamoru's awaiting lips.

As he stared at his coffee maker doing its magic, Mamoru tried to remember the details of a dream he'd had, that one time, so many nights ago.

The dream that had taken him, not to Serenity's sunless castle, but besides a green watered lake that had been illuminated by the moon.

Mamoru poured himself a cup of coffee and took a generous gulp without letting it cool down.

That dream had placed him right in front of Serenity. He'd been able to sense someone else's presence there, but for the life of him, Mamoru hadn't been able to look away from her eyes. They'd been ardent, happy and filled with life.

He sipped on the coffee as he walked back to his bedroom and stood in front of his closet. He had to look his sharpest today. This research internship could open so many doors for him. What about the navy blue jacket?

He couldn't remember the exact words he'd whispered in the dream. Words of adoration maybe? Commitment, probably? What he remembered so fucking vividly was her smile; the way the sides of her lips had curled up in shyness; the way the little curl had turned into a bright, teeth showing grin as he had continued his whispering.

He had woken up just then and that specific dream never came to him again.

He took his grey button-down out of the closet; it was just an interview after all. He didn't need to impress them with his clothes.

Mamoru tried to take his time getting ready for the day. An early exam, followed by the interview, a quick grab and go for lunch and back to more studying. How he wished he could see Ayane tonight.

And fuck, she'd been mad at him long enough. He had made up all those ridiculous reasons for that night he had left her alone and naked in his apartment. He was one fucked-up person, of course, she would read all his lies. He had to tell her the truth.

He will tell her soon.

He wished he could see Ayane, grab her by the shoulders and drown in her eyes;

Should he wear his green vest on top? How about a tie?

He stood in front of the mirror and began to loop the grey tie around his neck. Yes, think of the exact steps you need to take to put the tie around your neck neatly. Anything that would make you forget about her eyes. Fuck. Don't think about her eyes. Focus on the tie.

He looked himself in the mirror. Grey button-down adorned with a darker shade tie and finished with a dark, dark green vest and a pair of black pants. Mamoru failed to notice any of this, however, as a set of blue, unhappy eyes waltz around in front of his mind.


Rei had been waiting patiently for the past 20 minutes.

She'd ironed her school uniform while she waited, she folded her laundry; she even had time to sweep the engawa all the way around her and grandpa Hino's room. She adored that bamboo flooring. She loved walking barefoot on it as she mumbled her favorite songs to herself.

She looked at her red wrist watch and pushed her lips together.

As if Usagi wasn't enough, Minako had to prove that the two had been blood-related in their past lives.

She thought back to the weird phone call she had received from the blonde, whispering a mumble jumble to her.

"What? I can't hear you…" Rei had whispered back and sighed at her own stupidity.

Minako said something else.

"Minako, I can't hear you. Speak louder," Rei had snapped.

"For heaven's…"

Rei could almost hear the eye-roll in the blonde's tone.

"I'll stop by the shrine after school. It's about Usa-chan."

Rei had literally run to the shrine after her classes, knowing that public schools finished a little earlier than hers.

And then Minako never showed right after school. She actually showed up 50 minutes after she'd gotten out of school.

"Where the hell have you been?" Rei shrieked at her the moment her shiny fair bangs and red bow appeared on top of the many stairs to the shrine.

"Funny story, this guy in my class, Akio-hotty, I told you about him, right? He's so dreamy and yummy and he asked me if I wanted to grab ice-cream and—"

"So, you just ditch me for a random guy in your class?"

Minako looked at the miko with raised eyebrows, "I didn't ditch you. And honestly Rei-chan, you can always ditch your friends for potential make out session." She said it with so much convincing, that for a moment, Rei had been lost at words, "it's the rule," Minako added.

"It's not a rule. You just made that up as an excuse for standing me up—"

"I didn't stand you up, jeez," the blonde rolled her eyes and flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"You said that you'll meet me after school," Rei paused, for good measure; but per usual, Minako just didn't quite understand the "measure".

"Well, it is after school. I went to school and came here after it was finished. What's your point?"

There could've been so many things rolling out Rei's mouth just then. She'd never been one without any comebacks. But Minako had proved herself to be a worthy, and unconstitutionally brutal opponent when it came to bicker.

So instead of wording anything, Rei settled for one of her angry glares; the same stare that had made a few of her classmates, and Usagi, pee in their pants.

Minako flashed her sweet and innocent smile, took off her shoes and walked over the bambooed engawa and into the miko's room.

