starmariofan4: lol wow that comment was adorable and funny at the same time.

SerenityxEndymion: yeah I'm sure that's the case here. Regarding the nun, as for where they've done it…I also lost track. But then again after 388 of these I was bound to loose track at some point. Lol

CassieRaven: yeah me either as a request, we have 'masterray5' to thank for this particular prompt, it was definitely interesting and nice.

kera69love: you'd think so, but he might have thought there'd be 'higher up' repercussions to be concerned about.

sabina21: there might be a sequel at play, have to wait and see.

5 reviews, nicely done, lets see what you all think of this next one, please read, enjoy and review!

Recognition does a mind and heart good

drabble 388

Usagi POV

The monster fight a few days ago wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I fought well and it felt good to fight alone. I got to do tricks that I wasn't usually able to do on my own. I utilized moves that I got taught over the years but was directed 'not to do' as the others didn't think they would work yet I made them work. Hearing the monster scream for his life was satisfying in a way that the previous ones hadn't been.

Maybe because I had help on those occasions as we took them down together as a team which did feel good too, but this was a satisfaction that I got to have all to myself. An accomplishment of sorts that made me feel like 'yes I did this...me...on my own...no help and I did it'. It wasn't a moment to be cocky nor to be pompous, but to feel that sense of 'I did it'. I felt invigorated and even energized.

The girls never did arrive and while at first I almost felt something akin to 'this isn't going to end well'. Then Rei's words and Ami's unintentional patronizing demeanor of 'don't worry were always there for you' or even at times Makoto's 'we've got your back' as good as it always felt I wanted to know for myself that when the chips were down, when they COULDN'T be there that I could still kick ass.

I began to feel more than anything else at that point a sense of 'screw 'em' as I jumped out from my hiding place and faced off against the monster on my own. Yes at first I was a little scared as anyone would be. The monster had this confidence that was menacing in his own way. He was smart. Maybe not Ami smart but he was smart and I KNEW, I KNEW I had to beat him. If only at this rate to prove to myself that I could.

It became less about sticking it to others and more for myself that I would always appreciate the added help, but that I was capable on my own. Besides, the monster gave me the impression he was not impressed with me as his 'contender' in a fight. So taking him down a few pegs then getting rid of him...it felt good. I felt good. I played the monster so well that when I gave him a power boss move I felt victorious and powerful.

Not pompously powerful but confidently powerful. He used the knowledge of my strengths and even used my own weaknesses to my advantage. The monster saw a weaker frail thing he could beat and he let his pompous self get roped into my game. I felt victorious and confident when the monster died. All on my own too. Too bad the girls didn't see it, I could have finally told Rei 'up yours!'. Or something like that.

So as Mamoru and I walked to the temple I was still riding my high of 'yeah I beat the latest monster on my own' so when the girls were already there I sensed something different in the air. The way they looked at me was different. I was not on guard per say but definitely knew something was up. That's when Luna approached us once we sat down with the others.

"So I hear we have a new threat out there?" her voice was directed at me.

"Yeah I fought off a very large scale looking manly monster." I gave her a brief description of it as we usually did and before I could tell her that I was about to take care of it on my own or the small discussion that was had that was vital, or at least to me vital, Luna snaps towards me as if picking up on this information for the first time.

"Wait all by yourself?" I am only able to give her the slightest bit of acknowledgement before she fully faces me and goes into a tirade. "Are you out of your mind?" I tried talking, I got cut off as she continued to talk as if I hadn't tried to at all, or rather perhaps she didn't even hear me over the sound of her own voice. "Why didn't you wait for the rest of the Senshi?" she demanded of me.

Before I could tell her that I had and NO ONE showed up she continued on, "Why didn't you call them?"

Each time I tried to talk or explain matters she'd cut me off so I just gave up and just let her rant and vent as she failed to understand all that had really happened with so little information at her disposal. On one hand one could ALMOST see this as her being overly protective, but on the other hand it can also be seen as her not having any faith in me to handle matters on my own.

"I swear sometimes you can be so dense and naive about what happens out in the world that I seriously wonder about your well being." As she continues to rant I quirk my mouth in a manner towards her that is both on the 'are you done talking?' side of things and generally just tired of her discouraging words.

