When I Was A Little Girl
Chapter 10
By: Chibi J
Rated: G
Standard Disclaimers
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It's beautiful. Blue and white swirling. Flowers. I smell flowers.
"Usagi."
"Just five more minutes." The sun is so bright. The stars are shining beautifully.
"Usagi."
"Just a little longer." White. Elegant, beautiful white.
"Usagi."
"Luna, go away." Black. Deep black.
"Who's Luna?"
"My cat."
"Why would your cat be calling your name?"
"Because she's special."
"Usagi, please wake up."
"Fine." I opened my eyes to find a blurry face surrounded by black.
"Are you up?"
"Yes Rei." I said, trying to rub the remains of sleep from my eyes.
"If I was a girl, I guess that could be a compliment."
Confused, I pulled my hands from my eyes and blinked. Short black hair? That's not Rei.
"Where am I?" I asked, still not regaining my full sense.
"The beach. Remember?" The voice, now registering as very masculine, asked. Masculine?
I turned quickly to my left, my vision suddenly clear. It was a guy! And a handsome one at that. Dark ebony hair, deep blue eyes, and tanned skin.
"Who are you?" I asked, still feeling slightly sleepy and not very aware of myself.
"Mamoru. Remember, I'm Makoto's friend." He said. Realization finally hit me and I sat up quickly. This, of course, caused me to become immediately dizzy.
Grabbing my head to stop the dizziness, I looked at him. "Chiba Mamoru."
"Yes." He said with a smile. "I'm glad you remember, I'd hate to think that a girl could forget me." He said with a laugh. However, I couldn't laugh back. My head was spinning slightly and I was still very confused.
"What happened?" I asked as I looked around the beach to see my friends and brother playing in the waves of the water.
"I don't know. I just woke up a minute ago." He said with a shrug of his shoulders. Not much of a comfort. I'm not usually one to just fall asleep in the middle of the day. At least, not on a very relaxing day that I wanted to spend in the water.
"Weird. Must have been the heat." I suggested. He nodded his head in agreement.
"Do you feel okay?" Mamoru asked with a slight tone of worry in his voice. It was nice to have him worry about me.
"Yeah, I think so." I said as I lowered my hands from my head. The water looked very inviting and I wanted to run in the waves. "Want to go swimming?"
"Sure." He said, rising from his chair. I stood up next to him and we walked to the water, only to be attacked by splashes from my brother, Rei, and Minako.
"Hey! No fair!" I said as I ran into the water after my assaulters. The water felt very refreshing and shook the last of the sleep from my body. Which left me to wonder, why did Rei let me sleep so long?
'Rei, why did you let me fall asleep on the beach?' I asked, knowing that she knew how much I wanted to come to the beach for the purpose of swimming.
'Sleep? When were you asleep? We just left you like, three minutes ago.' Rei responded, making me feel very odd.
'Um, never mind, I was just fooling with you.' I said, trying to add a tone of humor. I don't think it worked well, cause Rei just stared at me strangely.
"Usagi, you're really weird." Rei said, as she attacked me again with the water.
I tried to drop the whole incident from my mind, not wanting Rei to try to figure out what was wrong with me. But it was like a strange dream floating around. I remember running up and falling into Mamoru, but everything until I woke up is a blur. Images, mostly blurry colors, were hovering in my mind, unexplainable.
Our beach trip ended without any problem after that, except an incident when we were flying kites. The wind was low and Haruka seemed to be the only one who could get her kite in the air. With a little flick of my wrist, however, I helped Shingo to get his kite up. Mamoru seemed confused as to why only two kites would go up, but I think he gave up.
After our day at the beach, I noticed that Mamoru was coming around more often. Makoto said it was because he lived a boring life and needed to find some excitement. If that's the case, I think he got more than he bargained for.
~*~
"Ahhh! A SALE!!!!" Minako yelled as she ran from our group. We decided that we needed to spend a day as normal teenagers and get away from life. However, when no one else could decide what to do, Minako suggested the mall.
"Mina! Wait for me!" I yelled as I ran to catch up to her. I never said that I had a problem with her suggestion.
"Here we go again." Haruka mumbled. Then again, I never said that everyone else agreed with her suggestion.
Ami was delighted, after spending her entire allowance at the bookstore. Makoto, found her haven in the cookware store. Minako was happy with anything that said sale, while I was just fond of looking. But poor Haruka and Mamoru seemed to be quite bored and disappointed at the lack of leather, motorcycle, and general "male" stores to be found in the mall.
