HEY! I'm not dead! WOULD YA LOOK AT THAT?! SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO sorry
this chapter was SO incredibly late. My grades tanked cause of all the snow
we've been having here in Virginy but the weather is finally looking good
and my grades have gone up as well!
Ere go, Chapter 8 ladies and gentlemen! ENJOY! It's my longest yet!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Love, Labors, Lost
Chapter 8: Labors
Rated: PG-13
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All of Virginia could have woken up at the sound of his slamming front door, but he honestly did not give a damn.
Once inside, Mamoru kicked the door's base and was rewarded with another loud slam. His keys landed with a light jingle when he threw them half way across the room as he dug both hands into his midnight black hair and stumbled onto his couch.
He clutched further as his hair and squeezed his eyes shut as what had just happened finally sunk in.
He had finally admitted it. In asking Serena to dinner he had finally admitted the possibility that Usagi might really not be coming back.
"Dammit!" he choked into the side of the couch. He had been so sure! He could have sworn on the graves of his mother and father that Serena was really Usagi. But no, she could not be, it was just his torn heart playing tricks on him again.
But if that was so, then why did it feel so right to be with her? To hold her hands in his?
He let out another exasperated sob, shaking his head violently, how would Usagi have a kid? They had not gone but so far in their relationship. He recalled a few occasions when their make-out sessions grew into a very... "hands on" activity, but even those times were few, and never had he let it go into his bedroom.
That was another thing he cursed himself for. Even though he did not regret not taking her before she was ready, sometimes he could only help but think that had he been more open with her, more willing to talk, or... not talk as the occasion sometimes called for, that she would have told him what was wrong and not left. Or perhaps even that his aloof façade was the very reason for her departure.
He groaned as the painful memories started to resurface themselves. What was he doing, asking Serena out like that? He certainly was not being very fair to her.
Sighing, he turned over to pick up the phone to call her and cancel, when it began to ring. He creased his brows and picked up the receiver.
"Hello?"
"Mamoru-san?" a small voice croaked out on the other line.
He smiled and relaxed his face, leaning back into the couch. "Rei."
"Look Mamoru-san, I'm sorry I blew up at you the other day. You were right. I pushed the envelope, and I've felt terrible about it. I still stand by what I said, but I... I'm sorry if I hurt you." Realizing she was babbling she paused and bit her lip.
He chuckled softly and shook his head, "It's all right Rei, actually, you'll never believe this but I ended up asking the kid's mom out." He heard her gasp and finished quickly, "but I'm starting to think it wasn't such a good idea. I was about to call and cancel when you rang."
"Chiba Mamoru, you cad! Canceling on a date? That is not like you at all! Don't you dare do that to that poor girl!"
"Rei..." He drawled a warning and she bit her lip once again.
"Sorry." She sighed, "I'm sorry Mamoru, but tell me why you'd want to cancel! No, no, no, wait, first tell me, what made you ask her out?"
She could almost see him as he closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose in thought. "I don't know, there's just something... I like being around her. She's sweet, and fun, a bit sarcastic at times... Has a heart the size of Texas."
"Texas?" Rei asked, rolling the foreign word around on her tongue.
Mamoru laughed, "It's a very large state in America."
"Oh. Well she seems great Mo-chan, but... doesn't she... I mean... She sounds..." Rei struggled to find the right word and not offend Mamoru at the same time.
"Like Usako? Yeah I know. That's the problem, I don't want to be going out with her because she reminds me of my ex." He cringed at calling Usagi an "ex" but there was no other way really to put it.
Rei smiled, an idea forming in her quick mind, "Hey, Mamoru... What's her name?"
"Serena." He replied simply.
"Serena, What?" Rei snapped impatiently.
"Serena... Dammit I can never remember her last name. What are thinking of anyway?" he asked cautiously.
Rei bit her lip; she did not think it would go over well if she told him that she planned to do a fire reading on her. "Just curious, you can tell a lot about a person by their name."
Mamoru opened up his school laptop. "Here, let me check, I just have to find my attendance roll. Here we go. Oh! That's right, Casey Tsukino. So Serena Tsukino."
A chill shot down Rei's spine when she heard the name. But just as quickly as the name flew across her brain, it was slowly starting to fade. However Rei gritted her teeth and reached out with the invisible hands of her mind to bring it back. She hated when people played head games with her, she had neither the time, nor the patience for them, and they were usually nothing but trouble.
She ignored Mamoru's concerned voice distantly sounding on the other line, took a deep breath and concentrated all her energy onto the name. Suddenly, her mind's outstretched hands caught it, and it snapped its proverbial fingers, her eyes snapped open. She knew that name!
"Mamoru!" she cried into the receiver, clutching it with both hands. Gods how could she have been so blind? It all made sense now. Her vision, the name, Mamoru's job placement... It was all falling into place.
"Mamoru! Open your eyes, see what is hidden, stop searching for what you have already found!" She had to fight to keep her voice level as she repeated the chant in his ear. "Open your eyes, Mamoru." She whispered once more.
As quick as lightning, images flashed in Mamoru's mind and it obeyed the spell being chanted to it by the fire priestess. It was as if someone had come and simply turned the last piece of a puzzle, a piece he had been trying to place into a slot where he knew it belonged but simply would not fit. It needed only be turned upside down, and it slid easily into its space, the puzzle was solved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Usagi woke, her head swimming. She tried to open her eyes, but it was to no avail, as she could not see anymore than she could with them closed.
She groaned and grabbed her head, forcing herself to sit up on the... Bed? It felt like one. God she felt as if she had taken a two by four to the head.
"So you've awoken." A cool voice drawled, sending shivers down her spine. She knew that voice.
"Demando-sama?" She asked, using the term of reverence on automatic. But there was no answer.
"What happened? Where am I?" Still no answer. She heard a faint 'click'. The room was suddenly filled with just enough light to see by, and although it was not much, it was enough to make her squint and add to the pounding in her head.
She looked around, but shadows still filled the corners of the large room and the man who she assumed to be Demando was nowhere to be seen. Then she saw something stir out of the corner of her eye, and seconds after she saw it, a light shown down on the spot to reveal her captor.
It was Prince Demando sure enough. He was sitting, head resting casually on his propped up right hand, a glass half filled with red wine held in the other.
He looked her up and down before taking another sip of his wine. "The dress fits you nicely. You should know that I had it specially tailored to your measurements."
She furrowed her brows. He was making no sense. She shook her head and questioned him again, using her most commanding sailor senshi voice. "Where are we? What do you want with me?"
He sighed exasperatedly, as if he had already explained this to her several times and she was asking him again. "I had to take you someplace where we'd have some privacy. We are in my Black Spiral Citadel."
Privacy... Who else had asked for that? KING ENDYMION! Of course! The memories came flooding back in an instant. Neo Queen Serenity, King Endymion, Chibi-Usa, they were her, and her future family. Endymion had taken them to a secret control room... Endymion had said no one knew about it.
Usagi's eyes narrowed, "How did you find me?"
Demando laughed and set down his wine glass. "Endymion was a fool to think I did not know about that place... I know not what he trying to accomplish by hiding. Prolonging the inevitable I suppose."
Usagi tried to gather her thoughts, understand what he was saying, but her head was so light, and yet so heavy. "What have you done to me?" She bit.
He picked up his wine glass and took another sip. "Oh, yes. You've received your first energy surge from the Dark Crystal. It'll feel..." He blinked and looked at his glass, raising it up for her to see, "as if you've consumed quite a bit of wine." He set the glass down, for good this time and lifted himself up from his chair, stumbling a bit as he stood finally.
Her eyes widened with realization as he began to move towards the bed, "You're drunk!" She stated incredulously.
"So it would seem, yes. But don't worry, it impairs my judgment not." He smiled wickedly, "I've been planning this for quite some time, not even alcohol can persuade me otherwise."
She raised her head indignantly, trying to keep her voice steady even as Demando began to slide up to her from the edge of the bed, "Mamo-chan will find me. He-"
"Mamo-chan?" Demando asked, brows drawn together in question, then relaxed as recognition dawned. "Oh yes, Endymion. He IS quite a nuisance, and he will no doubt come for you eventually. But worry not my little Serenity, that will not be for quite sometime, and when he does come, I will be ready for him."
Usagi shot her head to look down at her calf where he had suddenly griped it. She looked back up to Demando and tried to pull away. "Get off of me!" She commanded and wriggled against his hand, but it served no good in freeing her, he only gripped her other leg.
The effects of the Dark Crystal were starting to wear off, but in their place came something worse. Fear.
As Demando began to slide his hands higher, Usagi tried to kick harder, but before she could get a direct hit, his hands had moved to her wrists, and now held them firmly on either side of her head.
"Demando STOP!" she screamed. She moved against his body, trying to free herself from his steel grip. When he did not budge she screamed again.
"MAMO-CHAN!"
*SLAP!*
She ceased all movement as he hit her, except to slowly turn and stare into his eyes, those cold, dark, unfeeling eyes. Ice.
Her lower lip started to tremble as he re-encased her wrist with the hand that had just struck her face. "Demando, what are you doing?" She whimpered, too scared to hide the way it showed in her voice, and a sickly feeling formed in the pit of her stomach as she realized the answer before he could speak. She glanced towards the windows high above her head, and thought she saw the swirl of a cape, but when she blinked it was gone; only an apparition supplied by a desperate mind.
Every outside sound went dead as her ears began to ring and fear consumed her body, paralyzing her. She began to shut down, make herself numb to any feeling, and it was starting to work, but a sharp squeeze at her wrists and a growl from Demando brought her back, fully aware of her pain and fear. He would not even allow her the serenity of absence of mind; she would feel it, every blow.
"Look at me!" He yelled, and her body obeyed.
He stared down at her, into her soul, with those eyes of ice. He had kept the promise he made to her that night at the crafts school. It was one thousand years later, and he was seeing her.
