Chapter 21:
Week 4, Day 3 con't
He took a deep breath as he reached up to ring the doorbell. He was surprised that he was doing this at all, much less this soon. His hand paused right before he reached his intended target.
"Go on," a female voive encouraged as she squeezed the arm she held. "It will be all right."
Nodding, the young man finally rang the doorbell. He actually ended up having to ring it two more times before someone finally opened the door. After each ring, he almost gave up and walked away...but his companion kept him there, promising that it would be okay.
Finally, the door opened and the young man that looked so much like him managed to get out "Can I help-" before looking up and stopping abruptly in shock. Then he proceded to stare.
Mamoru understood the boy's reaction as he was shocked into silence as well. He remembered from the last time he met this young man, who May and Reika had called "Terry", that the resemblance was uncanny, but he still wasn't prepared to relive it on the front door step. Added to this was the realization in the back of his head that he was looking at his brother from a past life...at Endymion's younger brother Tremaine. In this life, he had never had a brother...at least he never remembered having one. 'Usako was right,' he admitted to himself. The idea of family, any family from any era, was important to him.
For his part, Terry looked equally shell-shocked, if not more so. He blinked several times, but he couldn't really manage to say anything. He didn't even seem to notice Usagi until she shifted nervously. When he did notice her, however, his gaze immediately narrowed...but then quickly shot back to Mamoru, looking confused and wary.
It seemed as if several minutes passed with the three of them just looking at each other. Mamoru was about to try and speak when he heard a familar female voice ask a question.
"Terry? Who was at the door?" the voice of Reika posed from somewhere within the house. While her voice still sounded a little hurt and weary, it was a lot happier than the last time Mamoru had heard it.
At the sound of Reika's voice, Mamoru felt Usagi stiffen and shift again, almost as if her body had shifted into "fight or flight mode" and was preparing to leave. He reached down to hold her hand on his arm. When she looked up at him in surprise, he hoped he conveyed without words that he didn't know that Reika would be there. That, regardless of Reika's presence, he still needed Usagi here with him, as he didn't really know what to say.
Terry's eyes hadn't missed the gesture. He didn't seem to be happy about it, either, as the wariness actually increased in his eyes. Mamoru, for the second time in five minutes, may have begun to say sometime when another voice was heard from the house.
"Ha! I bet future boy got lost on his way to the door!" a male voice laughed. His jab at Terry was soon spoiled by his loud and angry, "Damnit! Where the hell did that come from?! It just appeared out of thin air!"
Even if Mamoru had tried to speak for the third time, the next voice heard from the house would have definitely robbed him of speech, as he now knew who she was to him long ago.
"Terry?" May called out, sounding concerned. "Is there a problem?"
"He probably doesn't have enough money for the pizza," the other male voice, which must belong to Yusuke, responded.
"Shut up, Yusuke," May could be heard saying in exasperation, confirming Mamoru's conjecture. Then she said, "Terry, whoever it is, can you hurry it up? I could use some-" a crash was heard in the background. "-help" the young woman's voice finished.
"May, are you all right?" the concerned voice of Reika asked.
"Hey, future boy! Hurry up and get back in the kitchen before May burns dinner or does something else stupid!"
"I heard that, Yusuke," his mother from another life said to his baby brother from another life, in a tone that was almost familar. "I am not incompetent! Why do y'all seem to think that I am?" she finished in a whine.
Yusuke had shouted something back, but the exchange from inside the house had given him enough time to pull himself together and finally, on the fourth try, to speak to the young man still standing at the door. Although he knew at least one of his questions was pointless, it was a place to start.
Taking a deep breath, Mamoru asked, "Is May here? May I see her?"
Terry, who still seemed to be in shock, nodded. A few beats later he moved away from the door and said, "Come in." After Mamoru and Usagi had entered the house, Terry closed the door and walked around the couple twice, as if trying to make sure they were not a threat. Eyes still confused and wary, he added quietly, "Follow me," before setting off into the mansion.
As they walked, Mamoru kept his eyes on Terry, who kept his eyes straight ahead. Because of this, he felt, rather than of saw, Usagi looking around and he felt, rather than of saw, her reaction to something or someone in the house. She stiffened as if afraid and surprised. If he had honestly thought that his Usako was in any danger, he would have done something. But, as he walked, he realized that she was in the safest place she could be in this context, which was at his side.
They entered the kitchen just behind Terry and stopped. Terry had stopped a few feet in front of them, but hadn't said anything. He hadn't needed to; although May's back was to them, she was clearly visible from the door.