Skipping, I quickly caught up to Minako as she entered the clothing store that had 'Everything 1/2 off!!' and we headed over to a rack of formal dresses. As I started flipping through the dresses, I noticed that Mamoru and Haruka followed us in.
"We'll be sitting in the chairs by the dressing room." Haruka mumbled as she and Mamoru walked away from us.
"Okay," Minako started with a huge grin, "We'll be over shortly to model for you."
I quickly spotted a dress in my size that was beautiful and I knew that I had to try it on. I then picked out two other dresses and saw that Minako also had several dresses in her hands.
"You ready?" I asked with a smile. She nodded her head and we made our way over to the dressing rooms. Mamoru and Haruka were sitting in two chairs reading magazines that had been on a small table.
"You two are fast!" Haruka said in astonishment. "Let's hope this gets done fast." She said to Mamoru with a wink. He nodded his head, not even looking up from his magazine.
Minako and I separated into our own dressing rooms and I began to strip of my clothes. Looking at the dresses I brought in, I decided to save the best for last. So, I chose the pink frilly dress I had grabbed from the rack. I pulled it on over my head and smoothed out the wrinkles as it fell down my body. A look in the mirror made me realize that this dress was more suited for a cotton candy rack.
"Ready?" Minako asked from her room.
"Yes." I said, not feeling confident of my looks in the pink frills.
We stepped out of the dressing rooms in unison. Minako was dressed in an orange dress that was sleeveless and short. It stuck to her body in a very seductive way.
"Minako, I like it." Haruka said, giving her a low whistle. "Usagi... no."
I laughed out loud. "I agree myself. But Minako, I like it too." Minako blushed a little as she gave a small spin in front of a threefold mirror. Mamoru, meanwhile, didn't even appear to notice us. With a sigh, I returned to my dressing room. The sound of a door closing indicated that Minako had as well.
On to dress number two. It was a short lilac dress that floated out at the bottom. It had long sleeves and didn't look to well. In my opinion, it was made awkward. Who would want to wear a short dress with long sleeves?
"Ready." I said and walked out of the room, not giving Minako a chance to reply. However, she walked out at the same time as I did. This time, she was wearing a tacky gold sequin dress that did nothing for her figure.
"Usagi, I don't like the look. Minako..." Haruka trailed off, but gave her two thumbs down. Without waiting for anything else, we both turned and headed back in.
Dress three. This was the one I hoped beyond anything would look good. I slipped the lightweight silver material over my head. It was a long spaghetti strapped dress that clung to my every curve. I had to admit, I really liked how it looked. I looked older than I was, that was for certain.
"Ready." Minako said and we stepped out again, to silence.
I looked to find that Haruka was staring at me with her mouth dropped open. Minako also seemed to be speechless. She was dressed in a cute black dress with spaghetti straps, which ended just below the knees.
"Well?" I asked, wondering what they thought.
"Usagi," Haruka said just barely above a whisper, "You look gorgeous!"
I blushed. Minako seemed to still be tongue tied and simply nodded her head with Haruka. I looked back to Haruka who was smiling and caught sight of Mamoru's eyes falling back down to the magazine. Had he been looking at me?? My curiosity was killing me and I wanted to know what he thought. So, I checked.
Mamoru, like previously when I tried, was very well guarded. One word did come out 'Beautiful'. However, was he referring to the dress, me in it, or something he was looking at in the magazine. Knowing that I would get no answers, I tried the direct approach.
"What do you think Mamoru?"
"Not bad." Not bad! Well, it's better that worse. Giving up, I turned to Minako.
"I like that Minako, but I liked the first one better." Minako simply nodded her head in agreement. We headed back into our dressing rooms. I changed back into my clothes when I heard Minako.
"Ready." Humoring her, I stepped out. She evidently had one more dress than me, so I laughed when she realized that I was done. I walked over and sat in a chair next to Mamoru. Minako had come out in a frilly green dress that was hideous.
"Thumbs down." I replied and Haruka expressed her agreement with her hands.
"Okay, I'm done. I'm getting the orange dress. What about you Usa?" She asked.
"I can't. I don't have enough money to buy the silver dress." I said sadly. I felt eyes on me and turned only to find Mamoru looking at his magazine. Weird.
"Well, I'll change and be done." Minako said and stepped back into the dressing room. Moments later she returned dressed, with her purchase in her hand. She quickly paid and the four of us left the store.
We hadn't even made it to the next store when a loud scream sounded. I quickly looked to my companions and we all took off running towards the scream. Several more screams soon joined the first, so it was easy to find the source coming from the food court on the level below us.
