TADA! I'm BACK! WAHOO! How bout this? I'll skip the notes and let you get
to the story?
I GOT INTO MY SCHOOL'S ALL GIRL'S SHOW CHOIR!
Shayna: Ready to spread um for those show choir boys?
Me: Why? Aren't they getting enough from each other? ^_^ lol j/k show choir boys! I LOVE YOU!
*~*~*~*~*~*
Love, Labors, Lost
Chapter 9: Lost
Rated PG-13
*~*~*~*~*~*
Small rays of light bled through the hospital curtains onto the prone form of a young woman lying in the bed below them.
But she was not alone.
To the right of the bed sat a rugged, very handsome, very tired man. He held the woman's hand in his own, one finger resting on her wrist so that he could feel the pulse there.
Nurse Erickson gasped when she recognized this man as Mr. Chiba, one of the Med School interns. Suddenly she had to fight to keep the tears at bay when she saw the dark circles under his eyes, and the wrinkles in his clothes. She never could keep dry at a scene such as this.
Regaining her composure, she cleared her throat as Mr. Chiba's worried eyes reached hers. She forced her voice to remain level, and had to fight especially hard when she saw the anguish revealed in them. "I'm here to check up on Ms. Tsukino. Visiting hours are technically over but... I think we can make an exception for her... fiancée. That IS what you are, right Mr. Chiba?" It wasn't a question.
Mamoru nodded, telling her he understood. When this was all over he would have to tell her superiors that he was very pleased with her work. Coming from someone with his credentials, it would do a world of good for her career.
The nurse walked over to the IV pole Usagi was attached to, and checked her vital signs. Mamoru ran a hand through his hair and eyed the chart the nurse was holding. "Is... Is she going to be OK? Do you know why she's staying out of it for so long?"
Nurse Erickson gave a sympathetic look to the girl on the bed. "Well, from what we've gathered, this wasn't an ordinary fainting spell. From monitoring her brain waves, the doctor thinks she might have been on the edge of a nervous breakdown. Her bio patterns are erratic, but he thinks if she just takes it easy for a few days, stays here and gets a lot of rest, she'll be fine. Has she been under a lot of stress recently?"
Mamoru nodded, and gave a loving glace to Usagi's still face. "More than you can imagine." He turned back to the nurse. "He said it's not serious though, right?"
The nurse shook her head, "But it could be if she doesn't rest and watch her work load."
Mamoru sighed, knowing that work was not the problem. "Thank you, Ms. Erickson."
The nurse smiled as she lifted the curtain to leave. "Don't worry about it Mr. Chiba. If she starts to wake up or if she needs anything, just call out."
Mamoru nodded as the nurse left. He turned back to Usagi. "Oh, Usa. If you can hear me I'm so sorry. I should have told you the moment I found out who you were. I should have searched harder, longer. No, I shouldn't have had to search in the first place. If, if I had been a better lover, you would have never left." He shook his head. "Then again you might never have had Casey-"
"Cas..."
Mamoru shot up, unsure if he heard right. He leaned back down to her level and said it again. "Casey."
"Case--!"
He definitely heard that one. He smiled and sat back down on the bed and repeated the name: "Casey."
"Keisuke!" Usagi jumped up in the bed and into Mamoru's arms.
"Shh... Usako. Shush, daijobou desu ka?" He asked, softly stroking her hair, trying to calm her movements.
Usagi stopped struggling and put her arms on his for support, pulling away and looking into his eyes. "Mamo-chan?" She asked unbelievingly.
He smiled at her through glossy eyes, "Hey, Usa."
Usagi shook her head in confusion, looking around at the small white room. "Am I dead?" She asked, with sudden reverence.
Mamoru's eyes narrowed coldly and he looked away. "Do you want to be?"
Usagi shook her head once more, her mind still fuzzy, "Of- of course not! I have to take care of-" She let her sentence drop and grabbed Mamoru's arms with such force it made him turn to face her once more. "Keisuke! Keisuke! Where's Keisuke? Oh God, please Mamo-chan, please tell me you know where he is!"
"You mean Case- Oh..." Mamoru closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. "I- I'm sorry Usa. The police wouldn't tell me anything; when I got to your house they were loading you into an ambulance. It was sheer luck that I knew one of the doctors on the site."
Usagi tried to swallow, but her mouth had gone suddenly dry. The world began to spin again once again and she put a hand to her mouth in attempt to block the wave of nausea that had hit her.
Mamoru grabbed a nearby bucket and held Usagi's head as she vomited into it. He got up, calmly placing the bucket aside and rinsed a small towel before sitting back down on the bed. Usagi did not respond as he placed the cool cloth to her forehead, but sat just as she was, shivering violently.
Keisuke was gone.
They didn't need to tell her who took him.
She knew. She knew of the danger and she left him.
It was all her -
"STOP IT!" Mamoru yelled in Japanese, throwing the cloth across the room and grabbing her arms.
Usagi's shocked eyes shot up to meet his furious blues. She did not realize she had been speaking out loud. Her shock melted to confusion as she registered the words of her native language. "S-stop what?"
Mamoru took a deep breath to steady his voice. "This! This goddamn self- hating guilt trip you put yourself through every time something goes wrong!"
Usagi gritted her teeth in anger. "How would you know? You've only been around me two weeks out of the past five years!"
"You're right! I wouldn't know! I wouldn't have known if your son hadn't told me about how you're sad all the time. I wouldn't have known if Kate hadn't asked me to break the news of your son gently to you, because you would, 'blame yourself.'"
Usagi's features softened momentarily at the mention of her fosterer's name. "Kate? You talked to Kate? Is she all right? What about Max?"
Mamoru let out a short breath of air. "Yeah, they're going to be OK. Kate's resting in the hall down from here. Max lost a lot of blood and is unconscious, but he's stable."
Usagi cast her eyes down in guilt. "And I'm here."
Mamoru shot her a look. "Damn straight you're here. God forbid you actually face your fears."
"That's not fair!" Usagi cried.
"LIFE isn't fair, Usa! You want to know what also isn't fair? It's not fair I lost my parents and memory when I was six years old. It isn't FAIR that I had to grow up alone. It isn't FAIR that the one person I never felt alone with disappeared five years ago, and I had to search for her with nothing to go on. And damn it! It isn't fair that when she's standing right in front of me five years later, I can't recognize her and help her, because she's decided what's best for me!"
Usagi stuttered, "I- I wanted to protect you. I- I didn't- DON'T deserve to be with you."
Mamoru shook his head. "What do *I* deserve Usa?"
Usagi furrowed her brows. "What do-huh?"
Mamoru gave a cynical laugh. "Never thought about that, did you?"