Seeing the woman who he now knew was his mother in a former life robbed him of speech again. For someone who had shoved his emotions into a black box inside of himself for many years, having so many emotions hit him at once, shocked him into inaction.
It didn't shock his other senses, however. He felt two people standing behind him and Usagi; his best guess was that they were Reika and Yusuke. One of them was also very angry, but he got the feeling that it wasn't Reika.
He focused his attention back in front of him. May, who appeared frustrated even from behind, was stirring something in a frying pan while standing on her left foot. Her right foot was dripping wet and was raised a little of the floor. Water and an overturned pan were on the floor not far from her stationary foot. "Terry," she breathed as she started to look over her shoulder, "Thank God. Could you give me a hand? I just found out the hard way that I can't-" Whatever else she was about to say died on her lips as she saw who else stood in her kitchen.
"Lord Jesus," she said quietly, as she quickly put down her foot and dropped her spoon. Of course, as her first action was swift, she slipped a little. And, because she was stirring with her right hand seconds ago, her right wrist hit the hot pan. She had recovered her balance in seconds, but she wasn't able to stop her wrist from spending a second or two on the hot pan.
"Ouch!" She shrieked as she pulled away from the stove and transfered her attention to her wrist.
Reika, pushing past Mamoru and Usagi, moved quickly to May's side. "May, what did you do to yourself?" she asked as she turned off the stove and led May to the sink.
May didn't answer, as her attention was back on Mamoru, confusion not all that dissimilar to Terry's shone in her eyes. But, instead of Terry's wariness, May's eyes held a measure of hope. For a moment she even seemed to be lost in thought or memory about something. She winced when Reika put her wrist under the cold water, but Mamoru got the impression that her reaction had little or anything to do with the water running over her injured wrist.
"Mr. Chiba. After our last conversation, I didn't expect to see you," she confessed to Mamoru, without being asked. She would have said something else, but it appeared that she finally noticed Usagi on his arm. "But then," she continued with the hope dimming in her eyes, "I haven't asked why you are here. In part because I didn't think you were the vengeful type." May finished her observations in a whisper and she seemed to sag.
"Damnit, lady! You are in no condition to be standing!" Yusuke shouted as he pushed Usagi out of his way so that he could get further into the kitchen. He grabbed a chair and slammed it down a foot from where May and Reika stood. "Sit down!" he ordered.
May turned away to look at Yusuke with what looked like compassion to Mamoru. "Yusuke, I'm fine," she reassured quietly.
"I'm with the twip on this," Terry finally spoke from his position in front of Mamoru. "You should sit. And we should take a look at that wrist," he finished as he walked toward her.
"Boys, I'm okay," May insisted, but she sat down anyway. "I was just a little shocked that's all. And the floor is still wet."
"And you managed to burn your wrist," Reika added. "I'll go find a first aid kit," she continued, looking grateful that she had an excuse to leave the room at that moment. Before she left the kitchen, she said to May, "As you are going to rest for the rest of the evening, I'll order take-out, too." With that she quickly slid pass Mamoru through the kitchen door, not once looking him in the eye.
After Reika left, the kitchen was silent for a few moments. Then, May's eyes widdened. "Oh! My manners. Please, have a seat," May invited as she pointed to the other chairs around the same table in the kitchen. "That is, if you are staying. I wouldn't want to hold you up."
Mamoru didn't know how to respond to that. Luckily, Usagi uttered a quiet "Thank you" with a bow and led Mamoru to two of the chairs, where they then sat.
There was silence for a few minutes. While there was clearly a lot of emotion in the room (and some of it was hostile), no one seemed to know what to say. Mamoru was about to open his mouth to say something, but May beat him.
"Mamoru. Serenity," she addressed the couple across from her, "why have you paid us a visit?'
At being addressed as Serenity, Usagi began to shake her head. "My name is Usagi, not Serenity."
May's eye's narrowed in disabelief. "Are you saying you aren't Princess Serenity?"
"In a past life I was Princess Serenity," Usagi admitted. "But in this life I'm Usagi."
"What the difference?!" Yusuke thundered, "Powerful moon brat then, powerful blonde brat now. A name change doesn't change anything."
The room was about to erupt into a fight at that comment, but May held up her hand and everyone, even Usagi, held their tongue...in part because in that gesture May looked a lot like the queen she was centuries ago. "Yusuke, that wasn't fair," May chastised her youngest. "A lot can change in a lifetime. In many ways, I'm not Adaunde or Pocahontas anymore either."
