Author's Notes: The entire mall scene was written by the VERY talented Chibi Tenshi. Email her at chibi_tenshi24@yahoo.com and tell her what a great job she did! For the rather evil parts towards the end you can thank Chibi Tenshi again along with, Krys-chan, Oneesan, and D-chan. Ririna bashing ahead.
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Give a Reason
Chapter Eleven: Quatre's Day to Shine
Usagi grinned at Haruka, "You can henshin if you want."
Haruka shook her head, "Wouldn't want to risk hurting you, Koneko."
Usagi nodded and bowed slightly in respect. "Ready?" She chirped.
Haruka nodded and the two began. Usagi attempted a simple leg sweet but Haruka blocked it and executed one of her own. Usagi fell to the floor and Haruka followed prepared to follow through with the attack with a blow to the chest. Usagi rolled at the last second and sprang to her feet her eyes dancing with delight.
Wufei watched the two with a scowl. "Seeing two onna's fight isn't very entertaining."
Quatre frowned slightly at his companion, "Demo, Wufei you have to admit Usagi-san is doing very well."
Wufei nodded, "She's good... for an onna."
Quatre gave a tiny sigh and turned his attention back to the fight. He wanted his Goddess to win but he knew if she did she'd go shopping with Wufei and could be gone the entire day. Quatre clutched his chest slightly at the thought. 'An entire day without her? I don't think I could handle it...'
Ail's moment of weakness passed and he closed his eyes. 'I need energy. The only one who wants to give it to me isn't here and if I go looking for her I'll be lost like that Ririna girl...' He shook his head and lied down on the couch. 'Iie, I'll just wait here for her.'
Usagi jumped back from a well placed kick of Haruka's a pout on her lips. "No fair! You have longer legs..."
Haruka smirked, "You can do better then this, Koneko. Stop holding back."
Usagi stuck her tongue out, "Hai, hai, hai," she mumbled dodging a punch. "Fei-chan didn't treat me like a fragile flower though."
Haruka smiled and didn't comment. While Usagi was making her point the taller woman had grabbed the girl's pigtails calling a halt to the fight. "You know it's to easy to win when you have hair this long."
Usagi struggled to free herself, "Cheater," she declared her nose wrinkling
Haruka merely smiled, "There's no laws against using your disadvantages against you, Koneko-chan. You'll have to train a bit more to defeat me."
Usagi pouted for a moment before bouncing over to Quatre. "Quatre-chan!"
Quatre smiled. "Gomen, that you lost, Usagi-san."
"It's alright, Quatre-chan. Now we can go shopping! Do you wanna bring Trowa?"
'No,' Quatre responded in his mind. "I think he may be busy... do you want me to go find him and ask?"
Usagi thought about it for a moment and shook her head. "Iie, I guess not. I don't want to disturb him. I'll get a hold of him later." She turned back to Haruka, Wufei, and Hiiro. "See you guys later," She called skipping through the door dragging Quatre with her.
Hiiro got up and Wufei glanced at him for a moment. "Following her again?"
Hiiro merely nodded. "Milardo won't give up so easily. He'll attack her again."
Wufei nodded in agreement. "I'll keep an eye on that Ail person too."
Hiiro nodded and left the room. Haruka turned to Wufei. "You think Koneko-chan may be attacked while shopping?"
Wufei glared at her for a moment. 'Why didn't she throw the fight so Usagi could spend the day with...' He scowled, "Hai, she'd probably be attacked while shopping so it's best if Hiiro's there. He's trained for every situation. He won't let Milardo harm her."
Duo avoided the hallway Ririna was currently occupying and found Seiya. "What are you up to?" he asked with a long drawn out sigh.
Seiya yawned in reply, "Hiding out."
"From who?"
"That strange girl haunting the halls..."
"You mean Ririna?"
Seiya nodded, "Hai."
Duo chuckled faintly. "She's probably still trying to find Hiiro."
Seiya glanced over Duo's shoulder. "Where is Odango-chan's room?"