When she stared at him blankly, he just shook his head again. "Fine. Have it your deluded way. You don't deserve me. But did you ever think about what I deserve? All those things I said about what were and aren't fair in my life? I worked damn hard to do something about them. When the detectives gave up hope, the senshi and I continued looking. When your other friends thought you dead, we knew you to be alive. But finally, when even the Sailors gave up hope, I continued searching. I was about to give up when I met you as Serena. I was this close to moving on. Ironic that the only woman I'd leave you for is you."
He chuckled lightly at the thought before continuing. "But after all that, don't you think I should get what *I* want, and what *I* deserve?"
"What do you deserve, Mamo-chan? Do you deserve a weakling like me? A girl who has more power than almost anyone and can't even protect her own son?" Usagi sighed.
"WHEN are you going to come OFF of that?" Mamoru rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Look, Usa. Here's what I deserve. I deserve to make those choices for myself. You don't want to be with me? Fine. But that doesn't give you the right to make it so that I can't even find out why, or give my side of the story. Now, I can understand how you've had to make a lot of choices for - Keisuke, over the past few years.
"I am your lover, your equal, not your child, and I DESERVE to be treated as such. I'm a grown man, Usa; you can't make other people's choices for them. You've GOT to understand that. And, if- if you'd just let me, I'd make it so you wouldn't have to be alone in your own choices as well." He took a deep breath and began to fidget with the white hospital sheets.
Usagi breathed heavily as his words sank in. The thought that anyone would deserve HER, that she was something to deserve in the first place... It was a totally foreign idea. "I- I never thought about it that way. I thought you'd never want to see me again... Or you wouldn't after you found out..." She trailed off, not daring to finish her sentence.
Mamoru looked up from the sheets, and noticed the lack of color change. Usagi's face had turned almost white as the sheets. "After I found out what? That you had a child? Usa, I wouldn't care if you had three! You could have at least talked to me about it instead of deciding what was best for both of us and running away!" Mamoru dug his hands into his hair and turned away from her in frustration.
"AND WHAT IF I HADN'T?" She screamed at his back as she felt the tears, once safely tucked behind her eyelids, threaten to fall from their hiding place. "What would you have done, Mamoru? If you heard I was pregnant with another man's child?"
Mamoru whirled around to face her. I wouldn't have LEFT you, USAGI, that's for damn sure."
"NO, no you wouldn't have. You wouldn't have been that smart. You're too caring for your own good, Mamo-chan! You would have taken responsibility for the baby and married me. You would have had to quit going to University and have had to take up another job, just to support me." She paused to take a breath of air and added, quietly, "Your life would have been ruined, all because of me."
Mamoru snorted. "Right, 'cause everything is YOUR fault and yours alone. Kami-sama, I thought having power gave ME an ego boost." Mamoru raised a skeptical brow at her. "You REALLY think you have so much power? So much power that the problems of everyone around you were caused by YOU?"
Usagi wrinkled her nose; it did seem rather ridiculous when said out loud, but up till now...
Mamoru caught the doubt in Usagi's eyes and quickly seized his moment of opportunity. "Usa, educations, plans, they can all be put on hold. But love?" He shook his head. "Yes, you're right. I probably would have done just as you said, but I. Love. You. Therefore it is MY responsibility to take care of you. But you didn't even give me that chance! Usa, you don't even see it! You take on other people's hurts as your own, but in doing so you've avoided facing the responsibilities in your own life!"
"I- I take responsibility..." Usagi tried meekly to defend herself. "But it's just that... the only thing standing in my way is-"
"YOU, Usa. The ONLY thing standing in your way is YOU! Now, you can sit in that bed; have your expected 'nervous breakdown' and indulge in self-pity and dwell on how horrible your life is. OR you can get up, and DO something about it!" Mamoru slammed his fist down on the nightstand beside her, making her jump slightly.
She stared at him blankly, her mouth moving, trying to form a word, a comeback, ANYTHING, but she could think of nothing. Not a word that would rightly contradict what he had been saying about her actions up to that point.
Mamoru watched her blank face for a minute before throwing his hands up in disgust and grabbing his coat from the chair it lay across.
Usagi stirred back to life at the movement. "Where are you going?" she asked suddenly.
He adjusted the collar of his coat and turned towards the door. "*I* am going to go find your son. That is what the woman I fell in love with would be doing right now, were she here, but she is not. A stranger named Serena apparently took her place."
He took a few more steps towards the door; behind him, no sound. Mamoru sighed in defeat, placed a hand on the doorknob and turned it.
"Wait!"
Mamoru breathed a sigh of relief. Smiling on the inside he turned an indifferent face to his lover, raising a brow in question.
Usagi gave an acknowledging smile, and threw off her covers. "The, the woman you fell in love with is right here, and she wants you to take this damn IV out of her arm so she can do what she- What *I* was born to do."
Mamoru grinned and ran to the bed, embracing her tightly, "I knew you'd come back," he whispered in her ear before turning to remove the tube from her arm.
Once out, he cast the hated cord aside and pulled Usagi, not Serena, towards the door.
But as thought of her true identity hit him, he suddenly halted all movement, skidding partway across the floor in the process. Once he came to rest he slowly turned around to face her, his eyes tearing up as if it was the first time he had truly seen her in years... Because it was.
"Usako!" he cried, pulling her against his large frame, his arms coming around her so completely one could not tell from looking where he began and she ended.
"Ma -Mamo-chan?" She stuttered her startled reply, her own hands coming up to lace around his neck.
He pulled away just far enough so that he could look into her eyes. He planted a kiss on her forehead and leaned his own against where his lips had been.
"I finally found you." He choked out the revelation, all the emotion he could not show her before, he revealed in the tenderness of words now.
Usagi pulled one arm down from his neck briefly to wipe away her tears before looking back into his eyes, something she hadn't done at this proximity for far too long.
"Yes... You did," she agreed, knowing that it was true on more levels than one. "I won't let you down again, Mamo-chan. And I'm NOT going to let down Keisuke." Though she sniffed, the resolve in her voice was evident. "Now WE, are going to go find my son."
Mamoru laughed through misty eyes. "It's about damn time."
*~*~*~*~*~*
It was cold. He hated the cold. However the instant he wished the room to change temperature, it did.
Now spooked, Keisuke looked desperately for an exit, but to no avail.
He thought back to the night before, or at least the time before he went to sleep, he wasn't quite sure how much time had passed. That scary man, the same one he had seen in his mind's eye a few weeks prior, he appeared, impossible as it may have seemed, out of thin air demanding to see Keisuke's mama. When the man saw she wasn't there, he set his sights on Keisuke instead. Max tried to protect him, but the man was just too strong. Within minutes he struck Max unconscious, and when he saw Kate dialing the police...
Keisuke rubbed his eyes to keep back the tears, but forced his mind to remember what happened.