"Poca who?" Yusuke asked.
"Long story," May answered. "It's not important." After a few more moments of silence, May looked and Yusuke and Terry and said, "Maybe the two of you should leave me to talk to Mamoru and Seren - excuse me, Usagi - alone."
"Absolutely not," Terry objected.
"Hell no!" Yusuke asserted even more forcefully.
"Boys," May pointed out, "I spoke to both of you alone in the beginning. Doesn't he deserve the same courtsey?"
"That's not the point." Terry groused, "The point is that, past life or not, that's Princess Serenity sitting over there. And I, for one, remember what her mother was like."
"And I remember that the bitch freak that tried to kill us works for her," Yusuke added as he pointed to Usagi.
"We are justifiably worried about your safety," Terry finished.
"I will be fine. I promise," May said. Terry and Yusuke didn't move. May sighed. "Okay," she said. "If you refuse to leave the room out of courtsey, maybe you'll leave to go check on Reika? She's been through a lot today," May reminded the two young men gently.
The two young men looked at each other. That look was like a silent conversation between them, demonstrating how close they were. Mamoru envied that closeness; in fact, he felt a little shut out. But, to be fair, they had had more time together. He was just now coming to meet them.
As if noticing the indecision in the young men, May again said, "I will be fine. Besides," May added in quiet voice, "even in the worse case senerio, it cannot be any worse than anything I've already gone through. I mean, getting killed by an engery blast has got to hurt less than what I went through before, right? It would definitely be over faster anyway," she muttered under her breath
At that, both boys stiffened. "Don't joke about that, May. Don't even joke about that. It's not funny," Terry said seriously.
May looked contrite as she turned to look at Terry. "I'm sorry. But I really will be okay," she assured Terry. "I'm just more worried about the other female in the house right now." May finished.
"Okay," Terry finally agreed. "We're going. But-" he turned to look at Usagi, "if anything happens to May, you will have to deal with us."
"Yeah," Yusuke agreed. "Girl or not, hurt May and I will kick your ass."
And with those parting setiments, the former princes Tremaine and Arlington left the room.
"I'm sorry about that," May said as she looked across the table. "They are a little worried. And with cause. We had a run in with your Pluto," she addressed to Usagi. "Actually," May expounded, "I had one run-in with Pluto; Terry and Yusuke had two. In the first of those run-ins, she tried to kill them. Among other things going through their heads, I bet they are wondering if your Pluto was acting on orders when she tried to terminate them." May paused, as if to observe their reactions to her revelations. Before he or Usagi could say anything, May looked at Usagi and conceded, "Looking at your horrified and surprised expression, I'll assume she wasn't."
Usagi shook her head. Mamoru himself felt shock as well, but where Usagi probably felt horror, he felt anger. Pluto had tried to kill members of his family?! But why? What would that have served? And, Mamoru began to wonder, had she ever done it before?
"But, back to my original question. Why have you and Usagi come to visit us? I assumed, after thinking about it, when you told me 'not now' the day I first made the offer, that you were giving me the polite Japanese version of 'no'. Where I came from, we would have said, 'Hell no! Fuck off!' Well, at least some people would have," May corrected herself with a laugh. "We are not known the world over for our manners." May shared as she smiled, but her eyes appeared worried when she looked at Mamoru. "Is this a social call to tell us we lost?"
"No! He wanted to meet you. Family is important to him!" Usagi burst out, but then she blushed and looked a little sheepish.
It was obvious that May heard and processed the outburst, although she didn't acknowledge it directly. "So you aren't choosing a side in the little war we were waging?" she asked Mamoru directly.
"So you admit that-?" Mamoru started to ask, surprised that she realized and openly admitted that the actions of all involved in this situation made it seem like a war.
"Yes. Although I wasn't proud of myself when I realized that was how I was behaving. I guess I thought myself above that. But that's what happens when you try to stuff alone," she added under breath. After a brief pause, she cleared her throat. "As you've probably managed to reason out for yourself, Pluto and I have been playing a high stakes game, a cross between hide-and-go-seek and tug-of-war, with you, your brothers, and a lot of other people in the middle," May paused a minute, as if she was reconsidering something. "Wait, maybe what we were playing was more like Red Rover," she corrected herself. "Regardless," May continued, "it was an all out war. We lied, cheated, stole, went for broke. All's fair in love and war, they say. On my end, I'd say I was playing for both. As for your Pluto, I would assume that it was just about war and power. But I don't know," May qualified.
