Hello again! You know, I was thinking about letting it end at the last
chapter, but my hime persuaded me not too. Didn't mean to scare you there
my little cheerleader. ^.~ This isn't the last chapter either, so enjoy.
To all of those people (Misty and my hime) who read that review I left on
that arrogant self righteous person's fic, gomen, I'm not normally like
that and don't worry, it's only encouraged me more to write fics she
doesn't like! :does muscle poses:
[::Akuen::]
by Lady in Red
(Didn't Earth Use To Be So Peaceful?)
"Thank you for letting me stay here last night." Taiki said as Ami came out of her room groggily. She had to explain the situation to Ami as Seiya had explained it to her. She felt bad that she had to force herself upon Ami as a self-invitation but she really had nowhere else to go.
Ami sat down at the table with Taiki and put her hands to her face. "It's no problem." Her eyes just stared blankly across the room, she wasn't really with it this morning, and her hands slid down her face to rest on the table. "What if what Seiya was saying is really true though?"
Taiki's head picked up. "You know who I believe, I know it probably sounds like a bias opinion but I know her too well to lie about something like this." She stood up but still looked at Ami. "If you do find proof that it's true, then I suggest that you do all that you can to be there for Usagi." Taiki collected her things from the couch where she had left the blankets that Ami had loaned her folded neatly in a pile.
Ami looked down at the tabletop below her. The words and questions that Usagi had asked her only the day before replayed themselves over and over again in her head. Was Usagi in love with Seiya… and if she was how was this really affecting her? "I have a feeling that this isn't going to be the only problem she has to deal with."
Taiki crossed the room with her bag and sweater draped over her arm and gave Ami a supportive hug. "No matter what problem she has to deal with she has you, all of you there to help her through it. You're all too strong to let her slip away." She smiled and walked to the door.
"I just hope we're enough." Ami muttered low enough that Taiki couldn't hear her and followed her to the door to let her out. "I hope you guys have a safe trip home. Now I'm going to have to find a new study partner." She winked and opened the door.
"A little early in the morning for studying, ne?" Kureko said as she stood in hall looking at Taiki and Ami smiling at one another. Ami's hair was disheveled and she still had pillow creases on her face.
"Kureko!" Ami said. "It's not what you think." She said as she watched Kureko turn and walk away.
"It seems we can do nothing but cause problems for you guys when we're here." Taiki said with a sardonic smile. "Gomen, I hope we get to see each other again some day."
"Hai." Ami nodded. "It's not your fault. She would never understand what we have to go through, and I could never bring myself to tell her of our burden."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The sun came up and covered the land in a bright wash of orange. "Yet another wonderful day in my life." Seiya rolled over and covered her head with her pillow. "Why the hell can't that sun just stay down once in a while and let me forget that another day of torture will come again tomorrow?"
A high-pitched scream of a woman broke Seiya's wallow in self-pity and brought her to full alert. A maid stood in the doorway of her room with a duster and broom in hand. "Guards!"
Seiya jumped out of bed. "It's me! It's Seiya, see!" She looked the woman in the face as she held her by the shoulders.
Within a moment's time three guards and Kakyuu were also standing in her doorway, none of them said anything but just stood and stared at Seiya standing there actually wearing pajamas for once. "Back so soon?" Kakyuu asked with a smile and then proceeded to give Seiya a giant hug.
The guards relaxed a bit and the maid's heart slowed down from her near heart attack experience. Before Seiya could explain anything a red flash passed by the door and all they heard was a thud and a man's curse. The guards peeked their heads out the door to see what had happened and it appeared that they were trying to stifle their laughter. Kakyuu's lover, Kounetsu, had been running down the hallway in a pair of bunny slippers and a bathrobe to see what was going on and slipped when he had tried to stop at Seiya's room. "Shimatta!" He walked into the room rubbing his ass. (AN: Kounetsu means pyro)
Although Seiya was in no mood to be smiling she still felt the tug at the corners of her lips. "Dumbass." She said under her breath.
Kounetsu gave a stern look to the guards who sweat dropped and went on their way since there was nothing there for them to do except laugh at him some more. He then turned his attention to the blushing maid and realized that his robe was tucked into his boxer shorts. He rolled his eyes and flashed her sending her in a blushing fury down the hallway. "Was that really necessary?" Kakyuu asked looking annoyed along with Seiya.
