A Second Chance At Love
Chapter 2: Raindrops
By: Minako-chan
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: As much as I'd like to say Sailor Moon belongs to me,
it doesn't. *shoulders sagging*
Author's Notes: Just a fic inspired by a short Chinese series.
E-mail me! cupid_teacup@hotmail.com ^_^
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 2: Raindrops
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"How's Usagi?" Mamoru asked Usagi's mother on the telephone the
night after the accident.
"I honestly...honestly don't know, Mamoru." Usagi's mother sobbed
and blew her nose.
"Is there anything I can do?" Leaning onto the kitchen counter
for support, Mamoru closed his eyes painfully as the image of
Usagi in her blood-stained gown haunted him.
"Iie, I'm afraid not, Mamoru. Not unless Motoki comes back
himself..." She whimpered and hung up the phone without
another word.
'Not unless Motoki comes back himself...' Mamoru replayed the
words in his mind as he listened to the rhythmic dialtone long
after she had hung up.
He reached into his coat pocket and brought out a worn, blood-
covered letter. One that contained the vow that Motoki had
spent countless nights working on...now the work went in vain.
He could never say it to Usagi, he could never put the ring
on her finger, he could never make her his wife.
"Damnit, Motoki..." Mamoru stared out the window into the
starless night, "why did you let go? Why couldn't you hold
on - if not for life itself, then for HER?"
Then, Mamoru took out his wallet and stared at a small picture
of the beautiful Usagi standing with his best friend, Motoki.
A headache, along with a heartache, forced his eyes to close,
and once again, Mamoru felt alone, realization of his best
friend gone from this world forever finally dawned on him,
and he was afraid, his other best friend and his love, Tsukino
Usagi, would slowly slip away from him as well.
Slowly, his finger trailed over Usagi's face on the picture,
lingering on her rosy cheek. He was going to let his best
friend marry her...no, he had no choice but to let them
be...Usagi had never loved him the way she loved Motoki. She
had loved him since she was just a child. Motoki had treated
her like a little sister at first, then he saw the same light
in her that Mamoru had seen from the very start. Then, the
rest of history.
They would have been so happy together, exactly like a prince
and princess straight out from a fairy tale. But then of
course, princes would never die in most fairy tales. They
would always find their true loves and live happily ever after.
And like in these wonderful stories, princes would always have
a loyal friend who would somehow be forgotten at the end of the
story. Mamoru played this role. Were there any tales in which
the friend fell in love with the princess and received her love in
return?
Mamoru shook his head as he remembered the look on Usagi's
face when she heard the church doors open. The happiness and
hope on her features showed pure love for Motoki.
"You could never love me, Usako...never...you could never..."
He dropped the picture onto the kitchen counter on top of
the letter Motoki had written, and sank into the couch, staring
at the ceiling until the sun came up, crying until he thought
he had no tears left.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
She sat on her bed, rocking herself back and forth. Tears
fell every now and then, and she paid no attention to them.
She already got used to them, as if they were meant to fall.
"Usagi, dear..." Her mother walked into the room, slowly
opening the door.
Usagi stared straight ahead at the blank wall, her eyes
unblinking, tears continuing to fall.
"Usagi..." Her mother sniffled as she glanced at her dear
daughter, then at the untouched tray of food settled on her
desk.
Usagi blinked once, then twice. Then she looked down at her
ring finger and smiled.
"I'm Furuhata Usagi today, mama." She whispered and let out
a whimper.
Her mother broke down then, rushing to Usagi's side. "Usagi,
I know how difficult this must be for you right now...but
please, just talk to me. Talk to your friends...you need
to get some fresh air...and you need to eat..."
"I can't, mama, Motoki is coming to pick me up for the honey-
moon." She glanced out the window and smiled. "He promised it
will be a great surprise for me."
Usagi's father stood in the hallway and watched with tear-
filled eyes. He could not utter a single word. Shingo, Usagi's
little brother, for once could not find in his heart any words
to tease his older sister. No matter how much they quarreled,
he loved her and hated to see her in such pain.
"I...I know, dear...but...but you need to eat so you can have
energy for...for the surprise, right?" Her mother closed her
eyes to squeeze out her tears.
"No, Motoki said it's a place where I can eat all the best
desserts in the world. I'm going to save it for that." Usagi
turned to look at her mother with stormy blue eyes clouded
with tears.
