Lover's Last Breath
Test Chapter

(this will be removed if no reviews appear. Yes, please,
flame me. If this thing sucks I want to know. This is my
first real attempt at this kind of yuckiness)

IGNORE THIS EXTREMELY SAPPY PART. SKIP DOWN. PLEASE.
(the authoress would like to keep some of her dignity)


She stood in front of the sliding glass door, staring down at the streets below as she brushed out her long, dark curls. She combed it into a low ponytail and was about to tie it, when two arms suddenly embraced her tenderly.

"Don't tie up your hair." A sultry whisper in her ear made her knees go weak, as though she were fifteen again and he was her first love. "It's too beautiful."

A low laugh clawed out of her throat. "Why shouldn't I? It's in my way. Do you expect me to clean with it hanging in my face?" She leant back into her lover's arms, relishing the feeling.

She felt him sigh deeply. "Why clean? Nothing's dirty.
And I don't expect you to clean. I expect you to be
beautiful."

She smiled. "Is that all you expect of me?" Her eyes were
half-closed. The security she felt, enwrapped in his strong
arms, was like nothing she'd ever had before.

"Well, amoung other things..." She could see his wicked
smirk.

"Of course. My dearest Michael can't go without his luvvie."
She giggled as he began to tickle her. "Don't! Don't!" She
cried out in vain as he scooped her up into his arms and
tossed her into the air. Her head nearly brushed the
ceiling, and she screamed as he caught her, and they both
fell to the lush carpeting.

"And you, my love, need to gain weight." He nuzzled her stomach. "You're much too thin. Doctor's orders."

She pouted at him, her lip quivering in a most becoming way.
"But I eat all the time, Mikey. Isn't my fault the doctor
thinks I don't."

"I know." He cuddled her like a teddy bear. "But you are
skinny."

"I can't help it. I've always been this way." Oriental
tongues plagued her speech, as they did when she was upset.
"And I don't want to eat all that horrible fat stuff."

Michael smiled against her waist. "You know I can't argue
with you, Usa. Never could."

She grinned. "Hey, quit it. That tickles!" She beat him with
a pillow to smother his yelp. "Yes, I know you can't. I exploit it,
remember? That's how I got the carpet, the furniture, the
absence of your poodle..."

One eyebrow quirked. "Oh, you do, don't you!" He began to
tickle her mercilessly. "I'll teach you, won't I?"

Between shriekes of laughter, she begged him to stop, but he
only did after the doorbell rang. He sat up, looking down at
her. "Go get on something decent, love. I'll get the door."

She lifted one elegant brow. "I'm not decent, am I?"

He swatted at her as he stood up and headed down the
hallway, manuevering around the half-packed boxes and chests
until he finally found the door.

He opened it, and came face to face with the most stunning
blonde he'd ever seen.

She looked up at him, and her face fell. "Oh, I'm sorry."
Her words were pleasantly British. "I've got the wrong
house. I was looking for Usagi Moonstone..."

He grinned at her. "No, you've got the right place. She's my
girlfriend."

Her blue eyes went impossibly wide. "G-g-girlfriend?" She
stuttered, staring at him incrediously, from his curly
blonde hair to the boxers and t-shirt he wore. "Usagi-- has
a boyfriend?"

He winked at her. "Well, I hope to make her more than that.
But don't tell her. Come on in... she's getting dressed. I
didn't catch your name--"

She seemed stunned, and more and more so by the moment.

"Minako. Minako Aino."

"You're Japanese?"

She nodded. "Yes, how did you--"

He gestured to the boxes that littered every other inch of
floor space. "We're moving there. My work."

"What do you do?"

He smiled at her. "If I told you, I'd have to kill you."

"Mikey, who are you teasing out there? Hey, don't listen to
him." Usagi's beautiful soprano floated in from behind a
door. "He's a bloody politic... MINAKO!" She froze to a dead
stop in the doorway, every drop of blood in her face
vanishing. "What are YOU doing HERE?"

Minako smiled a bit wryly. "Believe me. It wasn't easy.
You're harder to track than a ghost, girl." One delicate
eyebrow rasied ever so slightly. "One would think you didn't
want me to find you."

Usagi's expression was sour. "Whatever gave you that idea?" She deadpanned.

Michael was watching the exchange, confused. He'd met Usagi
when they were costarring in a small theatre play. She was
the most gorgeous brunette he'd ever laid eyes on and she
actually loved him back. He had noticed she was very vague
about her past-- oriental and difficult. He'd never known
her to have any friends, and she'd told him her only family
was in Japan.