After both his caretakers were down, the man grabbed Keisuke and somehow, in an instant, transported them to this room. But Keisuke had struggled against the man, and when he screamed for him to go away, like the temperature obeyed a few minutes ago, with a curse the man was banished from the room.
No sooner did the thought of the horrible man cross Keisuke's mind did he hear his chilling voice filling the room. "I should have known she would protect you. But no matter, you are here, and she will be joining you shortly."
"Who are you? What do you want with me and my mama?!" Keisuke clenched his fists and yelled in the direction he heard the voice coming from. "GO AWAY AND LEAVE US ALONE!"
Deep, chilling laughter filled the room. "I'm afraid I can't do that my boy. Only your mama can send me away, and I fill her every waking thought, aware, or subconscious. So I wouldn't count on that happening anytime soon."
"What do you mean by that? Mama wouldn't NEVER let someone stay here who would hurt us. Sides, you can disappear stuff. Only thing mama can make disappear is food." Keisuke yelled back at the voice, enraged that he would blame all of this on his mama when he could do way more than she ever could.
"You're mother has a lot more power than you think, Son. Entire planets would disappear if she wished it. We could have been great together, she and I. But being the arrogant wench she is, she refused and is forcing me to do this the hard way."
"OUT!" Keisuke cried. "I DON'T WANNA HEAR YOU ANYMORE!"
With that, Keisuke was left alone to the room.
A bit stunned, Keisuke looked around the room, and noticed for the first time that it was... Well it was mathematically impossible! He had read about rooms like these, ones where you couldn't tell what was north and what was west. But he *knew* they were impossible to create. Weren't they?
Keisuke beat his little fists on the floor in frustration and was amazed when the surface beneath him morphed to a softer surface as if to protect his hands from harm.
Terrified, he crawled away from the spot to lean up against a 'wall'. It too, softened at his touch, and reminded him somewhat of his mother's embrace.
"Mama." Keisuke whimpered into the silence, pulling his legs up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. "Mama, I'm scared. Please find me, Mama..."
*~*~*~*~*~*
'Mama...'
"Keisuke!" Usagi gasped suddenly.
Mamoru glanced over before quickly focusing on the road again. "What?"
Usagi took a deep breath and narrowed her eyes. "Keisuke, he... I could swear he called to me just now. Drive faster."
"Yes ma'am." Mamoru half joked as he pressed the gas and shifted into a higher gear.
Though Usagi suppressed a yawn and tried discreetly to force her dropping lids open, her weariness did not go unnoticed by Mamoru.
He furrowed his brows. "Maybe I was a little too quick in getting you out of there. You look like you're still pretty worn out."
Usagi gave a soft laugh and waved it off. "Nah, you were right. That place wasn't good for me, it made me believe I was sick when I'm not. The antibiotics wearing off is what's making me drowsy."
Mamoru sighed and rubbed his temples when they came to a red light. "I figured as much, but I'm sorry none the less. It was just, seeing you there, so hopeless and drained... I couldn't stand it." He fidgeted with the window ledge every so often glancing up at the light. "I... I was meaning to ask you... I mean, I still stand by what I said no matter what the case but..." Suddenly he turned to face her, his voice surprisingly steady. "What happened that made you hate yourself so much?"
Usagi looked away, glancing up at the light and begging it to change. "I, I told you Mamor--chan. I left you, and despite my justifications... I've hated myself for it."
Mamoru shook his head and Usagi breathed a sigh of relief when he turned his attention back to road as the light changed. "No, there's more. There's something you're not telling me. Like how do you know who-"
"Stop the car!" Usagi commanded suddenly as Mamoru brought the car to a skidding halt.
Before the car came to a complete stop, Usagi unbuckled her seat belt and got out, slamming the door behind her.
Unaware as ever, only once she was out did Mamoru realize she was running across the highway to her house. "Usa! Usako! What are you doing? Come ba- oh forget it." He gave up and jumped out of the car after her.
Usagi ran up her driveway, tearing the yellow police tape off of her porch and off of her door when she got there as well. She cringed as she placed a hand on the handle and heard Mamoru's voice behind her. She knew that even though this was her original plan she was using it to evade Mamoru's questions. Usagi shook her head. She'd think about it later. What she was about to do required all her attention and strength.
With one last sigh Usagi tightened her grip on the handle and threw the door open. An icy chill caught her by surprise but she gritted her teeth when the outline of a man began to form in the center of the living room.
Demando materialized with a scowl and snorted when he saw Usagi standing in the doorway. "Nice of you to finally show up my dear. It's not very good parenting to leave your son alone for so long."
Mamoru swung into the doorway and gasped at what he saw. "Usako!" he called a warning, not liking the way his old nemesis was staring at her.
Demando raised an eyebrow at the new voice and glanced over Usagi's shoulder to see who the intruder was. However his eyes narrowed dangerously when the speaker's identity was revealed. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Prince Charming, in the flesh, coming to the rescue just AFTER the nick of time... Again."
Mamoru clenched his fists and bared his teeth. "So it seems you didn't change your ways after all. What do you know anyhow, you're supposed to be- "
"DEAD! YES, I know! But quite obviously I'm not! This dead routine really is getting old. Besides, Tux boy, for a dead man I seem know a lot more than you." Demando sneered and grinned triumphantly at Usagi's crestfallen face.
"Usa, what is he talking about? What's going on here?" Mamoru hissed in hushed tones to the woman in front of him.
"Should we tell him darling? *Usa* here was hoping the secret would stay buried with me, but you know what they say: Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."
"SHUT UP! Nothing of what you have to say is of any value other than for you to tell us where MY SON IS!" Usagi yelled, but no sooner did the words fall from her lips than she covered her mouth in horror of the opening she left him.
"NO!" She screamed a deaf plea as Demando grinned wickedly and grabbed Usagi by the shoulders, forcing her to be face to face with Mamoru. He leaned down slowly, ever so slowly to rest his head on her shoulder and with a Cheshire cat smile he uttered those horrible words.
"Don't you mean *OUR* son, Usa?"
Usagi screamed in anguish at the sentence. Her sentence, she realized with horror as he threw her to the ground at Mamoru's feet.
She clutched desperately at his ankles and looked up at his towering form. Her sobs rendering her unable to speak, she mouthed the words, "I'm so sorry," over and over until her vision was so blurred with tears she could only make out the blur of color the mop of black hair atop his head made.
When she turned her head, and Mamoru could no longer see her face, he snapped back to his senses and quickly fell to the ground, gathering her in his arms as he did so. She buried her head in his chest, shaking it violently in silent protest against Demando's words.
"Look at her. She's pathetic really, six words of truth placed in her web of lies and she's reduced to this." Demando glanced up and laughed when he saw Mamoru's shocked face. "What? You didn't think her-- *OUR* son, just appeared in her womb one inconvenient day when she was fourteen, did you? Really, and you want to be a doctor? Pay a bit more attention in those fancy classes you're taking, kid."
