The sounds came roaring back to me when I blinked awake. I was still seated in my seat of the car, surrounded by noise and metal. I tried to see the driver, but with the chaos of metal between us I couldn't see beyond the back seat. Slowly my body drained the numb feeling and I prepared myself for the pain that surely would follow. I waited and tried to focus on where the pain might be. By some miracle of God, I had no pain.
Turning to the right I saw the fire engine red of the car that hit us through the window. Somehow we had escaped injury while totaling the car beyond repair. Perhaps not without total injury, the man Mamoru had sent to drive me had a long gash of blood across his forehead. Deep, by the look of it. I could be the muffled sounds of men calling to me and tried to focus on them. It felt as though I could only center on one thing, and at that moment my focus center was my driver. I felt the arms before I realized what was happening. The wind threw my hair back as I looked into a pair of gentle green eyes. Those gentle eyes then turned hard as I felt my body being patted.
"She's not hurt physically. This is amazing, Mina, the car looks like it was run over by a train repeatedly and this lady gets away with the wind knocked out of her," the greened eyed person was a beautiful brunette. She handed me to another woman, whom I assumed to be Mina. The green-eyed woman was strong, and had the look of one fighting for justice. What I had been once. Mina had eyes a shade lighter than Mamoru's. No, Mina's eyes were a light blue. Her hair was similar to my blonde, but longer held back in a half ponytail. She draped an arm around me and walked me to the ambulance to be looked at by the medics. The rhythm of their accent flowed over me and I felt my lips twich. Chibi-Usa had always loved the English and Australian accents.
"'Ello Mina," one of the men said smiling, "she seems to be fine. I don't think we need to bring her to the hospital," turning to me he smiled again, "You just need to relax and call your insurance company. Those pills should have you sleeping in an hour or so."
I nodded blindly and began to walk away, having no idea where I was going. The screeching of tires had me, and everyone turning. A bright blue sports car came to a frightening stop and the door was thrown open. In a second Mamoru was out working with the fury of a warrior through the crowd of watchers, police, and medics. Trailing right behind him was my small girl.
At first, I couldn't believe what I was staring at. Everything else dulled away. The only thing I could see was Chibi-Usa walked behind Mamoru, clutching his hand like a vise. Her strawberry hair was pulled into two high ponytails, and she wore a navy sailor dress. She looked like a dream. At first I thought she was, but when she saw me a smile came across her face and she ran from Mamoru to me. Before I had the chance to move she was flying through the air into my arms.
I caught her and held her close, I felt myself shaking and crying but I care. My daughter was back with me. I met Mamoru's eyes and clutched Chibi-Usa closer to me. He will not have her again, was the only thought going through my mind. I heard Mamoru talking to both the officers who had gotten me out of the car. The green eyed on came by and laid a hand on Chibi-Usa's head.
"Glad your mom is back, baby?" her voice was warm and settled Chibi-Usa to loosening her death grip on me. She turned back to the woman and nodded,
"Momma's back forever now."
The woman blinked smiled, she turned away with a confused look on her face as she went back to Mamoru. I grabbed onto Chibi-Usa's shoulders and held her back at a distance. I just had to look at her. She looked like the angel I had left with the guards. Around her neck was the crystal I had given her, a small burst of fire blinking. She moved her tiny hand to mine and led her to where Mamoru stood.
"... I can't thank you enough, Makoto, I don't know what I would have done if anything had happened to her. And you don't know what happened to the driver in the other car?" Without missing a beat he slid an arm around Chibi-Usa's shoulder.
"No sir, Mr. Chiba, nobody saw a driver and there was no sign of injury in the vehicle. It looks as though there was no driver, but we all know that isn't possible," Makoto frowned in concentration as she moved her gazed to the other car. I followed her gaze and tried to think if I had seen anybody. Of course I hadn't been, I was too busy looking out the other window. That had been on of the questions Mina had asked. And, again, by the medics. Mamoru thanked her and gave her a small card, saying that was where I would be if they needed me.
