Chapter 5 and the Epilogue are here!! It only took me about two days
to write this one and I know that it's shorter than all my other one's
but, all well. There is some important stuff at the bottom so please
read them when your done. Don't forget to email me at
jaclenia@hotmail.com Insert Disclaimer Here.

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A week passed and still Usagi stayed in her solitude. She'd
made numerous calls to Naru and her brother, apologizing for different
things. To her brother, for not staying with Loi. To Naru, for making
her take on twice as much work.

'I should really give her a break,' Usagi thought as her
secretary passed through her thoughts. She really did give the girl too
much work. She sat at in her living room, the coffee table littered
with the packages of snacks she'd lived off of. Her feet rested on it,
the bottoms of her black slippers preventing any slipping. She stared
at them with interest, her head tilted to one side.

She gave out a sigh and layed back against the couch. The
muscles in her arm ached as she'd spent the week typing on her spare
computer. Ever since that day, she'd been unable to do anything but. It
soothed her, but didn't heal her.

Reading over the first draft, she realized the similiarities of
the characters in her story to herself. It was a direct reflection of
the events that had been occuring in her life. It would seem odd to
most for an author not to know that she was writing about herself, but
that just shows what bad writers they are. A writer writes. They don't
plot or plan ahead, they just get a thought, write it down, and
something inside of them keeps the story going.

Her red pen lay at her side, un-needed. The words being her
thoughts, they came in clearly, each one filled with emotion that swept
her or a reader away.

Usagi sat there for the next three and a half hours, the only
movement besides her eyes was when she needed to turn the page. The pen
was now in her hands and a few marks were on the many pages. Seeing a
mistake, she crossed out a few words and replaced them.

She tossed the copy onto the floor and stared at the ceiling.
She didn't like the ending. Not just the ending in her story, but the
one in her life. No one wanted things to end this way. But they had, in
both. The shrill sound of her telephone brought her back to reality.
Standing, she walked the few feet to the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey Usagi. I just wanted to tell you that you have an
appointement today."

Usagi groaned loudly and considered hanging up right there. Of
course, her mother had worked hard at implanting manners into her head
and she decided to knock the thought of her head.

"Not today, Naru. I'm not in the mood," she told her in the
hopes that Naru would let things be. No such luck.

"I'm sorry, Usagi, but you can't miss this. It's a television
broadcast about you new book. There expecting you at three."

"But I haven't even finished it yet!!" she argued.

"That doesn't matter. Tokyo International is putting this on
to keep your interests intact. I'll tell them to expect you." Then,
before Usagi had the chance to argue, she hung up.

Usagi looked at the phone and placed it back on the cradle.
She scowled and walked towards her bedroom. She peered into the closet
and looked for something to wear. It was bare except for a few shirts
and slacks, but nothing she could wear to something like this.

"Then I guess I'll just go to the mall," she deadpanned to
no one. She returned to the living room, grabbing a garbage can on her
way, and began to throw away the trash that was laden all around the
room.

She walked over to the front entrance of the room and smiled
with approval. It looked better than before. She tossed on a pair of
jeans and a green sweater, pulling on a pair of leather gloves as she
headed out the door. She threw the bag in the outdoor trash can and
went in her car, happy that she know had a direction.

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The traffic on the highway was light as the Christmas season
was right around the corner. Staring at the bleak whiteness around
herself, she wished she was with Mamoru again, at that city she didn't
know, where there was no snow and they could just sit and eat ice
cream without any worries. She wondered just where it was that he had
taken her. It hadn't been that long of a drive from her office. The
thought that a place like that had been so close and that she'd never
heard about it upset her.

Usagi threw the thought from her mind and concentrated at the
road ahead. The road was slick but she handled it quite well, the years
of experiance she'd had here paying off. The sign for her turn came
and went and she turned to the lane to her right.

The silence was beginning to get to her, so she flipped on the
radio and pressed the seek button. A few stations passed until she
heard one that caught her eye, or *ear* in this case. It was one of
those Christmas talk shows and the caller was a woman from Tennessee
who had just divorced and was missing her husband. She almost pitied
the woman, but she figured the woman didn't need it.

The caller was switched just as she pulled onto the exit and
entered the outskirts of Tokyo. The caller was male and had a really
nice voice, she noted. He talked about someone he loved, but was afraid
she didn't feel the same. How he'd tried to take the relationship
farther, but she hadn't responded and seemed to distance herself from
him. Listening to the conversation, she decided to pity the poor woman
who'd done such a stupid thing. The man sounded like one heck of a
catch.

Her driveway came into view and smiled at the fact that there
were no newpapers piled on her frontstep. She really needed to give
Naru a raise. If it wasn't for that girl, Luna would be dead and her
porch and mailbox would be filled.

The door of her garage came up at the push of the button and
she started to pull in. Then she heard it.

"That was a most touching story, caller. Now if I may ask, what
is your name?"

"My name is Darien S-"

"No last name's please," she told him.

Usagi blanked out and forgot to press the brake on her car,
causing it to crash with the end of her garage, knocking her back into
reality. She backed out, and turned off the car. She sat there for a
few moments and stared into space. She'd pitied herself. Something
she'd promised herself she'd never do.

A snowball hit her window and she looked to find the culprit.
She saw a pair of the neighbors kids and smiled at them. They returned
to their playing without a response. She gazed at her wrist-watch and
saw that she had only an hour before the meeting. Getting out of the
car, she released all thoughts about the men in her life with each
crystalized breath she took. 'Today's is a day for my success, not for
my love life.'