He just grinned and patted Seiya on the back. "Welcome back!" He said sincerely. "It hasn't been the same around here without you."
"Eh? I see you haven't changed though." Seiya said with an eyebrow cocked. She was not in the mood to be dealing with his sarcastic comments right now. Normally when she wasn't too busy her routine consisted of harassing the staff of the palace with Kounetsu until Kakyuu caught them, but this wasn't normally. "If you guys will excuse me, I'm going back to bed."
Kakyuu looked at her unbelieving and had to blink a few times to regain her composure. "Wait a minute! You come back here early, alone, and don't tell us why and you think we're just going to let you go back to sleep?" Kakyuu was amazed that Seiya actually thought she was going to let that one fly.
"I don't want to hear about your girly problems, I'M going back to bed!" Kounetsu shot a sinister look at Seiya and walked off. He knew she was in for an earful.
Seiya sighed and sat down. "What, there's nothing to talk about." She said not caring to rehash the whole event. Kakyuu gave her the famous, don't-lie-to-me-I-know-you're-hiding-something look. "You're not going to leave me alone until I tell you huh?" Kakyuu shook her head.
"I just don't see what could have happened that made you want to come all the way back home and leave your 'Odango' early." Kakyuu shrugged.
Seiya looked down as if in shame. "She hates me."
"Nani?!" Kakyuu was shocked and suddenly knew some sort of huge soap opera like story was about to follow. Seiya proceeded to tell Kakyuu about what happened and why she was here once more. "NO!"
Seiya looked at Kakyuu with concern. "No what? Why are you so upset?" She asked not seeing why Kakyuu would be upset about this, shouldn't she be trying to comfort her?
"Damn it! Don't you see, if Princess Serenity, who just happens to be Usagi doesn't marry Prince Endymion (Mamoru) then that means that I'm supposed to follow suite." Kakyuu wasn't too happy about any of this.
"You and Odango?" Seiya's eyes went wide and she suddenly had a hard time breathing. "Masaka!"
"Earth will come to be the strongest and most influential planet in the galaxy, it has been written in the stars. In order for Princess Serenity, descendent of the Moon Kingdom, to do this she needs a mate of power." Kakyuu explained and Seiya noticed her hands begin to shake.
"So why you? Why can't they find some other person?" Seiya questioned… why can't I do it?
"I am the only Princess or Prince left in the entire galaxy besides Usagi and Mamoru to be a direct descendent of royal blood." The tears formed in her eyes and soon spilled down her cheeks. "I would have to leave Kinmoku and Kounetsu!"
Seiya took her princess up in a hug. Not only had Mamoru ruined Usagi's life, but now her princess' as well. Seiya had to be strong, she couldn't cry right now, as much as her insides were screaming at her to do so, she couldn't for her princess.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
That dream had been more like a nightmare and she knew she had to find Seiya. Usagi had a very bad feeling about this and dreaded to think that something horrible was going to happen to her. Even though she was still angry with her for what she had done, there was something inside her telling her to believe her, wanting to believe her. She would figure it all out, she just had to talk to Seiya.
Minako's building came into sight and she pushed herself to run a bit faster once she had the added encouragement of its appearance. All of those days of jogging were really paying off. She took the stairs two at a time until she reached the door to Minako's loft, but she paused before knocking. What if she doesn't want to see me, what if she won't talk to me at all? It didn't matter, she had to find out.
Usagi pounded her fist on the door and there was no answer. "Minako, it's me, Usagi!" She pounded again and still there was no answer. She tried the knob and found that it was open and let herself in. There, looking out the window, stood Minako completely oblivious to her presence. "Minako?" Usagi made her way over to her and touched her shoulder.
Minako didn't turn her face but the sunlight glistening off of the paths of tears streaming down her face became apparent to Usagi. Suddenly, without warning, Minako's body became racked with a new round of sobs as she turned to Usagi and took her in her arms.
"Minako, what happened? Where is Seiya?" The fear was noticeable in her voice as she looked around and saw no signs of the Lights anywhere. "Minako? Where's Seiya? Where is she?" Minako's sobs increased and Usagi felt the moisture soaking through her shirt and coming to her own eyes.
"They left." Minako choked out between sobs. "They're gone." She pried herself from Usagi and wiped her tears away, settling down for the moment but she knew it wouldn't last long.