Everything seemed to be going twice as fast, where I was going twice as slow. The only thing that I was certain of was that I had my daughter back. I should have dragged Chibi-Usa away, but the medicine the medic had given me was soothing me down. I barely remember crawling into the front seat, beside Mamoru, with Chibi-Usa on my lap when I dozed off. I held her close to me and used her shoulder as a pillow. The scent of her hair drifted with me as I slept.
- - - - - - -
When I woke I was looking into a pair of beautiful violet eyes, so light they almost seemed to be rose. I let out a small laugh and grabbed onto Chibi-Usa with all my strength. It hadn't been a dream. Those words rang through my head as I tickled Chibi-Usa to the point of tears under the covers of the bed. Her laughs turned to giggles as she tried to tickle me in return. Breathing heavily we threw the covers from us and sat smiling at each other. It was then that I looked at where we were. I had never seen a room like it. I felt like I was a princess waking in her castle. The bed would have been able to hold four of me with room to spare. As Chibi-Usa moved around the entire bed seemed to ripple with her, it wasn't a waterbed but a fluffy pillow of comfort that moved with the body. The pillows were goose-feather and covered in pale pink silk. The bed sheets were white silk, while the comforter was the same shade of pink as the pillows. I was in heaven. I had my daughter and we were safe...wherever we were.
"Oh, baby, I'm so glad you're here," I whispered as I dragged her into another hug. I simply couldn't touch her enough. Part of me was waiting for the alarm clock to wake me up.
"Mommy, me too! Mamo-chan said that you were coming soon and that we'd have a great big dinner to celebrate and we could go to the park and everything," her high and happy voice had me wiping more tears from my eyes.
"Well, baby, I don't think we'll be able to do that. We're leaving right now," I still held her close as I crawled to the other end of the bed. We were not staying one more moment in this house.
"But we have to, Momma. Mamo-chan says the bad lady will get us if we stay," she frowned as she said it and broke my heart in two.
"Well we won't let that happen, will we?" I said forcing a smile on my own face. She nodded and ran to answer the ringing phone. She giggled and handed me the phone, kindly informing me that it was for me. Assuming the speaker to be none other than Mamoru I debated on simply hanging up and running. The knowledge that we were still in his hotel kept me from hanging up.
"Hello?" I sighed into the receiver and smiled as Chibi-Usa started making faces to me and dancing around.
"So you're the new bitch, huh?" a female voice sounded into the phone. I turned away from my daughter and concentrated on this new person. It was clearly not Mamoru.
"Excuse me?" I was more shocked by fury in the curses that followed. Before I could even think of a rely the phone was taken from hand. Mamoru looked at me then help the phone to his ear, narrowing his eyed he calmly spoke into the phone,
"Don't call back, Rei," then without listening to her screaming curses he hung up, "Now that was probably not the best way to wake up."
I quickly looked for Chibi-Usa and cursed when she was gone.
"Calm down, she's gone down to order you some food."
"And I should believe you, why?" Images of another chase for Chibi-Usa had me running to the door before I heard it slam shut. Chibi-Usa was skipping towards me smiling happily as I lunged and grabbed her into a hug. Laughing she wrapped her arms around me and kissed me throat,
"I was just getting food, Momma. Mamo-chan said he wanted to talk to you." Still holding her, I walked back to where I had left Mamoru. He was sitting in one of four chairs surrounding a circular table. He glanced at me then turned his attention to Chibi-Usa who was squirming to be let go. Reluctantly I released her and she bounced over to the bed, telling the two of us of her adventure in the kitchen. I learned we were in a hotel not a house, and although she was permitted everywhere she loved the kitchen the most because the chef, who looked like a big stuffed bear, let her help when she wanted to. I smiled and nodded and tried to accept that she had considered this a vacation of sorts, she loved Australia and Mamoru, by the sound of it. I had to file that away to deal with later. She had lost a father, and had gained one in the same day.