Mamoru let out a little laugh and shook his head, tightening his grip on Usagi. "I don't believe you. Usa would never have coupled with you."
"Wouldn't she have, now? There's a blonde four-year-old running around with my genetic attributes that would beg to differ." Demando paced the room, clenching and unclenching his hands feverishly.
Usagi was struggling against Mamoru now. She wriggled and pushed at his chest, but his grip did not waver. He turned frustrated eyes to Demando once more as the eerily collected man began to speak again.
"Given, that her submission came with some struggle, it did come in the end. Didn't it, Usa?" He asked, tauntingly.
"NO!" She sobbed, ceasing her struggle against Mamoru to clutch desperately his shirt. "Don't listen to him, Mamo-chan, PLEASE! I didn't mean to! I mean I didn't want to!" Usagi sobbed a bit in frustration, desperately searching for the words to pardon herself. What did Kate say? It wasn't her choice, it wasn't her fault... That was it! She clutched harder at his shirt, causing him to wince slightly through trying to calm her as her nails dug partially into his skin. "It wasn't my fault! It wasn't my fault, Mamo-chan! I swear to GOD it wasn't my fault!"
"It's OK Usa. Hush honey, yes, I know, you didn't-" Mamoru's eyes shot open as Usagi's words finally sank in. He pulled her away suddenly, gripping her chin as to force her eyes to meet his. "Usako, what do you mean you didn't want to?" He asked softly, making sure his voice was level.
Usagi stiffened in terror and with her Demando stilled as well. Usagi's mind raced. What did she say that was wrong? Didn't he understand? Was he mad her after all? "I didn't want to, Mamo-chan. It wasn't my fault! I, I would never have cheated on you, Mamo-chan. I l-love you! Please believe me, Mamo-chan. Please don't be mad! He made me, he made me lie still!"
"Oh my God." Mamoru breathed as what he feared was confirmed. Usagi, his Usako, she was raped. All these years, she was suffering all alone and with a kid---!
"Oh my God!" He repeated as he pulled Usagi as close to his body as he could get her. He felt sick, more like nauseous. That creep, he raped her. RAPED her! Right under his nose and he didn't even have a clue. But when would he have had the chance?
Mamoru squeezed his eyes shut as he remembered. Of course! The piece of slime kidnapped her and raped her. Mamoru cursed himself. He was so wrapped up in the adrenaline rush of the rescue, and learning Chibi-Usa was his daughter and the thought that he would one day marry the woman in his arms, he didn't even think to SKIM over the possibilities of what could have happened to her in the few hours she was gone.
He gripped Usagi even tighter, if possible, with one arm, using the other to cover his mouth. He wanted to vomit; he wanted to scream, he wanted to... His thoughts drifted as he caught sight of the man just ahead of them, seemingly paralyzed with rage. What he wanted to do, he wanted to kill.
With the gentleness only a lover could display in such a time of rage, Mamoru set Usagi's now only slightly shaking form into one of the nearby lazy-boy's. He clenched his fists as he whirled around and forced them not to make contact with the head he was looking at now.
"You! You did this to her. You caused her this pain; you made her life a living hell! Damn it, you're the reason she ran away! I should rip you're heart out."
Demando snorted. "Is that right? And just how are you going to do that?"
"You wanna find out, you little piece of shit? The only reason why you are still breathing at this moment is because you know where to find *HER* son." Mamoru flexed his hand and a rose materialized in the casing his fingers made as they closed. Mamoru took a step towards his adversary.
Demando laughed. "Please, you think your pathetic little flower can hurt me? The only reason why YOU are still breathing is because it'll be so much more FUN to watch you die at her hands once she's my queen." He nodded towards Usagi.
"She won't be if I tear you to shreds first!" Mamoru clenched his teeth and faster than lightning the deadly flower flew from his hand and towards Demando's head.
However, to Mamoru's horror, the wretched man caught the flower right before it would have hit its target. Demando brought it down and looked at it in disgust. "You thought this puny thing could hurt me?" The corner of his lip jerked up in yet another cocky grin as he let the rose fall to the floor, where he smashed it with his boot.
He laughed, "Don't look so shocked! The only one who can hurt me hasn't the slightest clue how. Isn't that right, Usa?"
Usagi whimpered but jumped up and yelled at him despite herself. "Where is Keisuke?!"
"That's for me to know..." Demando started but Usagi cut him off.
"And for us to find out. Cut the crap and TELL ME WHERE HE IS!"
Demando clicked his tongue in disappointment and wagged a finger at her. "You didn't let me finish my sentence, dear. Where OUR son is, is for me to know, and you NOT to know. Now forget your pathetic Knight in Rusted Armor and follow me, there is much work to be done."
"I'd rather rot in Hell." Usagi bit.
Demando sighed. "Fine, if it's like that, then your son," Demando paused to snap his fingers and as he did so, an open door appeared behind him, "your son is right through that door."
Mamoru laughed. "Yeah, right. Nice try but she's not falling for... Usa! What the hell are you doing?!" Mamoru yelled after her as she began to advance towards the door.
She gave one lost look back at him, tenderly brushing the hair out of his eyes. "I'm sorry Mamo-Chan, I have to help him." She squeezed her eyes shut and snapped towards the door. "Goodbye!" She bit out finally before lunging into the opening presented.
"Oh, she fell for it." Demando's laughter filling the air was the last thing Mamoru heard before the hated man disappeared through the doorway and Mamoru was left to run into thin air as the doorway itself disappeared as well.
*~*~*~*~*~*
*Sigh* I apologize minna-san. This one's not as long as the last... but the next one will be!
Oh and - CRAP! - *Claidi ducts under her chair as tomatoes come flying her way*
HEHEHEHHEHEHE forgot about them tomatoes... -_-;; I AM SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SOOOO sorry this took like five or six weeks to get out. I was hoping to finish the STORY before or during Spring Break, but I hardly had enough time to write the 10 pages I wrote there. I had to finish it back here in VA! (I was visiting Mom in NJ)
So yeah, I don't know when the next one will be out as I am planning my Sweet 16 (June 10!!! SEND ME LOTS OF NICE REVIEWS!) and more importantly preparing for my SOL tests. (Ya know, the ones I need to pass school here in Virginy? Stands for: Standards of Learning, or Shit Outta Luck to us... -_-;)
HOWEVER I will try my darndest to get it out in significantly less time than this one took. But please don't be mad if takes as long, find comfort in the fact that I AM updating.
Hope all of you in school had/are having/have a nice Spring Break and enjoyed this chapter!
Don't forget to REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!
PS- Thanks SO much to my beautiful, wonderful, mommy who edited this for me. We should work together again sometime! ^_~
Luv all ya'll!!
