Welcome back! I got a few reviews for the last chapter and I was so excited. This is my favorite story right now that I'm writing. We'll see what happens after I finish If Wishes and can put up a new story. Dun Dun DUN! But as it is, right now, this is my favorite story. Heehee, well let's watch the story unfold or fall apart even more!
Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon.
Warnings: Yeah, angst.
Will Mamoru realize that he is a total and utter baka? Will Usagi get over her first love? Or will she just accept him back? Will Seiya comfort our lady in distress? Where exactly was he in that last chapter? Will Rei go bitch-smack Mamoru a few times? Is the author considering that last one? Will Seiya replace Mamoru? Will Seiya+Usagi fans everywhere cheer? Will Hotaru continue to be the worse interferer ever? Will Teresa continue to blame everything on Artemis and Minako? Will she continue to blame the nameless one? Will Setsuna step in? Will Yaten continue to dodge Minako? Will these problems ever work themselves out? How could the story get any worse? Will the author continue to torture the readers? Will Jade stop referring to herself in the third person? Will she stop mixing French and Japanese together whenever she talks? Does that last question have anything to do with this story? Well, gomen ne, sil vous plait...
Close Your Eyes
Chapter Eight
"I was born to love
her,
and I will never be free,
You'll always be a part of me,
If you should find you miss,
the sweet and tender love we used to share,
Just go back to the places,
where we used to go, and I'll be there,
Well, how can I forget you, girl?
When there is always something there to remind me,
Always something there to remind me,"
-Always Something There To Remind Me, Naked Eyes
"He said what?" Rei growled as Usagi, who finally got out her story to the raven-haired priestess. Usagi had started crying again in the middle of it and Rei continued to try to calm her down. Rei was shocked by this turn of events.
But more importantly, Rei was pissed.
How could be he so stupid?!
Of course, part of Rei reasoned that he was male and males were inherently stupid. To prove their masculinity, they had to go out and do something unbelievably stupid. Mamoru had just proven he was a man.
But another part of her wanted to kill him. After helping him, after trying to make sure that they had time together, after everything that had happened so far, he gave it all up for some dream princess? That idiot!
And watching Usagi heartbroken was not helping to curb Rei's anger. Rei helped her to her feet.
"Come on Usagi-chan." Rei began to lead her until the blonde girl stopped.
"Where are we going?" Usagi asked, her voice sounding odd from all the crying she had just done.
"We're going to Minako's." Rei told her. Usagi jerked her hand away from Rei.
"I don't want to go see Minako..." Usagi shook her head as tears began to cloud her vision once more.
"Usagi!" Rei grabbed the blonde by the shoulders and shook her a little. "Minako is not to blame for this. We are going to Minako's."
"You...you're right." Usagi trailed off as she let Rei take the lead once more. It took half an hour to get to Minako's house. It was around then that Usagi remembered she was going to meet up with Minako and Hotaru at the mall. Of course that was hours ago.
Hours ago...
Why did he have to say those things?
Minako, if you really are the princess, then he's meant for you. Not me.
But he was always there to protect me...
Just me.
Rei rang the doorbell and a moment later the door opened. Of course, Minako didn't really see passed the odangoes and immediately began in on Usagi.
"Usagi-chan, where were..." Minako noticed Usagi's tear streaked face and Rei's solemn yet angry expression. "What's wrong?"
"Minako-chan, I'm leaving Usagi with you...something happened with Mamoru, I can't explain right now." Rei informed her. Usagi looked up at the violet-eyed girl in surprise.
"Rei...where are you going?" Usagi seemed alarmed that she was leaving.
"Stay at Minako's." Rei spoke firmly and didn't offer anymore explanation.
"Come on Usagi-chan, do you want some cake?" Minako led her into the house. Rei spun on her heel and marched down to the bus stop. She was glad that she had been able to change at her house and wouldn't be making this sort of visit in her priestess robes.
Although maybe they would have warded off creepy bus weirdos.
Rei rolled her eyes at some guy who was obviously checking her out. She swore if he made one comment to her, she would deck him. That's all she needed, one remark from some idiot and she would be reminded of all her malice towards the male gender all at once. Luckily he didn't and she got off the bus in front of Azabu Apartments unscathed.
She waited impatiently for the elevator and then tapped her foot in the elevator as she rose up to Mamoru's floor. When she arrived, she made a beeline for his door, knocking in a very calm manner.
Mamoru opened the door only part way but Rei hit the door with the heel of her right hand (something she had picked up working at the temple) effectively making the door fly all the way open and for Mamoru to stumble backwards.
"What the hell have you done?!" Rei demanded immediately, door swinging shut behind her and hands on her hips.