- - - - - - -
We sat by a private pool and ate hamburgers and chocolate cake. I smiled as we ate the enormous meal. Mamoru talked to Chibi-Usa about the plans for the rest of the week, and she contributed ideas about what to do while he had 'business' to deal with. All the while, I sat and watched them in wonderment. I picked at my meal when either one made noise about it, but I was more concerned with their relationship. How could he have gotten this much love out of her? I smiled when she laughed at something he said, and glared when he turned his smile to me.
After dinner Chibi-Usa went swimming while Mamoru and I sat by the pool and watched.
"We're leaving as soon as possible," I muttered as I waved at Chibi-Usa on the diving board.
"No you're not," he replied with a cool arrogance. I turned my head to him and stared at his utter gall. How dare he. The man had taken my daughter, killed my husband, and now had taken me. I started to rise and before I knew it his hand was around my wrist. "Sit down, Princess. My guess is you want an explanation, of sorts." I nodded and before I could reply he continued.
"You already talked to Rei Hino, the woman on the phone this morning. When we were both younger it was arranged that we would marry. Not a forced marriage, but a pressured one. Two young single adults from high and promising families. We were 'suited for one another'. She agreed, I didn't."
He paused, and I wondered where he was going. I had sat down again, keeping an eye on Chibi-Usa. It was amazing that she could just go on while we were sitting in the presence of one of the top criminals in recent history.
"So…she is a crazed lover gone wrong?" I asked smiling. How typically cliché: scorned lover fights back. More power to her, in my opinion. He probably had it coming to him. He smiled slightly, making his face a touch too appealing.
"No. We were never lovers. For Rei, I never felt anything more than a strained friendship. She was beautiful enough but there was something more to her that I didn't want. I couldn't name it then, or now, but we were never right. I thought everything was fine. I never made any promises to her, or to her family. Shortly after Chibi-Usa was born I was sent a telegram saying that she knew whom the father was. Curious, I went to meet her and saw her for the first time in almost a decade," he sighed and locked his eyes to mine, "I don't know what happened to her, but she was wild. She made threats against me, threats of exposing me. As I left she made a comment about Chibi-Usa. After I had her on permanent surveillance and both of you on a watch. You might have taken our child, but she is mine."
I didn't know what to say. I almost wanted to believe he was a father protecting a child, but Seiya's last night flashed through my mind. "She is mine," I replied as coolly as possible.
"Ours, but that is not the point. Yet. A few months ago something went wrong and my men found Seiya talking with Rei. I had lightened the watch after the first year. She hadn't made any more noise, I thought it was safe. She then contacted me and made a direct threat on Chibi-Usa." He had gone quiet again, and there was more. I could see that by the way his eyes had drifted to her. An absent smiling lifted as Chibi-Usa did another dive into the pool. "Rei had set a bomb to go off the night you and Seiya were coming to the RADK Building. The plan, or what I got of it, was that she would kill Chibi-Usa along with the guards and have the blame pointing to me."
I stared at him and tightened my grip on his hand, though I couldn't remember grabbing it. What he was saying didn't make sense. The bomb had been planted by Mamoru. He had kidnapped Chibi-Usa because he had wanted to hurt Seiya and me. I tried to work it out and began shaking my head. He was lying. He had to be. Before I could say so his other hand rested on mine.
"Usako," his voice had changed now, gentle, "according to what I have been able to find out, Seiya helped to plant the bomb."
"How dare you. You murder him in cold blood, right in front of me. Right before you had me believing my daughter had been killed," my body was shaking as the fury and anger boiled came out, "How dare you."
I walked over to the side of the pool where Chibi-Usa was resting and pulled her out. The two of us walked to the entrance of the hotel, only to be stopped by guards. Still prisoners, I thought grimly as I was escorted back to the suite.