"You are mine." He told her. "No one else's." He leaned down, pressing the length of his body against hers and licked her ear, the Black Moon on his forehead turning sideways and into a third eye. He lifted himself back up and looked down at her, focusing his energy into her. Usagi's eyes became hallow as his hypnotic powers took her. Demando smiled and bent down to whisper in her ear once more, "You are mine."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You are mine." The voice echoed in her head as the memory faded and slipped down into her soul where it would linger for another, darker time.
Usagi blinked and turned back to the mirror on her vanity, resuming the task of lightly applying some shimmer dust to her slightly darkened eyes. But with a touch of light pink gloss to her lips, she was already having to push down the doubts in her mind again. It was not easy, but just for that night she wanted to be held in his arms again. She wanted to be surrounded by the loving atmosphere that they had shared so many years ago one more time before she severed all ties to him. Just for tonight she would be selfish, and she would say good-bye to him properly, if a bit vaguely, the way she should have done five years ago.
She knew he still loved her, but was glad and heart-broken all at once that he was ready to start dating other girls. Even if the other girl was she, he did not know it, and Usagi wanted to keep it that way. She did not want him to know the horrible things she had gone through. Things that had turned her into a far different person then the girl he used to know and love. She wanted him to remember her only as Usagi, the carefree, loving, innocent, naïve girl she once was. Not as Serena, the premature woman he had met a few weeks ago. Because Usagi knew that if Mamoru found out what she had done, how she had just left him, she knew he would never forgive her.
It was all that horrible man's fault. Demando. If it were not for him, Usagi would not be having this dilemma right now. She would probably be going out with Mamoru to the crown arcade tonight, or chatting the phone with her friends. If he had not come in and ruined her whole life, she would never have had to leave them and a life she loved, behind.
She might say it was she who left them, say she blamed herself, but deep in her heart, she blamed him. All of it was on him.
As she thought it, the terrible coldness she'd felt with the memory of that night, returned. But she ignored it for what it was and got up to close the window.
She returned to her vanity and sat down to face her bed, staring down at the beautiful sparkling blue dress she had bought with Molly that morning. She smiled as her fingers traced the fabric, remembering the look on Molly's face when she told her she was going out on a date, much less on one that required a nice dress.
Mamoru had called her that morning and told her... Actually he told her nothing. Nothing except that he'd be there at six, as planned, and to wear something formal. She had protested of course, not wanting to add to her already mounding guilt, but he had insisted. When she asked where, he had only laughed with a, "Wait and see". That damn man had always been way too cryptic.
There was a gentle rapping on the door as Kate leaned her head inside, chestnut curls falling from where her head was tilted to the side. "Can I come in?" She asked sweetly as Usagi giggled and nodded, motioning her in with her hand.
Kate tiptoed in playfully and shut the door behind her, softly paddling her way to sit on Usagi's bed. "So you're going out with your old boyfriend, Mamoru, huh?" She asked softly.
Usagi whirled around to face her, eyes wide. Kate gave her the knowing smile she was famous for and patted the bed spot next to her, telling Usagi to sit. She did so and waited in wonder to find out how Kate knew about this one.
Kate chuckled when she saw Usagi's disbelieving look and shook her head, "Honey, you should know by now that I'm watching you a lot more than you think. I saw the way you primped before opening the door to let that man in last night, and I saw your heated gaze on him when he wasn't looking." Usagi blushed noticeably and looked away.
"And," Kate continued, "I remembered his face from a picture I've seen of your two. Hey! Don't look so shocked! He's a very good looking man, it'd be hard not to forget a face like that." She laughed as Usagi continued to stare at her in shock, even as she nodded her head in agreement.
Kate shifted and raised a brow, "Only thing is, how in the world could he not remember someone as amazing as you?" She paused for a moment before adding, "Or maybe the more important question is why won't you let him see you for who you really are?"
Usagi looked down at her slippers, shameful that she would never be able to tell her dear friend everything about her life. "I left him, Kate." She began to explain, knowing that Kate already knew what she was about to say. "How in the world can I face him after what I did to him? I didn't betray him with another man; I know that now, but... I did leave him. *I* left him Kate. I left my whole family, all my friends... It's better this way, he doesn't recognize me, so it's better that he just know me as Serena. If he found out who I really was, he would never forgive me."
Kate placed a warm arm around Usagi's shoulders and rubbed her forearm, causing the fabric of her bathrobe to slide up and down against her skin. It was the same gesture she'd made when Usagi had finally told them the truth about Keisuke's father, or rather, sperm-donor, as Kate preferred to call him. She kissed the younger woman's temple lightly before taking her hands and standing up to face her.
"How do you know whether or not he would forgive you, if you never give him a chance?"
Usagi stared up at her in wonder as Kate let go of her hands and turned to leave. She paused at the doorway, and turned around for a brief moment, "If there really isn't any hope for you two, then why are you going on this date Usagi? Ask yourself that."
Usagi could do nothing but stand and continue to stare, dumbfounded, unable to supply an answer for the questions given.
"I wouldn't just stand there, Serena, he's going to be here in half in hour!" Kate called finally before disappearing down the hallway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mamoru stared, open mouthed as the Anderson's door opened to reveal a vision before him.
Her hair was done up in a mass of curls atop her head, and two loose tendrils elegantly framed her soft features. A string of pearls and diamonds donned her long neck, and matching diamond and pearl teardrops hung from her ears.
Her dress came down to her ankles, below which black-strapped sandals curved around her feet. The dress sparkled a dark blue and a black velvet lace design curved around the length of her body, two modest slits sliding up just below her knees on each side.
He looked appreciative of the way the strapless, stretchy material hugged her hourglass form, and for the first time since he was born, Usagi thanked Keisuke for the hips he had given her while in the womb.
"Wow." He stated as continued to stare at her, unwilling to blink for fear that she would disappear.
She giggled, "Done sizing me up?" Usagi joked, but her heart was beating hard and loud as she glanced over his form, drinking in the sight of him like a woman lost in a desert would drink up water.
His ebony hair was gelled slightly, but some strands had escaped and now hung over his forehead. He wore his trademark tuxedo, but Usagi swore that no matter how many times she saw him in it, he only succeeded in looking sexier the next. Age had done his form good, as he seemed to fill the suit more completely than the last time she saw him in it, not that she noticed then.
He coughed, embarrassed at being caught staring at her, "I- I wasn't- I mean..." He gave up, frustrated with himself for acting like such a fool. He had run this moment over in his mind more times than she would ever know, and yet here he was carrying on like a blubbering teenager. "Here." He said finally, bringing out a hand, which he had hidden behind his back until then.
She gasped when she saw the bouquet of roses he held out for her, and it was everything she could do to not just throw herself at him, pour her soul out and cry till kingdom come.
Instead she took them from him, her arm shaking a bit as she did so. "Th- Thank you," she whispered and smelled them appreciatively. "Red roses... How did you know?"
He grinned and winked at her, "I had a hunch."
She bit her cheek cautiously, his knowing tone making her slightly uncomfortable, but she shook it off instantly. Lots of girls liked red roses, and it was his favorite kind too, nothing to freak out over, she told herself.
Usagi's ears perked up when she heard the soft pitter patter of feet behind her, and realized they were being watched.
Shaking her feelings of unease aside with the shaking of her head she stepped out of the doorway and held out her hand to the inside of her house. "I just have to get some things in order for Case, can you wait in the living room for a few minutes?"
His grin broadened as he nodded and stepped into the doorway, his body suddenly coming into close proximity to hers.
She closed her eyes for a fleeting second and breathed in the sent of his cologne, indulging in his closeness.
"Usa..." he breathed as she swayed unconsciously towards him.
Her eyes flew open, "What did you say?" she gasped almost inaudibly as she searched his eyes.
He smiled friendly and shook his head, "Nothing. You want me to put those into some water for you?" He asked looking down at his flowers in her hand.
She raised a brow at him, but decided again that she was just hearing things and nodded, handing him back the bouquet. "Yes, please."
They parted and she let out a breath she did not know she was holding. She heard giggling as she entered the kitchen and turned around to find her son was fallowing her.
"Keisuke Endymion Tsukino!" She hissed at him, putting both hands onto her hips, but smiled to lighten the effect. She had forgotten he was watching them.
He smiled back at her. "You look real pretty Mama." He complemented sheepishly, his smile broadening to a toothy grin.
"OHH no you don't. What have I told you about flattery?" she asked, wagging a finger at him.
"That it'll get you everywhere." He replied slickly.
"That's rig- Hey! I never taught you that!" she gasped as he giggled, only this time a deeper chuckle accompanied him.
She turned around to face Mamoru, grinning devilishly down at her. Her son ran into his open arms and he scooped him up.
Usagi tried to frown but she could not help the corners of her lips from tugging upward as she kept her indignant stance towards them. "Mr. Chiba!" She scolded. "You are ONLY supposed to be working with him on SCIENCE!"
Mamoru laughed as Keisuke slid down his form and hugged his leg. "But my dear, women ARE a science."
"OHH!" She mock fumed, shooing both of them towards the living room with her hands. "Both of you go wait in there while I write down these numbers for Kate and Max!"
The both pouted and she could only laugh at the picture they made as they turned and trudged into the next room, Keisuke mirroring Mamoru's slumped form perfectly.
Once they were out of sight, Usagi's happy smile changed to a sad one. He really would have made a wonderful father.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mamoru sat down on the couch and arched a brow as Keisuke sat down next to him and glared at him purposely. "Whatcha need kido?"
"Mr. Chiba, I like you lots OK? And Mama does too... I can tell." Keisuke bit his lip, as if contemplating something, and finally scooted in closer to his teacher. Mamoru took the hint and leaned down so Keisuke could whisper in his ear.
"I know you knew Mama back in Japan, and I know you make her smile. I haven't seen Mama smile like that in, well... never, and I don't want to see her STOP smiling like that." He paused and Mamoru looked down into the boy's light blue eyes.
Something flashed in his mind, an image of those same eyes, however hatred and ice cool calculation replaced the innocence and love that Casey's held.
But his pupil's voice cleared the image from his mind, and his own eyes refocused on him. "You won't let her stop smiling, will you, Mr. Chiba?"