Usagi's face turned angry. "You actually told them to leave?!" She asked in a demanding voice uncommon for her nature.
"Look at me damn it! Does it look like I asked them to leave?" Minako yelled at her princess while pointing out her face and composure. "Seiya left last night after she got off the phone with Mamoru and Taiki and Y- yaten left this morning." Her voice trailed at the end of her sentence, at the mere mention of Yaten's name.
"Gomen…" Usagi looked down and immediately apologized for assuming that of Minako. "Do you want me to go?" She asked meekly. Minako shook her head and gave Usagi a certain sense of comfort. "You fell for her again this time, ne?" Usagi looked at her understandingly and tears were threatening to come and cloud her vision.
Minako's head bobbed up and down. "You'd think I would have learned the first time huh?" She said with a sarcastic smile. She looked at Usagi and saw that there was something different in her eyes. Was she really upset? Of course she was, she had just hurt some one she used to call her best friend. That wasn't it though, there was something else there.
Usagi noticed Minako staring at her and suspected that she was being a little too transparent. "Let's get out of here and get breakfast!" She said with a fake smile. Seiya was gone, there was no way she could set things right, there was no way they could talk and there was no way she was ever going to forgive herself for letting her leave like that, but Minako didn't need to know. Minako didn't need to know that she was going to miss her forever because she loved her so much more now that she had lost her.
Minako giggled at Usagi's fake façade and wiped her tears away. "I'll call the girls." She said going for her phone.
"No, I'll call them." Usagi pushed Minako down to sit down and went to fetch the phone. She looked through the apartment and couldn't find it.
"Usagi, we'll just call them on the way there." Minako said standing up remembering just where her phone was.
"Don't be silly, where is your phone?"
Minako got up and walked over to where Usagi was searching and she looked up at her questioningly for not helping her search for the phone. "Let's just say it's out of comish!" Minako said and headed towards the door.
"Are you hiding something from me?" Usagi asked becoming suspicious of why Minako wouldn't let her use her phone, normally her damn hand was glued to it! "Minako, where is your phone?"
Minako looked sternly at her and her lips pursed into a line. "It's in the bathroom." She said flatly and watched as Usagi walked to the bathroom and stopped at the door.
"What happened?"
"Nothing let's go, it just slipped."
"Yeah right, it looks more like exploded to me!" Usagi said turning her head away from the parts scattered about the bathroom.
"Let's just say that Seiya wasn't too happy when she got off the phone with Mamoru last night. I think she may have a bit of a temper." The last part was turned into a blatantly sarcastic remark, but it did the trick and Usagi was soon walking out the door.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"I wonder how Mamoru's head is feeling this beautiful morning?" Michiru asked over her tea.
A grin made it's way to Haruka's mouth and she refolded the paper. "Probably better than it's going to feel tomorrow morning. Once Usagi finds out what happened, it's open season on Mamoru." Her grin spread wider.
Michiru's smile quickly faded as new thoughts filtered into her conscious and she set her tea down. "What do you think is going to become of our future now?" She asked watching the water in the cup.
"Does it matter? As long as I'm with you, that's all I need." Haruka shot her a devilish grin over her paper and it spawned a smile on Michiru's face. "Besides, it can only be better now that Mamoru the pig won't be a part of it, ne?"
Michiru nodded her head in agreement. Her mind replayed the images of Seiya explaining what had happened to them. She was still amazed that Haruka had given her the benefit of the doubt, but they knew she had to be telling the truth when she left. Why would Seiya come to them of all people if she was lying, and if she was only coming to them so that Usagi would talk to her again, why would she leave? It only proved that she only wanted to see their princess happy. "I agree. I'm just worried about her though."
"Michi, she has all of us, she'll be just fine. I'm going to go 'check' on Mamoru later." Haruka laughed despite herself and refolded her paper one more time.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Mamoru held Usagi in his arms a little tighter than usual. The pounding in his head just wouldn't go away. "So you say you slipped in the shower?" Usagi asked while taking another look at the lump on his head.
He proceeded to give her the puppy dog eyes while nodding his head. "Uh huh. But you know what will make it better?" Usagi just looked at him. "A kiss would make it all go away."