Mamoru steadied himself and got an irritated expression. "Hino-san, what are you doing?"
"What am I doing?" Rei raised her eyebrows and her lips pursed together as she tried not to just start pounding Mamoru. "Well, this afternoon, I was doing chores until my best friend came to me in tears because of what you did!"
"Y-you don't-" Mamoru began but was cut off.
"Oh, I don't understand?" Rei crossed her arms. "About some dream princess that you've been seeing since you were little? Listen to me Mr. I'm An Insensitive Ass, the mission of the sailor senshi is to protect that very same princess so before you go off on 'I have a duty to fulfill' so do the rest of us."
"Shut up Rei! Just shut up!" Mamoru was answered with silence. Good, that was what he wanted for a few moments. "Do you think it was easy? But it would have failed eventually, wouldn't it? The princess...I love her, I know I do."
"Any relationship can fail eventually!" Rei countered. "What if it doesn't work out between you and the princess? And how do you know who the princess is? For all you know, it could be Usagi!"
"But that night at the park..." Mamoru trailed off, suddenly all his arguments and convictions were being shredded to pieces.
"Chiba, men know women by different names then other men." Rei spoke cryptically. "Why won't you go after her? You love her!"
"Rei you don't know anything about it!" Mamoru shouted at her.
"Like hell I don't!" Rei stomped one of her feet.
"Just because you see everything because of some freaky psychic ability does not mean you can order everyone else around!" Mamoru realized what he said only a second too late. Rei slapped him across the face before turning away from him.
"I know that." Rei's voice was like a thin coat of ice trying to cover flames burning deep inside her. "Well this freak thinks you don't deserve her after all. Maybe Seiya's the better man and maybe for once one of my visions was wrong. I hope so, because you'll only hurt her."
And Rei was gone. The only trace that she had been there were the words still ringing in his ears and the stinging of her slap on one of his cheeks.
I've never had very many friends...I think there went another one.
Gods, Rei, I'm sorry for saying that. But why...
Why does everything you say make so much sense?
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"And then he walked away." Usagi was too numb to cry now. Minako had an arm around her shoulders, telling her it would be okay. "He just walked away Minako-chan."
"Oh Usagi, I'm so sorry." Minako hung her head. "I feel like it's all my fault."
"No, no, that's wrong; it can't be your fault." Usagi shook her head vigorously. "At first I wanted to be mad at you and hate you but I couldn't. I knew I'd never be able to hate you V-chan."
"Odango Atama." Minako teased, lightly tugging on one of Usagi's pigtails. "I'll never be able to hate you either. I bet you don't even hate Mamoru right now. No matter how much you want to hate them, you can't...because...you know deep down they'll always be apart of you, no matter what."
"Minako..." Usagi gave her a curious look.
"But the past is the past. That's where it should stay." Minako looked very faraway for a moment.
"Demo, Minako-chan, you never really talk about...you know, being Sailor V." Usagi began. "Why don't you like talking about it?"
"I think we need some more cake." Minako got up with a faked cheerful smile. Usagi looked after her frowning. Why wasn't Minako willing to talk about it?
"Minako just doesn't like to think about the past sometimes." Artemis excused the blonde. "There's a few bad memories there."
"Usagi-chan, please try to cheer up, it's hard to see you not smiling." Luna nudged Usagi's hand.
"I hate the princess."
Both cats blinked in surprise.
"Usagi, you can't mean that!" Luna looked torn. "The princess is your destiny."
"Can't I?" Usagi asked
them angrily. "I don't care who she is, she's ruining my life."
Minako watched for a few more moments sadly in the shadows of the doorway before going in.
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"Oh, hello you guys." The group looked up at Hotaru who was digging a toe into the floor shyly.
"Hey Hotaru, what are you doing?" Makoto asked.
"Nothing." Hotaru shrugged. Rei wasn't paying attention to them though, she was suddenly gripping Usagi's arm with one hand. Usagi looked at her strangely before noticing where Rei was staring.
Mamoru had come into the arcade.
It was so hard seeing him again, Usagi felt a lump form in her throat. Why had he come there? He didn't even glance in her direction, just walked coldly towards the counter where Motoki was waiting for him.
"Coffee." Mamoru ordered sharply.
"Well aye-aye captain." Motoki went to get a mug. "Somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed today."
"Hmm..." Mamoru didn't say anything else.
"Is something bothering you?" Motoki questioned. "You look a little...weird. And you didn't even notice Usagi is here! I thought you two had radar or something." Motoki glanced over at the usually happy go lucky blonde to see that she was looking at Mamoru with a sad expression and Rei was openly glaring.