"What do we do?" I asked out loud as I looked at the blue youma below us firing off shots of energy randomly.
"Run!" Mamoru shouted and grabbed my arm and pulled me along as he ran. My mind was panicking. Minako and I desperately needed to get to the battle.
'Rei!' I mentally shouted.
'I know, youma in the food court.' She responded. 'We are on our way.'
'Minako and I are with Mamoru. It may take a while, but we will be there as soon as we can.'
'We'll try to handle it.'
I closed off the conversation with Rei just as Mamoru pulled me into a small corridor. Haruka and Minako were right behind us. A quick look into their eyes indicated that they were also worried about the situation with Mamoru. I scanned the area around us and quickly came up with a plan.
"Let's hide in the restrooms." I suggested, pointing to the doors in the corridors. Minako and Haruka quickly agreed, and started to go into the Women's restroom. I began to follow and noticed that Mamoru was also following.
"Mamoru-baka, you can't come into a Women's restroom." I said with a slight tone of humor. Before he had a chance to disagree, I pushed him towards the Men's room. "We'll be fine, I promise."
He nodded his head and went into the Men's room. I immediately joined the other two girls in the Women's room. "Haruka, stay here. I don't want anyone to see you helping us. That may be a little two obvious." Haruka agreed, although reluctantly.
Minako and I changed into our Senshi forms and took off for the battle. Which, unfortunately, seemed to be going against our side. The youma was still hovering slightly above the food court and firing off massive amounts of energy. People were cowering under tables, but none seemed drained of energy.
"Moon Tiara Action!"
"Crescent Beam!"
We caught the youma off guard and stunned her. However, she was not out of the battle. She fired off several more shots when a red rose imbedded itself in her arm.
Tuxedo Kamen was standing on the railing of the second floor looking down onto all of us. The youma fired off several shots at him, but he jumped down from the railing and joined us.
We all continued to send out our attacks, but the youma continued to dodge them all. However, she was not only trying to fire at us, but seemed to be trying to cause damage to the mall as well.
I fired off my tiara at the same time as a ball of energy started racing towards me. Before I had a chance to react, I was knocked out of the way. From my position of the floor where I landed, I looked up to see Tuxedo Mask get hit by the energy in the arm.
He landed on the ground, not far from me, clutching at his arm. It seemed that we were safe where we were and I crawled over to his side. The burn in his upper arm was bleeding badly and I knew that I needed to heal him.
From within me, I felt my energy pouring into my hands. It was strange. Unlike last time, I didn't go into a trance. I could feel everything. Deep heat poured from my fingers as I laid them upon his injury. A white light glowed from my hands and I actually saw his wound heal itself under my care.
The light and heat faded and I looked at Tuxedo Mask's face. He was staring at me, as if in awe, and I could see his blue eyes staring into my own through his mask. His eyes seemed very familiar, yet it was like a blurry dream.
"Thank you." He said softly.
"Rest here while we take care of this guy." I told him gently and he nodded his head in agreement.
Rejoining the battle, I noticed that everyone was looking slightly worn down. I fired my tiara into the fray, causing no damage. It seemed that it would be a lost battle soon, when a deep voice yelled out.
"Stop!" It was a command, and apparently not one to be disobeyed. The youma immediately stopped firing and actually bowed down slightly. A man with long brown hair materialized above us all, hovering around the height of the second floor of the mall.
"So, you are the Sailor Senshi. Not for long." The man said with a slight laugh.
"Who are you?" Makoto asked with a deep growl.
"I am Nephrite. To bad you won't be alive to remember." He said and then gave a wave of his hand to the youma, indicating that she may begin again. Nephrite disappeared, leaving before the battle had even resumed.
Too bad for him. For he didn't realize that while he was talking, Ami and Rei had been preparing their attacks for the still youma.
"Shabon Spray Freezing!"
"Fire Soul."
The fire hit first, charring the youma and the ice hit next. Much like a glass dish removed from the oven and put into cold water, the youma split right down the middle.
"Mercury," I said, slightly astonished, "Nice move." Ami only blushed before Minako grabbed onto my arm.
"We've got to go." I nodded my agreement and we took off running.
Realizing that we didn't explain to the other senshi, I quickly explained to Rei and instructed her to come looking for us. She agreed and said that they had already departed the scene.
Minako and I entered the restroom to find a very flustered Haruka. We powered down and gave her all the details. She hit her fist into one of the stall doors, causing it to fall off of its hinges.
"I wish I could have been there." She grumbled.
"Don't worry Haruka. I'm sure we haven't seen the end of this yet." I said with a heavy sigh.