Usagi smiled up at him. There was no way this poor sweet man would have lied to her. She pecked him on the lips. "Mamo…" Her sentence was cut off by Mamoru pressing for another kiss. Usagi went along with it at first but then tried to push herself away. "What are you doing?" She asked holding him at bay.
"Usako, what do you think I'm doing?" He had a seductive look in his eyes and was inching closer to Usagi. "We did it last night, why can't we do it again?"
Usagi shot up off the couch and stared in disbelief down at the man she was supposed to love. "Just because we did it once doesn't mean we have to do it again. Besides it hurt."
Mamoru moved up on the couch and wrapped his arms around her hips. "It will feel better I promise." He kissed her stomach, pulling her shirt up just a bit.
Usagi could remember the time when she couldn't wait to have sex with Mamoru, she couldn't wait to be a woman as she called it. Now that she had done it though, it wasn't the same. She didn't want Mamoru, she didn't feel that sexual pull towards him, to tell the truth she didn't feel any pull towards him. "Please just not right now." She said pulling his head away from her stomach.
"God damn it Usagi! What the hell is wrong with you?" Mamoru stood up pissed.
"N-nothing…" Usagi stuttered back as she tried to back away from him. "I just don't to right now."
"Let me guess, you're never going to want to either huh?!" He let go of her and picked up the glass of water he had been drinking. "What the hell are we doing then? When two people love one another they have sex Usagi!" He smashed the glass against the wall. "You made me wait forever for it and now that you'd finally given it to me you're taking it away? Well that's just fucking great!"
"I'd back up a bit more if I were you Mamoru." A voice came from the doorway along with a soft orange glow.
"Mars!" Usagi turned around to see Sailor Mars standing behind them with her bow drawn tight. "What are you doing transformed? Is there trouble?" Usagi's mind raced immediately drawing to all the worst conclusions.
"Yeah, there's trouble, but I'm taking care of it. Mamoru, mind explaining to Usagi what this is about, you know, save what little dignity you have left and all." Mars smirked at him and took aim right in his chest.
"Is that thing really necessary?" He asked pointing to the flaming bow and arrow.
Usagi looked from Mars to Mamoru looking for an explanation. "Usako, I have no idea what she's doing here, much less talking about." He shrugged.
"Usagi come here." Mars asked from her position and watched as Usagi complied. She looked down at her princess and gave her a wink. "Didn't want you to get burned." She released her arrow and it blasted Mamoru in the chest.
"MAMO-CHAN!" Usagi screamed in horror as she watched Mamoru's chest smoke when he fell to the floor. "Mars! What are you doing?"
"Usako…" Mamoru struggled from his place on the floor and Usagi rushed over to him.
"You know, it's an interesting thing Mamoru, see I what I don't understand is how you thought that Jed wouldn't tell me what you were up to eventually." Mars shrugged and dehenshined. "You're pathetic." She said shaking her head.
"Rei, why did you do that!" Usagi was now full out crying and holding Mamoru in her arms. "Get the hell out of here!"
"Usagi you don't understand…" Rei started but Usagi cut her off.
"No, I'm sick of being told that I don't understand. Get the hell out of here! NOW!" Usagi screamed with her fists clenched and her eyes closed.
Rei stormed over and grabbed Usagi by her arm and stood her up. "You don't want to be treated like a baby, fine then I won't treat you like one." She tugged her arm roughly and then released it when Usagi tried to take it back. "You're not going to chase me away by telling me you hate me and not believing me. I, unlike Seiya, have a duty to you, a duty to protect you. Seiya tried to tell you what this asshole did but you didn't believe her." Rei looked Usagi in the eyes and saw that her look of determination had vanished and was now quickly being replaced by sadness. "Mamoru told Jed the whole thing, a confession really."
"She's right." Haruka said from the doorway stepping over the broken glass. "Oh, it looks like I missed all of the fun!" She said when she noticed Mamoru laying on the floor. "Ah, one more couldn't hurt." She walked over and kicked Mamoru in the stomach.
"Haruka!" Michiru called from behind her.
"Oh, I'm sorry Michi I forgot." She smiled and kicked him again. "That one is from Michi since she's too much of a lady to do it herself."
"Arigato." Michiru beamed a smiled with her hands clasped in front of her.