"Ok, so what was so important that you just had to come over here? After school?"

"If you're gonna be like that, I'm not telling you," Minako nodded and accepted the cup of tea Rei had made and remade three times before her arrival.

"Like what?"

"Like condescending and bitchy—"

"Minako I swear to God, I'm this close to shoving that cup down your throat," Rei hovered over the blonde and put her hands on her hips, "if you don't have nothing to say, then go back to your make-out session with Akira—"

"Akio—"

"Whatever. Eeeh, you're so infuriating…" Rei plopped down on the tatami beside the blonde and sighed heavily.

"Any…ways…" Minako sipped on her tea as if the last 40 seconds hadn't happened at all, "I have some juicy news about Usa-chan…"

Rei kept her façade cool and uncaring. She knew from experience that Minako liked to give people a heart attack before revealing anything; important or not. And Rei didn't want to give her the satisfaction of knowing how desperately she wanted to know that juicy piece of information about Usagi.

"Well, you don't seem…disposed," Minako put down her cup with a slow 'click' on the short chabudai table in front of her.

Rei kept staring at her.

Minutes clicked away.

When grandpa Hino walked by the teenager's room and popped his head inside the tiny opening on the sliding door, the girls had already been staring at each other for almost five minutes.

The old man regarded them with confusion. He'd always thought of his granddaughter a little weird, a little scary even, but he'd long figured that no matter how much weirdness Rei had in her personality, it didn't even compare to those of her friends.

"For fuck's sake…" Rei hissed finally, "spill it…"

"If you want to know that badly…" Minako flipped her hair and leaned against the chabudai table, "Usa-chan has a secret admirer." She wiggled her brows in that unique Minako fashion, with a mischievous smirk and glittery eyes.

"If it's a secret, then how come you know about it?"

A flicker of annoyance entered Minako's face

"Maybe not a secret admirer; but he's definitely into her…" she clasped her hands together and stood up.

Rei followed her with calculating eyes, "who is he? Do we know him?"

"She met him at the arcade. His name is Hiro Kousei, and he's even yummier than Akira—"

"Didn't you say his name is Akio?"

"What are you, his wife? Sheesh…" Minako opened the sliding door. She closed her eyes for a second and inhaled the warm afternoon breeze. Hikawa shrine always looked extra breathe taking during these hours; when the sun shied away, slowly, from the sky and stars giggle as they made their appearance.

The moon seemed forever frozen on its spot; sometimes it shone with modesty and sometimes, it brightened the sky like the spectacle that it was.

"How do you know he likes Usagi?" Rei came to stand beside the blonde.

Minako didn't open her eyes, " because I'm the love goddess you duffus…" she peeked open one eye.

"And thank God you've never been wrong about the matter of the heart," Rei taunted and when Minako whipped around, eyes wide open and shocked, she simply shrugged.

"What do you mean? When have I ever—"

"Usagi and Mamoru-san…"

"Oh…that," the blonde stuttered and turned away from her friend.

"Yes, that. You said they're soulmates, that it'd been destiny that they have been reborn again—"

"We've all been reincarnated, you know…"

"And for a good reason too. Weren't you the one who said that our purpose in life is to protect the princess and her prince, so the two can overcome the darkness that is lurking around…" Rei gestured with her hand to Minako not to interrupt her, "not your word, Ami-chan's, I know. But you said that they had to overcome the darkness together and save the planet..."

"Yeah…so?"

"What do you mean 'so'? if they're not together, how the hell are they ever gonna save the world? They can't even save their own sorry asses alone."

"They'll be together. Eventually…" Minako whispered. Suddenly she seemed a little distant as if she'd left her body in Rei's room, but her soul had flown elsewhere. Rei wondered if the place she'd gone to had been the same place she herself dreamed of every night.

"It's inevitable…" Minako continued, before looking at Rei with boredom, "yes, another one of Ami-chan's words."

"Minako…you know something," Rei grabbed the side of the blonde's navy-blue school skirt and tugged, "I know you know something. I've seen it. But I need you to tell me," she poured her desperation and uncertainty into the look she gave their newest friend. All charm and occasional annoyance aside, Minako still held superiority over them. She'd been a senshi long before any of them, and above all, she remembered their time on the moon more than anyone else; Setsuna knew a lot, for sure; but that woman's lips had been glued together with super glue.