"Momma? Where are we going?" Chibi-Usa asked as I carried her through the kitchen.
"We're going away, baby." I had gotten through the doors when another pair of guards stopped us. Again, we were escorted back to the suite.
"But I don't wanna go," I could see the pools gathering in her eyes and tried to think of a way to explain that she would understand. I heard the door slam and stiffened, holding her behind me. I had wondered when he would come.
"Mamoru," she squealed when he stood in the doorway. Before I could react she had run out of my grasp and into his. He whispered something to her and scooted her from the room. I started after her when he grabbed and stopped me.
"She will be fine. She has been here for weeks now and I haven't done anything to her, why would I start now?" the sarcasm rolled out as his eyed narrowed furiously onto me. I shrugged and made a move to the door again only to have his grip tighten. Frustrated I sighed and stepped back. It didn't make sense.
In an odd detached way, it might have worked for a movie or book but not for real life. Seiya had been my husband, father to my child. He would never have planted a bomb set to kill her. There had been time when something might have felt off in their relationship, but it was never for long and had only been stress. Seiya was a good man.
"Mamoru, lies don't matter now. You have both of us here," I moved over to the window and looked out as the cars drove slowly down the street. Had it only been a matter of weeks since I had stood here and prepared myself to sneak into Mamoru's building with Seiya? I heard Mamoru sigh and move, pleased with myself for not jerking when he laid his hand son my shoulders.
"If I had wanted you here before, you would have been here," I turned around and looked into those piercing eyes again. Why was I compelled to believe when I knew he was lying? I remained silent as I moved away from him, away from his touch. I didn't want him near me. "When she made the attack on Chibi-Usa, I took her. There hadn't been any threat or attack on you so I didn't. You wouldn't have listened the same way you aren't listening now," he threw a thick envelope on the bed and began walking towards me. "The driver in the car that hit you, most likely worked for Rei." When he stood beside me his voice thickened and shook, "I would kill Seiya a thousand times for even thinking about killing our daughter. I might not have been with her, but she is my daughter," then he left.
I stood where I was until after I heard the door close staring at the envelope. I knew that I would open it, and I knew I wouldn't want to. It was easier to deny facts without evidence, and with this would be the evidence. I wouldn't open it. I knew I would, I knew I had to but not yet. I had just gotten Chibi-Usa back, I didn't need to find out that my late husband had been the one who set the bomb that had stopped my life for those few terrifying moments.
When the door opened again I turned, ready for a better round with Mamoru but found Chibi-Usa instead. Chibi-Usa had changed into a spring yellow dress and held two cones in her hands. I smiled, forgetting the envelope, and grabbed her into a hug giving her a loud kiss on the cheek. All that was important in the world was in my arms at that moment. I tried to think about Seiya planning the murder of the daughter he had loved, and couldn't see it. Perhaps part of me did, in our world you had to turn off the rest of the world. But not Seiya. Not Chibi-Usa.
We had dinner in the main lounge, without the company of Mamoru. All of Chibi-Usa's favorites were served. Everything from hamburgers to chocolate cake. We talked about everything from swimming to going to the park tomorrow. She never mentioned Seiya, a point that seemed odd to me. For all practical purposes, he was her father. He was the only father she had ever known; until recently.
"Chibi-Usa?" I asked as I forked the last of my cake.
"Yes, Momma?"
"I just noticed that you haven't asked about your father." The statement hung and for a moment I thought I had made a mistake in bringing it up. What if she had been to afraid to ask?
"Mamoru said that he had to go away and wouldn't be back," she replied at last. The finality in the response had me curling my hands into fists beneath the table. How dare he.
"Baby, you know he loved you, right?" I uncurled one hand and placed it over hers, before she could scoop more food. She nodded and lifted the spoon up.
"I know that, Momma," she lowered her head as she leaned over closer, "Do you want to know a secret?" Playing the game I leaned closer and nodded. "Mamoru loves me more."