Duo frowned the tiniest bit. "Why do you want to know?"
"I'm a Senshi and though she's not my Princess it's my duty to protect her."
'That DOES make sense but do I really want to lead him to where Bunny sleeps?' Duo pondered it for a brief moment. "Okay, I'll lead you there. I think Quatre has your's, Haruka's, and Ail's rooms all beside each other."
Seiya smiled, "Lead the way then. Umm... do you think we can stay OUT of that psycho girl's way?"
Duo smirked, "Of course..."
Seiya glanced at the other boy in ease. 'Why do I have the feeling he's not COMPLETELY trustworthy?'
Duo smiled innocently, "Wait here, Seiya while I go check which way Ririna went." Seiya nodded and watched the braided one go fighting the unease in his stomach.
Quatre glanced sideways at Usagi and smiled. "Where do you want to go first, Usagi-san?"
Usagi smiled her blue eyes dancing."ANYWHERE, Quatre?" Quatre nodded and Usagi grinned and began to bounce around the room like her namesake. "I want to get some new clothes first, and then some manga, and take a break for some really yummy food, and then shop for MORE clothes and finish it all up with a trip to get everyone else a little something!"
Quatre smiled, "All right, Usagi-san that sounds like quite a few things to do... what do you want to shop for first?"
Usagi gave the idea considerable thought. On one hand, there was clothes. On the other, there was manga then again, there was always food! With a squeal, she yanked on Quatre's hand, dragging him along. There was a slight blush on his cheeks. Being dragged along in a public mall like that was to say the least humiliating. Murmuring a quiet prayer, he was thankful that none of the other guys was here to witness this.
From behind a pillar, a pair of Prussian blue eyes glinted with amusement.
Though he had seen her eat many times, he was still left slightly dumbfounded
at the exquisite Goddess who had the ability to demolish the pile of food within
moments. She grabbed her drink, and had the cutest expression on her face, or
so Quatre thought anyway.
"Is everything okay, Usagi-san?"
"Hai, hai. I'm just thinking clothes that's it, clothes next!"
And once again, Quatre was dragged along with silver odangoes streaming gracefully.
She halted in front of a store, and pressed her face up to the glass. Quatre
smiled to himself. She was gazing at a dress that reminded him of fairies in
children's stories. She was looking at it wistfully, a look of yearning on her
face. 'If I can make her happy just for one moment, why not? And besides,
maybe this will give me an edge over the other guys.'
"Usagi-san, would you like to try that dress on?"
She shook her head, sending silver hair cascading everywhere, unknowingly drawing the attention of the soldier crouching stealthily behind a garbage can.
"It's too expensive, Quatre-san."
"Lucky for you, money's not an issue with me at all. Let's go."
Usagi took a deep breath and stared at herself in the mirror. It almost was
a dead ringer for her Neo-Serenity dress, except it was made out of an iridescent
material that seemed to catch the light and send it sparkling back in a wave
of stars. A soft sighed escaped, and she bit her lips softly. What was she doing
here? Five men, each meaning something to her in different ways, touching her
heart from various sides. And Quatre was outside right now, the sweetest of
them all really. He had always taken such good care of her, and was attentive.
His gentle nature, the sweetness of his soul warmed her blood in ways she didn't
want to think about. Without knowing why, she reached up and undid her usual
odangoes, allowing the silvery hair to spill past her waist in luxuriant waves.
Her past had made her who she was, but wasn't it time to let go? In the mirror,
her eyes reflected the sadness that plagued her soul. Now was no time to think
of such things. She had better hurry out before Quatre got really worried.
Sitting on the waiting chair, he stared unseeing at the mirror, and from each
side, there was always him. From each angle, he always looked the same. Quiet,
unassuming, gentle Quatre. Those were his known traits, the peacemaker. For
once in his life, he wanted something different. If the mirror could catch different
angles of his person, could he not do the same? At that moment, Usagi stepped
out of the change room, rendering him speechless. She was without a doubt breath-taking.