"Rei-chan, if I could tell you, I would…you know that—"

"But why can't you?" Rei tugged on the skirt a little tighter, "Does it have to do with how we died? Because I'm over that. I'm over all those little shitheads that screwed us over. I just need to know…I need to make sense of the visions I have."

"Visions? What visions?"

Rei pursed her lips together. Damn it.

"Rei-chan, what kind of visions?"

The other girl stayed silent as she turned around and went back towards the chabudai table.

"I think they're of Usagi and Chiba. I mean not them, but…" she looked up at Minako's confused eyes, "you know, of their past selves."

"Go on," Minako urged. A tingling feeling had started in the pit of her stomach. She knew that feeling all too well. She hated that feeling.

"I've seen them...I've seen them making eternal vows to one another," Rei whispered. She had her eyes fixed on her clasped hands and so, she missed the dread that passed on Minako's face.

"I think…" Rei raised her head and fixed Minako with a look that the blonde had seen before; in another life and another setting; though the consequences had been the same, "I think they were married Minako. I think…no, I know that Serenity and Endymion got married in secret…"

Rei never got to finish that sentence. Because the way Minako looked away from her had been too familiar, too unforgettable.

"I think we should talk," Minako whispered as if talking to herself.

Damn it.

Rei remembered how Sailor Venus had once said the same words to her on the rose garden of a castle she hated the most.


"And if you're going to whine and cry about the exam, then maybe this course is not for you."

Professor Akechi was known for her bluntness; she categorized students two ways: students who didn't have her respect, and students who would never achieve her respect, "see the difference?" she'd asked the very first session after explaining to her class why she saw them as "mere children with big physics and painfully bigger egos".

Mamoru nodded along with the rest of his peers. He didn't want to get on Akechi-sempai's bad side, more than she already disliked him, "you, pretty man," she'd called out to him on the second session, "do you really think you can become a doctor, or did someone in your family said 'hey, you're pretty. Is there more to that prettiness?'"

Almost every single student in that classroom had been wounded one way or the other by Akechi-sempai; some mentally, others spiritually. There'd been a few students, though, that had been physically wounded as well. Akechi-sempai had the strangest habit of throwing the chalk in her hand at anyone she deemed her next victim.

"Kousei-san."

"Yes, Akechi-sempai?"

"I'll need that research result by noon."

"Yes sempai. Don't worry."

Then again, even the bitterest souls on the planet found someone worthy of their attention.

Mamoru nodded at Hiro Kousei when the other boy's eyes caught hi staring. They didn't know each other that well. They shared a few classes together over the year and had bumped into each other in campus gatherings, those very few times Mamoru had actually participated in them. Aside from that, Mamoru really didn't know much about Hiro. He was friendly though and had one of those faces that seemed to be smiling the whole time.

Mamoru knew he was on a sport's scholarship and had seen him once or twice on the tennis field.

"Hey Mamoru-kun, how is it going?"

Mamoru swung his bag over his shoulder and shrugged, "Not bad. It could've been better if not for this exam."

Hiro laughed wholeheartedly, "tell me about it. And to know that even if you pass, you'd barely passed it is a punch to the gut."

Mamoru chuckled as he followed the other boy to the hallway. It was true. Akechi-sempai never passed students with good marks, "when I look at your tests, I don't care about the answers you've written down. I care about the whole package…" she would tell them often, "and from what I see," she would then narrow her eyes at the students and look around, "we have a whole lot of incomplete packages."

"So, are you going to Furuhata's arcade?"

"I usually stop by for a coffee after school, yes," Mamoru answered; then, "why? Are you going too?"

"Well," Hiro scratched the back of his neck, "I'm actually meeting someone there. Do you mind if I join you?"

They arrived at the arcade just as Motoki put on his apron.

"You won't believe the day I had," Motoki whined at Mamoru.

"What happened?"

Mamoru and Hiro settled on the stools at the bar, while Motoki rehearsed his terrible argument with Reika, his long-term live-In girlfriend.

"She says she wants to go to this research thing now. I mean, for fuck's sake, who just up and go like that?"

Mamoru tried to focus on his friend's problem. He knew just how much Motoki adored Reika and sometimes he thought if she valued him just as much?

His mind kept jumping around. He'd see Motoki in front of him one moment, and the next, Ayane would be standing there with her hair tied up in a ponytail. Akechi-sempai made a presence too, her eyes framed behind her thin-rimmed glasses, looking cynically at him.

When the ringing began, so very slowly and distantly at first, he didn't pay it much heed. He'd been too lost in all that he needed to do that night, and God forbade if another attack called him out in the middle of the night.