Mamoru didn't answer and Motoki decided he should try to press him. "Did something happen with Usagi?"
"I don't want to talk about it." Mamoru's brow furrowed. Motoki knew that Mamoru was definitely not going to talk so he had to move to Plan B. Go ask the girls.
He went over there, looking so casual with his cleaning rag.
"Um, is something going on that I should know about?" Motoki asked the girls. Rei jerked her head towards him, still glaring but then realized who it was and relaxed a little. Usagi looked even more depressed, Minako was shooting concerned looks at Usagi, and Makoto and Ami were looking at each other in confusion. Why were they always the ones to know things last?
Minako got up and led Motoki a little away from the table and spoke in a low voice for a few moments.
Then Motoki's expression changed and he stalked over to the counter.
"You...you...idiot!" Motoki slammed two hands down on the counter in front of Mamoru.
"What the hell-" Mamoru began but Motoki was not going to let him finish.
"You tell Usagi how you feel about her, finally, and she tells you she feels the same way AND YOU TELL HER YOU CAN'T BE TOGETHER BECAUSE OF SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED TO YOU IN YOUR PAST?" Motoki's yelling had attracted the entire arcade, some of which were suddenly losing games because they turned around to watch.
"I'm sick of people bothering me about it!" Mamoru stood up. "This isn't your problem!"
"You told him?!" Rei hissed accusingly at Minako.
"I only told him an abridged version and I didn't think he'd shout it loud enough for everybody in a mile radius to hear!" Minako defended.
"Motoki I don't need this right now." Mamoru threw some money on the counter. "Keep the change." And with that he walked out the door, bumping into Seiya and glaring at him.
"Er, hi Seiya." Hotaru looked down at her feet. Minako chewed on her lip for a second contemplating what to do.
"Hotaru, have you played the Sailor V game yet?" Minako grabbed Hotaru's hand and dragged her off to the game even though Hotaru protested.
Makoto watched the exchange and looked at Usagi who looked five seconds from crying and at Seiya who was approaching the table.
"Usagi-chan...why the sad face?" Seiya asked. Rei raised imperious eyebrows at him and he wondered why she was giving him such a look as though he was to blame. Usagi looked up at him, her eyes clouded over with tears.
"Seiya-kun, will you walk Usagi home?" Makoto asked him. Seiya blinked in surprise.
"I can if she wants me to." Seiya agreed.
"No." Rei spoke sharply.
"Rei, Makoto and I don't know what's happened between who and we wouldn't mind explanations but at the moment we would settle for seeing that Usagi gets home safely." Ami said it in a cool voice that suggested the genius was angry with the others.
"I don't think he should walk her home, I will." Rei shook her head. "He needs to stay out of the way for now."
"Rei, I'm getting a little sick of you acting like you're in charge of everything." Makoto pursed her lips.
Usagi got up and walked out of the arcade. Rei stood frozen for a few moments.
"I...I'm sorry." Rei looked away from them. "I just don't want to see her like this. I'm sorry." Rei walked out of the arcade, going in the opposite direction that Usagi had turned and breaking into a run.
"Do you think I went to far?" Makoto looked uneasy.
"You were being straightforward and truthful, which is exactly what Rei would expect of you." Ami took a deep breath. "Seiya went after Usagi-chan." Ami noted the disappearance of the dark-haired boy. "I'm going to go talk to Rei." Ami got up and left.
It was this time that Minako and Hotaru returned to the table.
"I told you I'm not much good..." Hotaru looked like she was apologizing. "Where did everybody go?" She looked around.
"Rei left, Ami went after her, Usagi left, Seiya went after her." Makoto explained.
"Oh." Hotaru said in a small voice.
Setsuna's not gonna like this.
-------------------------
"Usagi! Usagi!" Seiya ran after her and finally caught her wrist as she walked, effectively stopping her. "What's going on?"
"I can't tell you." Usagi pulled her wrist away.
"Of course you can, you can tell me anything." Seiya told her. "Come on, let's sit down and you can tell me." They sat on a nearby bench.
"You'll hate me...after what you told me. So many people hate me right now." Usagi saw a tear splash down onto her hands.
"Tell me." Seiya pressed her. "Please, whatever it is, I won't care."
"Mamoru told me he was in love with him." Usagi began and Seiya's eyes widened. "And, that's when I figured out I was in love with him too. Even after you said you liked me because...well, Mamoru...there's a connection I feel with him. But then...but then he told me that...that there was someone else who he loved and loved more then me."
"How could he do that?" Seiya didn't understand the other man's course of action at all. Anger welled up and he wanted to hit Mamoru, maybe just to knock some sense into the guy that could be heartless enough to break Usagi's heart.. His arms went around her and Usagi cried into his shoulder.