Mamoru smiled, knowing exactly what the bright little boy was implying. He looked up to see Usagi walk over to the small table by the door, turning on her cell phone and placing her pager into the purse that was lying there. She was so beautiful and did not even know it.
He looked back to Keisuke and picked up both his tiny hands, blanketing them completely with his large ones. "I promise you, Casey, I won't let your mama stop smiling."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ok, so this number is for my cell, if for some strange reason my cell isn't working, this one's for my pager. If you can't reach me on either of those, this is Mamoru's cell and pager-"
"Serena!"
She looked up at Max and bit her lip at the chiding look he gave her.
"We'll be fine!" He assured her, placing his hands on her bare shoulders for emphasis. "You just go and have a good time all right?"
She sighed and nodded, handing Max the piece of paper on which she had written about six different numbers.
Kate bent down and kissed her cheek. "You two have fun, OK?"
Usagi nodded as she bent down to her son's level and mussed up his hair, "You be good now! I know that's an AWFULLY hard thing for you to do, but try all right?" She teased him.
He laughed and hugged her neck, "I will Mama, I promise. I love you."
She beamed at him as she released him and rose to face Mamoru.
He smiled at her and offered her his arm in a playful but gentlemanly gesture. "Ready?"
She laughed and took it. "Ready!" she affirmed.
With a few more last minute kisses and good-byes they were out the door and on their way to his car. She smiled when she recognized it as his old red convertible.
"God, you'd think I was on my way to prom, or going on a vacation or something the way they carried on!"
He laughed as he opened the passenger car door for her and raised playful eyebrows, "Them? They weren't the ones giving out fifty numbers!" He exclaimed, sliding into the drivers seat and shutting the door.
"Well I'M sorry, but this is the first time I've been anywhere but school or work this late." She admitted.
He started the car and put it in reverse, glancing over at her before placing a hand on the back of her seat to look behind him as he backed out of the Anderson's driveway.
"You mean to tell me that you've never gone out before?" He asked when they were finally on the road.
She shook her head, "No, not really. Maybe a couple times with Molly, out to go see a movie or something last year. But other than that I really don't have anywhere to go, or anything to do other than take care of my kid. If you haven't noticed Virginia isn't exactly jam-packed with fun filled places to go." She scrunched her brows, "Which reminds me, where are we going tonight?'
"You have Kate and Max to look after Keisuke though," he reasoned, ignoring her question. "You could have gone out a lot more than most singles moms can."
She shrugged, the fact that he had not answered not unnoticed to her, but she decided to let him have it his way. "Well yes, and I am grateful to them for being able to be there when I can't, but I wanted that time to be minimized only to when I had to be gone for school or work. I don't know, I guess I just don't want someone else raising my kid, you know what I mean? I don't want to take advantage of the fact that I have someone to watch after him to an extent that I ignore my duty as a parent."
He glanced over at her, his sensuous lips curved upward. She fidgeted with her blue strap of her purse under his glare. "If you think that's silly then..."
"Silly?" He choked out in disbelief. "U- Serena, that's one of the most responsible things I've ever heard from a single mom in my life! Do you know how many women in your position would abuse it? I think the choices you've made are very respectable ones." He finished, grateful that she did not seem to notice his slip up.
"If you only knew..." Usagi sighed as she glanced out the window. However she could not help but feel happy, content. Talking to him about her life, her thoughts... Hell just TALKING to him was bliss. A month ago conversations like these were only a wish, a fantasy she would play out in her head as she clung to her pillow, alone in the middle of the night.
"By the way, I really do think you look wonderful." He added huskily as she turned to and from him, a crimson blush staining her cheeks at his random compliment.
"You don't look so bad yourself." She replied.
She felt him stop the car and park it, taking his keys out of the ignition. He turned to her and grinned, "We're here."
She looked to where he motioned his head and gasped, whirling back around to face him, but he had already gotten out and was rounding the car to open her door for her.
"Mamoru, you... I can't... This is too much!" she tried to explain as she felt the guilt build up in her chest again.
He smiled once more and opened the car door, taking her gloved hand in his. "Nonsense, it's the least I can do. After all, you are helping me earn my degree in medical science, no?"
She shook her head, protesting even as he strung his arm through hers and the entrance doors were opened for them. "Mamoru, do you know how much this place..."
"Serena, I am fully aware of the expenses. Just relax! Haven't you always wanted to come here?"
She narrowed her brows, "How did you..." But before she could finish her sentence they were greeted by a tuxedoed matradee.
"Sir, Ma'am. Welcome to the Jefferson. What name are your reservations under, please?" He looked to Mamoru expectantly.
"Chiba, table for two."
The man looked over his list and smiled when he found the name given. "Ah, yes. Right this way Mr. Chiba, Miss." He said, acknowledging them both before leading them to a table not far from the grand staircase.
He moved to pull out Usagi's chair for her but Mamoru beat him to it. She blushed at all the fuss being made just over her; she was starting to feel like a real lady. This was even better than the masquerade she attended with Rei and Ami, especially since this time she could actually enjoy herself, she hoped.
Once they were both seated, the matradee explained that their waiter would be with them momentarily, bowed, and left.
Usagi merely sat there for a moment taking in the sights and sounds of the Jefferson Hotel. It was the one place in Virginia she had always wanted to go every time she had come to America with her family, and the one place they had never been able to afford. True, it was not especially fancy or elegant as far as restaurants went, but that was not the reason for its appeal to Usagi. This was the place where her parents had met, and then later, where they had their honeymoon. It was, as Usagi found out somewhat against her will, the place where she had been conceived.
Mamoru watched her for a moment as she gazed in content wonder at her surroundings. The light from the candle in between them flickered off and on her face, making her look like a sort of mysterious spirit, trying to find her way. Loneliness and uncertainty lost to happiness and fulfillment just for that brief moment. Yet one question kept pounding its way through his heart and mind: What was she doing here? He only prayed with all his might that the answer he had come up with was the answer he would hear when he asked that question.
"Mamoru?"
"Hmm?" He murmured.
Usagi let out a small giggle, "The waiter wants to know what you want for an appetizer."
He blinked and looked to his right at the waiter standing somewhat awkwardly next to him. "So he does." Mamoru chuckled before ordering an onion soup and a club soda.
The waiter nodded, "And you, Miss?" he asked.
"I'll have your crab legs and a Bloody Mary," Usagi stated closing her menu and looking up to smile at him. "Non-alcoholic."
The waiter took their menus, bowed, and left. Mamoru turned to Usagi, "A non-alcoholic Bloody Mary huh?"
She laughed and shrugged; "I'm underage!" she defended herself.
He drew brow together in question. "Is the drinking age different in the States?"
Usagi gave him a blank look before remembering that the drinking age in Japan was indeed lower than in America. "Mamoru, the drinking age here is twenty-one." She laughed at his surprised expression and shook her head, "But I wouldn't drink even if I could."
Mamoru leaned forward, "No?"
She shook her head, but suddenly gripped the table, a familiar scene flashing by her eyes.
*"You're drunk!" Usagi stated incredulously.
"So it would seem, yes. But don't worry, it impairs my judgment not." He smiled wickedly, "I've been planning this for quite some time, not even alcohol can persuade me otherwise."*
"Serena?" Mamoru asked again when she did not respond the first time her called her name.
Her eyes flew to his, "Hmm?"
"Are... Are you OK?" He asked worriedly.
She blinked, trying desperately to shrug off the memory. "Yes of course. Why wouldn't I be?" she responded a bit too quickly.
He raised a brow, "Well for one thing, your clutching your napkin so hard your knuckles are white."
She looked down to see he was right. Usagi sighed and released the white fabric, smoothing it out over her lap as the waiter returned with their drinks and appetizers.
"I'm sorry Mamoru," Usagi sighed and put down the fork she had raised. "I- I can't accept this. It's all too nice for -"
Mamoru set down his own utensils and looked at her earnestly, "Too nice for what Serena? Too nice for you?"
She looked away and he sighed. He knew this was not going to be easy, but for different reasons. She had certainly changed a lot over the past five years. Back then she would have gladly accepted something like this, but now...
"Mamoru, if you only knew all the things I've done... The mistakes I've made..." She began to fidget with her napkin once more but he reached across the table and took her hands in his, forcing her to cease her nervous gesture.
"We've all made mistakes. You shouldn't feel like you don't deserve nice treatment, or things because of bad choices you've made!" He lifted her chin with two fingers so his eyes had access to hers, "I want to know about you. Everything about you. Mistakes and all, I want the whole package! We'll compare, I'll take notes!"
She smiled and he rubbed his thumbs over hers, leaning in like Keisuke had done with him earlier that night, as if he was telling a very important secret. "Here's the deal, I promised your kid I'd make you smile tonight, and so I promised myself that too. Of course, being the arrogant jerk I am, I didn't believe it, but I was very convincing, and in the end I finally won."
Usagi laughed out loud now, "You're making absolutely no sense you know that?"
He nodded. "Yeah, but you're smiling, so I must have done something right. So what do you say? You think we can maybe talk now?"
Usagi bit her lip, acting unsure. "I don't know that's a big step!"
Mamoru just laughed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now Mamoru had to set down his fork he was laughing so hard. He leaned back and tried desperately to wipe the tears away from his eyes. "You can't expect me to believe that." He exclaimed.
Usagi took a sip of her water and nodded her head earnestly, "I swear! I mean I love my baby, and he IS a genius in math and science and such, but when it comes to English?" She shook her head and set down her glass, leaning back to relax, but before her back even reached the chair she leaned forward once more, another memory hitting her. Mamoru chucked at her enthusiasm.
"Oh! I got a better one! So we're in KB Toys right? And Kate picks up this 'Doctor Ken' doll. Well, Max comes over and thinks he's out of our earshot and says to Kate, in his most seductive voice, "You wanna play 'doctor' later tonight?" Well Kate's usually a very proper lady in public, but I swear those two can insult each other FOREVER if you get them going. So she puts both her hands on her hips and says, "Yeah, RIGHT. I'd rather play with 'Doctor Ken' here. I bet he knows more about anatomy than you!" WELL, CASEY turns around, looks Kate straight in the eye and he says, serious as can be, "Ken doesn't have an anatomy, he's ambidextrous!""