"Usako, who are you going to believe? A lying piece of shit Starlight and these carpet munching dykes or me?" Mamoru asked from his crippled position. His comment however earned him another swift kick in the side from Haruka.
Usagi's eyes searched from face to face. "Seiya was telling the truth and I sent her away?" She couldn't believe it.
[::Akuen::]
by Lady in Red
(Didn't Earth Use To Be So Peaceful?)
"Thank you for letting me stay here last night." Taiki said as Ami came out of her room groggily. She had to explain the situation to Ami as Seiya had explained it to her. She felt bad that she had to force herself upon Ami as a self-invitation but she really had nowhere else to go.
Ami sat down at the table with Taiki and put her hands to her face. "It's no problem." Her eyes just stared blankly across the room, she wasn't really with it this morning, and her hands slid down her face to rest on the table. "What if what Seiya was saying is really true though?"
Taiki's head picked up. "You know who I believe, I know it probably sounds like a bias opinion but I know her too well to lie about something like this." She stood up but still looked at Ami. "If you do find proof that it's true, then I suggest that you do all that you can to be there for Usagi." Taiki collected her things from the couch where she had left the blankets that Ami had loaned her folded neatly in a pile.
Ami looked down at the tabletop below her. The words and questions that Usagi had asked her only the day before replayed themselves over and over again in her head. Was Usagi in love with Seiya… and if she was how was this really affecting her? "I have a feeling that this isn't going to be the only problem she has to deal with."
Taiki crossed the room with her bag and sweater draped over her arm and gave Ami a supportive hug. "No matter what problem she has to deal with she has you, all of you there to help her through it. You're all too strong to let her slip away." She smiled and walked to the door.
"I just hope we're enough." Ami muttered low enough that Taiki couldn't hear her and followed her to the door to let her out. "I hope you guys have a safe trip home. Now I'm going to have to find a new study partner." She winked and opened the door.
"A little early in the morning for studying, ne?" Kureko said as she stood in hall looking at Taiki and Ami smiling at one another. Ami's hair was disheveled and she still had pillow creases on her face.
"Kureko!" Ami said. "It's not what you think." She said as she watched Kureko turn and walk away.
"It seems we can do nothing but cause problems for you guys when we're here." Taiki said with a sardonic smile. "Gomen, I hope we get to see each other again some day."
"Hai." Ami nodded. "It's not your fault. She would never understand what we have to go through, and I could never bring myself to tell her of our burden."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The sun came up and covered the land in a bright wash of orange. "Yet another wonderful day in my life." Seiya rolled over and covered her head with her pillow. "Why the hell can't that sun just stay down once in a while and let me forget that another day of torture will come again tomorrow?"
A high-pitched scream of a woman broke Seiya's wallow in self-pity and brought her to full alert. A maid stood in the doorway of her room with a duster and broom in hand. "Guards!"
Seiya jumped out of bed. "It's me! It's Seiya, see!" She looked the woman in the face as she held her by the shoulders.
Within a moment's time three guards and Kakyuu were also standing in her doorway, none of them said anything but just stood and stared at Seiya standing there actually wearing pajamas for once. "Back so soon?" Kakyuu asked with a smile and then proceeded to give Seiya a giant hug.
The guards relaxed a bit and the maid's heart slowed down from her near heart attack experience. Before Seiya could explain anything a red flash passed by the door and all they heard was a thud and a man's curse. The guards peeked their heads out the door to see what had happened and it appeared that they were trying to stifle their laughter. Kakyuu's lover, Kounetsu, had been running down the hallway in a pair of bunny slippers and a bathrobe to see what was going on and slipped when he had tried to stop at Seiya's room. "Shimatta!" He walked into the room rubbing his ass. (AN: Kounetsu means pyro)
Although Seiya was in no mood to be smiling she still felt the tug at the corners of her lips. "Dumbass." She said under her breath.
Kounetsu gave a stern look to the guards who sweat dropped and went on their way since there was nothing there for them to do except laugh at him some more. He then turned his attention to the blushing maid and realized that his robe was tucked into his boxer shorts. He rolled his eyes and flashed her sending her in a blushing fury down the hallway. "Was that really necessary?" Kakyuu asked looking annoyed along with Seiya.
He just grinned and patted Seiya on the back. "Welcome back!" He said sincerely. "It hasn't been the same around here without you."