Mamoru and Usagi were both quiet for a moment. While he didn't know what Usagi was thinking, he knew that he himself didn't know what to say or what concern of May's to address first.
May must have read the indecision on his face, because she looked at him and smiled in apology. "I threw a lot at you. Sorry, it's a habit of mine. Just ask Terry," May laughed. "Or Reika for that matter" May added under her breath. "Yusuke, I just threaten. It works better that way. But let me make this a little easier on you. Let's start with the most important question. Why did you come by?" May asked again.
Mamoru took a deep breath before he spoke. "I came to take you up on your offer to meet my brothers. What you offered me the last time we met, if the offer still stands."
"Of course it still stands," May assured him, the hope reappearing in her eyes.
Mamoru pushed himself to continue. "I would like to really meet them and spend some time with my brothers and with you...mother."
May blinked several times after Mamoru finished. "Wow," she finally said quietly, "I didn't know that you knew about my past life. I didn't know about it myself the last time we talked. I still don't know what I think about everything I know now. But anyway," May continued, "the offer is still open, but you only have 4 days."
Out of all things Mamoru expected May to say, her agreement with an imposed time limited was unexpected. He expected either a flat refusal or an open acceptance. The tentative exceptance seemed strange and Mamoru didn't know what the four day time limit meant.
"Why four days?" he asked as he gave up trying to figure out the reason for the time limit.
"Because, Terry and Yusuke go home in four days," May said simply. Yet, there were a lot of emotions swirling in her eyes, make Mamoru think it wasn't that simple at all.
"They can't stay any longer?" Usagi asked quietly when it became apparent that all Mamoru could do was stare at May.
"No," May said, "those are the rules," she added rather strangely. "This was never met to be a long-term solution to anything."
"Then why bother?" Usagi asked. When May turned and stared at her, she added rather quietly, "I mean, it must have been a lot of effort."
May sighed, "It was and it wasn't. But I knew from day one this wasn't meant to be long-term. It wasn't so much about fixing anything, but letting the truth get out...and delivering a message to someone," May admitted. "I guess I saw it as one of those 'You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free,' things. But the truth really hasn't freed anyone, has it?" she asked as she turned to look at Mamoru.
"I don't know," Mamoru said quietly. "Maybe it has," he felt compelled to add as he looked at May's face, which was clearly showing guilt.
"Maybe it has and maybe knowing the truth is a good thing, but I would feel a lot better about this whole thing if you did spend some time with your brothers over the next four days. Then this wouldn't feel entirely pointless."
Mamoru nodded.
"And one other thing," May said. "About Reika-"
Usagi stiffened at this. She may have even left if Mamoru hadn't interrupted to say quietly, "I'm not Endymion. At least not anymore. I don't want to try to rebuild a relationship merely because it existed in the past. I may not be sure about a lot of things, but I do know how I do and do not feel about Reika."
"Well, then," May said when he quieted down, "that makes what I'm about to say even more important." She looked Mamoru right in the eye. "Reika has been living with us for the past few days. She's been through a lot in all of this and she's pretty wounded. I won't ask her to leave; this has been her only safe haven, and I won't make her give up, not just because she was Daniella, but because she is Reika and a nice person in her own right in this life.
"But, my point," May continued, "is that I'd ask you to be careful of her feelings in all of this. She doesn't know what she's going to do after we leave and she's struggling trying to deal with her past and present while trying to sort out her future. I'm not going to tell you what to do, that's not my place. But please, keep her in mind in all of this. Out of all of us, she had the least amount of warning about what was happening and the least amount of choice in her involvement in it."
At that point, Mamoru opened his mouth to speak, but whatever it was he said was lost in the sound of a crash that came from above them.
Usagi jumped and looked startled. Mamoru looked concerned. May, however, only sighed like this was a common occurence. "So, the boy really is annoyed," she said. "I wonder what he broke this time."
- To be continued -
I'm not all that happy with the ending of this chapter, but here it is. I want to thank my beta readers Peacebunnie and Shai for all of their help. In writing this story, I've discovered two things: it is easy to pull things apart and it is hard to put them back together.
In the next chapter we'll get a chance to see what Reika, Terry, and Yusuke are up to and how they feel about their guest. I'm still planning on ending this story in no more than three chapters...but we'll see.
Also, at this point, I'd suggest reading the story from the beginning. I changed part of chapter 20 and this chapter refers to something that I only mention in the first chapter. Anyway, it may be interesting to see where this story has gone.
As always, thanks for reading. I appreciate the support.