Mamoru let out an uproarious laugh, earning a few disapproving looks from the elderly couple near by, but he did not care in the least. He was spending time with Usako, to hell with the rest of the world. "That son of yours is something else!" he exclaimed.
Usagi smiled, "I know, it's about time someone else noticed it too."
He raised a brow in inquiry and took a final sip of his soda, watching in amusement as the nearest waiter hurried over to re-fill it. "How so?"
She sighed. "All his life, people have viewed Casey as some sort of freak. I mean he's smart, he gets good grades, he's in a good school, but he never fits IN anywhere. Genius is looked at with a wary eye, especially in young children, but even more so in Casey's case.
"You see, the way it's been presented to me is that most children as bright as he are either a - sent of to some government agency to be studied, b - are really snotty or stuck up and go to really fancy schools with horses, or c - are just plain crazy. Casey isn't any of these things. He's funny and loveable, and most of the time, he acts like any other four-year old. At his old day care the kids his age rejected him for all the special treatment he got. SO, we moved him to CCSG, but he's SO advanced, even there, that they had to put him in classes with kids many years older than he. Of course, kids being kids, he got teased there too. He seems to be doing OK this year now that we finally found him a set of classes with kids his own age, but it's only been a few weeks since school started, so there's really no way to tell yet."
Mamoru shook his head, "Now, having worked with especially smart children, I have to disagree with you on your ABC list. I know plenty of kids who are extremely bright and are still some of the sweetest kids in the world. HOWEVER, I understand completely about Casey. Most of these kids, their genius isn't realized until they hit kindergarten at the earliest, that's a major reason why I chose Casey for my project."
Usagi gave a soft laugh in agreement, looking away as another thought struck her, "I worry about him sometimes, well I worry about him all the time, it's my job, but especially about how sweet he is. He's just so loving and kind, I don't think I'll ever know how that is after everything we've gone through. I worry that it's just a façade, one that hides how much he's really been hurt."
She looked to Mamoru with watery eyes, "You have no idea the horrible things people have said to him. I wished for the longest time that he had been born deaf, just because it would shield him from their hateful words. I guess I can be a little TOO over protective sometimes. Kate and Max had to practically pry him from my arms on his first day of Day Care two years ago."
Mamoru drew his brows together in confusion, "What reason would people have to say those things? What KIND of things?"
Usagi shook her head and began to fiddle with her napkin, as had become her custom when she was nervous or upset. "You're a good man Mamoru, you're the kind of person that doesn't judge until they know the whole story, and even then you leave the subject on the floor and open for discussion."
He chuckled and raised a brow, "What are you on the debate team or something?"
She smiled and shook her head, "No, I want to be a lawyer, but... I don't know if I can see that happening anytime soon. Maybe... Once Case is in High School."
Mamoru looked at her incredulously, "That's in ten years! Ten years is an awfully long time."
Usagi nodded, "I know, but I don't think a law firm would even consider me until then."
"And why would that be? You told me earlier that you get good grades!"
She turned to him and let out a cynical laugh, "The same reason why people don't appreciate Casey, and the same reason I couldn't find a job and had to move in with Kate and Max; Casey is a bastard child, he's brilliant which is odd offspring for a supposed 'whore' like me to have, and to top it all off, I'm nineteen, he's four, you do the math." She threw down her napkin onto the table, the world never ceased to disgust her.
He narrowed his eyes, as if to study her and shook his head in disbelief. "What happened to you?"
She whirled around to face him, her eyes wild, "Haven't you been listening to me for the past ten minutes?" She exclaimed, suddenly realizing just how big the rift between them really was, not noticing that what he had said implied that he knew her previously. She shook her head and blinked back the tears. She should never have come here tonight; she should have realized that it would end badly. She should have known that he wouldn't understand.
"I told you so..." A cool voice curled it's way around her thoughts, but lingered even as she tried to push it away, like the itching water ice leaves behind after its been trailed across warm skin.
"Not listening!" She hissed, trying to get the voice to go away, not realizing she had spoken out loud.
Mamoru shook his head in protest, "I HAVE been listening, it's just-"
His voice was lost behind the ice, "He's making excuses, he never loved you. Look at him. He's on a date with who he thinks is another woman! He's forgotten all about you. They've all forgotten you. They WANTED to forget you. They hate you."
"Shut UP!" she yelled and grabbed her head in an attempt to block the hurtful words, not realizing she was trapping them in, leaving the rest of the world shut out.
Mamoru's face contorted into a look of confusion. "Serena, are you all right?"
"Look at him," the icy words burned into her heart, "He thinks you're crazy! To think you trusted him, to think you thought he still loved you! What would he say if he found out who you were, and saw that you had a child by another man? What would he think of you then?"
"That wasn't my fault!" she cried desperately, still clutching her head.
"Serena, please listen to me-!" He ran over to her and put his arms on her shoulders, "What, is, wrong?!" He asked again, clearly pronouncing each word forcefully and separately.
"They all hate me!"
"Who hates you?"
"It was all his fault! I didn't do anything wrong!"
"Whose fault?"
"He still loves me, I know he does!"
"Who?!"
"MAMO-CHAN!" She screamed finally, her azure eyes flying open to clash with his shocked sapphires.
She backed away from him slowly, putting a hand to her mouth in horror. She looked around the room desperately to find that every eye was turned to her. She swallowed; the saliva ran hard and burning down her throat.
Mamoru began to rise slowly from his kneeling position on the floor. "It's OK, Usako," he whispered firmly, reaching out his hand for her to take.
Her eyes went wide at the name and she tried her best to bite down the tears. "Excuse me please!" She choked out, and fled from the room.
Mamoru cursed and ran after her, thanking God he had a tab there as he pushed through the still swinging doors.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Usagi kicked off her heels and ran as fast as she could, which was quite fast with the aid of the Silver Crystal in her purse, towards her home. Normally Mamoru would have caught up with her by now, but she had taken a short cut through the trees and was well on her way home.
She was a fool to think the night would work out. To think that she could actually be with the man she loved one more time. Her life just did not work that way, and she should have known that by now.
She emerged from the trees onto the road that would lead her home. Her pace slowed from a run to a jog, and finally to a slow trudge down the concrete sliver of road. A few tears slipped from her face as she realized that he really was gone for good. No more 'one more times' or final goodbyes, that was it, and she'd left him worse than she had the first time.
She winced as she heard the siren of an ambulance a ways behind her and moved off to the side, covering her ears as it speed down the road she was on.
Usagi watched it go down the road after it passed her, probably doing about 30 miles past the speed limit, and spoke a small prayer for whomever it was they were rushing off to aid. But even as she spoke the Amen, something did not seem quite right. It was as if... As if someone had walked over her grave. She had never felt that particular feeling before, but was pretty sure she was feeling it now.
She resumed walking, keeping her eyes on it, until it turned right, and she froze, dead in her tracks. A right. A right on Courthouse road. A right on Courthouse road led to... her house.
Usagi's heart jumped into her throat and was now banging in her ears as she ran the rest of the way down Courthouse Road. She was moving faster than she ever had as Sailor Moon and yet it felt like she was running through molasses. Too slowly the world was moving, and she could swear she could feel the earth rotate once before she finally reached the place where the ambulance had swerved right.
Even though the siren had stopped, the flickering blue and red lights were impossible to miss through the mass of trees that lived behind her house.
She ran through them, the scrapes the whip lashing branches made on her skin unnoticed to her as she rushed towards the nearest uniform, gripping his arm frantically.
The officer whirled around and shook his head, "Sorry Miss, but I'm afraid you can't be here, this is a crime-"
"Crime?" She asked, her voice cracking as she raised her brows at him, holding desperately onto his arm for support.
The young officer tried to pry away her arm, "I'm sorry miss but-"
Usagi's head snapped to the left as she saw a stretcher being carefully moved from her house into a waiting ambulance, a mass of burette curls hung off one side.
"KATE!" She screamed, shoving away the flustering officer when he tried to grip her arm.
She reached the stretcher, moving quickly beside it, and looked into her former fosterer and dear friend's sad emerald eyes, as they grew wide at the sight of her.
"Serena!" Kate tried to sit up, but strong straps bound her down to the stretcher.
"Shh! Shh! It's OK Kate, just, just don't move...!" Usagi swallowed and blinked, trying desperately to keep the tears at bay, "Oh God, Kate, what happened?"
"I'm so s-sorry Serena, Honey." Kate stuttered, her voice just above a whisper. "We tried to hide him, Max- Oh God!" She paused, sobbing a moment before forcing herself to continue.
"Max was so brave, you should have seen him! He fought until he passed out from the--- from the pain..." Her eyes were haunting, as she reached up to wipe the tears from Usagi's eyes.
"Kate, please! Don't talk, just rest! Just-" Usagi pleaded, her burning tears dropping onto Kate's blood-stained shirt.
"NO!" Kate yelled forcefully, pausing to bite her lip from the pain. "I'm sorry Serena, we tried so hard, but he was just too strong!"
Usagi shook her head in confusion, "Tried hard? Who was too strong?! WHO DID THIS TO YOU AND-" Her sobs fell away and she stopped running as the paramedics lifted Kate into the ambulance.
The last thing she heard was Kate's desperate, shrieking, haunted plea through the closing doors of the large vehicle, "Please forgive us Serena! He took Casey! Casey's gone!" Her world spun, and finally went black as she fell unconscious to the ground.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Claidi ducts flying tomatoes and grins, leaning back in her chair, not writing another word until she sees the reviews start pour in... Unfortunately she leaned too far and fell backwards out of said chair.*
After over a month it was about damn time! This chapter was my longest yet and I worked my ass off to make it perfect for you guys. What's so hard about dropping down that little review menu and leaving me a note telling me how much ya'll love me? *Grins*
J/P, though I do very much appreciate your input and would love to hear from YOU! ARIGATOO GOZAIMASU!