"Usagi..." The only word her mother could say.
"Aww, mama, I'll be back soon. I'll always visit. It's not
like Motoki and I are living far away." Usagi reached out
and held her mother's hand.
Her mother jerked her hand away painfully and covered her
face with her hands.
"I can't take this, Usagi! I know this is hard for you,
but Motoki ... he's not coming back, as much as all of us
want him to! Usagi, can't you see that?" Her mother cried
out in agony.
Usagi fell back onto the bed violently and buried her face
in the pillow.
"I know, mama..." She whispered through a muffled sob, "but
for once, I thought it would be nice if I could talk like a
real bride..."
Her father and Shingo rushed into the room then, unable to
control their pain, and embraced Usagi's fragile form on the
bed, letting their own tears fall.
"Usagi, dear, Motoki loved you so much...he'll hate to see you
like this...please, Usagi..." Her father kissed her hair and
patted her head gently like he did when she was a little girl.
"It feels like he's still here...it's so hard..." Usagi lifted
her head from the pillow and buried her face in her father's
chest, soaking his shirt immediately with her tears.
"You still have us, Usagi, we love you, your friends love you.
We will always be here for you." He whispered.
"Why did he leave me?" She trembled and clutched his shirt
tightly, expecting an answer. He looked down at her hesitantly,
then looked away, unable to answer.
Usagi glanced at a picture of Motoki on her nightstand.
"You couldn't even say goodbye, Motoki...you couldn't even say goodbye..."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mamoru sat by the window as the rain fell outside. He crossed his arms
and sank into the big cushion behind his back. Taking off his reading
glasses, he closed his eyes and listened to the sounds of nature.
The rain drops hit the glass every few seconds. Mamoru placed a finger
against the cool glass, wanting to touch a rain drop. But the window
was closed, so of course, he could never touch it.
It was so close, yet so far away.
'Usako...' He murmured.
A soft knock was heard on the door. Snapping out of his thoughts,
Mamoru settled his glasses on the coffee table as he rubbed his eyes
with the back of his hands. He had been having a few sleepless
nights since the accident.
Dejectedly he opened the door without even looking to see who his
visitor was. And without even looking, he could tell it was her
when the door was only half way open, when her face was not even
revealed. He could always sense her when she was near. His heart
always beat wildly against his chest.
"Usagi!" His eyes widened as he opened the door wider to let her
in. "What...what..."
"What am I doing here, you mean?" Usagi smiled weakly as she
pulled the hood off of her golden head and bent down to retrieve
a small box from the floor.
Mamoru nodded sheepishly as he looked at the lidded box with
growing curiosity.
"Do you want me to put this away for you?" He asked as she stepped
inside his dark apartment.
She did not answer his question but held onto the box tightly, as
if afraid of letting it go. She looked around.
"Do you always keep your place this dark?" She whispered shakily
as she jumped slightly when lightning flashed in the sky.
"Sorry, Usagi." Mamoru smiled and reached out for the lightswitch
behind her.
Immediately, Mamoru could see Usagi's swollen eyes and tear-stained
cheeks.
"How are you, Usagi?" He said as he held her arm gently, nudging her
to go sit down with him on the couch.
She smiled as her eyes watered up. "I'm fine. Arigato, Mamoru-san."
"Sit down, Usagi. I'll go get you some hot chocolate." He turned
around before he could see her tears fall out. How he hated to
see her cry, and how he hated the fact that he would not be able
to make her feel better.
Usagi placed the box on the coffee table and saw Mamoru's reading
glasses. She picked them up and held them gingerly. She let out
a soft whimper, one that was not meant to be heard.
Inside the kitchen, the mug that Mamoru held in his hands fell,
the glass breaking into tiny pieces, the hot liquid spilling over
the polished floor. Ignoring the mess, Mamoru rushed out of the
kitchen to Usagi, who was now trying to stop her crying, to no
avail.
"I'm so sorry, Usagi..." He kneeled before her and took her hands
away from her face. Sad blue eyes met his.
Without a word, Usagi lifted the reading glasses to his face.
"Motoki had the same pair...I used to tease you two...saying that
you two had to have everything the same except for that green
blazer of yours...he had a brown one...I...I used to laugh so
hard..." She squeezed her eyes shut and pulled her hands away
from Mamoru's hold, covering her face once more as her cries
echoed in the small living room.