I bit back a sigh and tried my best smile. Of course he does. We made plans to go out tomorrow, no doubt with a guard on our tail. A woman dressed in black came and took Chibi-Usa to her room, and this was how it was done, according to my five year old daughter. Another woman came and sat where Chibi-Usa had just been.
"So, do you want to see him?" her brown hair was tied back into a tight bun at the base of her neck. I stared at her another minute before I realized she was talking about Mamoru.
"No. Yes." I spat out as I stood. She smiled and took my arm leading me to the elevator.
"I'll take that as a yes. And a word of advice?" She waited for my nod before going on. "You should be really happy. He adores you and you've done nothing but fight him. I know this Rei girl, she isn't the normal ex. Seriously, I'd take her on myself, if Mamoru wouldn't find out." I tried to see where she was going with the conversation, and ended up more confused than I had started out.
"Excuse me?"
"Rei. The chick you has the thing against you and the kid. Trust me, Mamoru won't let anything happen to either one of you," she said with a smile. It dawned on me that this young woman, who couldn't have been more than seventeen, was giving me the protective sibling speech. Amused, I smiled back and said,
"I think I can handle both Rei and Mamoru."
"I have no doubt that you could try to," she frowned a bit as we exited the elevator and headed down one of the halls, "But you have to think about Chibi-Usa before you decide on handling anybody."
We walked the rest of the way in silence, until we reached the double doors, beautiful wooden doors. She touched my arm gently and waited till I turned to her, "Just forget about the past and start fresh. You've been through hell these past few weeks, but you got her back. Imagine what would happen if you didn't, or if she didn't get you back. He only did what he did for both of you."
She knocked once on the door then opened without waiting for an answer. The room was the same one I had seen in the video of Mamoru and Seiya. The desk, computer, and files all the same. I didn't even bother wondering how that could be, when Seiya had not left the country but instead followed the young woman. Mamoru held up a hand, signaling us to wait, then continued his conversation on the phone. With one ear straining on the conversation, I looked around the office. It was much bigger than it looked before, and more conservative than was Mamoru's normal style. The snippets of the conversation that I could hear were about business and stock, not about criminal activities. The girl who had brought me in, sat on the corner of his desk and began toying with some of the papers and pens.
It was foolish to feel that quick flood of something. It couldn't have been jealousy, it was merely…dislike that Mamoru would take advantage of someone so young. And the fact that she would be taken advantage of. As he hung up he smiled over to the girl and stood to stand behind her.
"How is the show going, darling?" he asked as he wrapped an arm around her. She laughed and threw her head back, "Magnificent. We'll knock 'em dead on opening night. You'll be there, right?"
Still smiling, he released her and walked around the desk, "I wouldn't miss it." She stood and gave him a quick, and affectionate, hug then left us alone. She turned when she got to the door and said her good-byes.
I walked over to one of the walls and selected a book at random, the silence in the room was deafening.
"Cher is one of the few people who I trust, and she has yet to disappoint me," he spoke as he crossed over to me.
"She certainly hasn't had that much time to disappoint you, has she? She is what…sixteen? Seventeen?" I cursed myself for sounding so prim, but kept myself outwardly cool.
"She is about to turn seventeen. She is one of the lead dancers in the hotel troupe, and is also my assistant. Some bad things happened in her life before she came to work for me, and when she ran she ran into me," he smiled and let out a laugh, "Literally. I was leaving one of the stores and she ran straight into me…much like you did when we first met. And after we talked, she walked away employed and safe."
I scowled and replaced the book, "I didn't run into you, you weren't watching where you were going. And besides, you were under arrest at the time."
"It doesn't count till they have the cuffs on," he chuckled as he stopped in front of me, "And you did run into me."