~Claidi Winter
Ere go, Chapter 8 ladies and gentlemen! ENJOY! It's my longest yet!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Love, Labors, Lost
Chapter 8: Labors
Rated: PG-13
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All of Virginia could have woken up at the sound of his slamming front door, but he honestly did not give a damn.
Once inside, Mamoru kicked the door's base and was rewarded with another loud slam. His keys landed with a light jingle when he threw them half way across the room as he dug both hands into his midnight black hair and stumbled onto his couch.
He clutched further as his hair and squeezed his eyes shut as what had just happened finally sunk in.
He had finally admitted it. In asking Serena to dinner he had finally admitted the possibility that Usagi might really not be coming back.
"Dammit!" he choked into the side of the couch. He had been so sure! He could have sworn on the graves of his mother and father that Serena was really Usagi. But no, she could not be, it was just his torn heart playing tricks on him again.
But if that was so, then why did it feel so right to be with her? To hold her hands in his?
He let out another exasperated sob, shaking his head violently, how would Usagi have a kid? They had not gone but so far in their relationship. He recalled a few occasions when their make-out sessions grew into a very... "hands on" activity, but even those times were few, and never had he let it go into his bedroom.
That was another thing he cursed himself for. Even though he did not regret not taking her before she was ready, sometimes he could only help but think that had he been more open with her, more willing to talk, or... not talk as the occasion sometimes called for, that she would have told him what was wrong and not left. Or perhaps even that his aloof façade was the very reason for her departure.
He groaned as the painful memories started to resurface themselves. What was he doing, asking Serena out like that? He certainly was not being very fair to her.
Sighing, he turned over to pick up the phone to call her and cancel, when it began to ring. He creased his brows and picked up the receiver.
"Hello?"
"Mamoru-san?" a small voice croaked out on the other line.
He smiled and relaxed his face, leaning back into the couch. "Rei."
"Look Mamoru-san, I'm sorry I blew up at you the other day. You were right. I pushed the envelope, and I've felt terrible about it. I still stand by what I said, but I... I'm sorry if I hurt you." Realizing she was babbling she paused and bit her lip.
He chuckled softly and shook his head, "It's all right Rei, actually, you'll never believe this but I ended up asking the kid's mom out." He heard her gasp and finished quickly, "but I'm starting to think it wasn't such a good idea. I was about to call and cancel when you rang."
"Chiba Mamoru, you cad! Canceling on a date? That is not like you at all! Don't you dare do that to that poor girl!"
"Rei..." He drawled a warning and she bit her lip once again.
"Sorry." She sighed, "I'm sorry Mamoru, but tell me why you'd want to cancel! No, no, no, wait, first tell me, what made you ask her out?"
She could almost see him as he closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose in thought. "I don't know, there's just something... I like being around her. She's sweet, and fun, a bit sarcastic at times... Has a heart the size of Texas."
"Texas?" Rei asked, rolling the foreign word around on her tongue.
Mamoru laughed, "It's a very large state in America."
"Oh. Well she seems great Mo-chan, but... doesn't she... I mean... She sounds..." Rei struggled to find the right word and not offend Mamoru at the same time.
"Like Usako? Yeah I know. That's the problem, I don't want to be going out with her because she reminds me of my ex." He cringed at calling Usagi an "ex" but there was no other way really to put it.
Rei smiled, an idea forming in her quick mind, "Hey, Mamoru... What's her name?"
"Serena." He replied simply.
"Serena, What?" Rei snapped impatiently.
"Serena... Dammit I can never remember her last name. What are thinking of anyway?" he asked cautiously.
Rei bit her lip; she did not think it would go over well if she told him that she planned to do a fire reading on her. "Just curious, you can tell a lot about a person by their name."
Mamoru opened up his school laptop. "Here, let me check, I just have to find my attendance roll. Here we go. Oh! That's right, Casey Tsukino. So Serena Tsukino."
A chill shot down Rei's spine when she heard the name. But just as quickly as the name flew across her brain, it was slowly starting to fade. However Rei gritted her teeth and reached out with the invisible hands of her mind to bring it back. She hated when people played head games with her, she had neither the time, nor the patience for them, and they were usually nothing but trouble.
She ignored Mamoru's concerned voice distantly sounding on the other line, took a deep breath and concentrated all her energy onto the name. Suddenly, her mind's outstretched hands caught it, and it snapped its proverbial fingers, her eyes snapped open. She knew that name!
"Mamoru!" she cried into the receiver, clutching it with both hands. Gods how could she have been so blind? It all made sense now. Her vision, the name, Mamoru's job placement... It was all falling into place.
"Mamoru! Open your eyes, see what is hidden, stop searching for what you have already found!" She had to fight to keep her voice level as she repeated the chant in his ear. "Open your eyes, Mamoru." She whispered once more.
As quick as lightning, images flashed in Mamoru's mind and it obeyed the spell being chanted to it by the fire priestess. It was as if someone had come and simply turned the last piece of a puzzle, a piece he had been trying to place into a slot where he knew it belonged but simply would not fit. It needed only be turned upside down, and it slid easily into its space, the puzzle was solved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Usagi woke, her head swimming. She tried to open her eyes, but it was to no avail, as she could not see anymore than she could with them closed.
She groaned and grabbed her head, forcing herself to sit up on the... Bed? It felt like one. God she felt as if she had taken a two by four to the head.
"So you've awoken." A cool voice drawled, sending shivers down her spine. She knew that voice.
"Demando-sama?" She asked, using the term of reverence on automatic. But there was no answer.
"What happened? Where am I?" Still no answer. She heard a faint 'click'. The room was suddenly filled with just enough light to see by, and although it was not much, it was enough to make her squint and add to the pounding in her head.
She looked around, but shadows still filled the corners of the large room and the man who she assumed to be Demando was nowhere to be seen. Then she saw something stir out of the corner of her eye, and seconds after she saw it, a light shown down on the spot to reveal her captor.
It was Prince Demando sure enough. He was sitting, head resting casually on his propped up right hand, a glass half filled with red wine held in the other.
He looked her up and down before taking another sip of his wine. "The dress fits you nicely. You should know that I had it specially tailored to your measurements."
She furrowed her brows. He was making no sense. She shook her head and questioned him again, using her most commanding sailor senshi voice. "Where are we? What do you want with me?"
He sighed exasperatedly, as if he had already explained this to her several times and she was asking him again. "I had to take you someplace where we'd have some privacy. We are in my Black Spiral Citadel."
Privacy... Who else had asked for that? KING ENDYMION! Of course! The memories came flooding back in an instant. Neo Queen Serenity, King Endymion, Chibi-Usa, they were her, and her future family. Endymion had taken them to a secret control room... Endymion had said no one knew about it.
Usagi's eyes narrowed, "How did you find me?"
Demando laughed and set down his wine glass. "Endymion was a fool to think I did not know about that place... I know not what he trying to accomplish by hiding. Prolonging the inevitable I suppose."
Usagi tried to gather her thoughts, understand what he was saying, but her head was so light, and yet so heavy. "What have you done to me?" She bit.
He picked up his wine glass and took another sip. "Oh, yes. You've received your first energy surge from the Dark Crystal. It'll feel..." He blinked and looked at his glass, raising it up for her to see, "as if you've consumed quite a bit of wine." He set the glass down, for good this time and lifted himself up from his chair, stumbling a bit as he stood finally.
Her eyes widened with realization as he began to move towards the bed, "You're drunk!" She stated incredulously.
"So it would seem, yes. But don't worry, it impairs my judgment not." He smiled wickedly, "I've been planning this for quite some time, not even alcohol can persuade me otherwise."
She raised her head indignantly, trying to keep her voice steady even as Demando began to slide up to her from the edge of the bed, "Mamo-chan will find me. He-"
"Mamo-chan?" Demando asked, brows drawn together in question, then relaxed as recognition dawned. "Oh yes, Endymion. He IS quite a nuisance, and he will no doubt come for you eventually. But worry not my little Serenity, that will not be for quite sometime, and when he does come, I will be ready for him."
Usagi shot her head to look down at her calf where he had suddenly griped it. She looked back up to Demando and tried to pull away. "Get off of me!" She commanded and wriggled against his hand, but it served no good in freeing her, he only gripped her other leg.
The effects of the Dark Crystal were starting to wear off, but in their place came something worse. Fear.
As Demando began to slide his hands higher, Usagi tried to kick harder, but before she could get a direct hit, his hands had moved to her wrists, and now held them firmly on either side of her head.
"Demando STOP!" she screamed. She moved against his body, trying to free herself from his steel grip. When he did not budge she screamed again.
"MAMO-CHAN!"
*SLAP!*
She ceased all movement as he hit her, except to slowly turn and stare into his eyes, those cold, dark, unfeeling eyes. Ice.
Her lower lip started to tremble as he re-encased her wrist with the hand that had just struck her face. "Demando, what are you doing?" She whimpered, too scared to hide the way it showed in her voice, and a sickly feeling formed in the pit of her stomach as she realized the answer before he could speak. She glanced towards the windows high above her head, and thought she saw the swirl of a cape, but when she blinked it was gone; only an apparition supplied by a desperate mind.
Every outside sound went dead as her ears began to ring and fear consumed her body, paralyzing her. She began to shut down, make herself numb to any feeling, and it was starting to work, but a sharp squeeze at her wrists and a growl from Demando brought her back, fully aware of her pain and fear. He would not even allow her the serenity of absence of mind; she would feel it, every blow.
"Look at me!" He yelled, and her body obeyed.
He stared down at her, into her soul, with those eyes of ice. He had kept the promise he made to her that night at the crafts school. It was one thousand years later, and he was seeing her.
"You are mine." He told her. "No one else's." He leaned down, pressing the length of his body against hers and licked her ear, the Black Moon on his forehead turning sideways and into a third eye. He lifted himself back up and looked down at her, focusing his energy into her. Usagi's eyes became hallow as his hypnotic powers took her. Demando smiled and bent down to whisper in her ear once more, "You are mine."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You are mine." The voice echoed in her head as the memory faded and slipped down into her soul where it would linger for another, darker time.