~Claidi
I GOT INTO MY SCHOOL'S ALL GIRL'S SHOW CHOIR!
Shayna: Ready to spread um for those show choir boys?
Me: Why? Aren't they getting enough from each other? ^_^ lol j/k show choir boys! I LOVE YOU!
*~*~*~*~*~*
Love, Labors, Lost
Chapter 9: Lost
Rated PG-13
*~*~*~*~*~*
Small rays of light bled through the hospital curtains onto the prone form of a young woman lying in the bed below them.
But she was not alone.
To the right of the bed sat a rugged, very handsome, very tired man. He held the woman's hand in his own, one finger resting on her wrist so that he could feel the pulse there.
Nurse Erickson gasped when she recognized this man as Mr. Chiba, one of the Med School interns. Suddenly she had to fight to keep the tears at bay when she saw the dark circles under his eyes, and the wrinkles in his clothes. She never could keep dry at a scene such as this.
Regaining her composure, she cleared her throat as Mr. Chiba's worried eyes reached hers. She forced her voice to remain level, and had to fight especially hard when she saw the anguish revealed in them. "I'm here to check up on Ms. Tsukino. Visiting hours are technically over but... I think we can make an exception for her... fiancée. That IS what you are, right Mr. Chiba?" It wasn't a question.
Mamoru nodded, telling her he understood. When this was all over he would have to tell her superiors that he was very pleased with her work. Coming from someone with his credentials, it would do a world of good for her career.
The nurse walked over to the IV pole Usagi was attached to, and checked her vital signs. Mamoru ran a hand through his hair and eyed the chart the nurse was holding. "Is... Is she going to be OK? Do you know why she's staying out of it for so long?"
Nurse Erickson gave a sympathetic look to the girl on the bed. "Well, from what we've gathered, this wasn't an ordinary fainting spell. From monitoring her brain waves, the doctor thinks she might have been on the edge of a nervous breakdown. Her bio patterns are erratic, but he thinks if she just takes it easy for a few days, stays here and gets a lot of rest, she'll be fine. Has she been under a lot of stress recently?"
Mamoru nodded, and gave a loving glace to Usagi's still face. "More than you can imagine." He turned back to the nurse. "He said it's not serious though, right?"
The nurse shook her head, "But it could be if she doesn't rest and watch her work load."
Mamoru sighed, knowing that work was not the problem. "Thank you, Ms. Erickson."
The nurse smiled as she lifted the curtain to leave. "Don't worry about it Mr. Chiba. If she starts to wake up or if she needs anything, just call out."
Mamoru nodded as the nurse left. He turned back to Usagi. "Oh, Usa. If you can hear me I'm so sorry. I should have told you the moment I found out who you were. I should have searched harder, longer. No, I shouldn't have had to search in the first place. If, if I had been a better lover, you would have never left." He shook his head. "Then again you might never have had Casey-"
"Cas..."
Mamoru shot up, unsure if he heard right. He leaned back down to her level and said it again. "Casey."
"Case--!"
He definitely heard that one. He smiled and sat back down on the bed and repeated the name: "Casey."
"Keisuke!" Usagi jumped up in the bed and into Mamoru's arms.
"Shh... Usako. Shush, daijobou desu ka?" He asked, softly stroking her hair, trying to calm her movements.
Usagi stopped struggling and put her arms on his for support, pulling away and looking into his eyes. "Mamo-chan?" She asked unbelievingly.
He smiled at her through glossy eyes, "Hey, Usa."
Usagi shook her head in confusion, looking around at the small white room. "Am I dead?" She asked, with sudden reverence.
Mamoru's eyes narrowed coldly and he looked away. "Do you want to be?"
Usagi shook her head once more, her mind still fuzzy, "Of- of course not! I have to take care of-" She let her sentence drop and grabbed Mamoru's arms with such force it made him turn to face her once more. "Keisuke! Keisuke! Where's Keisuke? Oh God, please Mamo-chan, please tell me you know where he is!"
"You mean Case- Oh..." Mamoru closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. "I- I'm sorry Usa. The police wouldn't tell me anything; when I got to your house they were loading you into an ambulance. It was sheer luck that I knew one of the doctors on the site."
Usagi tried to swallow, but her mouth had gone suddenly dry. The world began to spin again once again and she put a hand to her mouth in attempt to block the wave of nausea that had hit her.
Mamoru grabbed a nearby bucket and held Usagi's head as she vomited into it. He got up, calmly placing the bucket aside and rinsed a small towel before sitting back down on the bed. Usagi did not respond as he placed the cool cloth to her forehead, but sat just as she was, shivering violently.
Keisuke was gone.
They didn't need to tell her who took him.
She knew. She knew of the danger and she left him.
It was all her -
"STOP IT!" Mamoru yelled in Japanese, throwing the cloth across the room and grabbing her arms.
Usagi's shocked eyes shot up to meet his furious blues. She did not realize she had been speaking out loud. Her shock melted to confusion as she registered the words of her native language. "S-stop what?"
Mamoru took a deep breath to steady his voice. "This! This goddamn self- hating guilt trip you put yourself through every time something goes wrong!"
Usagi gritted her teeth in anger. "How would you know? You've only been around me two weeks out of the past five years!"
"You're right! I wouldn't know! I wouldn't have known if your son hadn't told me about how you're sad all the time. I wouldn't have known if Kate hadn't asked me to break the news of your son gently to you, because you would, 'blame yourself.'"
Usagi's features softened momentarily at the mention of her fosterer's name. "Kate? You talked to Kate? Is she all right? What about Max?"
Mamoru let out a short breath of air. "Yeah, they're going to be OK. Kate's resting in the hall down from here. Max lost a lot of blood and is unconscious, but he's stable."
Usagi cast her eyes down in guilt. "And I'm here."
Mamoru shot her a look. "Damn straight you're here. God forbid you actually face your fears."
"That's not fair!" Usagi cried.
"LIFE isn't fair, Usa! You want to know what also isn't fair? It's not fair I lost my parents and memory when I was six years old. It isn't FAIR that I had to grow up alone. It isn't FAIR that the one person I never felt alone with disappeared five years ago, and I had to search for her with nothing to go on. And damn it! It isn't fair that when she's standing right in front of me five years later, I can't recognize her and help her, because she's decided what's best for me!"
Usagi stuttered, "I- I wanted to protect you. I- I didn't- DON'T deserve to be with you."
Mamoru shook his head. "What do *I* deserve Usa?"
Usagi furrowed her brows. "What do-huh?"
Mamoru gave a cynical laugh. "Never thought about that, did you?"