"Eh? I see you haven't changed though." Seiya said with an eyebrow cocked. She was not in the mood to be dealing with his sarcastic comments right now. Normally when she wasn't too busy her routine consisted of harassing the staff of the palace with Kounetsu until Kakyuu caught them, but this wasn't normally. "If you guys will excuse me, I'm going back to bed."
Kakyuu looked at her unbelieving and had to blink a few times to regain her composure. "Wait a minute! You come back here early, alone, and don't tell us why and you think we're just going to let you go back to sleep?" Kakyuu was amazed that Seiya actually thought she was going to let that one fly.
"I don't want to hear about your girly problems, I'M going back to bed!" Kounetsu shot a sinister look at Seiya and walked off. He knew she was in for an earful.
Seiya sighed and sat down. "What, there's nothing to talk about." She said not caring to rehash the whole event. Kakyuu gave her the famous, don't-lie-to-me-I-know-you're-hiding-something look. "You're not going to leave me alone until I tell you huh?" Kakyuu shook her head.
"I just don't see what could have happened that made you want to come all the way back home and leave your 'Odango' early." Kakyuu shrugged.
Seiya looked down as if in shame. "She hates me."
"Nani?!" Kakyuu was shocked and suddenly knew some sort of huge soap opera like story was about to follow. Seiya proceeded to tell Kakyuu about what happened and why she was here once more. "NO!"
Seiya looked at Kakyuu with concern. "No what? Why are you so upset?" She asked not seeing why Kakyuu would be upset about this, shouldn't she be trying to comfort her?
"Damn it! Don't you see, if Princess Serenity, who just happens to be Usagi doesn't marry Prince Endymion (Mamoru) then that means that I'm supposed to follow suite." Kakyuu wasn't too happy about any of this.
"You and Odango?" Seiya's eyes went wide and she suddenly had a hard time breathing. "Masaka!"
"Earth will come to be the strongest and most influential planet in the galaxy, it has been written in the stars. In order for Princess Serenity, descendent of the Moon Kingdom, to do this she needs a mate of power." Kakyuu explained and Seiya noticed her hands begin to shake.
"So why you? Why can't they find some other person?" Seiya questioned… why can't I do it?
"I am the only Princess or Prince left in the entire galaxy besides Usagi and Mamoru to be a direct descendent of royal blood." The tears formed in her eyes and soon spilled down her cheeks. "I would have to leave Kinmoku and Kounetsu!"
Seiya took her princess up in a hug. Not only had Mamoru ruined Usagi's life, but now her princess' as well. Seiya had to be strong, she couldn't cry right now, as much as her insides were screaming at her to do so, she couldn't for her princess.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
That dream had been more like a nightmare and she knew she had to find Seiya. Usagi had a very bad feeling about this and dreaded to think that something horrible was going to happen to her. Even though she was still angry with her for what she had done, there was something inside her telling her to believe her, wanting to believe her. She would figure it all out, she just had to talk to Seiya.
Minako's building came into sight and she pushed herself to run a bit faster once she had the added encouragement of its appearance. All of those days of jogging were really paying off. She took the stairs two at a time until she reached the door to Minako's loft, but she paused before knocking. What if she doesn't want to see me, what if she won't talk to me at all? It didn't matter, she had to find out.
Usagi pounded her fist on the door and there was no answer. "Minako, it's me, Usagi!" She pounded again and still there was no answer. She tried the knob and found that it was open and let herself in. There, looking out the window, stood Minako completely oblivious to her presence. "Minako?" Usagi made her way over to her and touched her shoulder.
Minako didn't turn her face but the sunlight glistening off of the paths of tears streaming down her face became apparent to Usagi. Suddenly, without warning, Minako's body became racked with a new round of sobs as she turned to Usagi and took her in her arms.
"Minako, what happened? Where is Seiya?" The fear was noticeable in her voice as she looked around and saw no signs of the Lights anywhere. "Minako? Where's Seiya? Where is she?" Minako's sobs increased and Usagi felt the moisture soaking through her shirt and coming to her own eyes.
"They left." Minako choked out between sobs. "They're gone." She pried herself from Usagi and wiped her tears away, settling down for the moment but she knew it wouldn't last long.
Usagi's face turned angry. "You actually told them to leave?!" She asked in a demanding voice uncommon for her nature.