With nothing else to do, we sat and waited patiently for the others to come find us. About 10 minutes later we heard the other senshi shouting our names. Knowing that all was truly safe, we stepped out of the restroom at the same time Mamoru stepped out of the men's room.
Knowing that no one was in the mood to shop anymore, we all decided to go home. However, Mamoru said that he felt the need to walk Rei and I home. Not wanting to hurt his feelings for the kind gesture, we accepted his offer. We walked in apparent silence, although I was informing Rei of the restroom incident mental. She found it hilarious that Mamoru didn't argue about separating from us.
"Ah, home sweet home." I said with a giggle as we approached the shrine steps. I turned to say goodbye to Mamoru, only to find that he was starting his way up the steps already. I shrugged my shoulders at Rei in confusion, but continued on my way up the steps as well.
We reached the top of the steps and I started to walk towards the shrine when I felt Mamoru grab out and take my hand.
"Usagi, can we talk, um... in private?" Mamoru asked quietly. I turned to Rei but found no answer in her eyes.
"Sure, I suppose so." I answered simply. Rei went inside and Mamoru and walked around to the side of the shrine and sat on a bench. He still had not let go of my hand.
"What's up Mamoru?"
"Usagi, I, well, I have a question for you." He said as he stared at the ground. What ever it was he wanted to know, it was difficult to ask.
"Go ahead." I encouraged. He finally lifted his face and his eyes met mine. What I saw there was very surprising. Fear, anger, love...it was all mixed together.
"Who are you? I mean, who are you really?" He asked quietly.
"What do you mean?"
"Usagi, please, tell me the truth. I know it already, but please, tell me."
"Mamoru, I'm confused and you are starting to scare me."
"Usa, I know it was you. I could feel you moving throughout me."
Now I was really confused. I really had no idea what he was talking about and it appeared that he finally realized that.
"You healed me. I felt you move throughout me when you healed me. It was a warm and magnificent feeling. Truly indescribable. So, please, tell me."
"When did I heal...Oh!" And realization hit me square on the head. "You, you're..."
"Yes. And you are."
All of our words ended there. I stared into his deep blue eyes and I knew. Those eyes, I knew that they had looked familiar.
"Tuxedo Mask." I whispered.
"Sailor Moon." He whispered back.
"Mamoru, I never realized...but then, I suppose that's why you wear a disguise." I said with a slight giggle. He gave a slight chuckle in response.
"Well, it obviously worked. You didn't seem to know who I was. And truthfully, I wouldn't have know who you were if you wouldn't have healed me."
"Mamoru, I, I couldn't let my hero be hurt. By the way thanks." I said with a large smile.
"For what?" He asked, his eyebrows mashed together in confusion.
"For saving me so many times. Thank you."
"No, Usagi, thank you. You have saved me in more ways than you can imagine." He said, his voice dropping towards a whisper in the end.
"So, can I come out now?" A voice sounded from around the corner.
"REI!" I shouted. I don't know when she started eavesdropping, but in that moment, I realized that I had let my guard down and she had probably been spying in my mind.
"Gomen, Gomen. I just couldn't help myself." Rei said as she came around the corner.
"Sailor Mars." Mamoru said with a nod of his head.
"The one and only, or so I believe." Rei said with a large smile.
"How long were you spying?" I asked, tapping my forehead.
"Long enough. So, Mamoru, what dress did Usagi look so good in?" Rei asked, causing me to immediately blush scarlet. Mamoru's cheeks matched my own, however his mouth was opening and closing like a fish.
"It may take awhile to explain everything. Can you stay for dinner?" I asked Mamoru, who finally stopped his fish act.
"I, I suppose." He finally stuttered out.
"Great, I'll start calling the girls." Rei said as she hopped away to the shrine.
Mamoru and I were alone again and I realized that we were still holding hands. I really liked the feeling, the way my hand fit into his.
"Um, Mamoru, did you really think I looked nice?" I asked shyly.
"Usagi, well, how can I say this best?" He paused for a moment and then looked me in the eyes again. "You looked damn gorgeous."
I felt the heat in my cheeks rise again. I think that Rei would greatly like the color red that was adorning my face; it was brighter than any flame she could produce, that was for certain.
"Mamoru..." I didn't know what to say.
"So, Usa, why don't you show me around a little?" Mamoru suggested, helping me to stray from the awkward moment. He pulled me to my feet and began to walk.
I showed him around the shrine, pointing out all the special secrets, like Phobos and Deimos's home.
He never let go of my hand.
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Awww, wasn't that a sweet ending.