When she stared at him blankly, he just shook his head again. "Fine. Have it your deluded way. You don't deserve me. But did you ever think about what I deserve? All those things I said about what were and aren't fair in my life? I worked damn hard to do something about them. When the detectives gave up hope, the senshi and I continued looking. When your other friends thought you dead, we knew you to be alive. But finally, when even the Sailors gave up hope, I continued searching. I was about to give up when I met you as Serena. I was this close to moving on. Ironic that the only woman I'd leave you for is you."
He chuckled lightly at the thought before continuing. "But after all that, don't you think I should get what *I* want, and what *I* deserve?"
"What do you deserve, Mamo-chan? Do you deserve a weakling like me? A girl who has more power than almost anyone and can't even protect her own son?" Usagi sighed.
"WHEN are you going to come OFF of that?" Mamoru rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Look, Usa. Here's what I deserve. I deserve to make those choices for myself. You don't want to be with me? Fine. But that doesn't give you the right to make it so that I can't even find out why, or give my side of the story. Now, I can understand how you've had to make a lot of choices for - Keisuke, over the past few years.
"I am your lover, your equal, not your child, and I DESERVE to be treated as such. I'm a grown man, Usa; you can't make other people's choices for them. You've GOT to understand that. And, if- if you'd just let me, I'd make it so you wouldn't have to be alone in your own choices as well." He took a deep breath and began to fidget with the white hospital sheets.
Usagi breathed heavily as his words sank in. The thought that anyone would deserve HER, that she was something to deserve in the first place... It was a totally foreign idea. "I- I never thought about it that way. I thought you'd never want to see me again... Or you wouldn't after you found out..." She trailed off, not daring to finish her sentence.
Mamoru looked up from the sheets, and noticed the lack of color change. Usagi's face had turned almost white as the sheets. "After I found out what? That you had a child? Usa, I wouldn't care if you had three! You could have at least talked to me about it instead of deciding what was best for both of us and running away!" Mamoru dug his hands into his hair and turned away from her in frustration.
"AND WHAT IF I HADN'T?" She screamed at his back as she felt the tears, once safely tucked behind her eyelids, threaten to fall from their hiding place. "What would you have done, Mamoru? If you heard I was pregnant with another man's child?"
Mamoru whirled around to face her. I wouldn't have LEFT you, USAGI, that's for damn sure."
"NO, no you wouldn't have. You wouldn't have been that smart. You're too caring for your own good, Mamo-chan! You would have taken responsibility for the baby and married me. You would have had to quit going to University and have had to take up another job, just to support me." She paused to take a breath of air and added, quietly, "Your life would have been ruined, all because of me."
Mamoru snorted. "Right, 'cause everything is YOUR fault and yours alone. Kami-sama, I thought having power gave ME an ego boost." Mamoru raised a skeptical brow at her. "You REALLY think you have so much power? So much power that the problems of everyone around you were caused by YOU?"
Usagi wrinkled her nose; it did seem rather ridiculous when said out loud, but up till now...
Mamoru caught the doubt in Usagi's eyes and quickly seized his moment of opportunity. "Usa, educations, plans, they can all be put on hold. But love?" He shook his head. "Yes, you're right. I probably would have done just as you said, but I. Love. You. Therefore it is MY responsibility to take care of you. But you didn't even give me that chance! Usa, you don't even see it! You take on other people's hurts as your own, but in doing so you've avoided facing the responsibilities in your own life!"
"I- I take responsibility..." Usagi tried meekly to defend herself. "But it's just that... the only thing standing in my way is-"
"YOU, Usa. The ONLY thing standing in your way is YOU! Now, you can sit in that bed; have your expected 'nervous breakdown' and indulge in self-pity and dwell on how horrible your life is. OR you can get up, and DO something about it!" Mamoru slammed his fist down on the nightstand beside her, making her jump slightly.
She stared at him blankly, her mouth moving, trying to form a word, a comeback, ANYTHING, but she could think of nothing. Not a word that would rightly contradict what he had been saying about her actions up to that point.
Mamoru watched her blank face for a minute before throwing his hands up in disgust and grabbing his coat from the chair it lay across.
Usagi stirred back to life at the movement. "Where are you going?" she asked suddenly.
He adjusted the collar of his coat and turned towards the door. "*I* am going to go find your son. That is what the woman I fell in love with would be doing right now, were she here, but she is not. A stranger named Serena apparently took her place."
He took a few more steps towards the door; behind him, no sound. Mamoru sighed in defeat, placed a hand on the doorknob and turned it.
"Wait!"
Mamoru breathed a sigh of relief. Smiling on the inside he turned an indifferent face to his lover, raising a brow in question.
Usagi gave an acknowledging smile, and threw off her covers. "The, the woman you fell in love with is right here, and she wants you to take this damn IV out of her arm so she can do what she- What *I* was born to do."
Mamoru grinned and ran to the bed, embracing her tightly, "I knew you'd come back," he whispered in her ear before turning to remove the tube from her arm.
Once out, he cast the hated cord aside and pulled Usagi, not Serena, towards the door.
But as thought of her true identity hit him, he suddenly halted all movement, skidding partway across the floor in the process. Once he came to rest he slowly turned around to face her, his eyes tearing up as if it was the first time he had truly seen her in years... Because it was.
"Usako!" he cried, pulling her against his large frame, his arms coming around her so completely one could not tell from looking where he began and she ended.
"Ma -Mamo-chan?" She stuttered her startled reply, her own hands coming up to lace around his neck.
He pulled away just far enough so that he could look into her eyes. He planted a kiss on her forehead and leaned his own against where his lips had been.
"I finally found you." He choked out the revelation, all the emotion he could not show her before, he revealed in the tenderness of words now.
Usagi pulled one arm down from his neck briefly to wipe away her tears before looking back into his eyes, something she hadn't done at this proximity for far too long.
"Yes... You did," she agreed, knowing that it was true on more levels than one. "I won't let you down again, Mamo-chan. And I'm NOT going to let down Keisuke." Though she sniffed, the resolve in her voice was evident. "Now WE, are going to go find my son."
Mamoru laughed through misty eyes. "It's about damn time."
*~*~*~*~*~*
It was cold. He hated the cold. However the instant he wished the room to change temperature, it did.
Now spooked, Keisuke looked desperately for an exit, but to no avail.
He thought back to the night before, or at least the time before he went to sleep, he wasn't quite sure how much time had passed. That scary man, the same one he had seen in his mind's eye a few weeks prior, he appeared, impossible as it may have seemed, out of thin air demanding to see Keisuke's mama. When the man saw she wasn't there, he set his sights on Keisuke instead. Max tried to protect him, but the man was just too strong. Within minutes he struck Max unconscious, and when he saw Kate dialing the police...
Keisuke rubbed his eyes to keep back the tears, but forced his mind to remember what happened.