"I know...I'm sorry, Usagi." Mamoru reached out and pulled her
into an embrace. "I am so sorry." He whispered as he kissed her
hair lovingly and let her cry.
After a few minutes, Usagi opened her eyes again and was reminded
of the reason of her visiting Mamoru the first place. She reached
out a pale hand for the box on his coffee table and pulled the lid
open.
Mamoru let her go as she pushed herself off the couch and sat on
the carpet, taking a deep breath as she reached in for the contents
of the box.
Photographs of them three together, a baseball cap, a old T-shirt,
a few novels, and some old letters.
"I was helping Motoki's parents clean his room today, and I found
these." She whispered.
Mamoru looked at her, puzzled. "Don't you want to keep them?"
Usagi shook her head sadly. "I think he would have liked you
to have them. After all, most of this stuff belong to you." She
smiled weakly.
The baseball cap was Mamoru's, but since Motoki liked it so
much, he snatched it off Mamoru's head one year when they
were still teenagers, and had kept it ever since.
Same thing with the T-shirt.
The novels were the ones that Mamoru recommended to Motoki to
read merely a few months before the accident.
The letters were ones in which Motoki and Mamoru exchanged in
class when they were bored. They were short, informal notes,
consisting of only a few sentences in each. Who knew Motoki
was so sentimental, Mamoru thought sadly. He wished he would
have done the same thing, so he would have more memories of his
very best friend.
Motoki had always been the warm and loving one. Sensitive,
caring, a true romantic. Every girl's dream.
"Mamoru?" Usagi called out after he remained silent for long
minutes.
"Nani?" He blinked and looked at her. Her eyes were full of
concern, even through her tears.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
Mamoru laughed sadly. "Why should you be worried about me?"
He raised an eyebrow. Usagi smiled and continued sorting
through the photographs inside the box. He kept the real
meaning of the question to himself.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 3: So Far Yet So Near
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hope you've enjoyed reading this chapter! It will move
a little faster soon!^_^ Please send me all comments to:
cupid_teacup@hotmail.com
Thank you^_^
Chapter 2: Raindrops
By: Minako-chan
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: As much as I'd like to say Sailor Moon belongs to me,
it doesn't. *shoulders sagging*
Author's Notes: Just a fic inspired by a short Chinese series.
E-mail me! cupid_teacup@hotmail.com ^_^
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 2: Raindrops
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"How's Usagi?" Mamoru asked Usagi's mother on the telephone the
night after the accident.
"I honestly...honestly don't know, Mamoru." Usagi's mother sobbed
and blew her nose.
"Is there anything I can do?" Leaning onto the kitchen counter
for support, Mamoru closed his eyes painfully as the image of
Usagi in her blood-stained gown haunted him.
"Iie, I'm afraid not, Mamoru. Not unless Motoki comes back
himself..." She whimpered and hung up the phone without
another word.
'Not unless Motoki comes back himself...' Mamoru replayed the
words in his mind as he listened to the rhythmic dialtone long
after she had hung up.
He reached into his coat pocket and brought out a worn, blood-
covered letter. One that contained the vow that Motoki had
spent countless nights working on...now the work went in vain.
He could never say it to Usagi, he could never put the ring
on her finger, he could never make her his wife.
"Damnit, Motoki..." Mamoru stared out the window into the
starless night, "why did you let go? Why couldn't you hold
on - if not for life itself, then for HER?"
Then, Mamoru took out his wallet and stared at a small picture
of the beautiful Usagi standing with his best friend, Motoki.
A headache, along with a heartache, forced his eyes to close,
and once again, Mamoru felt alone, realization of his best
friend gone from this world forever finally dawned on him,
and he was afraid, his other best friend and his love, Tsukino
Usagi, would slowly slip away from him as well.
Slowly, his finger trailed over Usagi's face on the picture,
lingering on her rosy cheek. He was going to let his best
friend marry her...no, he had no choice but to let them
be...Usagi had never loved him the way she loved Motoki. She
had loved him since she was just a child. Motoki had treated
her like a little sister at first, then he saw the same light
in her that Mamoru had seen from the very start. Then, the
rest of history.