"Uhm... let's see... you changed your look, your name, your
style, your intelligence, your methods, your taste..." She
glanced towards the baffled Michael. "I compliment the
change in taste, though."

Usagi smiled a little. "Michael and I have been together for
a while." She smiled at him. "I love him."

Minako's smile slipped just a noticable bit.

Usagi seemed more relaxed, now, however. She smiled at
Minako. "Mikey's a really nice guy. Unlike others...
wouldn't you agree?" There was something dangerous about the
purr in Usagi's voice that made Michael nervous and Minako
look away.

Michael cleared his throat. Both women looked at him. He
looked at Usagi. "I think I'll leave you two to catch up...
I've got a couple of things to pick up before I start
packing the clothes."

Usagi nodded. "Are you getting the luggage out of storage?"

Michael shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

Usagi grinned. "Goodie! Uhm... don't get the heavy stuff
unless someone is there to help you, okay?" She frowned.
"Okay?" She persisted, moving closer to him, her hands on
her hips. "You're not allowed to move anything heavy. You'll
hurt yourself, and then I'd cry." She pouted. "DO you want
me to cry?"

He looked helplessly to Minako, but the blonde was
snickering into a pillow. He looked down at his girlfriend,
his face red. She was giving him The Look. The look that
made him want to give her the world on a golden platter. The
look that was merciless.

"ALright!" He caved finally, sacrificing his pride. Usagi
made up for it by pulling him down to kiss her. Minako
looked away-- it was one of those kisses that probably would
have errupted into something more than a kiss if company
hadn't have been there. Michael left quickly and Usagi
jumped into a chair across from Minako.

"That was cruel." Minako giggled.

Usagi batted her eyes. "Yeah. But I don't want him to get
all macho and pull a muscle somewhere important." She
smriked.

Minako leaned forward. "How serious are you too?"

Usagi blushed a little. "Serious enough. I want to marry
him, Minako. He's everything I could ever ask for. And from
what I've been able to poke at, he won't mind being king."

"But Mamoru--"

Usagi closed her eyes tightly. "Forget about it, Minako. The
day I marry him is the day hell freezes over and declares
Beryl fit for heaven." She pursed her lips. "I don't want
anything to do with him. He's a soldier, and a prince. But I
have rights over the earth. He's only king if I marry him.
And he knew it."

Minako looked away. "You're right. I don't know how else to
say it. But in the future, you were married to him."

"The future changes. Ask Setsuna."

"That's one of the problems. We can't find her. She
disappeared the same day you did. We know she's alive--
Haruka says that her business and bank accounts are being
handled. And they only take orders from Setsuna."

"I could have told you that." Usagi smiled at Minako.
Haven't you talked to Hotaru lately? I have. And so has
Setsuna." Usagi laughed a little at Minako's expression.
"Yes, Hotaru. The goth college chick. My spy and Setsuna's
update center. Which, by the way, she's returning as of
tomorrow."

"I can't believe it."

"Please, don't." Usagi pulled her legs up under her.

"So you know about Rei and Yuichiro."

"Only had a heart attack. I never actually thought she'd
marry him. Let alone get pregnant."

Minako shrugged. "There hasn't been any senshi activities
for a long time, Usagi. She figured it would be okay... and
Yuichiro still doesn't know." Her eyes glittered. "And she's
going to have twins."

"WHAT!"

"Shhh! She doesn't know! You see, Ami did the scans and Rei
didn't want to know what she was having. So Ami had to fight
tooth and nail too keep a straight face-- it was fantastic!
A boy and a girl." Minako's eyes widened. "Makoto fainted."

"I would have too! Why didn't Hotaru tell me?"

"Ami only told Makoto and I."

"Oh." Something Minako had mentioned before suddenly struck
her. "Yuichiro doesn't know?"

Minako's grin dropped immediatly, and she shook her head
solemnly. "We kept the secret. We haven't told anyone. Not
even your parents." Minako sighed. "Usagi, if you'd only
call them. Write them a letter." She pleaded. "Ikuko hasn't
been the same. Neither has Kenji. And Shingo tried looking
for you."

Usagi turned away. "I'm going with Mikey to Tokyo. I'll try
to go see them." She bit her lip. "Minako, what am I
supposed to say to them? 'Oh, I disappeared for six years
because I was pissed about finding Mamoru sleeping with some
redhead and I didn't want Tokyo to find out I was
Sailormoon,'?" She gritted her teeth. "No way."