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The room had looked much like she'd expected, located in a
hotel and decorated accordingly. The carpets were marroon and the walls
white, roses of the same colors inhabiting glass vases that were placed
on different end tables. She looked around the room for someone she
recognized, and finding the head of Tokyo Publishing, she walked over
to him.

"Konnichiwa," she greeted at his turned back. The man turned
and smiled at her, his arm outstretched for a hand shake.

"Usagi, I was afraid you wouldn't show. I assume you've met my
friend here," his said as he indicated a man she hadn't noticed.

"Hey Usagi," Mamoru asked in a business-like that matter that
bothered her.

"Greetings, Mamoru-san," she replied in a forced tone. If her
wanted formalities, she would give him formalities. That and the fact
that he had a woman on his arm. She seemed to be twenty at the least,
and the girl had no problems in making it known. The girls gold eyes
looked around the room and spotted a blond man with whom she excused
herself from the two. They stood eyeing eachother for a few moments
before the silence was broken by Mr. Tanaki.

"So are you two ready to start?"

Usagi stared at him in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"Didn't you know? You and Mr. Chiba here are here to discuss
each of you new books."

"Really?" she asked with a tilted head in Mamoru's direction,
her suspicion rising about the whole thing. Mamoru ignored her
questioning look and responded with an eager yes for the both of them.
Tanaki and Mamoru walked towards the table, cameras taking pictures
every few seconds. She followed them and was assaulted with twice as
many light flashes. Boy was she happy that she'd had a fashion
consultant pick out her outfit. The last thing she needed right now was
to be the one in the 'Would You Be Caught Dead In This Outfit?' column.

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The meeting went for about an hour and she couldn't count how
many times she'd seen female reporters flirting with Mamoru. It was
disgusting. 'Why do I care?' Turning her attention away from him, she
looked to the young reporter who had a question for her.

"Yes, sir?"

"Yes. Ms. Tsukino, would you say this book reflects you in any
way? Any similarities?"

Usagi stared at the man with a blank look for a few seconds,
but she caught herself and smiled at the man.

"I've read it over and it does. In almost every sense of the
word," she replied with confidence. That comment riled up the reporters
and they were on her in seconds with questions. She was happy to have
the attention away from him. Less attention on him, less distraction.
In fact, she was ecstatic. For the first ten minutes. Her throat began
to get soar and she noticed that no water had been provided.

When she thought it couldn't get any worse, Mamoru put his arm
around her shoulders and he answered a question for her. Silence
followed for a few minutes and Usagi glared up at him. He only pulled
her closer.

"What, do you THINK you are DOING?" she hissed at him in a low
voice. His fingers rubbed her opposite shoulder and leaned his mouth
next to her ear.

"What you need."

With those few words, he turned towards the reporters and
closed up the meeting. Reporters were disappointed, but the
photographers weren't. Everyone fought to get a picture of the new
couple. At least what appeared to be the new couple.

The walk to the private lunchroom seemed to take forever. She
longed to just run out of there and way from this man. He was so damn
confusing. It drove her INSANE! She was almost beginning to think that
she liked him, but then he pulls a stunt like this. The nerve. Just
goes to show that first impressions are always right.

Usagi pulled away from his arm and sat herself acroos from the
vice president of Tokyo Publishing. To her extreme displeasure, Mamoru
took the seat next to her and this time he put his arm aroung her
waist. It was at that moment that her brain shut down and her heart
overcame. To the surprise of both, she swung her legs over his lap and
rubbed his shoulder much like he'd done to her earlier.

The woman next to the vice president raised her eyebrows at the
two, seeming to be surprised at the action. Tanaki whispered something
in her ear and she nodded with a look of acknowlegdement.

"Mamoru?"

"Yes Usagi."

"How did you know what to do to break me down?" she asked while
looking him in the eyes.

"All I needed to know was that I love you, and love conquers
all. I knew it wouldn't take too long to know that you love me too."

"Mamoru, how do you know you love me? I mean, I don't know how
if that's how I feel. I do have feelings for you, but love is something
I don't understand. Can we take it slow?"

He leaned his forhead down to hers and whispered in her ear.

"I don't care how slow or fast we go, just as long as your with
me."

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Epilogue

Usagi and Mamoru sat side by side at the table, their finished
books displayed according to the author. People were lined up outside
the door, waiting to get their autographed copies of these newest
best-sellers.

"Mamoru, I'm nervous."

"Don't be," he whispered and gave her hand a reassuring
squeeze. She smiled back at him and looked out the glass windows at the
crowd. The cashier walked up to the door and opened it, a stream of
people approaching their table.

"I just wanted to say," a woman with blond hair told the two,
"that it's wonderful you've both found someone. I just met my soulmate
and I couldn't be happier. I wish you both the best." She took the
book and left.

Usagi stared at the ground for a moment, the whole talk of
soulmates and love making her a bit uncomfortable. She would have
pondered this thought longer if the next person in line hadn't put in
their own two cents about their relationship. She hoped it wouldn't be
like this for the rest of the day.

Mamoru handled most of that talk, knowing that Usagi was unsure
of her feelings. He knew she loved him, and he was willing to wait for
her to admit it. He just prayed it would be soon.

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THE END!!!! Not exactly how you thought it would is it? I'm coming out
with another story that continues on from this. I thought it was a cool
idea, making an alternate universe series. Please email me and tell me
if I should or not. Email me at jaclenia@hotmail.com