"Look at me damn it! Does it look like I asked them to leave?" Minako yelled at her princess while pointing out her face and composure. "Seiya left last night after she got off the phone with Mamoru and Taiki and Y- yaten left this morning." Her voice trailed at the end of her sentence, at the mere mention of Yaten's name.
"Gomen…" Usagi looked down and immediately apologized for assuming that of Minako. "Do you want me to go?" She asked meekly. Minako shook her head and gave Usagi a certain sense of comfort. "You fell for her again this time, ne?" Usagi looked at her understandingly and tears were threatening to come and cloud her vision.
Minako's head bobbed up and down. "You'd think I would have learned the first time huh?" She said with a sarcastic smile. She looked at Usagi and saw that there was something different in her eyes. Was she really upset? Of course she was, she had just hurt some one she used to call her best friend. That wasn't it though, there was something else there.
Usagi noticed Minako staring at her and suspected that she was being a little too transparent. "Let's get out of here and get breakfast!" She said with a fake smile. Seiya was gone, there was no way she could set things right, there was no way they could talk and there was no way she was ever going to forgive herself for letting her leave like that, but Minako didn't need to know. Minako didn't need to know that she was going to miss her forever because she loved her so much more now that she had lost her.
Minako giggled at Usagi's fake façade and wiped her tears away. "I'll call the girls." She said going for her phone.
"No, I'll call them." Usagi pushed Minako down to sit down and went to fetch the phone. She looked through the apartment and couldn't find it.
"Usagi, we'll just call them on the way there." Minako said standing up remembering just where her phone was.
"Don't be silly, where is your phone?"
Minako got up and walked over to where Usagi was searching and she looked up at her questioningly for not helping her search for the phone. "Let's just say it's out of comish!" Minako said and headed towards the door.
"Are you hiding something from me?" Usagi asked becoming suspicious of why Minako wouldn't let her use her phone, normally her damn hand was glued to it! "Minako, where is your phone?"
Minako looked sternly at her and her lips pursed into a line. "It's in the bathroom." She said flatly and watched as Usagi walked to the bathroom and stopped at the door.
"What happened?"
"Nothing let's go, it just slipped."
"Yeah right, it looks more like exploded to me!" Usagi said turning her head away from the parts scattered about the bathroom.
"Let's just say that Seiya wasn't too happy when she got off the phone with Mamoru last night. I think she may have a bit of a temper." The last part was turned into a blatantly sarcastic remark, but it did the trick and Usagi was soon walking out the door.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"I wonder how Mamoru's head is feeling this beautiful morning?" Michiru asked over her tea.
A grin made it's way to Haruka's mouth and she refolded the paper. "Probably better than it's going to feel tomorrow morning. Once Usagi finds out what happened, it's open season on Mamoru." Her grin spread wider.
Michiru's smile quickly faded as new thoughts filtered into her conscious and she set her tea down. "What do you think is going to become of our future now?" She asked watching the water in the cup.
"Does it matter? As long as I'm with you, that's all I need." Haruka shot her a devilish grin over her paper and it spawned a smile on Michiru's face. "Besides, it can only be better now that Mamoru the pig won't be a part of it, ne?"
Michiru nodded her head in agreement. Her mind replayed the images of Seiya explaining what had happened to them. She was still amazed that Haruka had given her the benefit of the doubt, but they knew she had to be telling the truth when she left. Why would Seiya come to them of all people if she was lying, and if she was only coming to them so that Usagi would talk to her again, why would she leave? It only proved that she only wanted to see their princess happy. "I agree. I'm just worried about her though."
"Michi, she has all of us, she'll be just fine. I'm going to go 'check' on Mamoru later." Haruka laughed despite herself and refolded her paper one more time.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Mamoru held Usagi in his arms a little tighter than usual. The pounding in his head just wouldn't go away. "So you say you slipped in the shower?" Usagi asked while taking another look at the lump on his head.
He proceeded to give her the puppy dog eyes while nodding his head. "Uh huh. But you know what will make it better?" Usagi just looked at him. "A kiss would make it all go away."
Usagi smiled up at him. There was no way this poor sweet man would have lied to her. She pecked him on the lips. "Mamo…" Her sentence was cut off by Mamoru pressing for another kiss. Usagi went along with it at first but then tried to push herself away. "What are you doing?" She asked holding him at bay.