ChibiJ77@yahoo.com
Chapter 10
By: Chibi J
Rated: G
Standard Disclaimers
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It's beautiful. Blue and white swirling. Flowers. I smell flowers.
"Usagi."
"Just five more minutes." The sun is so bright. The stars are shining beautifully.
"Usagi."
"Just a little longer." White. Elegant, beautiful white.
"Usagi."
"Luna, go away." Black. Deep black.
"Who's Luna?"
"My cat."
"Why would your cat be calling your name?"
"Because she's special."
"Usagi, please wake up."
"Fine." I opened my eyes to find a blurry face surrounded by black.
"Are you up?"
"Yes Rei." I said, trying to rub the remains of sleep from my eyes.
"If I was a girl, I guess that could be a compliment."
Confused, I pulled my hands from my eyes and blinked. Short black hair? That's not Rei.
"Where am I?" I asked, still not regaining my full sense.
"The beach. Remember?" The voice, now registering as very masculine, asked. Masculine?
I turned quickly to my left, my vision suddenly clear. It was a guy! And a handsome one at that. Dark ebony hair, deep blue eyes, and tanned skin.
"Who are you?" I asked, still feeling slightly sleepy and not very aware of myself.
"Mamoru. Remember, I'm Makoto's friend." He said. Realization finally hit me and I sat up quickly. This, of course, caused me to become immediately dizzy.
Grabbing my head to stop the dizziness, I looked at him. "Chiba Mamoru."
"Yes." He said with a smile. "I'm glad you remember, I'd hate to think that a girl could forget me." He said with a laugh. However, I couldn't laugh back. My head was spinning slightly and I was still very confused.
"What happened?" I asked as I looked around the beach to see my friends and brother playing in the waves of the water.
"I don't know. I just woke up a minute ago." He said with a shrug of his shoulders. Not much of a comfort. I'm not usually one to just fall asleep in the middle of the day. At least, not on a very relaxing day that I wanted to spend in the water.
"Weird. Must have been the heat." I suggested. He nodded his head in agreement.
"Do you feel okay?" Mamoru asked with a slight tone of worry in his voice. It was nice to have him worry about me.
"Yeah, I think so." I said as I lowered my hands from my head. The water looked very inviting and I wanted to run in the waves. "Want to go swimming?"
"Sure." He said, rising from his chair. I stood up next to him and we walked to the water, only to be attacked by splashes from my brother, Rei, and Minako.
"Hey! No fair!" I said as I ran into the water after my assaulters. The water felt very refreshing and shook the last of the sleep from my body. Which left me to wonder, why did Rei let me sleep so long?
'Rei, why did you let me fall asleep on the beach?' I asked, knowing that she knew how much I wanted to come to the beach for the purpose of swimming.
'Sleep? When were you asleep? We just left you like, three minutes ago.' Rei responded, making me feel very odd.
'Um, never mind, I was just fooling with you.' I said, trying to add a tone of humor. I don't think it worked well, cause Rei just stared at me strangely.
"Usagi, you're really weird." Rei said, as she attacked me again with the water.
I tried to drop the whole incident from my mind, not wanting Rei to try to figure out what was wrong with me. But it was like a strange dream floating around. I remember running up and falling into Mamoru, but everything until I woke up is a blur. Images, mostly blurry colors, were hovering in my mind, unexplainable.
Our beach trip ended without any problem after that, except an incident when we were flying kites. The wind was low and Haruka seemed to be the only one who could get her kite in the air. With a little flick of my wrist, however, I helped Shingo to get his kite up. Mamoru seemed confused as to why only two kites would go up, but I think he gave up.
After our day at the beach, I noticed that Mamoru was coming around more often. Makoto said it was because he lived a boring life and needed to find some excitement. If that's the case, I think he got more than he bargained for.
~*~
"Ahhh! A SALE!!!!" Minako yelled as she ran from our group. We decided that we needed to spend a day as normal teenagers and get away from life. However, when no one else could decide what to do, Minako suggested the mall.
"Mina! Wait for me!" I yelled as I ran to catch up to her. I never said that I had a problem with her suggestion.
"Here we go again." Haruka mumbled. Then again, I never said that everyone else agreed with her suggestion.
Ami was delighted, after spending her entire allowance at the bookstore. Makoto, found her haven in the cookware store. Minako was happy with anything that said sale, while I was just fond of looking. But poor Haruka and Mamoru seemed to be quite bored and disappointed at the lack of leather, motorcycle, and general "male" stores to be found in the mall.