After both his caretakers were down, the man grabbed Keisuke and somehow, in an instant, transported them to this room. But Keisuke had struggled against the man, and when he screamed for him to go away, like the temperature obeyed a few minutes ago, with a curse the man was banished from the room.
No sooner did the thought of the horrible man cross Keisuke's mind did he hear his chilling voice filling the room. "I should have known she would protect you. But no matter, you are here, and she will be joining you shortly."
"Who are you? What do you want with me and my mama?!" Keisuke clenched his fists and yelled in the direction he heard the voice coming from. "GO AWAY AND LEAVE US ALONE!"
Deep, chilling laughter filled the room. "I'm afraid I can't do that my boy. Only your mama can send me away, and I fill her every waking thought, aware, or subconscious. So I wouldn't count on that happening anytime soon."
"What do you mean by that? Mama wouldn't NEVER let someone stay here who would hurt us. Sides, you can disappear stuff. Only thing mama can make disappear is food." Keisuke yelled back at the voice, enraged that he would blame all of this on his mama when he could do way more than she ever could.
"You're mother has a lot more power than you think, Son. Entire planets would disappear if she wished it. We could have been great together, she and I. But being the arrogant wench she is, she refused and is forcing me to do this the hard way."
"OUT!" Keisuke cried. "I DON'T WANNA HEAR YOU ANYMORE!"
With that, Keisuke was left alone to the room.
A bit stunned, Keisuke looked around the room, and noticed for the first time that it was... Well it was mathematically impossible! He had read about rooms like these, ones where you couldn't tell what was north and what was west. But he *knew* they were impossible to create. Weren't they?
Keisuke beat his little fists on the floor in frustration and was amazed when the surface beneath him morphed to a softer surface as if to protect his hands from harm.
Terrified, he crawled away from the spot to lean up against a 'wall'. It too, softened at his touch, and reminded him somewhat of his mother's embrace.
"Mama." Keisuke whimpered into the silence, pulling his legs up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. "Mama, I'm scared. Please find me, Mama..."
*~*~*~*~*~*
'Mama...'
"Keisuke!" Usagi gasped suddenly.
Mamoru glanced over before quickly focusing on the road again. "What?"
Usagi took a deep breath and narrowed her eyes. "Keisuke, he... I could swear he called to me just now. Drive faster."
"Yes ma'am." Mamoru half joked as he pressed the gas and shifted into a higher gear.
Though Usagi suppressed a yawn and tried discreetly to force her dropping lids open, her weariness did not go unnoticed by Mamoru.
He furrowed his brows. "Maybe I was a little too quick in getting you out of there. You look like you're still pretty worn out."
Usagi gave a soft laugh and waved it off. "Nah, you were right. That place wasn't good for me, it made me believe I was sick when I'm not. The antibiotics wearing off is what's making me drowsy."
Mamoru sighed and rubbed his temples when they came to a red light. "I figured as much, but I'm sorry none the less. It was just, seeing you there, so hopeless and drained... I couldn't stand it." He fidgeted with the window ledge every so often glancing up at the light. "I... I was meaning to ask you... I mean, I still stand by what I said no matter what the case but..." Suddenly he turned to face her, his voice surprisingly steady. "What happened that made you hate yourself so much?"
Usagi looked away, glancing up at the light and begging it to change. "I, I told you Mamor--chan. I left you, and despite my justifications... I've hated myself for it."
Mamoru shook his head and Usagi breathed a sigh of relief when he turned his attention back to road as the light changed. "No, there's more. There's something you're not telling me. Like how do you know who-"
"Stop the car!" Usagi commanded suddenly as Mamoru brought the car to a skidding halt.
Before the car came to a complete stop, Usagi unbuckled her seat belt and got out, slamming the door behind her.
Unaware as ever, only once she was out did Mamoru realize she was running across the highway to her house. "Usa! Usako! What are you doing? Come ba- oh forget it." He gave up and jumped out of the car after her.
Usagi ran up her driveway, tearing the yellow police tape off of her porch and off of her door when she got there as well. She cringed as she placed a hand on the handle and heard Mamoru's voice behind her. She knew that even though this was her original plan she was using it to evade Mamoru's questions. Usagi shook her head. She'd think about it later. What she was about to do required all her attention and strength.
With one last sigh Usagi tightened her grip on the handle and threw the door open. An icy chill caught her by surprise but she gritted her teeth when the outline of a man began to form in the center of the living room.
Demando materialized with a scowl and snorted when he saw Usagi standing in the doorway. "Nice of you to finally show up my dear. It's not very good parenting to leave your son alone for so long."
Mamoru swung into the doorway and gasped at what he saw. "Usako!" he called a warning, not liking the way his old nemesis was staring at her.
Demando raised an eyebrow at the new voice and glanced over Usagi's shoulder to see who the intruder was. However his eyes narrowed dangerously when the speaker's identity was revealed. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Prince Charming, in the flesh, coming to the rescue just AFTER the nick of time... Again."
Mamoru clenched his fists and bared his teeth. "So it seems you didn't change your ways after all. What do you know anyhow, you're supposed to be- "
"DEAD! YES, I know! But quite obviously I'm not! This dead routine really is getting old. Besides, Tux boy, for a dead man I seem know a lot more than you." Demando sneered and grinned triumphantly at Usagi's crestfallen face.
"Usa, what is he talking about? What's going on here?" Mamoru hissed in hushed tones to the woman in front of him.
"Should we tell him darling? *Usa* here was hoping the secret would stay buried with me, but you know what they say: Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."
"SHUT UP! Nothing of what you have to say is of any value other than for you to tell us where MY SON IS!" Usagi yelled, but no sooner did the words fall from her lips than she covered her mouth in horror of the opening she left him.
"NO!" She screamed a deaf plea as Demando grinned wickedly and grabbed Usagi by the shoulders, forcing her to be face to face with Mamoru. He leaned down slowly, ever so slowly to rest his head on her shoulder and with a Cheshire cat smile he uttered those horrible words.
"Don't you mean *OUR* son, Usa?"
Usagi screamed in anguish at the sentence. Her sentence, she realized with horror as he threw her to the ground at Mamoru's feet.
She clutched desperately at his ankles and looked up at his towering form. Her sobs rendering her unable to speak, she mouthed the words, "I'm so sorry," over and over until her vision was so blurred with tears she could only make out the blur of color the mop of black hair atop his head made.
When she turned her head, and Mamoru could no longer see her face, he snapped back to his senses and quickly fell to the ground, gathering her in his arms as he did so. She buried her head in his chest, shaking it violently in silent protest against Demando's words.
"Look at her. She's pathetic really, six words of truth placed in her web of lies and she's reduced to this." Demando glanced up and laughed when he saw Mamoru's shocked face. "What? You didn't think her-- *OUR* son, just appeared in her womb one inconvenient day when she was fourteen, did you? Really, and you want to be a doctor? Pay a bit more attention in those fancy classes you're taking, kid."