Luna briefly stops as she demands, "Well?"

I can't stop the sarcasm. "Oh I can talk now?" as I point to myself. I can practically hear her brain short circuiting from the amount of smoke that I can imagine coming from her ears at this.

It's then I hear Ami shockingly snap out, "Luna!" only then does the feline stop and look to Ami, "Usagi took out the monster all on her own."

Luna looks at me in question as I give her a small 'yup' smile.

"Usagi saved everyone on her own that day."

To hear those words was so uplifting. MY brain wanted to shout 'THANK YOU!' but I refrained from doing so verbally, I wanted to see Luna's reaction more than react myself.

"She defeated the monster on her own and we just watched, too stunned to move or do anything as we'd never seen her fight like that before."

Hearing that though made me pause and change my thinking. I was no longer just slightly upset at things I was now a bit conflicted about.

They. Were. There. They saw me. I looked at the other girls and KNEW now why they were looking at me differently. It's because they saw a side of me that they previously hadn't before and they didn't know how to respond to me now. I was conflicted on feeling a tad smug and wondering if they were going to treat me better differently, or indifferent differently. So when Minako speaks up I feel a sense of thankfulness again.

"I think I speak for all of us when I say that she actually works better at some points alone versus with a group. When she doesn't have people breathing down her neck in a negative manner."

I see Rei shift around a bit as Luna is looking back and forth between us still stunned by the news she's received. She then turns to Rei, "Is this true?"

Minako looks perturbed to be questioned like this. Especially considering her position, even Artemis looks at Luna with a slight frown on his face as Rei speaks, "Yeah she fought like a hellcat and won. More easily than I would have given her credit for.''

Her admittance somehow gives me more strength as I give a smile. Not a full of myself smirk but a smile of 'thanks' to the girls there. Luna seems to finally be conceding to the facts before her.

"Perhaps I've been a little too harsh on you...but it's only because I want you to succeed out there."

I try to not give in but her next words do me in.

"I want you to be stronger than your mother, I was there when you died in the past life and when she died, I can't...I won't watch people I love die again."

That's when I saw the slight break and the genuine tears in her eyes and heard how much she cared in her voice.

Artemis went up to her, "We both saw it, Usagi. We were both unable to lift a finger to help as we were stuck in our feline forms at the time. So yes Luna is harsh at times, perhaps too harsh too many times but it does come from a place of love."

I nod and pick her up, holding her close as she weeps into my arms. "I get that you're protective and concerned, and I appreciate that but..."

She looks up to my face.

"At the end of the day I'm not that same girl anymore. I fight, I destroy the enemy, I have a life that isn't bound by our Senshi lives just like everyone else does. None of us JUST those royals that we used to be. We have so much more than that now."

She nods. "I know, I guess sometimes I have a hard time separating one from the other."

We have a small moment before I see the sun beginning to set and know I'd like to get back to Mamoru's place before it fully does. We do have plans after all.

I set her down, "Mamoru and I are heading out."

The girls merely nod at me as they still look at me with the newfound light in their eyes. Perhaps them seeing it was a good thing after all. It's a silent walk back to his place as we take the sidewalks hand in hand, that is till he pulls me in to loop his arm over my shoulders. I smile up at him as I can't help but give him a peck on the lips as he tells me, "That was interesting."

I ask him, "The meeting or the kiss?"

His response was, "The meeting, you held yourself with such poise and being done with the whole thing I thought you were going to walk out of it."

I smile, "Yeah I thought about it at one point but when Ami and the girls spoke up I wanted to see Luna's reaction. It was enough to make me stay."

We had a good laugh as we got back to his place and settled in for a nice dinner.

We ate the moshu pork and white rice before putting the leftovers away and curling up with a good movie. It was barely fifteen minutes into it when I caught Mamoru looking down at me. I couldn't help the little smirk and leaned up into him for a kiss. He greeted me before I could even crane my neck towards him too much. As our kissing picked up I went from sitting curled up into his side to straddling him.

His arms wrapped around me tightly like steel bands of comfort and strength as I began to strip away at the clothing we both wore. Both my shirt and his were on the wood floor in seconds flat when he reached around and expertly removed my bra and enveloped a nipple into his mouth before rotating to the next one. All the while I was slowly grinding down and against him as I felt him growing more and more from the friction between us.