She was wearing a dress that reminded him of the strange dress she had worn,
but it was different at the same time. Trimmed with gold, the delicate spaghetti
straps hung over her shoulders, and the dress shimmered looking as if the stars
were shining upon it. And her hair god there was so much of it that
he longed to run his fingers through. If she had wings at the moment, he would've
believe her to be an angel.
Sitting on a bench directly facing the store's change room, Hiiro carefully surveyed the surroundings, making sure Milardo was nowhere in sight. That crazed baka was liable to attack, or so he kept trying to tell himself. She's just a mission to you, soldier don't think of His thoughts dispersed at that moment, and for the life of him, he could not recall what he had been thinking about. His mouth was lost somewhere in his throat, as Usagi stepped out of the dressing room tentatively. The dress caught the lights, sending back sparkles of light that seem to reflect like the stars in the sky. Her hair he had never seen anything like it. Long, wavy, and silvery it looked so soft so silky. His hand almost dropped the paper that he had been holding up to shield him from sight to reach out unconsciously towards her. He caught himself, and shook his head to clear his thoughts. She's just a mission protecting her is my mission So caught up was he in convincing himself that he failed to note the man he was supposed to protect Usagi against slipping into the store.
Milardo crept behind some clothes, not really paying attention to what he was doing, or where he was wandering towards. All he knew was that Usagi stood not ten feet away from him and he was so close to capturing her. He smirked in self-satisfaction as he neared his target, patting himself on the back for the clever disguise. He'd dyed his hair black; afterall, his long blonde hair did draw a lot of unwanted attention. Clad in some drab clothes, he opted for the inconspicuous look, with none of his usual flashy royal garbs. Distracted temporarily by the vision in shimmery silver, he accidentally tripped, and wound up in the dressing room of a strange, and rather large woman. An unearthly-shriek sounded out as he scrambled to his feet, his face flaming in embarrassment.
"Security!! Security!! There's a pervert in here!!" Large fleshy folds of fat temporarily blinded him as he stumbled back out of the change room, and a pair of blue eyes danced with unholy mirth. Catching his eyes, Usagi winked at him as he backed out of the store and took off running, with Hiiro not too far behind him.
Quatre looked at Usagi quizzically. "Did you know him Usagi-san?"
With a secret grin, she replied, "Iie, Quatre-san. I wouldn't know such hentais."
Returning her gaze back to the mirror, her reflection stared back at her unflinchingly. It was weird how a mirror could somehow show the different facets of who you were, and despite the many angles that you could see someone, it all was essentially the same person. Her amusement abandoned, she reached her hand out to touch the cool glass. Was that what all her feelings represented? Did she somehow love each man differently? Was that the different aspects of her personality responding to each of them that were so different, but still the same? Her feelings were confusing her, and she looked up to catch the concerned blue gaze of Quatre.
"Usagi-san are you okay?"
She nodded her head quickly, and he frowned slightly, the look striking her as odd. Quatre was such a happy, gentle soul. It didn't suit him one bit.
He wasn't too happy about Usagi avoiding his question, but he had little choice in the matter. If he had been Hiiro, he could've threatened with a gun. Or if he had been Duo, he would've been able to charm a smile out of her. As he went through all the pilots' personalities, he came to a sudden realisation. He could only be himself and hope that she would love him for who he was. But having said that, he wasn't going to lay down and allow the other four competitors to trample all over him. He wasn't quite ready to all it quits. That's why they say, "All's fair in love and war", or so the saying went. Returning his thoughts back to the blonde goddess at present, she was looking remarkable as she quirked a perfect brow at him.
"In case I hadn't mentioned it earlier, you look incredible."
She blushed slightly at Quatre's words, and she could see the reverent light shining from his eyes. Purity and truth. That had always been the essence of Quatre that a part of her had responded to. He would never lie, and never hurt her deliberately.
"You think so, Quatre-san?"
"Hai. I don't think I've ever met another woman as beautiful as you."