One sharp ring had him twist his face in annoyance. Fuck. He knew what that meant.

"Mamoru-kun, are you okay?" Hiro asked before bowing his head at Motoki in gratitude.

Motoki settled the second cup of coffee in front of Mamoru, "yeah, you seem…in pain."

Another sharp ring followed by a series of subtle ones. Damn it. Why the hell were they here? This wasn't their usual hang out spot.

"I'm fine," he brought the coffee cup close to his mouth, "I just remembered that I have another exam on the exact day of Akechi-sempai's test."

"Ouch…" Hiro said with obvious laughter.

"And to think I had a shitty day…oh, hey Usagi-chan,"

Mamoru and Hiro both turned their heads following Motoki's greeting.

Of course, she'd be here. Why else would they come here if it wasn't for her?

"Hi Motoki-onii-san," Usagi greeted back. She sent a quick look Mamoru's way and greeted him with her usual, distant nod.

Mamoru lowered his head just as his fingers tightened around the cup he'd been holding.

Don't think about the dream, don't you fucking dare think about the dream.

"Hey…you."

Mamoru watched, in complete shock and disbelief, as Hiro's hand reached out and grabbed Usagi's smaller one in a gentle hold.

His eyes traveled from their clasped hands, up Usagi's white school shirt sleeve and settled on her face; on her smiling face.

What the fuck was happening?
"Hi," she said back to Hiro, who brought her hand up and left a small kiss on the back of it.

Mamoru's fingers could've easily broken the cup just then.

"How…," he started, but then had to pause. Why the fuck did his voice sound so rough? He coughed, and it gave him time to think.

How was it any of his business how the two of them knew each other? Did he even care?

"How…was... last night's performance Motoki?" he turned his eyes towards his friend. He tried really hard not to roll his eyes at the look Motoki gave him.

Another sharp ring made him flinch.

"Eh, it was okay. Usagi-chan, do you want a milkshake or…"

"Oh, some of my friends are actually here," she said, mostly to Hiro, "do you mind? I have to seat with them a little and then we can go?"

Mamoru pursed his lips together. Where the hell did they want to go?

"Sure…" Hiro replied, never dropping her hand, "can't I meet these friends?"

Mamoru figured that he can continue his staring through the mirror on the other side of the bar. He saw how Usagi smiled uncomfortably and brought her hand to the back of her head.

"I mean, you can. But, they're older friends…and they're a little…you know, a little…"

"Infuriating…" Mamoru mumbled against his cup and winced.

What the actual fuck?

Hiro looked at him with confusion and then looked back at Usagi, whose eyes had been fixed on the back of Mamoru's head, "how do you know?" he asked. He looked back and forth between them and then looked at Motoki who just held his hands up and disappeared behind the kitchen.

"Do you two know each other?"

"No…"

Usagi's immediate response pushed down any words that were to come out of Mamoru's mouth.

"I mean, we know each other through Motoki-onii-san…obviously," Usagi continued. Mamoru looked at her through the mirror.

Another sharp ring almost threw him off his stool.

"Let me say goodbye to my friends. I'll be right back."

Mamoru followed her retreated through the mirror. His heart dropped when he met a deep-set of eyes, shadowed by knitted brows as Haruka Tenoh, aka, Sailor Uranus, watched him through the same mirror he'd been spying on Usagi from.

The ringing in his head became louder. Fuck, and to think Minako Aino's ring was the worst.

"So," Hiro said from beside him, "You know Usagi-chan?"

Mamoru smoothed his voice before answering, "knowing is an exaggeration. I've seen her around,"

"I see…"

Her eyes invaded Mamoru's mind again and he panicked. Because these eyes right now, they didn't belong to Serenity anymore.

"How do you know her?" he asked, trying to sound uncaring.

Hiro finished his coffee and turned his head when Usagi called from behind, "I'm ready" she said.

He nodded at her and reached to his back pocket, "Motoki-kun, thank you," he yelled to the kitchen door. He took out a few bills and folded them underneath his empty coffee cup.

"We're dating…" he said to Mamoru, before lowering his head in farewell and walking up to Usagi.

Mamoru didn't even nod. He didn't even turn around to watch them walk out the arcade, hand in hand.

Because, just as Hiro said those final words to him, he heard the words Endymion had whispered in Serenity's ear beside the green lake, a lifetime ago.

"You are the destiny I will choose again and again and again."


Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or its characters. I only own the story I tell.