~December
Week 4, Day 3 con't
He took a deep breath as he reached up to ring the doorbell. He was surprised that he was doing this at all, much less this soon. His hand paused right before he reached his intended target.
"Go on," a female voive encouraged as she squeezed the arm she held. "It will be all right."
Nodding, the young man finally rang the doorbell. He actually ended up having to ring it two more times before someone finally opened the door. After each ring, he almost gave up and walked away...but his companion kept him there, promising that it would be okay.
Finally, the door opened and the young man that looked so much like him managed to get out "Can I help-" before looking up and stopping abruptly in shock. Then he proceded to stare.
Mamoru understood the boy's reaction as he was shocked into silence as well. He remembered from the last time he met this young man, who May and Reika had called "Terry", that the resemblance was uncanny, but he still wasn't prepared to relive it on the front door step. Added to this was the realization in the back of his head that he was looking at his brother from a past life...at Endymion's younger brother Tremaine. In this life, he had never had a brother...at least he never remembered having one. 'Usako was right,' he admitted to himself. The idea of family, any family from any era, was important to him.
For his part, Terry looked equally shell-shocked, if not more so. He blinked several times, but he couldn't really manage to say anything. He didn't even seem to notice Usagi until she shifted nervously. When he did notice her, however, his gaze immediately narrowed...but then quickly shot back to Mamoru, looking confused and wary.
It seemed as if several minutes passed with the three of them just looking at each other. Mamoru was about to try and speak when he heard a familar female voice ask a question.
"Terry? Who was at the door?" the voice of Reika posed from somewhere within the house. While her voice still sounded a little hurt and weary, it was a lot happier than the last time Mamoru had heard it.
At the sound of Reika's voice, Mamoru felt Usagi stiffen and shift again, almost as if her body had shifted into "fight or flight mode" and was preparing to leave. He reached down to hold her hand on his arm. When she looked up at him in surprise, he hoped he conveyed without words that he didn't know that Reika would be there. That, regardless of Reika's presence, he still needed Usagi here with him, as he didn't really know what to say.
Terry's eyes hadn't missed the gesture. He didn't seem to be happy about it, either, as the wariness actually increased in his eyes. Mamoru, for the second time in five minutes, may have begun to say sometime when another voice was heard from the house.
"Ha! I bet future boy got lost on his way to the door!" a male voice laughed. His jab at Terry was soon spoiled by his loud and angry, "Damnit! Where the hell did that come from?! It just appeared out of thin air!"
Even if Mamoru had tried to speak for the third time, the next voice heard from the house would have definitely robbed him of speech, as he now knew who she was to him long ago.
"Terry?" May called out, sounding concerned. "Is there a problem?"
"He probably doesn't have enough money for the pizza," the other male voice, which must belong to Yusuke, responded.
"Shut up, Yusuke," May could be heard saying in exasperation, confirming Mamoru's conjecture. Then she said, "Terry, whoever it is, can you hurry it up? I could use some-" a crash was heard in the background. "-help" the young woman's voice finished.
"May, are you all right?" the concerned voice of Reika asked.
"Hey, future boy! Hurry up and get back in the kitchen before May burns dinner or does something else stupid!"
"I heard that, Yusuke," his mother from another life said to his baby brother from another life, in a tone that was almost familar. "I am not incompetent! Why do y'all seem to think that I am?" she finished in a whine.
Yusuke had shouted something back, but the exchange from inside the house had given him enough time to pull himself together and finally, on the fourth try, to speak to the young man still standing at the door. Although he knew at least one of his questions was pointless, it was a place to start.
Taking a deep breath, Mamoru asked, "Is May here? May I see her?"
Terry, who still seemed to be in shock, nodded. A few beats later he moved away from the door and said, "Come in." After Mamoru and Usagi had entered the house, Terry closed the door and walked around the couple twice, as if trying to make sure they were not a threat. Eyes still confused and wary, he added quietly, "Follow me," before setting off into the mansion.
As they walked, Mamoru kept his eyes on Terry, who kept his eyes straight ahead. Because of this, he felt, rather than of saw, Usagi looking around and he felt, rather than of saw, her reaction to something or someone in the house. She stiffened as if afraid and surprised. If he had honestly thought that his Usako was in any danger, he would have done something. But, as he walked, he realized that she was in the safest place she could be in this context, which was at his side.
They entered the kitchen just behind Terry and stopped. Terry had stopped a few feet in front of them, but hadn't said anything. He hadn't needed to; although May's back was to them, she was clearly visible from the door.
