The giant tree towers over them, its canopy of leaves blocking the sun and casting a mottled pattern of gray and gold upon the moss covered ground. The boy turns to the girl lying beside him under the tree's arching roots, and reaches to take her hand in his.

"Look," he whispers, pointing out a brilliant ruby-and-amber butterfly that has landed briefly on a low branch only a hairsbreadth away.

The girl watches in silent wide-eyed wonder as her companion gently coaxes the tiny bejeweled creature onto her hand. The boy smiles at her as the butterfly flutters once, twice, brushes past her cheek and then flies away, disappearing into the leafy green sky overhead.

"So beautiful," the girl whispers, eyes following the butterfly, hands intertwined with the boy's.

The boy watches her. "Yes," he finally says, voice soft and reverent.

"Beautiful."

Sister Moon, Brother Earth

by Corbeau Noir

Interlude

Tanaka Sayuri muttered crossly under her breath as the two heavy shopping bags started slipping from her arms for the fifth time that hour. Jostling a precariously tipping radish back into place, she was startled when a hand suddenly reached out and took one of the bags from her. About to cry out in protest of the unexpected theft, she stopped when the stranger's face abruptly registered.

"Chiba-san," she smiled, gratefully acknowledging the help of her attractive young neighbor. Coyly, she tossed back her head so that her newly permed hair sprang appealingly around her face.

Chiba Mamoru smiled back at her, one arm full of heavy, nondescript textbooks and the other full of her groceries. "Is all of this for tonight's dinner, Tanaka-san?" he inquired curiously, arching an eyebrow at the two fully packed bags.

The young Ms. Tanaka grimaced slightly. "Good heavens, no," she said, transferring the remaining bag to her left arm before rummaging blindly through her purse for the apartment keys. "If I'm lucky, this shopping will last me another week." She glanced back at her neighbor. "Were you returning from the library, Chiba-san?" she asked, nodding at the books in his arms.

The young man shook his head, shifting the weight in his arms. "No, I've just come back from a tutoring session."

Sayuri looked up from her purse, surprised. "What, another job?" she asked in dismay.

Chiba only smiled politely without comment.

Finally opening her apartment door, she turned to take the second bag from the man waiting patiently behind her, then paused. "Chiba-san," she began hesitantly, color rising to her cheeks.

Chiba turned to look at her curiously from behind the two shopping bags. His brilliant blue eyes were attentive on hers, but she caught the quick, almost imperceptible glance toward the building just down the hall. Sayuri was abruptly reminded of who lived with him, and the timid offer of dinner died unvoiced on her lips.

Quickly taking both bags from him back into her arms, she glanced askance at him and inquired with forced casualness, "So how is Usagi nowadays?"

The question brought a strange, unreadable expression to Chiba's face. "Fine," he replied curtly.

Sayuri frowned, and was about to inquire closer, but then thought better of it after taking a look at the closed expression on Chiba's normally amiable face. "Well." There was an awkward pause. "Thank you for your help, Chiba-san," she finally said, and bowed briskly to the young man standing politely outside her door.

Chiba bowed back, "No problem, Tanaka-san," and with a polite smile, turned from her and walked down the hall to his own building.

Sayuri closed the door softly behind him, groceries in her arms and a regretful frown on her face. Truly, she thought ruefully to herself as she moved to place the food in the fridge, it was hard to find another person as dedicated to family as Chiba Mamoru was.

Mamoru stepped into the tiny apartment building, carefully closing the door behind him. The place was eerily silent and dark, with none of the lights turned on even though outside, past the heavily curtained windows, the city of Tokyo blazed with neon-colored light.

Brows drawing together in concern, Mamoru flipped on a light-switch.

The living room instantly flooded with light, illuminating a lump on the sofa that slowly stirred to reveal the drowsy face of a young girl. She sat up immediately at the sight of Mamoru. "'niichan," she greeted gladly, automatically reaching for the well-worn crutches leaning against the sofa.

Mamoru was already at her side, a hand on her arm to prevent any further movement. "You should be in bed, Usa," he said, a frown on his face.

Usagi looked pointedly past him to the front door through which he had entered just seconds before.

Mamoru followed her gaze and then sighed heavily. He sat down carefully beside her on the sofa. "I'm sorry about tonight, I was called up unexpectedly. But Usa," he leaned in, grasped her hand in his, "Please don't wait up for me again. You need to rest."

"You need to rest too," she retorted. Then suddenly she stared down at where her hand lay in his, unable to meet his eyes. "Besides, I couldn't sleep."

Mamoru frowned. "Is something wrong, is the pain coming back?"

"No." She turned away from him.

"Usa?" He watched her in concern. "Please, tell me what's wrong."

She shook her head, still refusing to meet his eyes, her unbound hair falling over her shoulders, obscuring her face. Her hand curled into a fist inside his. Her voice, when she finally spoke, was almost too low to be heard.

"How can I possibly rest when you're out there?"

Mamoru froze. "Usa..."

"No!" She snatched her hand from his. "You wouldn't have to work day and night if it wasn't for me. It's all because of me. Me and these - these things!" She gestured in disgust at the crutches, at the legs lying twisted and immobile beneath the blanket. With a low moan, she buried her face in her hands.

"Usa," he said quietly, "That's not true." He reached out and gently drew her hands away from her face. "I'm doing this for myself too, you know."

Usagi laughed shortly, shaking off his hands. "Yes, because you care about me." She rubbed fiercely at her eyes. "We've heard that argument before, 'niichan."

"Yes," Mamoru conceded willingly. "But that doesn't make it any less true."

She looked up at him then, saw the utterly solemn smile on his face and abruptly all the anger and tension drained away. With a strangled sob, she slumped against him, burying her face against his shoulder. "But you always say that too," her voice heavy and low, "And I can never help you."

Mamoru's arms were around her, pulling her close, holding her tight. He touched her lightly then, his lips brushing away the tears that had slipped past her eyes, an unspoken plea for understanding.

"But you do."

Usagi trembled at his touch, but otherwise remained silent. Mamoru pulled back slightly at the pressure of her hands against his chest.

"You should get some rest, 'niichan," she finally murmured, her eyes not meeting his. "You have class in the morning."

Mamoru nodded slowly and released her reluctantly from his arms. He put a hand out to stop her as she reached once more for the crutches. Usagi made a half-hearted attempt to object, but soon subsided without any further protests as he gently picked her up in his arms and carried her from the living room to their shared bed.

A skinny black street cat crouched on a tree branch near the window, whiskers quivering as it stared into the tiny apartment building behind the windowpane. Its concentration was intense and unwavering, and not even the erratic fluttering of moths against a nearby street lamp could draw out that feline fickleness. Eventually, the light coming from the apartment dimmed, and the two humans disappeared together in the darkness, but outside the pair of gleaming amber eyes remained ever watchful and vigilant.

The cat's silent vigil continued long after the sliver of a moon had set over the city of Tokyo.

[end "Sister Moon, Brother Earth" - Interlude]
Author's Notes:

For those of you who actually remember reading this, I would like to say thank you for being with this story for so many years (arigato mina). This Interlude originally served as Part 1. I'm reposting this now as a look back on Usagi and Mamoru's life together before the start of events in Part 1. I'll probably be following this up with other interludes as I try to draw the Senshis together in the main story. Usagi's crippled legs are a result of that childhood car accident and how she came to walk without those crutches...Well, maybe I'll show you in the next interlude. :)