Skipping, I quickly caught up to Minako as she entered the clothing store that had 'Everything 1/2 off!!' and we headed over to a rack of formal dresses. As I started flipping through the dresses, I noticed that Mamoru and Haruka followed us in.
"We'll be sitting in the chairs by the dressing room." Haruka mumbled as she and Mamoru walked away from us.
"Okay," Minako started with a huge grin, "We'll be over shortly to model for you."
I quickly spotted a dress in my size that was beautiful and I knew that I had to try it on. I then picked out two other dresses and saw that Minako also had several dresses in her hands.
"You ready?" I asked with a smile. She nodded her head and we made our way over to the dressing rooms. Mamoru and Haruka were sitting in two chairs reading magazines that had been on a small table.
"You two are fast!" Haruka said in astonishment. "Let's hope this gets done fast." She said to Mamoru with a wink. He nodded his head, not even looking up from his magazine.
Minako and I separated into our own dressing rooms and I began to strip of my clothes. Looking at the dresses I brought in, I decided to save the best for last. So, I chose the pink frilly dress I had grabbed from the rack. I pulled it on over my head and smoothed out the wrinkles as it fell down my body. A look in the mirror made me realize that this dress was more suited for a cotton candy rack.
"Ready?" Minako asked from her room.
"Yes." I said, not feeling confident of my looks in the pink frills.
We stepped out of the dressing rooms in unison. Minako was dressed in an orange dress that was sleeveless and short. It stuck to her body in a very seductive way.
"Minako, I like it." Haruka said, giving her a low whistle. "Usagi... no."
I laughed out loud. "I agree myself. But Minako, I like it too." Minako blushed a little as she gave a small spin in front of a threefold mirror. Mamoru, meanwhile, didn't even appear to notice us. With a sigh, I returned to my dressing room. The sound of a door closing indicated that Minako had as well.
On to dress number two. It was a short lilac dress that floated out at the bottom. It had long sleeves and didn't look to well. In my opinion, it was made awkward. Who would want to wear a short dress with long sleeves?
"Ready." I said and walked out of the room, not giving Minako a chance to reply. However, she walked out at the same time as I did. This time, she was wearing a tacky gold sequin dress that did nothing for her figure.
"Usagi, I don't like the look. Minako..." Haruka trailed off, but gave her two thumbs down. Without waiting for anything else, we both turned and headed back in.
Dress three. This was the one I hoped beyond anything would look good. I slipped the lightweight silver material over my head. It was a long spaghetti strapped dress that clung to my every curve. I had to admit, I really liked how it looked. I looked older than I was, that was for certain.
"Ready." Minako said and we stepped out again, to silence.
I looked to find that Haruka was staring at me with her mouth dropped open. Minako also seemed to be speechless. She was dressed in a cute black dress with spaghetti straps, which ended just below the knees.
"Well?" I asked, wondering what they thought.
"Usagi," Haruka said just barely above a whisper, "You look gorgeous!"
I blushed. Minako seemed to still be tongue tied and simply nodded her head with Haruka. I looked back to Haruka who was smiling and caught sight of Mamoru's eyes falling back down to the magazine. Had he been looking at me?? My curiosity was killing me and I wanted to know what he thought. So, I checked.
Mamoru, like previously when I tried, was very well guarded. One word did come out 'Beautiful'. However, was he referring to the dress, me in it, or something he was looking at in the magazine. Knowing that I would get no answers, I tried the direct approach.
"What do you think Mamoru?"
"Not bad." Not bad! Well, it's better that worse. Giving up, I turned to Minako.
"I like that Minako, but I liked the first one better." Minako simply nodded her head in agreement. We headed back into our dressing rooms. I changed back into my clothes when I heard Minako.
"Ready." Humoring her, I stepped out. She evidently had one more dress than me, so I laughed when she realized that I was done. I walked over and sat in a chair next to Mamoru. Minako had come out in a frilly green dress that was hideous.
"Thumbs down." I replied and Haruka expressed her agreement with her hands.
"Okay, I'm done. I'm getting the orange dress. What about you Usa?" She asked.
"I can't. I don't have enough money to buy the silver dress." I said sadly. I felt eyes on me and turned only to find Mamoru looking at his magazine. Weird.
"Well, I'll change and be done." Minako said and stepped back into the dressing room. Moments later she returned dressed, with her purchase in her hand. She quickly paid and the four of us left the store.
We hadn't even made it to the next store when a loud scream sounded. I quickly looked to my companions and we all took off running towards the scream. Several more screams soon joined the first, so it was easy to find the source coming from the food court on the level below us.
"What do we do?" I asked out loud as I looked at the blue youma below us firing off shots of energy randomly.