She didn't believe it was possible for her face to turn any redder, but as Quatre's lips curved in amusement, it may have been entirely possible.
Turning to the salesgirl who was watching them with interest, not to mention eyeing the commission that she would get, Quatre nodded.
"We'll take it."
Usagi stared at him in shock. "But Quatre! It's so horribly expensive. I couldn't possibly accept it from you."
"Consider it a gift. Or a loaner. To be worn, until it doesn't fit, or you tire of it."
"Oh Quatre-san"
His blue eyes held a glint of something she couldn't quite identify.
If only she knew to make her smile for me is all I ever want from her, he thought, hoping against hope.
And as her lips curved upwards with the beginnings of yet another devastating smile, he swore his heart stopped beating for a moment.
After paying for the dress and having the store deliver it so it wouldn't get
any wrinkles, Quatre made his way over to Usagi who had somehow found a milkshake
stall. He almost choked in shock since they had eaten a little over a half hour
ago. Where did she put it all anyway? He thought to himself, flushing a little
as he caught himself staring at her petite figure.
"Quatre-san!" She waved him over, and once again, he found himself helpless to the spell that she wove around him.
Hiiro mumbled indiscernible curses under his breath as he made his way back
to the store. He had somehow lost that moron Milardo, and he fully blamed it
on the hoard of children that got in his way. Mentally berating himself for
being distracted by a silvery haired, blue-eyed enchantress who had the most
beautiful smile, sweetest disposition, and most kissable lips Kuso. It
was happening again. With a perma-scowl etched on his face, he frightened quite
a few children as he stalked towards a milkshake stand unknowingly, pausing
mere detectable feet away before realising what he was doing. This is a mission,
soldier. Keep your mind on track. He swiftly ducked into the first store
only to find himself attacked by a swarm extremely feminine hair stylists that
descended upon him.
Usagi had persuaded him to sit down and have a shake with her, although Quatre swore that there was no room left in his stomach. Making a mental note to take it slow, he took a careful sip at his milkshake, though it was apparent that she wasn't taking the same precaution as he. There were so many aspects to her personality, and that was partially why he fell in love with her in the first place. A softness appeared in his blue eyes as he gazed at her profile. She took in the sights of the mall much like a child, filled with enthusiasm and delight. She caught him looking at her upon turning her head back and she smiled at him, causing his heart to beat just a bit faster.
"Your husband's a fool, you know."
"Quatre-san?" She asked, stunned by the comment.
"I don't know how he could've let somebody as wonderful as you slip by, and I don't know how he could've treated you the way he did. It's not right. It just isn't."
"You're nothing like him, Quatre-san. That's why you can't understand. You're the personification of pureness and light. You're a good person, and you could never willingly hurt anyone. Not with deliberation anyway."
"Is is that how you see me?" Great, she thinks of me as Mr. Goody Two Shoes.
As if sensing his thoughts, she spoke carefully. "You treat people with kindness and consideration. You've been so sweet to me since I first came into this world. I don't doubt that there are parts to you that we've never seen but inherently you're a good person. Do you know how rare that is in life?"
He felt himself grow a little warm at her heart-felt words.
Unable to resist, she teased, "And a guy who blushes. The woman who wins your heart will be the luckiest person alive."
He froze at her words, as did she when she realised what she just said. Red stained her cheeks as she looked away suddenly. He cleared his throat and fumbled with the straw of his milkshake awkwardly as she quickly sipped her own.
"What about Ail and Seiya?" He blurted out, the need to know unbearable. Judging by the way she acted around his friends, he already knew how she felt about them. But the two newcomers were unknowns in the equation. Know your enemy. He could thank Hiiro for that saying later.
She reverted her eyes back to him, and met his eyes dead on. "Ail's just a friend to me, that's it. Seiya Seiya just has been good to me. A close friend."
"He's in love with you too, isn't he?" He asked in realisation.
"It was a long time ago." She replied simply. Pushing aside her milkshake, she got up and gave him a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Why don't we"
He reached for her hand, allowing him to feel the softness of her skin for one moment before speaking. "Gomen, Usagi-san. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."
