AN: Well it's finally here!! ^_^

In this chapter, a couple of interesting characters will be introduced and most of the story takes place in New York. I live in the Big Apple so if I slip and mention something that is confusing than please email me and I'll explain it.

Warning: This chapter was written while I had a hair change. Therefore I am writing while not entirely sane. Read at your own risk! ^_^;;

Dedicated to my editor Hikaru, you are absolutely the best for putting up with me! And all the people who took the time to review and/or email me!

Storie Nites: ^_^ ! Thank you * blushes * I have some semblance of an idea of where I'm going with this fic! ^_^;;

Battie-chan: Thanks for the advice. I'm really happy you enjoyed it! (

Libette: I totally understand what you mean. I'm just needed to get this out of my head too!

Pupetta: Thank you * blushes again * The memories that haunt our favorite heroine are as always, Mamoru's fault…partially. There's a surprise on the way!

Liz: THANK YOU! You were my first review! That review totally made me want to write more so. THANK YOU!

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FEELINGS…

Gratitude…

'Arigato, Daddy'

Love…

'I love you, Mamo-chan'

EXPERIENCES…

Misunderstandings…

'Why can't you understand me?! Why can't you at least try to see things the way I do!?!'

Car wheels squealing… a scream

"DADDY!"

Goodbyes…

"I'm sorry that I'm such burden but you won't about that ever again!"

A mournful whisper…

"This is all my fault… I can't take this anymore."

A new start…

"I'll do it."



Ren bolted up, awake from her sleep, gasping for breath. Still shook from her memories she looked around to see that she was still on the airplane, and then sighed in relief. Her racing heartbeat slowed to a more normal pace as she took deep breaths and vaguely acknowledged the worried voice of the flight attendant. She numbly heard herself say she was all right and closed her eyes to block out everything around her.

For most people sleep is a wonderful way to escape the problems of life, or at the least a way to unconsciously sort through those problems. Once upon a time Usagi Tsukino had been one of those people. She had loved to sleep, but that had been before she had runaway from everything and everyone in her life. Before everything that had been a constant in her life just fell apart, and left her vulnerable, unable to deal with the reality of things.

So she left.

Leaving had been the coward's way out, but at the time she hadn't cared. Her leaving didn't matter.

Nothing mattered anymore.

She took out her laptop and decided that she needed to take her mind off of the memories that had plagued her dreams. She did this the best way she knew how, with work. She quickly plugged her laptop in and connected to the Internet.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we will be landing at JFK Airport in one hour. Please sit back and enjoy the rest of your flight." She looked at her watch as she heard this, and decided to check in with her boss. A quick message was sent, stating the time of her arrival, and the request for her Boss not send anyone to pick her up. She rolled her eyes at that part. She really wished her Boss wasn't so protective, but it couldn't be helped. She continued to work so she wouldn't fall back asleep, and into those painful dreams. Then she checked her messages to make sure that she had all of her information straight. A slight wave of her hand dismissed the persistent flight attendant as she went mentally over the various scenarios that could take place. After a few minutes she came to the conclusion that she'd have to finish her scenarios when she got to work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hello?"

"Good Afternoon ma'am. This is JFK International Airport, how can I help you?" a cheerful southern voice greeted her.

"Yes. Can you tell me what time flight 862 comes in?" she inquired curiously.

"Just one moment ma'am." She waited as the sound of typing reached her observant ears over the phone line.

"Is that the flight from Los Angeles?" asked the airport receptionist.

"Yes." She answered.

"That flight should be coming in one hour."

"Thank you."

" Your very welcome, can I help you with anything else?" 'My, this person is pleasant' thought the Boss.

"No. Thank you very much though." She said gratefully

.

" You have a very nice day ma'am."

" Well you too." She then hung up



'Why can't all young people be that polite?' she thought bitterly, as she remembered her earlier conversation with Ren. The Boss picked up the phone and dialed a more familiar number and waited for the person on the line to pick up.



And waited…

and waited…

and waited…



'Pick up the damn phone already!' she thought angrily.

"Hello?" The phone was finally answered by a groggy male voice. He had obviously just woken up, and wanted to go back to sleep. 'Well tough!' she thought defiantly.

"Good Morning, Sleepyhead" She said in a sickeningly sweet tone. In her mind she could practically see him straighten his posture, almost as if she could see him over the phone.

"Afternoon, Boss." His voice instantly changed from sleepy to alert. 'What does the old bat want now!' he thought irritably.