Mamoru let out a little laugh and shook his head, tightening his grip on Usagi. "I don't believe you. Usa would never have coupled with you."
"Wouldn't she have, now? There's a blonde four-year-old running around with my genetic attributes that would beg to differ." Demando paced the room, clenching and unclenching his hands feverishly.
Usagi was struggling against Mamoru now. She wriggled and pushed at his chest, but his grip did not waver. He turned frustrated eyes to Demando once more as the eerily collected man began to speak again.
"Given, that her submission came with some struggle, it did come in the end. Didn't it, Usa?" He asked, tauntingly.
"NO!" She sobbed, ceasing her struggle against Mamoru to clutch desperately his shirt. "Don't listen to him, Mamo-chan, PLEASE! I didn't mean to! I mean I didn't want to!" Usagi sobbed a bit in frustration, desperately searching for the words to pardon herself. What did Kate say? It wasn't her choice, it wasn't her fault... That was it! She clutched harder at his shirt, causing him to wince slightly through trying to calm her as her nails dug partially into his skin. "It wasn't my fault! It wasn't my fault, Mamo-chan! I swear to GOD it wasn't my fault!"
"It's OK Usa. Hush honey, yes, I know, you didn't-" Mamoru's eyes shot open as Usagi's words finally sank in. He pulled her away suddenly, gripping her chin as to force her eyes to meet his. "Usako, what do you mean you didn't want to?" He asked softly, making sure his voice was level.
Usagi stiffened in terror and with her Demando stilled as well. Usagi's mind raced. What did she say that was wrong? Didn't he understand? Was he mad her after all? "I didn't want to, Mamo-chan. It wasn't my fault! I, I would never have cheated on you, Mamo-chan. I l-love you! Please believe me, Mamo-chan. Please don't be mad! He made me, he made me lie still!"
"Oh my God." Mamoru breathed as what he feared was confirmed. Usagi, his Usako, she was raped. All these years, she was suffering all alone and with a kid---!
"Oh my God!" He repeated as he pulled Usagi as close to his body as he could get her. He felt sick, more like nauseous. That creep, he raped her. RAPED her! Right under his nose and he didn't even have a clue. But when would he have had the chance?
Mamoru squeezed his eyes shut as he remembered. Of course! The piece of slime kidnapped her and raped her. Mamoru cursed himself. He was so wrapped up in the adrenaline rush of the rescue, and learning Chibi-Usa was his daughter and the thought that he would one day marry the woman in his arms, he didn't even think to SKIM over the possibilities of what could have happened to her in the few hours she was gone.
He gripped Usagi even tighter, if possible, with one arm, using the other to cover his mouth. He wanted to vomit; he wanted to scream, he wanted to... His thoughts drifted as he caught sight of the man just ahead of them, seemingly paralyzed with rage. What he wanted to do, he wanted to kill.
With the gentleness only a lover could display in such a time of rage, Mamoru set Usagi's now only slightly shaking form into one of the nearby lazy-boy's. He clenched his fists as he whirled around and forced them not to make contact with the head he was looking at now.
"You! You did this to her. You caused her this pain; you made her life a living hell! Damn it, you're the reason she ran away! I should rip you're heart out."
Demando snorted. "Is that right? And just how are you going to do that?"
"You wanna find out, you little piece of shit? The only reason why you are still breathing at this moment is because you know where to find *HER* son." Mamoru flexed his hand and a rose materialized in the casing his fingers made as they closed. Mamoru took a step towards his adversary.
Demando laughed. "Please, you think your pathetic little flower can hurt me? The only reason why YOU are still breathing is because it'll be so much more FUN to watch you die at her hands once she's my queen." He nodded towards Usagi.
"She won't be if I tear you to shreds first!" Mamoru clenched his teeth and faster than lightning the deadly flower flew from his hand and towards Demando's head.
However, to Mamoru's horror, the wretched man caught the flower right before it would have hit its target. Demando brought it down and looked at it in disgust. "You thought this puny thing could hurt me?" The corner of his lip jerked up in yet another cocky grin as he let the rose fall to the floor, where he smashed it with his boot.
He laughed, "Don't look so shocked! The only one who can hurt me hasn't the slightest clue how. Isn't that right, Usa?"
Usagi whimpered but jumped up and yelled at him despite herself. "Where is Keisuke?!"
"That's for me to know..." Demando started but Usagi cut him off.
"And for us to find out. Cut the crap and TELL ME WHERE HE IS!"
Demando clicked his tongue in disappointment and wagged a finger at her. "You didn't let me finish my sentence, dear. Where OUR son is, is for me to know, and you NOT to know. Now forget your pathetic Knight in Rusted Armor and follow me, there is much work to be done."
"I'd rather rot in Hell." Usagi bit.
Demando sighed. "Fine, if it's like that, then your son," Demando paused to snap his fingers and as he did so, an open door appeared behind him, "your son is right through that door."
Mamoru laughed. "Yeah, right. Nice try but she's not falling for... Usa! What the hell are you doing?!" Mamoru yelled after her as she began to advance towards the door.
She gave one lost look back at him, tenderly brushing the hair out of his eyes. "I'm sorry Mamo-Chan, I have to help him." She squeezed her eyes shut and snapped towards the door. "Goodbye!" She bit out finally before lunging into the opening presented.
"Oh, she fell for it." Demando's laughter filling the air was the last thing Mamoru heard before the hated man disappeared through the doorway and Mamoru was left to run into thin air as the doorway itself disappeared as well.
*~*~*~*~*~*
*Sigh* I apologize minna-san. This one's not as long as the last... but the next one will be!
Oh and - CRAP! - *Claidi ducts under her chair as tomatoes come flying her way*
HEHEHEHHEHEHE forgot about them tomatoes... -_-;; I AM SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SOOOO sorry this took like five or six weeks to get out. I was hoping to finish the STORY before or during Spring Break, but I hardly had enough time to write the 10 pages I wrote there. I had to finish it back here in VA! (I was visiting Mom in NJ)
So yeah, I don't know when the next one will be out as I am planning my Sweet 16 (June 10!!! SEND ME LOTS OF NICE REVIEWS!) and more importantly preparing for my SOL tests. (Ya know, the ones I need to pass school here in Virginy? Stands for: Standards of Learning, or Shit Outta Luck to us... -_-;)
HOWEVER I will try my darndest to get it out in significantly less time than this one took. But please don't be mad if takes as long, find comfort in the fact that I AM updating.
Hope all of you in school had/are having/have a nice Spring Break and enjoyed this chapter!
Don't forget to REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!
PS- Thanks SO much to my beautiful, wonderful, mommy who edited this for me. We should work together again sometime! ^_~
Luv all ya'll!!
~Claidi