Usagi blinked and turned back to the mirror on her vanity, resuming the task of lightly applying some shimmer dust to her slightly darkened eyes. But with a touch of light pink gloss to her lips, she was already having to push down the doubts in her mind again. It was not easy, but just for that night she wanted to be held in his arms again. She wanted to be surrounded by the loving atmosphere that they had shared so many years ago one more time before she severed all ties to him. Just for tonight she would be selfish, and she would say good-bye to him properly, if a bit vaguely, the way she should have done five years ago.
She knew he still loved her, but was glad and heart-broken all at once that he was ready to start dating other girls. Even if the other girl was she, he did not know it, and Usagi wanted to keep it that way. She did not want him to know the horrible things she had gone through. Things that had turned her into a far different person then the girl he used to know and love. She wanted him to remember her only as Usagi, the carefree, loving, innocent, naïve girl she once was. Not as Serena, the premature woman he had met a few weeks ago. Because Usagi knew that if Mamoru found out what she had done, how she had just left him, she knew he would never forgive her.
It was all that horrible man's fault. Demando. If it were not for him, Usagi would not be having this dilemma right now. She would probably be going out with Mamoru to the crown arcade tonight, or chatting the phone with her friends. If he had not come in and ruined her whole life, she would never have had to leave them and a life she loved, behind.
She might say it was she who left them, say she blamed herself, but deep in her heart, she blamed him. All of it was on him.
As she thought it, the terrible coldness she'd felt with the memory of that night, returned. But she ignored it for what it was and got up to close the window.
She returned to her vanity and sat down to face her bed, staring down at the beautiful sparkling blue dress she had bought with Molly that morning. She smiled as her fingers traced the fabric, remembering the look on Molly's face when she told her she was going out on a date, much less on one that required a nice dress.
Mamoru had called her that morning and told her... Actually he told her nothing. Nothing except that he'd be there at six, as planned, and to wear something formal. She had protested of course, not wanting to add to her already mounding guilt, but he had insisted. When she asked where, he had only laughed with a, "Wait and see". That damn man had always been way too cryptic.
There was a gentle rapping on the door as Kate leaned her head inside, chestnut curls falling from where her head was tilted to the side. "Can I come in?" She asked sweetly as Usagi giggled and nodded, motioning her in with her hand.
Kate tiptoed in playfully and shut the door behind her, softly paddling her way to sit on Usagi's bed. "So you're going out with your old boyfriend, Mamoru, huh?" She asked softly.
Usagi whirled around to face her, eyes wide. Kate gave her the knowing smile she was famous for and patted the bed spot next to her, telling Usagi to sit. She did so and waited in wonder to find out how Kate knew about this one.
Kate chuckled when she saw Usagi's disbelieving look and shook her head, "Honey, you should know by now that I'm watching you a lot more than you think. I saw the way you primped before opening the door to let that man in last night, and I saw your heated gaze on him when he wasn't looking." Usagi blushed noticeably and looked away.
"And," Kate continued, "I remembered his face from a picture I've seen of your two. Hey! Don't look so shocked! He's a very good looking man, it'd be hard not to forget a face like that." She laughed as Usagi continued to stare at her in shock, even as she nodded her head in agreement.
Kate shifted and raised a brow, "Only thing is, how in the world could he not remember someone as amazing as you?" She paused for a moment before adding, "Or maybe the more important question is why won't you let him see you for who you really are?"
Usagi looked down at her slippers, shameful that she would never be able to tell her dear friend everything about her life. "I left him, Kate." She began to explain, knowing that Kate already knew what she was about to say. "How in the world can I face him after what I did to him? I didn't betray him with another man; I know that now, but... I did leave him. *I* left him Kate. I left my whole family, all my friends... It's better this way, he doesn't recognize me, so it's better that he just know me as Serena. If he found out who I really was, he would never forgive me."
Kate placed a warm arm around Usagi's shoulders and rubbed her forearm, causing the fabric of her bathrobe to slide up and down against her skin. It was the same gesture she'd made when Usagi had finally told them the truth about Keisuke's father, or rather, sperm-donor, as Kate preferred to call him. She kissed the younger woman's temple lightly before taking her hands and standing up to face her.
"How do you know whether or not he would forgive you, if you never give him a chance?"
Usagi stared up at her in wonder as Kate let go of her hands and turned to leave. She paused at the doorway, and turned around for a brief moment, "If there really isn't any hope for you two, then why are you going on this date Usagi? Ask yourself that."
Usagi could do nothing but stand and continue to stare, dumbfounded, unable to supply an answer for the questions given.
"I wouldn't just stand there, Serena, he's going to be here in half in hour!" Kate called finally before disappearing down the hallway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mamoru stared, open mouthed as the Anderson's door opened to reveal a vision before him.
Her hair was done up in a mass of curls atop her head, and two loose tendrils elegantly framed her soft features. A string of pearls and diamonds donned her long neck, and matching diamond and pearl teardrops hung from her ears.
Her dress came down to her ankles, below which black-strapped sandals curved around her feet. The dress sparkled a dark blue and a black velvet lace design curved around the length of her body, two modest slits sliding up just below her knees on each side.
He looked appreciative of the way the strapless, stretchy material hugged her hourglass form, and for the first time since he was born, Usagi thanked Keisuke for the hips he had given her while in the womb.
"Wow." He stated as continued to stare at her, unwilling to blink for fear that she would disappear.
She giggled, "Done sizing me up?" Usagi joked, but her heart was beating hard and loud as she glanced over his form, drinking in the sight of him like a woman lost in a desert would drink up water.
His ebony hair was gelled slightly, but some strands had escaped and now hung over his forehead. He wore his trademark tuxedo, but Usagi swore that no matter how many times she saw him in it, he only succeeded in looking sexier the next. Age had done his form good, as he seemed to fill the suit more completely than the last time she saw him in it, not that she noticed then.
He coughed, embarrassed at being caught staring at her, "I- I wasn't- I mean..." He gave up, frustrated with himself for acting like such a fool. He had run this moment over in his mind more times than she would ever know, and yet here he was carrying on like a blubbering teenager. "Here." He said finally, bringing out a hand, which he had hidden behind his back until then.
She gasped when she saw the bouquet of roses he held out for her, and it was everything she could do to not just throw herself at him, pour her soul out and cry till kingdom come.
Instead she took them from him, her arm shaking a bit as she did so. "Th- Thank you," she whispered and smelled them appreciatively. "Red roses... How did you know?"
He grinned and winked at her, "I had a hunch."
She bit her cheek cautiously, his knowing tone making her slightly uncomfortable, but she shook it off instantly. Lots of girls liked red roses, and it was his favorite kind too, nothing to freak out over, she told herself.
Usagi's ears perked up when she heard the soft pitter patter of feet behind her, and realized they were being watched.
Shaking her feelings of unease aside with the shaking of her head she stepped out of the doorway and held out her hand to the inside of her house. "I just have to get some things in order for Case, can you wait in the living room for a few minutes?"
His grin broadened as he nodded and stepped into the doorway, his body suddenly coming into close proximity to hers.
She closed her eyes for a fleeting second and breathed in the sent of his cologne, indulging in his closeness.
"Usa..." he breathed as she swayed unconsciously towards him.
Her eyes flew open, "What did you say?" she gasped almost inaudibly as she searched his eyes.
He smiled friendly and shook his head, "Nothing. You want me to put those into some water for you?" He asked looking down at his flowers in her hand.
She raised a brow at him, but decided again that she was just hearing things and nodded, handing him back the bouquet. "Yes, please."
They parted and she let out a breath she did not know she was holding. She heard giggling as she entered the kitchen and turned around to find her son was fallowing her.
"Keisuke Endymion Tsukino!" She hissed at him, putting both hands onto her hips, but smiled to lighten the effect. She had forgotten he was watching them.
He smiled back at her. "You look real pretty Mama." He complemented sheepishly, his smile broadening to a toothy grin.
"OHH no you don't. What have I told you about flattery?" she asked, wagging a finger at him.
"That it'll get you everywhere." He replied slickly.
"That's rig- Hey! I never taught you that!" she gasped as he giggled, only this time a deeper chuckle accompanied him.
She turned around to face Mamoru, grinning devilishly down at her. Her son ran into his open arms and he scooped him up.
Usagi tried to frown but she could not help the corners of her lips from tugging upward as she kept her indignant stance towards them. "Mr. Chiba!" She scolded. "You are ONLY supposed to be working with him on SCIENCE!"
Mamoru laughed as Keisuke slid down his form and hugged his leg. "But my dear, women ARE a science."
"OHH!" She mock fumed, shooing both of them towards the living room with her hands. "Both of you go wait in there while I write down these numbers for Kate and Max!"
The both pouted and she could only laugh at the picture they made as they turned and trudged into the next room, Keisuke mirroring Mamoru's slumped form perfectly.
Once they were out of sight, Usagi's happy smile changed to a sad one. He really would have made a wonderful father.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mamoru sat down on the couch and arched a brow as Keisuke sat down next to him and glared at him purposely. "Whatcha need kido?"
"Mr. Chiba, I like you lots OK? And Mama does too... I can tell." Keisuke bit his lip, as if contemplating something, and finally scooted in closer to his teacher. Mamoru took the hint and leaned down so Keisuke could whisper in his ear.
"I know you knew Mama back in Japan, and I know you make her smile. I haven't seen Mama smile like that in, well... never, and I don't want to see her STOP smiling like that." He paused and Mamoru looked down into the boy's light blue eyes.
Something flashed in his mind, an image of those same eyes, however hatred and ice cool calculation replaced the innocence and love that Casey's held.
But his pupil's voice cleared the image from his mind, and his own eyes refocused on him. "You won't let her stop smiling, will you, Mr. Chiba?"