" Marc, sweetie, I need you to pick up Ren at JFK Airport in one hour. You know the drill." He almost groaned out loud but managed to restrain it. He had better things to do with his time besides baby-sit his irate co-worker.

He looked at his bed partner for the night, well, technically for the morning, who was still asleep.

"So you can tell whomever you've got in your bed to leave because you have work to do," she finished.

Sometimes she really crept him out.

And that's saying a lot when one considered the creepy crawlies he dealt with on a regular basis. He stifled a yawn and replied with feigned remorse, "Aw, Boss. You really know how to kill a guy's day." He continued before she could speak, "But for you… anything. I'll be there."

He hung up and sighed, then contemplated what to wear to meet his lovely, if slightly, hostile co-worker. He heard a yawn and turned to find his bed partner give him the 'look'. 'What to do about this?' he thought mischievously. 'I can wait a few more minutes before I get out of bed' he thought as he rolled over on his 'partner'.

She stared at the phone in shock and wondered briefly why she employed such rude people. After a moment she dismissed the thought, sighed, and went back to work. There were too many things to be done to dawdle on meaningless thoughts such as those.

~~~~~~~~~~~

An hour later Marc stood in the terminal, dressed to impress in a pair of slacks and wearing a button down shirt with the top unbuttoned to display his manly chest. He winked at the giggling ladies that passed by him, while he glanced at his watch in a way that bespoke of his extreme impatience.

He watched with boredom as the people in the airport went back and forth; some ran to catch their planes, while others left from their flights. He was about to take another look at his expensive Gucci watch when the announcement over the intercom stated Flight 862's arrival. 'Bout time!'

People flooded out of the plane and he looked around for a distinctive head of blonde hair. He didn't have to wait long… he saw her figure before he saw her face. She walked into the waiting area, with her sunglasses on and looking like she normally did: dangerous. He didn't have to wonder why the people around her slowly moved away, in some cases cowering.

Ren with jetlag was not pleasant.

She was about to walk by him when she caught his gaze, and he winced, as she didn't even try to disguise her annoyance. Well she could just suffer... He'd had a supple brunette at his apartment, which he could've still been with… but no, he had to pick up little Miss. Sunshine with the shades. He rolled his eyes as he strutted over to her.

If he had been blind enough to not notice her irritation before than the glare she gave him as he snatched her bag was enough. He didn't need to see behind the sunglasses to know she was glaring at him. He sighed inwardly and put a big smile on his face.

'Oh how I loved my job', he loved it enough not to get fired from it.

" Hey there kid" he said in his usually confident, yet flirtatious voice.

" Fuck off "she said in a calm voice, she wasn't in the mood for this. One fight a day was enough.

" Aw, come on, that's not being very nice especially since I have better things to do then pick you up like…"

She cut him off before he could finish, "First of all jackass, I didn't ask you to come for me, and I certainly didn't call you so, why the hell are here?" she whispered snappily.

Usagi had always been very polite.

Ren was not.

"Now that's not nice!"

'He is so observant' she thought sarcastically before saying, "I didn't realize I was trying to be nice."

" I come all the way here from my nice comfy apartment to get you and…"

Again she interrupted. " Okay…" she began, "1. I never asked you. And 2. You didn't have to come. I don't need some walking hormone to baby-sit me like I'm some child when he can't even take care of himself!" she exclaimed intolerantly

"Ouch! You wound me with your harmful words!" he feigned pain.

"Is it fatal?" she inquired, as she batted her blue eyes at him innocently. Silence was her only response.

She was upset enough that the Boss had sent someone to pick her up, but for her to send Marc was even worse. On a normal day she could barely tolerate him but today…

The man was extremely handsome and irritating, a very bad combination. Ever since she had met him he had made it very clear that he thought she was an amateur, who had no right to be in this business. To him, she looked too innocent.

Marc, with his ivory colored locks and his 'I'm a bad boy. Spank me!' green eyes had the audacity to judge her! He was a walking Casanova with an ego the size of Asia, and wouldn't give a damn if she were to unexpectedly quit her job. She continued to glare at him from underneath the dark shades as he strode away with her bag. Her only consolation to the annoyance he brought her was the fact that she could be just as irksome as he was. She knew that she made him uncomfortable. She also knew that he knew she was glaring at him, even from behind the sunglasses.

How did she know?

Even from the distance she was at, Ren could see him fidget and his left eye twitching ever so slightly. She sighed wearily, as she knew it wasn't his fault she was so upset… no, those dreams where what had made her so edgy.

