Taking that Leap [CHAPTER TWO]                                                                        by tierce

He stood there, quiet but magnificent in his typical get-up. His flowing black cape with the red underside swirled about him, and the silky smooth material of his tuxedo seemed barely wrinkled. The top hat perched on his head at a jaunty and dashing angle, and once more, his eyes were obscured by the white half-mask he wore to hide his identity. Nevertheless, he was still Tuxedo Kamen. The man who saved her, who aided her, who made her get that warm fuzzy and ticklish feeling inside whenever she saw him. Especially when he would throw a razor-sharp rose.

Usagi sighed dreamily, as suddenly, he came closer to her. His shoes made clicking sounds with every step across the smooth expanse of pavement and he seemed to regard her with indifference. However, the smile on his lips told her otherwise—those kissable lips… what'd she give to get close enough to at least hear the beating of his heart, or feel his breathing across her neck.

Tuxedo Kamen approached her, and his cape blew to his left. The wind whistled lightly, as if respecting the two heroes.

"Sailor Moon," he called out in a rich voice, which nearly made her fall with delight.

"Tuxedo Kamen!" She responded breathlessly, enchanted with the way in which his bangs blew across his perfect face.

The tuxedo-clad hero took one last step towards her, and enfolded her within his cloak. In a daze, she looked up to see his handsome features and nearly fainted when he smiled impossibly wider.

"I think it's time we reveal our identities, Sailor Moon."

"Yes," she breathed, her heart quickening with every passing second. "Yes we should," she babbled. She felt light-headed and woozy, as if she couldn't even stand by herself without support. Tuxedo Kamen was about to reveal his true identity to her, and then she would tell him who she was. And then they would realize that each was still just as lovely as a normal person and fall in love and get married. Usagi saw a long span of walkway, pure red rose petals falling gently in the fragrant air. In the background, soft music played, and people stood up from their benches to congratulate the beautiful blonde bride walking down to meet her husband, whose eyes glittered with pride and joy. She strained her eyes to see who her husband was, but frowned at the shadow he was standing in that hid his face.

"Sailor Moon?"

His deep voice brought her out of her little reverie. "Huh?" She asked stupidly.

"Are you alright?"

"Of course I am," she reddened, embarrassed at having him caught her fantasizing.

Tuxedo Kamen smiled and his hands slowly went up to the edges of his white mask. She trembled with excitement, her blue eyes shining. Unhurriedly, his hands pulled forward the piece of cloth before they carelessly dropped the mask. It fluttered to the floor like a butterfly in a downward descent, she noticed. He then opened his eyes and smirked, causing her to scream.

"Mamoru baka?! AGHHH!"

"Odango Atama! How nice to see you," he sneered, releasing her from his hold.

She started to scream.

---

Usagi woke up screaming, and realized with a start that it had all been just a dream. An extremely disturbing dream. She shuddered, recalling the anticipation she had felt and then the downright shock when Tuxedo Kamen had revealed himself as none other than that arrogant jerk Mamoru.

Luna pounced onto her curled up frame, shaking her tail furiously behind her. "Usagi!" She scolded. "Did you dream there were monsters under your bed?" Her tone was both sarcastic and scathing.

Usagi threw a pillow furiously at her black cat. "Do you have to act like I'm five? What time is it anyways?"

"Eleven o'clock, why ask?" Luna responded sarcastically, pushing the lacy pink pillow away with distaste. Usagi's entire bedroom was decorated in varying shades of pink, and it was more than enough for the black cat to want to choke to death. It seemed like there was lace decorating EVERYTHING in the room. Lace pillows, lace sheets, lace-edged rug, the cat could rave on incessantly and still not be done.

Usagi stuck out her tongue. "You know, you should be encouraging me and praising me, not insulting me Luna. It doesn't help my self-confidence as a person and as Sailor Moon."

The feline rolled her eyes in disgust. "I'm surprised at the language you're using Usagi. Did all those vocabulary flash cards really help?" Her tone had changed to something more nurturing and thoughtful. "If they did, we should use flash cards more often since they seem to be more effective."

"Usagi!" A voice yelled from downstairs. "Breakfast is ready!"

"Yay! Yummy pancakes!" The fourteen-year-old shrieked eagerly and made a mad run for the bathroom to wash up. "Shingo! You better not eat them all!"

Luna sighed in exasperation. "Why me?"



"Jadeite, you're dead today." Kunzite growled.

"What did I do now?!" wailed Jadeite, as he ran some slick gel through his blonde hair.

"Nothing, nothing at all," Zoisite laughed. "Kunzite's just being grouchy again, duh. It's like twelve o'clock and you know how ol` Kun likes waking up nice and early to exercise."

Nephrite grinned. "Who wants to bet Kunzite's still gonna be grouchy by the end of the day? I bet treating all of us to pizza for lunch!"

Kunzite glared at each of his friends. "You guys are the greatest. Seem to like betting about me all the time," he commented sarcastically.

"It's not the end of the world if you overslept by like six hours," snickered Jadeite.

"We did have jet lag, and it was a long flight. A nice long sleep was good." Zoisite said, hoping that his words wouldn't further enrage the silver-haired man. A testy Kunzite wasn't the best thing, especially when they were to run around the neighborhood in search of a cool hangout place and girls.