"Usako, what do you think I'm doing?" He had a seductive look in his eyes and was inching closer to Usagi. "We did it last night, why can't we do it again?"
Usagi shot up off the couch and stared in disbelief down at the man she was supposed to love. "Just because we did it once doesn't mean we have to do it again. Besides it hurt."
Mamoru moved up on the couch and wrapped his arms around her hips. "It will feel better I promise." He kissed her stomach, pulling her shirt up just a bit.
Usagi could remember the time when she couldn't wait to have sex with Mamoru, she couldn't wait to be a woman as she called it. Now that she had done it though, it wasn't the same. She didn't want Mamoru, she didn't feel that sexual pull towards him, to tell the truth she didn't feel any pull towards him. "Please just not right now." She said pulling his head away from her stomach.
"God damn it Usagi! What the hell is wrong with you?" Mamoru stood up pissed.
"N-nothing…" Usagi stuttered back as she tried to back away from him. "I just don't to right now."
"Let me guess, you're never going to want to either huh?!" He let go of her and picked up the glass of water he had been drinking. "What the hell are we doing then? When two people love one another they have sex Usagi!" He smashed the glass against the wall. "You made me wait forever for it and now that you'd finally given it to me you're taking it away? Well that's just fucking great!"
"I'd back up a bit more if I were you Mamoru." A voice came from the doorway along with a soft orange glow.
"Mars!" Usagi turned around to see Sailor Mars standing behind them with her bow drawn tight. "What are you doing transformed? Is there trouble?" Usagi's mind raced immediately drawing to all the worst conclusions.
"Yeah, there's trouble, but I'm taking care of it. Mamoru, mind explaining to Usagi what this is about, you know, save what little dignity you have left and all." Mars smirked at him and took aim right in his chest.
"Is that thing really necessary?" He asked pointing to the flaming bow and arrow.
Usagi looked from Mars to Mamoru looking for an explanation. "Usako, I have no idea what she's doing here, much less talking about." He shrugged.
"Usagi come here." Mars asked from her position and watched as Usagi complied. She looked down at her princess and gave her a wink. "Didn't want you to get burned." She released her arrow and it blasted Mamoru in the chest.
"MAMO-CHAN!" Usagi screamed in horror as she watched Mamoru's chest smoke when he fell to the floor. "Mars! What are you doing?"
"Usako…" Mamoru struggled from his place on the floor and Usagi rushed over to him.
"You know, it's an interesting thing Mamoru, see I what I don't understand is how you thought that Jed wouldn't tell me what you were up to eventually." Mars shrugged and dehenshined. "You're pathetic." She said shaking her head.
"Rei, why did you do that!" Usagi was now full out crying and holding Mamoru in her arms. "Get the hell out of here!"
"Usagi you don't understand…" Rei started but Usagi cut her off.
"No, I'm sick of being told that I don't understand. Get the hell out of here! NOW!" Usagi screamed with her fists clenched and her eyes closed.
Rei stormed over and grabbed Usagi by her arm and stood her up. "You don't want to be treated like a baby, fine then I won't treat you like one." She tugged her arm roughly and then released it when Usagi tried to take it back. "You're not going to chase me away by telling me you hate me and not believing me. I, unlike Seiya, have a duty to you, a duty to protect you. Seiya tried to tell you what this asshole did but you didn't believe her." Rei looked Usagi in the eyes and saw that her look of determination had vanished and was now quickly being replaced by sadness. "Mamoru told Jed the whole thing, a confession really."
"She's right." Haruka said from the doorway stepping over the broken glass. "Oh, it looks like I missed all of the fun!" She said when she noticed Mamoru laying on the floor. "Ah, one more couldn't hurt." She walked over and kicked Mamoru in the stomach.
"Haruka!" Michiru called from behind her.
"Oh, I'm sorry Michi I forgot." She smiled and kicked him again. "That one is from Michi since she's too much of a lady to do it herself."
"Arigato." Michiru beamed a smiled with her hands clasped in front of her.
"Usako, who are you going to believe? A lying piece of shit Starlight and these carpet munching dykes or me?" Mamoru asked from his crippled position. His comment however earned him another swift kick in the side from Haruka.
Usagi's eyes searched from face to face. "Seiya was telling the truth and I sent her away?" She couldn't believe it.