in this chapter if you've already read it. It's just a little easier on the eyes. In this chapter, good triumphs over evil with
it's fashion faux pas and everything.
Thanks to Analla, who helped edit my story and to everyone who read
anything of mine. I do so enjoy reviews!
PART III
The headlong collision with the fish tank had seriously stunned
Sailor Moon. Her head was ringing and she was sure
there was a piece of glass stuck in her shoulder, but she was relatively
unharmed. She let herself linger on the edge of
consciousness for a moment. It was peaceful there. She
knew that when she woke up, she probably would not like what she
saw.
She was jolted out of her restful place by a scream of pain. *Mamoru!*
Skipping the groggy 'Where am I? What's going on?' phase
of returning to consciousness, she leapt out of the wreckage of
Mamoru's fish tank and searched for the source of the scream.
Arctica was hauling the hero to his feet. Usagi could see
his white tuxedo shirt was stained red beneath the black coat and vest.
Despite the bit of red rose still sticking out of Arctica's shoulder,
Tuxedo Mask was certainly doing worse off in the fight.
*That Bitch! * She thought vehemently. She took an
authoritative stance and commanded "Hands off my boyfriend!"
Tuxedo Kamen dropped to the ground. His face had become
very pale and she could tell that he was fighting the urge to make
any kind of noise that would distract her. Arctica looked relaxed and amused as she stepped over his fallen form. "Go ahead"
she purred. "Take you best..."
With fading strength, Tuxedo Kamen grabbed a booted foot and
pulled, throwing Arctica off balance. At the same time, Sailor
Moon threw a powerful attack in her direction. Unable to defend
herself, the insane demon was hit full on with the power that
Sailor Moon sent at her. The force of it threw her off her feet
and several feet into the air. she landed with a thud o the floor
near the couch.
Sailor Moon took the spare moment to check on her love. She knelt down next to him and positioned his head and shoulders on
her lap. "Mamo-chan" She whispered. "Are you okay?" He smiled up at her. "I'm fine you Ondango. Stop wasting time
and go get the bad guy."
"Yeah" She smiled back. His voice was tired, but she
could tell that he really was fine; a little beat up, but fine. She
kissed him
on the forehead and then gently lowered him back onto the floor.
Arctica was just coming to her senses. She was slowly climbing
to her feet. Before she got the chance to rise to her full height,
Sailor Moon stormed over to her and kicked her square in the face. Down the villainess went again, but an instinct for survival
started to kick in. She swiped at Sailor Moon with a clawed hand,
missing her by a wide margin. The little blond was furious now.
"Listen you frosty bitch..." (she was so proud of herself...she
could never swear in front of people before!). She accented what
she next said with short powerful kicks. "THAT'S for ruining
a perfectly good evening. THAT'S for trashing Mamo-chan's
apartment. THAT'S for beating up on my boyfriend and THAT'S for
ME!" The last kick sent Arctica into fits of coughing and
gasping.
Sailor Moon smugly took a few steps away from the wretched creature. When she turned and looked, Arctica knew it was all over.
She had lost to a ditzy blond. She screamed in fury and a wind
blew up around her. Sailor Moon didn't even flinch.
"MOON GORGEOUS MEDITATION!" It wasn't even her most powerful
attack anymore. She didn't want to waste her energy
on it. The attack did its work, sending Arctica into oblivion. As soon as she was gone, the wind faded, and the storm outside turned
into a gentle flurry.
The sudden silence was the most startling sound Usagi had head
in a long time. She stood for a moment, lost in it. Her revere
was
broken by a low grunt. She turned. Mamoru had pulled himself
into a sitting position and was smiling proudly at her. "My
hero!"
he joked.
She laughed and transformed back into Usagi. "Are you really
all right?" She walked over to him and helped him to his feet.
He winced but nodded. Usagi eyed him but said nothing more. She lead him to his bedroom, but when he leaned his weight onto
her shoulder she gasped.
"Usagi, you're hurt!"
"It's just a little scratch Mamo-chan; a piece of glass. Don't start thinking you came out on top in this fight." She sat
him down
on the bed and rushed off to the bathroom to get a first aid kit. She called over her shoulder as she rummaged through his medicine
cabinet "Take off your shirt. I'll be in in a second". She heard him laughing quietly to himself and rolled her eyes. boys
and
their dirty little minds.