Minako smiled hopefully. "You could always show off Michael.
I do my homework-- the guy makes more a year than Ami, and
she's a neuro-surgeon! And even though that little blue-haired girl said you two were together a lot, I didn't actually thing... well, anyway, from what she said... he's rich... And he's polite, and handsome, and--"

"Mine." Usagi finished with a slight smile. "Oh, Minako,
he's so sweet. I never felt this way for Mamoru. With him,
it was always trying to get him to even admit he had
feelings! Mikey's so different."

"Mikey?"

"He hates it. I like it. So he's Mikey."

"Awwww. What does he call you?"

"Usa. Sometimes love. Mostly luvvie, though. Although..."

~'~


Micheal returned some hours later, opened and shutting the
door quietly, like he always did. He heard laughter from the
living room and followed it. He found his girlfriend talking
to Minako like old friends, giggling and gossiping. It took
him a few secnods to realize that they were speaking in
fluent Japanese, and then a few more to make sense of any of
it.

"I can't believe it! Did she attack him?" Usagi leaned
forward, looking more open and happy than he had ever seen
her.

Minako grinned mischeivously. "Did she! I thought the poor
man was going to die! You know how protective she can be of
Michiru. And when he actually said that to her..."

Usagi nodded. "I remember. What did she do?"

"Well, she took the space sword out and had it up to his
neck so fast I didn't even see. Michiru was horrified, but
didn't say anything. And then Haruka told him exactly what
she would do if she ever caught him near her girlfriend
again."

"Which was?"

Minako leaned close to Usagi and whispered something that
made the ice queen go bright purplish-red.

"Oh, she didn't!"

"She did! And the poor guy high-tailed it out of there so
fast, you wouldn't believe! Of course, you couldn't exaqctly
blame him...."

"I wouldn't doubt Haruka would do it. Even after winning a
race..."

"Did you know she's about to win the championship?"

"Yeah! Mikey and I have watched all her races. When we get
to Tokyo, I think I'll introduce them... once I convince
Haruka not to kill him, that is."

"Oh, I don't really think you'll have to worry. Mamoru and
she haven't gotten along since you left. She's absolutely
pissed at him."

"Haruka Ten'oh?" Michael couldn't help it. Minako jumped,
startled, but Usagi turned and smiled a little guiltily.
"You know Haruka Ten'oh? And you never told me?" He clutched
and his heart, mocking pain. "My heart! How you have wounded
me!"

She rolled her eyes at his antics "Yeah, I know Haruka. How
long have you been standing there?" She asked curiously.

"Long enough to discover you know the greatest driver that
has ever touched a Formula-1 track! And that you never told
me! Usagi, the love of my life, how could you withhold such-- such--"

Even Minako had to smile as he fell to his knees
dramatically. Turning to Usagi, she asked, "Where'd you get
him, anyway? A theatre?"

Usagi grinned. "How'd you guess?" Turning to Michael, she
grinned, "Honey, stop it. You're scaring the company. Good
puppie. Now, I was going to introduce you when we got to
Tokyo!"

Michael stopped in mid lament. He peeked one blue eyes open.
"Swear?"

Usagi nodded, solemn. "Swear."

He jumped up, renewed. "One more thing though." He s
stated thoughtfully. "Now that I thnik about it, you've always
called Haruka-sama a her. And you both were. Why?"

Minako looked away, her ears burning as Usagi blushed.
"Haruka *is* a her, Mikey. Believe me, we found out the hard
way."

Minako giggled. "Definatly a she."

Michael let out a whoop. "I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT! I TOLD THEM
ALL! I TOLD THEM! And now who's dancing?" He began a bad
dance routine to celebrate. Usagi covered her face with her
hands.

"Americans." She muttered.

Minako looked at her curiously. "Why's he so happy?"

Usagi groaned. "He made a bet with some of his friends that
Haruka was actually female. I don't know how he figured it
out."

Minako raised an eyebrow as she watched him dance. "Is he
going to hit on Michiru?"

Usagi looked at him as well. "He'd better not. MICHAEL!
YOU'RE GOING TO HIT MY--"

There was a tinkling of shattering glass and Usagi groaned
again and Minako collapsed in laughter.

"-- mirror." Usagi finished, albeit a bit late. "Are you
okay?"

~'~