"Run!" Mamoru shouted and grabbed my arm and pulled me along as he ran. My mind was panicking. Minako and I desperately needed to get to the battle.
'Rei!' I mentally shouted.
'I know, youma in the food court.' She responded. 'We are on our way.'
'Minako and I are with Mamoru. It may take a while, but we will be there as soon as we can.'
'We'll try to handle it.'
I closed off the conversation with Rei just as Mamoru pulled me into a small corridor. Haruka and Minako were right behind us. A quick look into their eyes indicated that they were also worried about the situation with Mamoru. I scanned the area around us and quickly came up with a plan.
"Let's hide in the restrooms." I suggested, pointing to the doors in the corridors. Minako and Haruka quickly agreed, and started to go into the Women's restroom. I began to follow and noticed that Mamoru was also following.
"Mamoru-baka, you can't come into a Women's restroom." I said with a slight tone of humor. Before he had a chance to disagree, I pushed him towards the Men's room. "We'll be fine, I promise."
He nodded his head and went into the Men's room. I immediately joined the other two girls in the Women's room. "Haruka, stay here. I don't want anyone to see you helping us. That may be a little two obvious." Haruka agreed, although reluctantly.
Minako and I changed into our Senshi forms and took off for the battle. Which, unfortunately, seemed to be going against our side. The youma was still hovering slightly above the food court and firing off massive amounts of energy. People were cowering under tables, but none seemed drained of energy.
"Moon Tiara Action!"
"Crescent Beam!"
We caught the youma off guard and stunned her. However, she was not out of the battle. She fired off several more shots when a red rose imbedded itself in her arm.
Tuxedo Kamen was standing on the railing of the second floor looking down onto all of us. The youma fired off several shots at him, but he jumped down from the railing and joined us.
We all continued to send out our attacks, but the youma continued to dodge them all. However, she was not only trying to fire at us, but seemed to be trying to cause damage to the mall as well.
I fired off my tiara at the same time as a ball of energy started racing towards me. Before I had a chance to react, I was knocked out of the way. From my position of the floor where I landed, I looked up to see Tuxedo Mask get hit by the energy in the arm.
He landed on the ground, not far from me, clutching at his arm. It seemed that we were safe where we were and I crawled over to his side. The burn in his upper arm was bleeding badly and I knew that I needed to heal him.
From within me, I felt my energy pouring into my hands. It was strange. Unlike last time, I didn't go into a trance. I could feel everything. Deep heat poured from my fingers as I laid them upon his injury. A white light glowed from my hands and I actually saw his wound heal itself under my care.
The light and heat faded and I looked at Tuxedo Mask's face. He was staring at me, as if in awe, and I could see his blue eyes staring into my own through his mask. His eyes seemed very familiar, yet it was like a blurry dream.
"Thank you." He said softly.
"Rest here while we take care of this guy." I told him gently and he nodded his head in agreement.
Rejoining the battle, I noticed that everyone was looking slightly worn down. I fired my tiara into the fray, causing no damage. It seemed that it would be a lost battle soon, when a deep voice yelled out.
"Stop!" It was a command, and apparently not one to be disobeyed. The youma immediately stopped firing and actually bowed down slightly. A man with long brown hair materialized above us all, hovering around the height of the second floor of the mall.
"So, you are the Sailor Senshi. Not for long." The man said with a slight laugh.
"Who are you?" Makoto asked with a deep growl.
"I am Nephrite. To bad you won't be alive to remember." He said and then gave a wave of his hand to the youma, indicating that she may begin again. Nephrite disappeared, leaving before the battle had even resumed.
Too bad for him. For he didn't realize that while he was talking, Ami and Rei had been preparing their attacks for the still youma.
"Shabon Spray Freezing!"
"Fire Soul."
The fire hit first, charring the youma and the ice hit next. Much like a glass dish removed from the oven and put into cold water, the youma split right down the middle.
"Mercury," I said, slightly astonished, "Nice move." Ami only blushed before Minako grabbed onto my arm.
"We've got to go." I nodded my agreement and we took off running.
Realizing that we didn't explain to the other senshi, I quickly explained to Rei and instructed her to come looking for us. She agreed and said that they had already departed the scene.
Minako and I entered the restroom to find a very flustered Haruka. We powered down and gave her all the details. She hit her fist into one of the stall doors, causing it to fall off of its hinges.
"I wish I could have been there." She grumbled.
"Don't worry Haruka. I'm sure we haven't seen the end of this yet." I said with a heavy sigh.