They would have been so happy together, exactly like a prince
and princess straight out from a fairy tale. But then of
course, princes would never die in most fairy tales. They
would always find their true loves and live happily ever after.
And like in these wonderful stories, princes would always have
a loyal friend who would somehow be forgotten at the end of the
story. Mamoru played this role. Were there any tales in which
the friend fell in love with the princess and received her love in
return?
Mamoru shook his head as he remembered the look on Usagi's
face when she heard the church doors open. The happiness and
hope on her features showed pure love for Motoki.
"You could never love me, Usako...never...you could never..."
He dropped the picture onto the kitchen counter on top of
the letter Motoki had written, and sank into the couch, staring
at the ceiling until the sun came up, crying until he thought
he had no tears left.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
She sat on her bed, rocking herself back and forth. Tears
fell every now and then, and she paid no attention to them.
She already got used to them, as if they were meant to fall.
"Usagi, dear..." Her mother walked into the room, slowly
opening the door.
Usagi stared straight ahead at the blank wall, her eyes
unblinking, tears continuing to fall.
"Usagi..." Her mother sniffled as she glanced at her dear
daughter, then at the untouched tray of food settled on her
desk.
Usagi blinked once, then twice. Then she looked down at her
ring finger and smiled.
"I'm Furuhata Usagi today, mama." She whispered and let out
a whimper.
Her mother broke down then, rushing to Usagi's side. "Usagi,
I know how difficult this must be for you right now...but
please, just talk to me. Talk to your friends...you need
to get some fresh air...and you need to eat..."
"I can't, mama, Motoki is coming to pick me up for the honey-
moon." She glanced out the window and smiled. "He promised it
will be a great surprise for me."
Usagi's father stood in the hallway and watched with tear-
filled eyes. He could not utter a single word. Shingo, Usagi's
little brother, for once could not find in his heart any words
to tease his older sister. No matter how much they quarreled,
he loved her and hated to see her in such pain.
"I...I know, dear...but...but you need to eat so you can have
energy for...for the surprise, right?" Her mother closed her
eyes to squeeze out her tears.
"No, Motoki said it's a place where I can eat all the best
desserts in the world. I'm going to save it for that." Usagi
turned to look at her mother with stormy blue eyes clouded
with tears.
"Usagi..." The only word her mother could say.
"Aww, mama, I'll be back soon. I'll always visit. It's not
like Motoki and I are living far away." Usagi reached out
and held her mother's hand.
Her mother jerked her hand away painfully and covered her
face with her hands.
"I can't take this, Usagi! I know this is hard for you,
but Motoki ... he's not coming back, as much as all of us
want him to! Usagi, can't you see that?" Her mother cried
out in agony.
Usagi fell back onto the bed violently and buried her face
in the pillow.
"I know, mama..." She whispered through a muffled sob, "but
for once, I thought it would be nice if I could talk like a
real bride..."
Her father and Shingo rushed into the room then, unable to
control their pain, and embraced Usagi's fragile form on the
bed, letting their own tears fall.
"Usagi, dear, Motoki loved you so much...he'll hate to see you
like this...please, Usagi..." Her father kissed her hair and
patted her head gently like he did when she was a little girl.
"It feels like he's still here...it's so hard..." Usagi lifted
her head from the pillow and buried her face in her father's
chest, soaking his shirt immediately with her tears.
"You still have us, Usagi, we love you, your friends love you.
We will always be here for you." He whispered.
"Why did he leave me?" She trembled and clutched his shirt
tightly, expecting an answer. He looked down at her hesitantly,
then looked away, unable to answer.
Usagi glanced at a picture of Motoki on her nightstand.
"You couldn't even say goodbye, Motoki...you couldn't even say goodbye..."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mamoru sat by the window as the rain fell outside. He crossed his arms
and sank into the big cushion behind his back. Taking off his reading
glasses, he closed his eyes and listened to the sounds of nature.
The rain drops hit the glass every few seconds. Mamoru placed a finger
against the cool glass, wanting to touch a rain drop. But the window
was closed, so of course, he could never touch it.
It was so close, yet so far away.
'Usako...' He murmured.
A soft knock was heard on the door. Snapping out of his thoughts,
Mamoru settled his glasses on the coffee table as he rubbed his eyes
with the back of his hands. He had been having a few sleepless
nights since the accident.