Mamoru smiled, knowing exactly what the bright little boy was implying. He looked up to see Usagi walk over to the small table by the door, turning on her cell phone and placing her pager into the purse that was lying there. She was so beautiful and did not even know it.
He looked back to Keisuke and picked up both his tiny hands, blanketing them completely with his large ones. "I promise you, Casey, I won't let your mama stop smiling."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ok, so this number is for my cell, if for some strange reason my cell isn't working, this one's for my pager. If you can't reach me on either of those, this is Mamoru's cell and pager-"
"Serena!"
She looked up at Max and bit her lip at the chiding look he gave her.
"We'll be fine!" He assured her, placing his hands on her bare shoulders for emphasis. "You just go and have a good time all right?"
She sighed and nodded, handing Max the piece of paper on which she had written about six different numbers.
Kate bent down and kissed her cheek. "You two have fun, OK?"
Usagi nodded as she bent down to her son's level and mussed up his hair, "You be good now! I know that's an AWFULLY hard thing for you to do, but try all right?" She teased him.
He laughed and hugged her neck, "I will Mama, I promise. I love you."
She beamed at him as she released him and rose to face Mamoru.
He smiled at her and offered her his arm in a playful but gentlemanly gesture. "Ready?"
She laughed and took it. "Ready!" she affirmed.
With a few more last minute kisses and good-byes they were out the door and on their way to his car. She smiled when she recognized it as his old red convertible.
"God, you'd think I was on my way to prom, or going on a vacation or something the way they carried on!"
He laughed as he opened the passenger car door for her and raised playful eyebrows, "Them? They weren't the ones giving out fifty numbers!" He exclaimed, sliding into the drivers seat and shutting the door.
"Well I'M sorry, but this is the first time I've been anywhere but school or work this late." She admitted.
He started the car and put it in reverse, glancing over at her before placing a hand on the back of her seat to look behind him as he backed out of the Anderson's driveway.
"You mean to tell me that you've never gone out before?" He asked when they were finally on the road.
She shook her head, "No, not really. Maybe a couple times with Molly, out to go see a movie or something last year. But other than that I really don't have anywhere to go, or anything to do other than take care of my kid. If you haven't noticed Virginia isn't exactly jam-packed with fun filled places to go." She scrunched her brows, "Which reminds me, where are we going tonight?'
"You have Kate and Max to look after Keisuke though," he reasoned, ignoring her question. "You could have gone out a lot more than most singles moms can."
She shrugged, the fact that he had not answered not unnoticed to her, but she decided to let him have it his way. "Well yes, and I am grateful to them for being able to be there when I can't, but I wanted that time to be minimized only to when I had to be gone for school or work. I don't know, I guess I just don't want someone else raising my kid, you know what I mean? I don't want to take advantage of the fact that I have someone to watch after him to an extent that I ignore my duty as a parent."
He glanced over at her, his sensuous lips curved upward. She fidgeted with her blue strap of her purse under his glare. "If you think that's silly then..."
"Silly?" He choked out in disbelief. "U- Serena, that's one of the most responsible things I've ever heard from a single mom in my life! Do you know how many women in your position would abuse it? I think the choices you've made are very respectable ones." He finished, grateful that she did not seem to notice his slip up.
"If you only knew..." Usagi sighed as she glanced out the window. However she could not help but feel happy, content. Talking to him about her life, her thoughts... Hell just TALKING to him was bliss. A month ago conversations like these were only a wish, a fantasy she would play out in her head as she clung to her pillow, alone in the middle of the night.
"By the way, I really do think you look wonderful." He added huskily as she turned to and from him, a crimson blush staining her cheeks at his random compliment.
"You don't look so bad yourself." She replied.
She felt him stop the car and park it, taking his keys out of the ignition. He turned to her and grinned, "We're here."
She looked to where he motioned his head and gasped, whirling back around to face him, but he had already gotten out and was rounding the car to open her door for her.
"Mamoru, you... I can't... This is too much!" she tried to explain as she felt the guilt build up in her chest again.
He smiled once more and opened the car door, taking her gloved hand in his. "Nonsense, it's the least I can do. After all, you are helping me earn my degree in medical science, no?"
She shook her head, protesting even as he strung his arm through hers and the entrance doors were opened for them. "Mamoru, do you know how much this place..."
"Serena, I am fully aware of the expenses. Just relax! Haven't you always wanted to come here?"
She narrowed her brows, "How did you..." But before she could finish her sentence they were greeted by a tuxedoed matradee.
"Sir, Ma'am. Welcome to the Jefferson. What name are your reservations under, please?" He looked to Mamoru expectantly.
"Chiba, table for two."
The man looked over his list and smiled when he found the name given. "Ah, yes. Right this way Mr. Chiba, Miss." He said, acknowledging them both before leading them to a table not far from the grand staircase.
He moved to pull out Usagi's chair for her but Mamoru beat him to it. She blushed at all the fuss being made just over her; she was starting to feel like a real lady. This was even better than the masquerade she attended with Rei and Ami, especially since this time she could actually enjoy herself, she hoped.
Once they were both seated, the matradee explained that their waiter would be with them momentarily, bowed, and left.
Usagi merely sat there for a moment taking in the sights and sounds of the Jefferson Hotel. It was the one place in Virginia she had always wanted to go every time she had come to America with her family, and the one place they had never been able to afford. True, it was not especially fancy or elegant as far as restaurants went, but that was not the reason for its appeal to Usagi. This was the place where her parents had met, and then later, where they had their honeymoon. It was, as Usagi found out somewhat against her will, the place where she had been conceived.
Mamoru watched her for a moment as she gazed in content wonder at her surroundings. The light from the candle in between them flickered off and on her face, making her look like a sort of mysterious spirit, trying to find her way. Loneliness and uncertainty lost to happiness and fulfillment just for that brief moment. Yet one question kept pounding its way through his heart and mind: What was she doing here? He only prayed with all his might that the answer he had come up with was the answer he would hear when he asked that question.
"Mamoru?"
"Hmm?" He murmured.
Usagi let out a small giggle, "The waiter wants to know what you want for an appetizer."
He blinked and looked to his right at the waiter standing somewhat awkwardly next to him. "So he does." Mamoru chuckled before ordering an onion soup and a club soda.
The waiter nodded, "And you, Miss?" he asked.
"I'll have your crab legs and a Bloody Mary," Usagi stated closing her menu and looking up to smile at him. "Non-alcoholic."
The waiter took their menus, bowed, and left. Mamoru turned to Usagi, "A non-alcoholic Bloody Mary huh?"
She laughed and shrugged; "I'm underage!" she defended herself.
He drew brow together in question. "Is the drinking age different in the States?"
Usagi gave him a blank look before remembering that the drinking age in Japan was indeed lower than in America. "Mamoru, the drinking age here is twenty-one." She laughed at his surprised expression and shook her head, "But I wouldn't drink even if I could."
Mamoru leaned forward, "No?"
She shook her head, but suddenly gripped the table, a familiar scene flashing by her eyes.
*"You're drunk!" Usagi stated incredulously.
"So it would seem, yes. But don't worry, it impairs my judgment not." He smiled wickedly, "I've been planning this for quite some time, not even alcohol can persuade me otherwise."*
"Serena?" Mamoru asked again when she did not respond the first time her called her name.
Her eyes flew to his, "Hmm?"
"Are... Are you OK?" He asked worriedly.
She blinked, trying desperately to shrug off the memory. "Yes of course. Why wouldn't I be?" she responded a bit too quickly.
He raised a brow, "Well for one thing, your clutching your napkin so hard your knuckles are white."
She looked down to see he was right. Usagi sighed and released the white fabric, smoothing it out over her lap as the waiter returned with their drinks and appetizers.
"I'm sorry Mamoru," Usagi sighed and put down the fork she had raised. "I- I can't accept this. It's all too nice for -"
Mamoru set down his own utensils and looked at her earnestly, "Too nice for what Serena? Too nice for you?"
She looked away and he sighed. He knew this was not going to be easy, but for different reasons. She had certainly changed a lot over the past five years. Back then she would have gladly accepted something like this, but now...
"Mamoru, if you only knew all the things I've done... The mistakes I've made..." She began to fidget with her napkin once more but he reached across the table and took her hands in his, forcing her to cease her nervous gesture.
"We've all made mistakes. You shouldn't feel like you don't deserve nice treatment, or things because of bad choices you've made!" He lifted her chin with two fingers so his eyes had access to hers, "I want to know about you. Everything about you. Mistakes and all, I want the whole package! We'll compare, I'll take notes!"
She smiled and he rubbed his thumbs over hers, leaning in like Keisuke had done with him earlier that night, as if he was telling a very important secret. "Here's the deal, I promised your kid I'd make you smile tonight, and so I promised myself that too. Of course, being the arrogant jerk I am, I didn't believe it, but I was very convincing, and in the end I finally won."
Usagi laughed out loud now, "You're making absolutely no sense you know that?"
He nodded. "Yeah, but you're smiling, so I must have done something right. So what do you say? You think we can maybe talk now?"
Usagi bit her lip, acting unsure. "I don't know that's a big step!"
Mamoru just laughed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now Mamoru had to set down his fork he was laughing so hard. He leaned back and tried desperately to wipe the tears away from his eyes. "You can't expect me to believe that." He exclaimed.
Usagi took a sip of her water and nodded her head earnestly, "I swear! I mean I love my baby, and he IS a genius in math and science and such, but when it comes to English?" She shook her head and set down her glass, leaning back to relax, but before her back even reached the chair she leaned forward once more, another memory hitting her. Mamoru chucked at her enthusiasm.
"Oh! I got a better one! So we're in KB Toys right? And Kate picks up this 'Doctor Ken' doll. Well, Max comes over and thinks he's out of our earshot and says to Kate, in his most seductive voice, "You wanna play 'doctor' later tonight?" Well Kate's usually a very proper lady in public, but I swear those two can insult each other FOREVER if you get them going. So she puts both her hands on her hips and says, "Yeah, RIGHT. I'd rather play with 'Doctor Ken' here. I bet he knows more about anatomy than you!" WELL, CASEY turns around, looks Kate straight in the eye and he says, serious as can be, "Ken doesn't have an anatomy, he's ambidextrous!""