She gave him a real smile this time. "And that's why I feel like the luckiest woman in the world."
Hiiro stomped out of the salon, minus $150 out of his wallet, with blonde streaks
running rampant in his hair.
"Thsee you again thsir!" A flamboyant male waved jovially.
Growling, he made his way towards the drugstore, before remembering he was supposed to guard his mission. AGAIN. He had been distracted. This was no way for a soldier to behave. He observed Usagi giving Quatre one of her patented full-wattage smiles and fumed inwardly. Uttering more foul words that he hadn't used earlier, he hunched down, making a mental note to stay away from hair salons and buy dark brown hair dye.
Usagi blinked as the man simply disappeared.
"What is it, Usagi-san?"
"I could've sworn that it was the pervert following us, but the hair colour was wrong." She seemed a bit disappointed to Quatre's eyes, though she immediately lit up at the sight of a comic book store. "Come! I want to see if the manga has changed from my world."
As he was once again being led into the store, he would not have been surprised if it had been Hiiro following them.
Duo grinned. 'All I have to do is disguise myself as Bunny and then tell
Seiya I only think of him as a friend and that I'm madly in love with Duo and
wanna marry him and be with him forever and ever...'
He broke out of his thoughts when he realized he had almost walking into a sleeping Ririna. He tiptoed around her a smirk playing on his lips. He pulled out the disguise pen only wincing slightly at the pink color. "Disguise power turn me into Usagi," He whispered to it.
The light surrounded him and then he vanished. He grinned as he felt his hair in odangos and was about to go play his prank on Seiya when he realized his hair instead of turning silvery white was still the same brown color. He pouted. "Maybe Bunny has something in her room that will help me hide this..."
Usagi came out of the manga store her eyes full of wonderment, "Demo, Quatre you're too kind to be buying me all of the manga they had!"
Quatre merely smiled at her, "You haven't read any in a long time, ne?"
Usagi nodded slightly, "Hai, not ever since I was eighteen and marri-" she stopped and winced slightly. "Gomen, Quatre-chan I shouldn't bring him up. I haven't read any since then."
"It's okay, Usagi-chan. As for what I bought I'm just letting you catch up. They'll ship the entire archives to the mansion within the night for you."
Usagi hugged him tightly, "Arigato, Quatre. You have no idea how much this means to me..."
Quatre held her closely to him for a long moment savoring the smell of her. He gently kissed her cheek. "I understand it's a part of your past you had to let go against your wishes. I'm just letting you regain some of your past."
Usagi wiped a shining tear out of her cheek and hugged Quatre agian. "Arigato, Quatre-chan." she whispered.
A brown-haired, blonde streaked soldier watched his prussian blue eyes emotionless. Usagi was giving Quatre a look he hadn't really seen before. It was different from her happy smiles and her tears of grief. It's like her entire body was shining as she smiled softly at the blonde boy. Hiiro felt the stirrings of jealousy once again creep up on him and with great effort forced them away. He didn't need to have anything to do with her. The other four pilots were making fools of theirselves enough there was no reason why he should join in.
Usagi pulled away from Quatre and smiled brightly at him. "Quatre-chan?"
"Hai?"
"Would you be upset if we went home now?"
"You're done shopping?"
"I want to spend the rest of the day with you and the others. I want to check on Ail too."
Quatre remembered Duo yelling something and frowned slightly in concern. "Is something wrong with him, Usagi-chan?"
Usagi shook her head, "Iie, not exactly. You see he's an alien and needs energy to survive. He usually gets his energy from the Makaiju but that's not here so he needs it from somewhere else."
Quatre gasped as he realized what she was saying. "Usagi..."
Usagi smiled, "I'll be fine, Quatre-chan. It doesn't hurt it just leaves me a bit weak. He's my friend, Quatre. He doesn't know who I really am and if he did I don't know what he would do..." She sighed and smiled once more, "But it doesn't matter. I won't let him die."