'No, more like nightmares', she mentally corrected herself. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye after she caught up with him and mirrored his stride. She knew Marc wasn't to blame for picking her up. He was just an excellent target. After a moment she decided to swallow her pride and apologize.

"Listen Marc," she started, but he didn't stop. He was going to make this difficult. Grabbing his arm she was once again reminded how petty men could be. "I know you didn't want to pick me up and the Boss sent you so…" she gulped; she really didn't want to apologize to him, a single look at that overly eager face almost made her change her mind. 'Damn conscience!' she thought. "Thank you."

She hadn't exactly apologized, but she had managed to be polite, keep her pride, and sound sincere, which was more than enough to appease her guilt.

No matter what name her brain made up, in her heart she would always be Usagi. And Usagi would never forgive herself if she had hurt someone, even someone like Marc. She waited for his response. He just shrugged and started to walk again. Ren caught up with him easily, and they walked out of the airport just in time to see the sun set.

Ren stopped in her tracks and watched, captivated as the vibrant colors of blues and oranges and pinks shifted and danced across the sky, until they finally settled on the dark blue of midnight and the twinkling stars came out of their hiding places to play. It was then her gaze landed on the moon. She felt her eyes begin to fill with tears and she vigorously forced them away. She was taken out of her trance when a car horn was honked at her. She turned around to see Marc in his red Porsche pull up beside her, and watched as he gestured for her to hop in. Ren jumped over the door James Dean style and saw that he had put her large black bag in the back. He stepped on the gas and they sped off towards their apartments in lower Manhattan.



They pulled up to the apartment building and he put his car into park. He reached into the back and pulled her bag out while she got out of the car. He held her bag even after she got on the sidewalk. When she reached for it he didn't relinquish it . He waited for her to look at him before he finally released the bag and gave her one the smiles he reserved just to annoy her.

Instead of scowling at him like she usually did she did something very rare and gave him one of her own beautiful smiles. He sat in his car stunned… he never expected her to look so gorgeous. Sure, he knew she was beautiful, even with the evil look she usually wore on her face, but when she smiled she looked absolutely majestic. "Pick me up at nine and we'll head over to the office," she said over her shoulder and she turned around and walked into lobby.

The lobby itself had a very classy feel, and Beethoven and Mozart were heard in the background, which caused her turmoiled mind to relax as soon as she walked in. The atmosphere always did this to her. When she had asked the Boss about it, she had stated, 'our jobs are stressful enough. We don't need to come home and have to worry there too.' The answer had been good enough for Ren.

She walked over to the elevator and looked at the two buttons. She pressed the one on the left and watched as the panel was replaced with a retinal scanner. Lifting her shades she placed her head in the right position, and the machine scanned her retinal ID before the elevator doors behind her opened. She rotated and strolled inside and the doors immediately shut after her entry and began to move up. Ren hummed contently as moments later the bell rung and she faced her front door. She twisted the knob as she walked into the room, and just gazed happily at her apartment, dropping her bags with a content sigh.

She was home.

Tokyo had been her home once, but now this place was all hers. It wasn't the pink bunny filled room of her childhood, and it most certainly wasn't the bland walls of Mamo-chan's apartment. This was her place, with her personality expressed in every nock and cranny, from the sophisticated white leather couch to the expensive feather down mattress in her bedroom.

As she walked towards the comfort of her modern kitchen and slowly let her transformation slip away. By the time she reached the refrigerator she was Usagi again. Usagi stood in front of the full refrigerator surveying the hoard of food available. Usagi shook her head feeling the familiar length of her full hair sway past her back and down to the end of her thighs. She exhaled and watched exhausted as a stray hair flew into her eyes. She took a finger and pushed the hair behind her ear… she really should have cut it again, but as her hair would have grown back in less than a month anyway, cutting her hair didn't really matter. She leaned against the counter and looked at the kitty clock she just couldn't not buy. The clock reminded her of Luna.

She really missed the nagging feline.

'Well' ,she thought as she moved to get up, 'I've got to take a shower.' She walked out of the kitchen before a better thought hit her 'or better yet a bath.' She nearly squealed in delight and practically sprinted to the bathroom as she stripped down to her birthday suit.

Despite all evils in the world she had faced a bubble bath could solve all of them.

To Be Continued:

AN: I really hope you all enjoy this chapter. I know it's a long time coming for those of you that actually are reading this, thank you and keep reviewing!! I live for them ,so tell me if you hate it, love or like!!!