Mamoru let out an uproarious laugh, earning a few disapproving looks from the elderly couple near by, but he did not care in the least. He was spending time with Usako, to hell with the rest of the world. "That son of yours is something else!" he exclaimed.
Usagi smiled, "I know, it's about time someone else noticed it too."
He raised a brow in inquiry and took a final sip of his soda, watching in amusement as the nearest waiter hurried over to re-fill it. "How so?"
She sighed. "All his life, people have viewed Casey as some sort of freak. I mean he's smart, he gets good grades, he's in a good school, but he never fits IN anywhere. Genius is looked at with a wary eye, especially in young children, but even more so in Casey's case.
"You see, the way it's been presented to me is that most children as bright as he are either a - sent of to some government agency to be studied, b - are really snotty or stuck up and go to really fancy schools with horses, or c - are just plain crazy. Casey isn't any of these things. He's funny and loveable, and most of the time, he acts like any other four-year old. At his old day care the kids his age rejected him for all the special treatment he got. SO, we moved him to CCSG, but he's SO advanced, even there, that they had to put him in classes with kids many years older than he. Of course, kids being kids, he got teased there too. He seems to be doing OK this year now that we finally found him a set of classes with kids his own age, but it's only been a few weeks since school started, so there's really no way to tell yet."
Mamoru shook his head, "Now, having worked with especially smart children, I have to disagree with you on your ABC list. I know plenty of kids who are extremely bright and are still some of the sweetest kids in the world. HOWEVER, I understand completely about Casey. Most of these kids, their genius isn't realized until they hit kindergarten at the earliest, that's a major reason why I chose Casey for my project."
Usagi gave a soft laugh in agreement, looking away as another thought struck her, "I worry about him sometimes, well I worry about him all the time, it's my job, but especially about how sweet he is. He's just so loving and kind, I don't think I'll ever know how that is after everything we've gone through. I worry that it's just a façade, one that hides how much he's really been hurt."
She looked to Mamoru with watery eyes, "You have no idea the horrible things people have said to him. I wished for the longest time that he had been born deaf, just because it would shield him from their hateful words. I guess I can be a little TOO over protective sometimes. Kate and Max had to practically pry him from my arms on his first day of Day Care two years ago."
Mamoru drew his brows together in confusion, "What reason would people have to say those things? What KIND of things?"
Usagi shook her head and began to fiddle with her napkin, as had become her custom when she was nervous or upset. "You're a good man Mamoru, you're the kind of person that doesn't judge until they know the whole story, and even then you leave the subject on the floor and open for discussion."
He chuckled and raised a brow, "What are you on the debate team or something?"
She smiled and shook her head, "No, I want to be a lawyer, but... I don't know if I can see that happening anytime soon. Maybe... Once Case is in High School."
Mamoru looked at her incredulously, "That's in ten years! Ten years is an awfully long time."
Usagi nodded, "I know, but I don't think a law firm would even consider me until then."
"And why would that be? You told me earlier that you get good grades!"
She turned to him and let out a cynical laugh, "The same reason why people don't appreciate Casey, and the same reason I couldn't find a job and had to move in with Kate and Max; Casey is a bastard child, he's brilliant which is odd offspring for a supposed 'whore' like me to have, and to top it all off, I'm nineteen, he's four, you do the math." She threw down her napkin onto the table, the world never ceased to disgust her.
He narrowed his eyes, as if to study her and shook his head in disbelief. "What happened to you?"
She whirled around to face him, her eyes wild, "Haven't you been listening to me for the past ten minutes?" She exclaimed, suddenly realizing just how big the rift between them really was, not noticing that what he had said implied that he knew her previously. She shook her head and blinked back the tears. She should never have come here tonight; she should have realized that it would end badly. She should have known that he wouldn't understand.
"I told you so..." A cool voice curled it's way around her thoughts, but lingered even as she tried to push it away, like the itching water ice leaves behind after its been trailed across warm skin.
"Not listening!" She hissed, trying to get the voice to go away, not realizing she had spoken out loud.
Mamoru shook his head in protest, "I HAVE been listening, it's just-"
His voice was lost behind the ice, "He's making excuses, he never loved you. Look at him. He's on a date with who he thinks is another woman! He's forgotten all about you. They've all forgotten you. They WANTED to forget you. They hate you."
"Shut UP!" she yelled and grabbed her head in an attempt to block the hurtful words, not realizing she was trapping them in, leaving the rest of the world shut out.
Mamoru's face contorted into a look of confusion. "Serena, are you all right?"
"Look at him," the icy words burned into her heart, "He thinks you're crazy! To think you trusted him, to think you thought he still loved you! What would he say if he found out who you were, and saw that you had a child by another man? What would he think of you then?"
"That wasn't my fault!" she cried desperately, still clutching her head.
"Serena, please listen to me-!" He ran over to her and put his arms on her shoulders, "What, is, wrong?!" He asked again, clearly pronouncing each word forcefully and separately.
"They all hate me!"
"Who hates you?"
"It was all his fault! I didn't do anything wrong!"
"Whose fault?"
"He still loves me, I know he does!"
"Who?!"
"MAMO-CHAN!" She screamed finally, her azure eyes flying open to clash with his shocked sapphires.
She backed away from him slowly, putting a hand to her mouth in horror. She looked around the room desperately to find that every eye was turned to her. She swallowed; the saliva ran hard and burning down her throat.
Mamoru began to rise slowly from his kneeling position on the floor. "It's OK, Usako," he whispered firmly, reaching out his hand for her to take.
Her eyes went wide at the name and she tried her best to bite down the tears. "Excuse me please!" She choked out, and fled from the room.
Mamoru cursed and ran after her, thanking God he had a tab there as he pushed through the still swinging doors.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Usagi kicked off her heels and ran as fast as she could, which was quite fast with the aid of the Silver Crystal in her purse, towards her home. Normally Mamoru would have caught up with her by now, but she had taken a short cut through the trees and was well on her way home.
She was a fool to think the night would work out. To think that she could actually be with the man she loved one more time. Her life just did not work that way, and she should have known that by now.
She emerged from the trees onto the road that would lead her home. Her pace slowed from a run to a jog, and finally to a slow trudge down the concrete sliver of road. A few tears slipped from her face as she realized that he really was gone for good. No more 'one more times' or final goodbyes, that was it, and she'd left him worse than she had the first time.
She winced as she heard the siren of an ambulance a ways behind her and moved off to the side, covering her ears as it speed down the road she was on.
Usagi watched it go down the road after it passed her, probably doing about 30 miles past the speed limit, and spoke a small prayer for whomever it was they were rushing off to aid. But even as she spoke the Amen, something did not seem quite right. It was as if... As if someone had walked over her grave. She had never felt that particular feeling before, but was pretty sure she was feeling it now.
She resumed walking, keeping her eyes on it, until it turned right, and she froze, dead in her tracks. A right. A right on Courthouse road. A right on Courthouse road led to... her house.
Usagi's heart jumped into her throat and was now banging in her ears as she ran the rest of the way down Courthouse Road. She was moving faster than she ever had as Sailor Moon and yet it felt like she was running through molasses. Too slowly the world was moving, and she could swear she could feel the earth rotate once before she finally reached the place where the ambulance had swerved right.
Even though the siren had stopped, the flickering blue and red lights were impossible to miss through the mass of trees that lived behind her house.
She ran through them, the scrapes the whip lashing branches made on her skin unnoticed to her as she rushed towards the nearest uniform, gripping his arm frantically.
The officer whirled around and shook his head, "Sorry Miss, but I'm afraid you can't be here, this is a crime-"
"Crime?" She asked, her voice cracking as she raised her brows at him, holding desperately onto his arm for support.
The young officer tried to pry away her arm, "I'm sorry miss but-"
Usagi's head snapped to the left as she saw a stretcher being carefully moved from her house into a waiting ambulance, a mass of burette curls hung off one side.
"KATE!" She screamed, shoving away the flustering officer when he tried to grip her arm.
She reached the stretcher, moving quickly beside it, and looked into her former fosterer and dear friend's sad emerald eyes, as they grew wide at the sight of her.
"Serena!" Kate tried to sit up, but strong straps bound her down to the stretcher.
"Shh! Shh! It's OK Kate, just, just don't move...!" Usagi swallowed and blinked, trying desperately to keep the tears at bay, "Oh God, Kate, what happened?"
"I'm so s-sorry Serena, Honey." Kate stuttered, her voice just above a whisper. "We tried to hide him, Max- Oh God!" She paused, sobbing a moment before forcing herself to continue.
"Max was so brave, you should have seen him! He fought until he passed out from the--- from the pain..." Her eyes were haunting, as she reached up to wipe the tears from Usagi's eyes.
"Kate, please! Don't talk, just rest! Just-" Usagi pleaded, her burning tears dropping onto Kate's blood-stained shirt.
"NO!" Kate yelled forcefully, pausing to bite her lip from the pain. "I'm sorry Serena, we tried so hard, but he was just too strong!"
Usagi shook her head in confusion, "Tried hard? Who was too strong?! WHO DID THIS TO YOU AND-" Her sobs fell away and she stopped running as the paramedics lifted Kate into the ambulance.
The last thing she heard was Kate's desperate, shrieking, haunted plea through the closing doors of the large vehicle, "Please forgive us Serena! He took Casey! Casey's gone!" Her world spun, and finally went black as she fell unconscious to the ground.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Claidi ducts flying tomatoes and grins, leaning back in her chair, not writing another word until she sees the reviews start pour in... Unfortunately she leaned too far and fell backwards out of said chair.*
After over a month it was about damn time! This chapter was my longest yet and I worked my ass off to make it perfect for you guys. What's so hard about dropping down that little review menu and leaving me a note telling me how much ya'll love me? *Grins*
J/P, though I do very much appreciate your input and would love to hear from YOU! ARIGATOO GOZAIMASU!
~Claidi Winter