Toshio Watanabe, Jadeite's uncle, appeared in the large guest room his nephew and friends were staying in. He was a somewhat stout man, with light brown hair and brown eyes. "Udon noodles for breakfast, because Ryoko hasn't bought groceries yet." Ryoko was his wife of two years. She was a petite blue-eyed redhead and looked vulnerable although under that fragile veneer was a will of steel.

"Noodles?" Jadeite groaned, his hair falling into his eyes. "I hate noodles. Especially for breakfast!"

His uncle chuckled heartily. "If Ryoko were to hear you Jade, boy, she'd be serving your head for breakfast to your friends. She prides herself in her cooking, and let me tell you, she's an excellent cook. So do a favor, Jadeite, don't insult her cooking under this roof or you might find yourself a homeless bum."

"I like noodles," Nephrite piped up, grinning at the dirty look Jadeite threw him.

"Suck up," Jadeite muttered under his breath. "Stupid dirty suck-up."

Kunzite rolled his eyes. "You should be grateful your uncle even offered up his place for us all to stay Jadeite. So don't get out of your uncle's favor or I'll make sure to completely disembowel you."

Jadeite winced at the threat. "Okay okay, I'll eat the noodles!"

"Eating them isn't what matters," Zoisite reminded, "Not criticizing them is what matters."

"So remember, if you diss your aunt's cooking, Kunzite disembowels you and we'll all end up scrounging around for a cheap motel," Nephrite summed up, his voice gleeful.

The blonde put his head in his hands. "Everyone hates me. Everyone."

Toshio chuckled once more. "It's great to see you again, Jadeite." He turned and left, his chortling loud enough to resonate throughout the entire two-floor structure.

"So what's up for today?" Zoisite asked.

"We look for a cool hang-out place. We look for hot girls. What else is there? Looking for the library?" Jadeite answered, searching for his elusive sneakers in his suitcase.

Zoisite glared. "Not cool buddy. I am not a bookworm!"

"Sure, you're not. Geek," Jadeite joked.

"Shut up both of you," Kunzite warned, still pissed over the fact that he had overslept and by a long shot to boot!

"Ooh la la, someone's feeling the PMS!"

Nephrite snorted. "Kunzite's really gonna get you now!"

And so the silver-haired-man did. Grabbing his sword from the desk stand, he ran after Jadeite who was screaming bloody murder and had only one shoe on. Nephrite and Zoisite stepped out of the way, not wanting to get involved. When Kunzite was mad, he was mad.

"I feel sorry for Jadeite." Zoisite remarked.

Nephrite shook his head. "Nah. He provoked Kunzite in the first place Zoi."

"Good point," Zoisite decided. "I bet uhh…" He dug through his pockets for anything remotely interesting to bet. "I bet a pack of gum that Kunzite disembowels Jadeite!"

"You really think so? Kunzite's threatened him before, but never really went through with his threats. Whatever. I bet a hundred yen that Jadeite's uncle appears and stops them." Nephrite responded, laughing a little at the hilarious sight. Plus, seeing Jadeite yell his head off while begging for mercy was an event that happened only once in a blue moon. "Hey, got a video camcorder?"

"Nah. I wish though. This is really funny."

Kunzite pursued the jokester fervently, his sword raised and in slicing position. He figured he'd cut off an arm or two--teach Jadeite a lesson. Meanwhile Jadeite was feeling the burn in his side. He realized just how unfit he was, and decided he better join Kunzite on his daily morning exercise routine. That is, if he got out of this intact and all in one piece of course.

"So… so tired," he panted, slowing down gradually. His lungs ached from all the screaming he had done and his legs hurt from the mad scrambling. "K-kunzite… so… sorry… will you… forgive and… forget?"

"DIE!" Kunzite's passionate battle mantra told him otherwise.

Jadeite began shrieking his head once more. "I'm too young to die! I've got a girlfriend waiting for me somewhere out there! I've got millions yet to be made and spent! I like my life! I always wanted to live long and die of old age! Agh! Please! Help me! Zoisite, Nephrite, any of you! Help!"

Zoisite almost fell off the bed laughing. His cheeks were beginning to hurt from laughing so long, and tears were slowly starting to leak out from the corner of his eyes. He noticed Nephrite was doing the exact same.

"Maybe," wheezed Nephrite, "we should stop them."

"You think?"

Nephrite flashed a painful grin.

"Nahh!" They both chimed together and burst into laughter once more as Kunzite began carving the air with his wicked sharp sword, mere inches away from Jadeite.

Author's note:

            Thanks to the reviews once again. Yeah, I don't seem to end my chapters at a good interesting point so they tend to not make sense. ;] Ooh and sorry if you guys think Luna's OOC. I'm having this feeling all the characters will be OOC, although some not as much as others. That's what you get for writing fanfiction when you haven't watched the show in over two years.

            Anyone up for offering suggestions as to what should happen in the next chapter? Just drop me a review or hit me at my email addy. perpetuallimit@hotmail.com And yes, the mailing list is still up.

            See you next chapter!

                                                                                                                        -tierce

                                                                                                                        9-Mar-03