Seeing the woman who he now knew was his mother in a former life robbed him of speech again. For someone who had shoved his emotions into a black box inside of himself for many years, having so many emotions hit him at once, shocked him into inaction.
It didn't shock his other senses, however. He felt two people standing behind him and Usagi; his best guess was that they were Reika and Yusuke. One of them was also very angry, but he got the feeling that it wasn't Reika.
He focused his attention back in front of him. May, who appeared frustrated even from behind, was stirring something in a frying pan while standing on her left foot. Her right foot was dripping wet and was raised a little of the floor. Water and an overturned pan were on the floor not far from her stationary foot. "Terry," she breathed as she started to look over her shoulder, "Thank God. Could you give me a hand? I just found out the hard way that I can't-" Whatever else she was about to say died on her lips as she saw who else stood in her kitchen.
"Lord Jesus," she said quietly, as she quickly put down her foot and dropped her spoon. Of course, as her first action was swift, she slipped a little. And, because she was stirring with her right hand seconds ago, her right wrist hit the hot pan. She had recovered her balance in seconds, but she wasn't able to stop her wrist from spending a second or two on the hot pan.
"Ouch!" She shrieked as she pulled away from the stove and transfered her attention to her wrist.
Reika, pushing past Mamoru and Usagi, moved quickly to May's side. "May, what did you do to yourself?" she asked as she turned off the stove and led May to the sink.
May didn't answer, as her attention was back on Mamoru, confusion not all that dissimilar to Terry's shone in her eyes. But, instead of Terry's wariness, May's eyes held a measure of hope. For a moment she even seemed to be lost in thought or memory about something. She winced when Reika put her wrist under the cold water, but Mamoru got the impression that her reaction had little or anything to do with the water running over her injured wrist.
"Mr. Chiba. After our last conversation, I didn't expect to see you," she confessed to Mamoru, without being asked. She would have said something else, but it appeared that she finally noticed Usagi on his arm. "But then," she continued with the hope dimming in her eyes, "I haven't asked why you are here. In part because I didn't think you were the vengeful type." May finished her observations in a whisper and she seemed to sag.
"Damnit, lady! You are in no condition to be standing!" Yusuke shouted as he pushed Usagi out of his way so that he could get further into the kitchen. He grabbed a chair and slammed it down a foot from where May and Reika stood. "Sit down!" he ordered.
May turned away to look at Yusuke with what looked like compassion to Mamoru. "Yusuke, I'm fine," she reassured quietly.
"I'm with the twip on this," Terry finally spoke from his position in front of Mamoru. "You should sit. And we should take a look at that wrist," he finished as he walked toward her.
"Boys, I'm okay," May insisted, but she sat down anyway. "I was just a little shocked that's all. And the floor is still wet."
"And you managed to burn your wrist," Reika added. "I'll go find a first aid kit," she continued, looking grateful that she had an excuse to leave the room at that moment. Before she left the kitchen, she said to May, "As you are going to rest for the rest of the evening, I'll order take-out, too." With that she quickly slid pass Mamoru through the kitchen door, not once looking him in the eye.
After Reika left, the kitchen was silent for a few moments. Then, May's eyes widdened. "Oh! My manners. Please, have a seat," May invited as she pointed to the other chairs around the same table in the kitchen. "That is, if you are staying. I wouldn't want to hold you up."
Mamoru didn't know how to respond to that. Luckily, Usagi uttered a quiet "Thank you" with a bow and led Mamoru to two of the chairs, where they then sat.
There was silence for a few minutes. While there was clearly a lot of emotion in the room (and some of it was hostile), no one seemed to know what to say. Mamoru was about to open his mouth to say something, but May beat him.
"Mamoru. Serenity," she addressed the couple across from her, "why have you paid us a visit?'
At being addressed as Serenity, Usagi began to shake her head. "My name is Usagi, not Serenity."
May's eye's narrowed in disabelief. "Are you saying you aren't Princess Serenity?"
"In a past life I was Princess Serenity," Usagi admitted. "But in this life I'm Usagi."
"What the difference?!" Yusuke thundered, "Powerful moon brat then, powerful blonde brat now. A name change doesn't change anything."
The room was about to erupt into a fight at that comment, but May held up her hand and everyone, even Usagi, held their tongue...in part because in that gesture May looked a lot like the queen she was centuries ago. "Yusuke, that wasn't fair," May chastised her youngest. "A lot can change in a lifetime. In many ways, I'm not Adaunde or Pocahontas anymore either."