Quatre nodded in understanding. "All right, demo, Usagi-chan be careful."
Usagi turned her blue eyes dancing, "Of course!" Her eyes turned serious and her face relaxed into a serene expression that made her look older. "You've all changed me, Quatre. Before I didn't want to live. I thought I had failed everyone. I thought I didn't deserve to live nor was needed but you've all proved me wrong. I have friends again and I'll do everything in my power to stay alive and enjoy you all." Her eyes clouded a bit. "My only regret is my Senshi aren't here..."
Quatre didn't speak. He realized the pain of loss. Losing his Father had driven him to the brink of disaster and seeing Usagi's outlook on life made him happier then anything else in the world. "Shall we go, Usagi-chan?"
Usagi nodded the clouds banished from her eyes. "Hai," she tucked her hand into his and leaned against him. "Arigato for spending the day with me, Quatre-chan."
Quatre turned and brought her into his arms gently kissing her on the lips. He watched the blush on her cheeks and couldn't stop the smile that came to his lips. "Gomen, Usagi you just looked.. so ... so kissable right then."
Usagi flushed and lowered her eyes. "It's okay, Quatre-chan." She smiled at him and tugged on his arm her eyes becoming playful. "Let's hurry and get back! I want to show Haruka my dress!"
Quatre nodded in agreement as he watched his love's eyes sparkle. 'Goddess...'
Duo grinned and entered Usagi's room. He frowned as he realized it was pitch black. 'How does she see anything in here?' He fumbled for the light switch but it remained off. He crossed his arms and scowled. "Now this isn't fair... How am I supposed to see without light?"
Ail opened his eyes partially. He had heard his Usagi-chan's voice. He smiled slightly. She was back earlier then he had thought she would be. He watched her silhoutte for a long moment as she searched for something on her desk. 'My perfect angel, Usagi,' he thought in contentment. He had unwired the lights himself in preparation for this moment. He slowly got up and got to his feet his eyes locked on the figure.
Duo frowned and cursed beneath his breath. 'She doesn't have ANYTHING in here that can help me?' He opened a cabinet drawer and looked inside. He pushed aside some bottles of shampoo and soap and frowned again. 'There has to be SOMETHING... maybe a wig!' He leaned down and opened another drawer. 'I don't know why Bunny would have a wig but if she does if would HAVE to be here.'
Seiya frowned. "Where did he go? I've been here for almost an hour...."
"Waiting for someone?"
Seiya turned and came face to face with Trowa. "Hai, Duo is supposed to be showing me where Odango's room is."
'He's looking for Usagi-hime's room?' Trowa wondered. "Why do you need to know?"
"So I can protect her. I am a Senshi afterall."
"But you're not hers, ne?"
Seiya frowned, "Iie..."
"I can take you."
"Honto?"
"hai."
"Could we avoid that psychopath lady?"
"Ririna?"
"Hai... she was calling out for Hiiro and had this evil look in her eyes."
"Hai, we can avoid her. I wonder why Duo didn't take you though."
"He said he was going ahead to see where she is."
"She's currently about five hallways down from Usagi's room."
"Isn't that dangerous?"
"Iie, Ririna wouldn't do anything. She's a pacifist." Trowa waited for the space of a heart beat before speaking again. "Shall we?" Seiya nodded and the two followed the hallway and to Usagi's room.
Duo came up empty handed and sighed once more. 'I give up.. maybe if I call Seiya into this room he couldn't tell though! Yeah! That's what I'll do!' Plan in mind he turned a grin on his face and ran into a chest. He looked up startled and saw Ail.
"Usagi-chan," Ail whispered as he leaned down to kiss his angel.
Duo was able to mutter a sound resembling a yelp before he was kissed. At the
same moment two people entered through the door and stared shocked at the scene
before them.
***
I know I said Mamoru would reappear this chapter but I decided to wait until next chapter for him. Be sure to review and email Chibi Tenshi and tell her what a great job she did! Without her you'd all be wanting yet another day for this chapter.