"Gomen..." Usagi murmured.
"Don't apologize. Now that that jerk rejected you, I'm going to win over your heart." Seiya promised her fiercely. "Usagi, I'll always be there for you."
I don't deserve this.
I don't deserve the way Seiya's caring for me.
He really does like me.
What do I do?
--------------------------
The next day, Ikuko was worried about her daughter. Something was definitely going on. She hadn't been a mother all these years without being able to just sense these things. Plus Usagi's loss of appetite was a sure sign of something bad but Usagi just shrugged when her mother asked. Except for last night. A young man had brought Usagi home, kissed her on the forehead, and left. Ikuko thought that it must be Chiba Mamoru but learned it was someone else.
She's too young to have her heart broken.
"I wonder why Usagi's been so sad lately?" Kenji wondered out loud.
"I think its boy troubles." Ikuko sighed.
"What?!" Kenji sat straight up. "She's too young to know any boys!"
-------------------------
"So that's all that's happened." Minako explained over tea at the Hiwaka Jinja. "I'm sorry we didn't tell you guys right away but I guess...I've been sort of out of it lately."
"And I didn't want to worry you guys." Rei added on resignedly. "I'm sorry you guys were left out."
"It's okay." Ami and Makoto chorused.
"None of us were expecting to have to deal with something like this." Makoto smiled at the others. "So, we're all cool?"
"Yeah." Minako nodded. "So...all that remains is that we cheer up Usagi. I don't care if Seiya did walk her home; she needs to have her spirit boosted."
"Agreed." Ami took a deep breath. "What should we do?"
"I guess we could throw a party..." Rei trailed off before she was hit with inspiration. "A beach party, you know how much Usagi likes the beach!"
"And we can invite Seiya-kun and his friends!" Minako's hands clapped together with delight.
"And Hotaru-chan, she's nice." Ami added onto the guest list.
"I think she has a thing for Seiya." Minako voiced her suspicion. "She acts weird when he's there."
"Well, she's really shy." Makoto defended. "Maybe she has trouble talking to guys, like Ami."
"I don't have difficulties speaking, thank you." Ami opened a book she had picked off Rei's bookshelf.
"Okay, right." Minako rolled her eyes. "This is my impression of Ami trying to talk to a guy," Minako picked up a book and buried her face in it. "Rei, be the guy." Rei sighed.
"Hello Ami." Rei lowered her voice several octaves.
"Oh! Um...er, ah..." Minako pretended to blush and stick her face further into the book before collapsing in giggles. Ami blushed a little but tried to look dignified.
"It's not that bad." Ami protested.
"Don't make me pull out my Minako in love impression." Rei hit Minako playfully.
"I can do that one perfectly!" Artemis volunteered. He made his eyes go as big as they could go. "Oh, he's sooo great! He's my 300th first love!"
"ARTEMIS!" Minako hit him. "I'll do my impression of you around Luna if you don't stop it."
"Hey guys." Everyone turned to see Usagi who was opening the door with Seiya. Minako clamped both hands down on Artemis quickly, hoping that Seiya hadn't accidentally heard Artemis talking.
"Um hey!" Minako greeted her. "We were thinking of throwing a party, whadda ya' think Usagi?"
"A party?" Usagi's eyes brightened. "That's sounds fun."
"A beach party." Rei looked over at Seiya. "And we were going to invite Kou-san and his friends, if he can go."
"Really?" Seiya was surprised by the change in the raven-haired girl's attitude. Was she planning to get him alone at the party and try to drown him? "I'm sure we can make it, just tell me when."
"How about this Saturday?" Minako asked the others. "It's starting to get colder outside, it'll be the last beach party of the season."
"Alright." Seiya agreed. "I'll make the others leave the house even if I have to drag them out."
"Cool, let's make it a barbecue too." Makoto suggested. "I'll make food."
"We should invite Motoki and his girlfriend." Usagi put in. "Doesn't he have a grill?"
"No books Ami." Minako teased the blue-haired girl.
Rei watched the group, pretending to be smiling but she felt uneasy. There was someone else that needed to be invited.
So much more trouble then its worth.
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I can't believe all the reviews I've been getting for this story! Or the incredibly nice ones I got for my new Sailor Moon fanfic, The Evening of the Moon. I've been getting a lot of questions about whether I made Minako the princess…I'm not exactly sure why. Anyways, I'm working hard to put out my chapters for you guys. And dammit, Teresa, don't be a smartass. Or else I'll review Take My Hand and ask when you're updating. ^_^. Review please!