"Poca who?" Yusuke asked.
"Long story," May answered. "It's not important." After a few more moments of silence, May looked and Yusuke and Terry and said, "Maybe the two of you should leave me to talk to Mamoru and Seren - excuse me, Usagi - alone."
"Absolutely not," Terry objected.
"Hell no!" Yusuke asserted even more forcefully.
"Boys," May pointed out, "I spoke to both of you alone in the beginning. Doesn't he deserve the same courtsey?"
"That's not the point." Terry groused, "The point is that, past life or not, that's Princess Serenity sitting over there. And I, for one, remember what her mother was like."
"And I remember that the bitch freak that tried to kill us works for her," Yusuke added as he pointed to Usagi.
"We are justifiably worried about your safety," Terry finished.
"I will be fine. I promise," May said. Terry and Yusuke didn't move. May sighed. "Okay," she said. "If you refuse to leave the room out of courtsey, maybe you'll leave to go check on Reika? She's been through a lot today," May reminded the two young men gently.
The two young men looked at each other. That look was like a silent conversation between them, demonstrating how close they were. Mamoru envied that closeness; in fact, he felt a little shut out. But, to be fair, they had had more time together. He was just now coming to meet them.
As if noticing the indecision in the young men, May again said, "I will be fine. Besides," May added in quiet voice, "even in the worse case senerio, it cannot be any worse than anything I've already gone through. I mean, getting killed by an engery blast has got to hurt less than what I went through before, right? It would definitely be over faster anyway," she muttered under her breath
At that, both boys stiffened. "Don't joke about that, May. Don't even joke about that. It's not funny," Terry said seriously.
May looked contrite as she turned to look at Terry. "I'm sorry. But I really will be okay," she assured Terry. "I'm just more worried about the other female in the house right now." May finished.
"Okay," Terry finally agreed. "We're going. But-" he turned to look at Usagi, "if anything happens to May, you will have to deal with us."
"Yeah," Yusuke agreed. "Girl or not, hurt May and I will kick your ass."
And with those parting setiments, the former princes Tremaine and Arlington left the room.
"I'm sorry about that," May said as she looked across the table. "They are a little worried. And with cause. We had a run in with your Pluto," she addressed to Usagi. "Actually," May expounded, "I had one run-in with Pluto; Terry and Yusuke had two. In the first of those run-ins, she tried to kill them. Among other things going through their heads, I bet they are wondering if your Pluto was acting on orders when she tried to terminate them." May paused, as if to observe their reactions to her revelations. Before he or Usagi could say anything, May looked at Usagi and conceded, "Looking at your horrified and surprised expression, I'll assume she wasn't."
Usagi shook her head. Mamoru himself felt shock as well, but where Usagi probably felt horror, he felt anger. Pluto had tried to kill members of his family?! But why? What would that have served? And, Mamoru began to wonder, had she ever done it before?
"But, back to my original question. Why have you and Usagi come to visit us? I assumed, after thinking about it, when you told me 'not now' the day I first made the offer, that you were giving me the polite Japanese version of 'no'. Where I came from, we would have said, 'Hell no! Fuck off!' Well, at least some people would have," May corrected herself with a laugh. "We are not known the world over for our manners." May shared as she smiled, but her eyes appeared worried when she looked at Mamoru. "Is this a social call to tell us we lost?"
"No! He wanted to meet you. Family is important to him!" Usagi burst out, but then she blushed and looked a little sheepish.
It was obvious that May heard and processed the outburst, although she didn't acknowledge it directly. "So you aren't choosing a side in the little war we were waging?" she asked Mamoru directly.
"So you admit that-?" Mamoru started to ask, surprised that she realized and openly admitted that the actions of all involved in this situation made it seem like a war.
"Yes. Although I wasn't proud of myself when I realized that was how I was behaving. I guess I thought myself above that. But that's what happens when you try to stuff alone," she added under breath. After a brief pause, she cleared her throat. "As you've probably managed to reason out for yourself, Pluto and I have been playing a high stakes game, a cross between hide-and-go-seek and tug-of-war, with you, your brothers, and a lot of other people in the middle," May paused a minute, as if she was reconsidering something. "Wait, maybe what we were playing was more like Red Rover," she corrected herself. "Regardless," May continued, "it was an all out war. We lied, cheated, stole, went for broke. All's fair in love and war, they say. On my end, I'd say I was playing for both. As for your Pluto, I would assume that it was just about war and power. But I don't know," May qualified.