With nothing else to do, we sat and waited patiently for the others to come find us. About 10 minutes later we heard the other senshi shouting our names. Knowing that all was truly safe, we stepped out of the restroom at the same time Mamoru stepped out of the men's room.
Knowing that no one was in the mood to shop anymore, we all decided to go home. However, Mamoru said that he felt the need to walk Rei and I home. Not wanting to hurt his feelings for the kind gesture, we accepted his offer. We walked in apparent silence, although I was informing Rei of the restroom incident mental. She found it hilarious that Mamoru didn't argue about separating from us.
"Ah, home sweet home." I said with a giggle as we approached the shrine steps. I turned to say goodbye to Mamoru, only to find that he was starting his way up the steps already. I shrugged my shoulders at Rei in confusion, but continued on my way up the steps as well.
We reached the top of the steps and I started to walk towards the shrine when I felt Mamoru grab out and take my hand.
"Usagi, can we talk, um... in private?" Mamoru asked quietly. I turned to Rei but found no answer in her eyes.
"Sure, I suppose so." I answered simply. Rei went inside and Mamoru and walked around to the side of the shrine and sat on a bench. He still had not let go of my hand.
"What's up Mamoru?"
"Usagi, I, well, I have a question for you." He said as he stared at the ground. What ever it was he wanted to know, it was difficult to ask.
"Go ahead." I encouraged. He finally lifted his face and his eyes met mine. What I saw there was very surprising. Fear, anger, love...it was all mixed together.
"Who are you? I mean, who are you really?" He asked quietly.
"What do you mean?"
"Usagi, please, tell me the truth. I know it already, but please, tell me."
"Mamoru, I'm confused and you are starting to scare me."
"Usa, I know it was you. I could feel you moving throughout me."
Now I was really confused. I really had no idea what he was talking about and it appeared that he finally realized that.
"You healed me. I felt you move throughout me when you healed me. It was a warm and magnificent feeling. Truly indescribable. So, please, tell me."
"When did I heal...Oh!" And realization hit me square on the head. "You, you're..."
"Yes. And you are."
All of our words ended there. I stared into his deep blue eyes and I knew. Those eyes, I knew that they had looked familiar.
"Tuxedo Mask." I whispered.
"Sailor Moon." He whispered back.
"Mamoru, I never realized...but then, I suppose that's why you wear a disguise." I said with a slight giggle. He gave a slight chuckle in response.
"Well, it obviously worked. You didn't seem to know who I was. And truthfully, I wouldn't have know who you were if you wouldn't have healed me."
"Mamoru, I, I couldn't let my hero be hurt. By the way thanks." I said with a large smile.
"For what?" He asked, his eyebrows mashed together in confusion.
"For saving me so many times. Thank you."
"No, Usagi, thank you. You have saved me in more ways than you can imagine." He said, his voice dropping towards a whisper in the end.
"So, can I come out now?" A voice sounded from around the corner.
"REI!" I shouted. I don't know when she started eavesdropping, but in that moment, I realized that I had let my guard down and she had probably been spying in my mind.
"Gomen, Gomen. I just couldn't help myself." Rei said as she came around the corner.
"Sailor Mars." Mamoru said with a nod of his head.
"The one and only, or so I believe." Rei said with a large smile.
"How long were you spying?" I asked, tapping my forehead.
"Long enough. So, Mamoru, what dress did Usagi look so good in?" Rei asked, causing me to immediately blush scarlet. Mamoru's cheeks matched my own, however his mouth was opening and closing like a fish.
"It may take awhile to explain everything. Can you stay for dinner?" I asked Mamoru, who finally stopped his fish act.
"I, I suppose." He finally stuttered out.
"Great, I'll start calling the girls." Rei said as she hopped away to the shrine.
Mamoru and I were alone again and I realized that we were still holding hands. I really liked the feeling, the way my hand fit into his.
"Um, Mamoru, did you really think I looked nice?" I asked shyly.
"Usagi, well, how can I say this best?" He paused for a moment and then looked me in the eyes again. "You looked damn gorgeous."
I felt the heat in my cheeks rise again. I think that Rei would greatly like the color red that was adorning my face; it was brighter than any flame she could produce, that was for certain.
"Mamoru..." I didn't know what to say.
"So, Usa, why don't you show me around a little?" Mamoru suggested, helping me to stray from the awkward moment. He pulled me to my feet and began to walk.
I showed him around the shrine, pointing out all the special secrets, like Phobos and Deimos's home.
He never let go of my hand.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Awww, wasn't that a sweet ending.
ChibiJ77@yahoo.com