Once I heard his groan I knew he was nearly there. I ground down extra hard and felt him lurch forward as he pushed us from the couch to the coffee table. My back hit the cool wood and marble as he shoved his pants and boxers down. As I saw his member happily hard as could be I pushed my own shorts down along with my panties and not a moment too soon as he mounted me as is, with my legs still in the shorts.

Knees pushed up to my chest I was met with a very hard and fast thrust as he embedded himself into me. I could feel the material of the shorts rubbing against my nipples, both exciting them and slightly irritating them due to the slightly harsher fabric. Seeing my face start to twist from it a bit he sat himself up a little bit to get enough leverage to pull the shorts and panties from me as I lifted my legs up enough to help out.

It didn't take much more after that as they got whipped into another area of his place. More than likely near our shirts that were somewhere here. His thrusts got a little sharper and harder after that. Pressing himself deeper into me as my legs remained pushed up near his shoulders still while he pushed down against me. The angle was certainly different but we weren't complaining about it either.

That is till I felt a crick behind me. Well UNDER me. On each thrust I could not only feel the coffee table moving forward due to the pressure of the thrusts against the wood floor as it slid little by little BUT the cracks in the wood I could also feel starting to happen. Like it wasn't having any more of the abuse we were putting on it. Before It could crack further I arched my hips to jam myself up onto him, stunning him enough to take a moment.

"Mamo -chan...this coffee table won't take much more."

My warning is heeded as he pulls us away from it, stands up and puts me on the table near the kitchen area, pushes my legs further apart and starts to pound into me again. I feel the table moving once more but put it this time to just from our more vigorous thrusting against each other as we slam together in unison. I encourage him with my vocals reaching new levels of near begging that I can tell make him grin.

He loves it when I do it in my own subtle little way. Like I'm trying to demand him as he quickens and strengthens the pace but all the while it's sounding also like I'm begging him to let us both cum again. The table begins to wobble and for a moment it catches me off guard but at one more thrust going in I forget about it. Especially when he changes the angles on me once more, throwing my legs to the other side and flipping me over.

The new angle catches me a bit off guard but it's still so pleasurable that I don't think twice about it and cry out for more as he increases the longevity and pressure of his strokes. It almost feels like he's deeper in me as he spreads my legs out on the table.

"Kami Usa...you look so amazing spread out for me like this…," he mutters and gives me a few slow yet hard and demanding thrusts that make me quake a bit from the sheer lust of it.

His cock comes down once, twice...four times as I scream louder for more on each hit I take in before he grabs my rear and bends over me to press himself further into me. My mouth opens wide as I feel him enter me so deeply that I let out a near animalistic moan that makes him answer with one of his own before he hunches over me, climbing up on top of the table with me and begins to pound his way into oblivion inside of me.

I can't even produce coherent thoughts. I can only think of how amazing and pleasing this is. I can hear his grunts above me, feel his body surrounding me, feel his cock so deeply embedded in me that it's ALMOST, yet not, painful. I encourage more as I feel myself ready to fall over that edge and I want him to come with me. Our bodies slap together, harsh, fast strokes that rub my body against the table.

Just as I feel my body coming, my muscles tense up and my orgasm hits at the exact moment in time I feel and hear his response and feel his member begin to spray my insides with himself, the table we're on gives way and breaks. I give a startled yelp as it hits the counter it was near and falls onto the few chairs that were on either side of it. Unfortunately he only has three chairs by it since he rarely has company over.

The table tips over as we slide towards the blinds and fall from the table. It lays on its side against the two chairs while Mamoru pushes the third one that fell over away. Right away I see the cracked parts where the wood gave out. Breathless we take a moment before I decide to comment, "Me thinks you need some new furniture."

He chuckles as he pushes the chair further from us in this. "I can fix this."

I smile at his enthusiasm, "Honey you're handy but I'm not sure you can fit that." I show him the part of the wood that's splintered. There's no recovering it.

"I'll figure it out later."

He ignores it as he pulls me in for another kiss and honestly who am I to tell him what he can and can't do in his own place? Especially if we get to keep having amazingly hot sex on it, in it, around it, and within it's vicinity.