She returned to the bedroom, arms full of medical supplies.
Usagi spent the next half hour fussing over Mamoru. His
wounds were bad, but not life threatening. He would be fine with
a little
rest. She cleaned and bandaged him and then insisted that he
go to bed. "Usagi" he protested. "You need rest too, and you
have to
take care of that shoulder." He sounded exhausted. She
almost laughed at his excessive protectiveness over her. She would
have
if it weren't for the fact that she was exactly the same way with him.
"I'll take care of my shoulder as soon as I've called my parents. I don't want my father sending out a search party for me. And
when I'm done with my shoulder I'll cover up the broken windows and
doors so that we don't freeze to death in the night. Then
I'll get some sleep too."
He smiled up at her, his eyes becoming heavy. "You're amazing, you know."
"Yeah, I know."
*****
Sunlight was streaming into the apartment. It forced its
way into Mamoru's sleep, disturbing serene dreams about lounging on
a beach in the South Pacific. Slowly, he opened his eyes, trying
to remember exactly what had happened the night before. The
mild throbbing in his head and his side reminded him of most of the
events. He prodded the bandages at his side and was pleased
to find that his wounds were fast on their way to healing themselves.
He took in his surroundings and was rather surprised at how warm
his apartment was. *What did Usagi find to cover the windows
with?* He wondered.
Climbing slowly out of bed to avoid aggravating his sore muscles,
Mamoru left his bedroom to find the angel that took such good
care of him the previous night. When he reached the doorway,
he stopped short. his mouth hung open in absolute shock. His
apartment ws clean, even spotless. The windows and front door
had been replaced, the glass was swept up, the furniture righted, and
the bookcases put back in order. The only sign of the battle
was the empty place where his fish tank once stood. And around the
table in one corner of the room, sat Ami, Minako, and Rei, giggling
and whispering among themselves. They didn't even notice
him standing there, speechless.
Makoto walked out of his kitchen with a tray of rice cakes in
her hands. She caught sight of him and smiled. The other girls
followed Makoto's gaze and smiled when they saw that he was awake. They walked quietly over to him, guiding him back
to his bedroom. When they were all inside, the girls began to
talk all at once.
"You're awake..."
"We were worried..."
"When Usagi called..."
He interrupted them all when he heard Usagi's name.
"Where's Usagi?"
Ami responded in her quiet but authoritative voice. "She
was more tired than she wanted to admit by the time we got here.
I checked the cut in her shoulder and then sent her to bed. She's
still sleeping on your couch."
Mamoru resisted the urge to go running to her right away. Uasgi was fine and she needed her rest. He could visit her
in a little while.
"all right, next question. I'm in no way ungrateful, but...ahh...what happened to my apartment?"
Rei started this time. "Like Ami said, Usagi called us and
told us what happened. We came over and Ami took care of
Usagi."
"Yeah!" Minako chirped. "And when we saw what happened
to your apartment, we all started picking up and straightening
things."
"And I called an old boyfriend" Makoto continued. "He works for a contractor and they came in to fix the door and the windows.
We billed it to you." She finished sheepishly.
"I can't believe Usagi slept though all of that hammering!" Rei wondered.
"Or you for that matter." Ami added thoughtfully. Suddenly there was a hush in the room. All the girls looked at him
and he
could feel a blush start to rise on his cheeks. "Well, I was
a little bit tired you know." He said in his own defense.
Satisfied that Mamoru was fine, the girls all moved back to the
table to munch on Makoto's rice cakes. Mamoru passed them and
headed towards the couch. He smiled down at Usagi, wrapped in
a blanket and sound asleep on his couch. He considered carrying
her to his bedroom, but he didn't want to disturb her.
He sighed and placed a hand on her forehead, brushing back stray
strands of hair. "I love you Usagi. And you were never normal.
You were always incredibly special. And I'm so proud of you and
so..." He stopped and leaned down to her. "Thank you"
He whispered and kissed her on the forehead. Then he stood and
turned to join the girls in eating Makoto's rice cakes.
He never saw the smile spread across Usagi's face as he walked
away, and he never heard the soft whisper "I love you too Mamo-chan".
THE END!