Mamoru and Usagi were both quiet for a moment. While he didn't know what Usagi was thinking, he knew that he himself didn't know what to say or what concern of May's to address first.
May must have read the indecision on his face, because she looked at him and smiled in apology. "I threw a lot at you. Sorry, it's a habit of mine. Just ask Terry," May laughed. "Or Reika for that matter" May added under her breath. "Yusuke, I just threaten. It works better that way. But let me make this a little easier on you. Let's start with the most important question. Why did you come by?" May asked again.
Mamoru took a deep breath before he spoke. "I came to take you up on your offer to meet my brothers. What you offered me the last time we met, if the offer still stands."
"Of course it still stands," May assured him, the hope reappearing in her eyes.
Mamoru pushed himself to continue. "I would like to really meet them and spend some time with my brothers and with you...mother."
May blinked several times after Mamoru finished. "Wow," she finally said quietly, "I didn't know that you knew about my past life. I didn't know about it myself the last time we talked. I still don't know what I think about everything I know now. But anyway," May continued, "the offer is still open, but you only have 4 days."
Out of all things Mamoru expected May to say, her agreement with an imposed time limited was unexpected. He expected either a flat refusal or an open acceptance. The tentative exceptance seemed strange and Mamoru didn't know what the four day time limit meant.
"Why four days?" he asked as he gave up trying to figure out the reason for the time limit.
"Because, Terry and Yusuke go home in four days," May said simply. Yet, there were a lot of emotions swirling in her eyes, make Mamoru think it wasn't that simple at all.
"They can't stay any longer?" Usagi asked quietly when it became apparent that all Mamoru could do was stare at May.
"No," May said, "those are the rules," she added rather strangely. "This was never met to be a long-term solution to anything."
"Then why bother?" Usagi asked. When May turned and stared at her, she added rather quietly, "I mean, it must have been a lot of effort."
May sighed, "It was and it wasn't. But I knew from day one this wasn't meant to be long-term. It wasn't so much about fixing anything, but letting the truth get out...and delivering a message to someone," May admitted. "I guess I saw it as one of those 'You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free,' things. But the truth really hasn't freed anyone, has it?" she asked as she turned to look at Mamoru.
"I don't know," Mamoru said quietly. "Maybe it has," he felt compelled to add as he looked at May's face, which was clearly showing guilt.
"Maybe it has and maybe knowing the truth is a good thing, but I would feel a lot better about this whole thing if you did spend some time with your brothers over the next four days. Then this wouldn't feel entirely pointless."
Mamoru nodded.
"And one other thing," May said. "About Reika-"
Usagi stiffened at this. She may have even left if Mamoru hadn't interrupted to say quietly, "I'm not Endymion. At least not anymore. I don't want to try to rebuild a relationship merely because it existed in the past. I may not be sure about a lot of things, but I do know how I do and do not feel about Reika."
"Well, then," May said when he quieted down, "that makes what I'm about to say even more important." She looked Mamoru right in the eye. "Reika has been living with us for the past few days. She's been through a lot in all of this and she's pretty wounded. I won't ask her to leave; this has been her only safe haven, and I won't make her give up, not just because she was Daniella, but because she is Reika and a nice person in her own right in this life.
"But, my point," May continued, "is that I'd ask you to be careful of her feelings in all of this. She doesn't know what she's going to do after we leave and she's struggling trying to deal with her past and present while trying to sort out her future. I'm not going to tell you what to do, that's not my place. But please, keep her in mind in all of this. Out of all of us, she had the least amount of warning about what was happening and the least amount of choice in her involvement in it."
At that point, Mamoru opened his mouth to speak, but whatever it was he said was lost in the sound of a crash that came from above them.
Usagi jumped and looked startled. Mamoru looked concerned. May, however, only sighed like this was a common occurence. "So, the boy really is annoyed," she said. "I wonder what he broke this time."
- To be continued -
I'm not all that happy with the ending of this chapter, but here it is. I want to thank my beta readers Peacebunnie and Shai for all of their help. In writing this story, I've discovered two things: it is easy to pull things apart and it is hard to put them back together.
In the next chapter we'll get a chance to see what Reika, Terry, and Yusuke are up to and how they feel about their guest. I'm still planning on ending this story in no more than three chapters...but we'll see.
Also, at this point, I'd suggest reading the story from the beginning. I changed part of chapter 20 and this chapter refers to something that I only mention in the first chapter. Anyway, it may be interesting to see where this story has gone.
As always, thanks for reading. I appreciate the support.
~December