Dejectedly he opened the door without even looking to see who his
visitor was. And without even looking, he could tell it was her
when the door was only half way open, when her face was not even
revealed. He could always sense her when she was near. His heart
always beat wildly against his chest.
"Usagi!" His eyes widened as he opened the door wider to let her
in. "What...what..."
"What am I doing here, you mean?" Usagi smiled weakly as she
pulled the hood off of her golden head and bent down to retrieve
a small box from the floor.
Mamoru nodded sheepishly as he looked at the lidded box with
growing curiosity.
"Do you want me to put this away for you?" He asked as she stepped
inside his dark apartment.
She did not answer his question but held onto the box tightly, as
if afraid of letting it go. She looked around.
"Do you always keep your place this dark?" She whispered shakily
as she jumped slightly when lightning flashed in the sky.
"Sorry, Usagi." Mamoru smiled and reached out for the lightswitch
behind her.
Immediately, Mamoru could see Usagi's swollen eyes and tear-stained
cheeks.
"How are you, Usagi?" He said as he held her arm gently, nudging her
to go sit down with him on the couch.
She smiled as her eyes watered up. "I'm fine. Arigato, Mamoru-san."
"Sit down, Usagi. I'll go get you some hot chocolate." He turned
around before he could see her tears fall out. How he hated to
see her cry, and how he hated the fact that he would not be able
to make her feel better.
Usagi placed the box on the coffee table and saw Mamoru's reading
glasses. She picked them up and held them gingerly. She let out
a soft whimper, one that was not meant to be heard.
Inside the kitchen, the mug that Mamoru held in his hands fell,
the glass breaking into tiny pieces, the hot liquid spilling over
the polished floor. Ignoring the mess, Mamoru rushed out of the
kitchen to Usagi, who was now trying to stop her crying, to no
avail.
"I'm so sorry, Usagi..." He kneeled before her and took her hands
away from her face. Sad blue eyes met his.
Without a word, Usagi lifted the reading glasses to his face.
"Motoki had the same pair...I used to tease you two...saying that
you two had to have everything the same except for that green
blazer of yours...he had a brown one...I...I used to laugh so
hard..." She squeezed her eyes shut and pulled her hands away
from Mamoru's hold, covering her face once more as her cries
echoed in the small living room.
"I know...I'm sorry, Usagi." Mamoru reached out and pulled her
into an embrace. "I am so sorry." He whispered as he kissed her
hair lovingly and let her cry.
After a few minutes, Usagi opened her eyes again and was reminded
of the reason of her visiting Mamoru the first place. She reached
out a pale hand for the box on his coffee table and pulled the lid
open.
Mamoru let her go as she pushed herself off the couch and sat on
the carpet, taking a deep breath as she reached in for the contents
of the box.
Photographs of them three together, a baseball cap, a old T-shirt,
a few novels, and some old letters.
"I was helping Motoki's parents clean his room today, and I found
these." She whispered.
Mamoru looked at her, puzzled. "Don't you want to keep them?"
Usagi shook her head sadly. "I think he would have liked you
to have them. After all, most of this stuff belong to you." She
smiled weakly.
The baseball cap was Mamoru's, but since Motoki liked it so
much, he snatched it off Mamoru's head one year when they
were still teenagers, and had kept it ever since.
Same thing with the T-shirt.
The novels were the ones that Mamoru recommended to Motoki to
read merely a few months before the accident.
The letters were ones in which Motoki and Mamoru exchanged in
class when they were bored. They were short, informal notes,
consisting of only a few sentences in each. Who knew Motoki
was so sentimental, Mamoru thought sadly. He wished he would
have done the same thing, so he would have more memories of his
very best friend.
Motoki had always been the warm and loving one. Sensitive,
caring, a true romantic. Every girl's dream.
"Mamoru?" Usagi called out after he remained silent for long
minutes.
"Nani?" He blinked and looked at her. Her eyes were full of
concern, even through her tears.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
Mamoru laughed sadly. "Why should you be worried about me?"
He raised an eyebrow. Usagi smiled and continued sorting
through the photographs inside the box. He kept the real
meaning of the question to himself.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 3: So Far Yet So Near
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hope you've enjoyed reading this chapter! It will move
a little faster soon!^_^ Please send me all comments to:
cupid_teacup@hotmail.com
Thank you^_^