I backed up a step and backed into the bookshelf, I was not going to be intimidated or flustered now. Straightening my back I turned my head to look up at him,
"So what did you want to see me about?" Although I wasn't shaking, my heart was in my throat. How could it be that after everything he did to me and mine, I still couldn't be in the same room without becoming as nervous as a schoolgirl? Mentally I began a chant telling myself to ignore him, be strong.
"I thought we could both say good night to Chibi-Usa, then talk. You undoubtedly have questions you want answered." I felt one of his hands take mine and entwine our fingers. Even as I tried to take my hand back, he held on.
"Fine." I turned to walk out the way we had come, when he pulled me back.
"Not that way," still holding my hand he led me to another door disguised as a bookshelf. The hallway led directly to the hallway that held both Chibi-Usa's and my rooms.
- - - - - - -
We left Chibi-Usa alone a few moments later, and began walking down the same hall again. Without words Mamoru led me further down and into another room. Obviously this was his personal suite. The colors were so dramatically Mamoru, I halfway expected to see a sign up. The bed was a deep black, with shockingly silver pillows resting on top. Like two silver moons. The lamp beside the bed was a brass molding with roses on the base and moons on the top. Really, it was a beautiful piece. Across from the bed was a desk with various papers across the top.
"What are we doing here?" Even though we were alone, my voice wouldn't rise above a whisper.
"I'm showing you the latest pictures of Rei and where her men were before you came here," he replied without looking up. While he was busy searching through the papers and photos, I looked more closely at the room. Besides the bed and desk, the room was bare. A single framed picture hung on the wall, a black-and-white shot of a couple strolling down the streets of Paris. I walked closer and smiled as they laughed back at me. How wonderful that kind of love must be. I turned back around and nearly ran into Mamoru's chest. Looking up I frowned as he smiled and handed me the papers.
Walking back to the desk, I was well aware of his eyes on me. Trying to ignore him, I sat down and looked at the papers. I got half way down the page when the silence and the tension got to be too high. I tried to concentrate harder on the paper, but again felt my mind wandering back to him. From what I could gather, Rei had indeed been following my family and me for some time. I still couldn't grasp anything about Seiya, but this stranger and criminal, Rei I could. A few snapshots showed the two of them together, showed Rei outside the house, and hundreds of other places where she could have easily gotten to us. I frowned as I went over the papers again, Mamoru had completely left my mind.
Rei Hino was crazy. That was the single conclusion that I was able to come up with. The woman had centered an unhealthy hatred on my daughter simply because she had been born.
"She's crazy," I whispered aloud.
"Completely," Mamoru whispered from behind me. On a gasp I whirled around, and found him a hair's breath away. His hands came up to my waist, an act that helped balance me from falling back onto the desk.
They say that in extreme times the mind will go into a state of temporary insanity. In that second, I knew it was true. The feelings and sensations from five years ago ran into me as though they were yesterday. I had never wanted anything as much as I needed Mamoru that moment. We can't do this, part of my mind screamed. I tried to listen, and tried to accept.
"Mamoru," the air around us was as hot as a summer day causing my voice to come out as husky whisper that surprised me, "we can't do this."
He leaned down with a smile on his lips and barely touched them to my jaw line. In an equally low whisper he said, "Just tell me to stop."
It was both a command and dare. He would stop if I backed away. His hands slowly slid up my torso and rested below my breasts, the heat of them causing my body to tense. As his hands slip up, his mouth slowly slid over my face. Going from one side to the other. The time he was giving me to think he was seducing me beyond the point of reason. When I tried to straighten and realign my thoughts it was like another attack on my senses as he rubbed his hands in small circles.
In complete surrender I lean closer and took his mouth in mine.
*gasp* What is this? Could it be that I updated my fic?! *laughs* Yeah..its been a while… I wonder if anybody is even reading it now. O.o; Probably not ^.^ Anywho…here it is and I'm sorry about the long delay…this has been a busy summer and it looks to be an even busier school year.
