The Truths of Love: Chapter five

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon. Never have, never will, so please don't sue me.

Mamoru woke up the next morning to the feel of a body snuggled up against his. Yawning, he opened his eyes and looked down to see Usagi, her head against his chest, and her body tucked under his arms, sleeping peacefully. Smiling softly to himself, he slowly disentangled himself from her and got up out of bed.

As he was heading out to the kitchen to prepare a small breakfast, the phone rang. Yawning and wondering who in their right mind would call so early in the morning, he dragged himself over to the phone and picked it up.

"Talk to me," he said groggily into the phone.

"Mamoru?" came a voice that Mamoru had been hoping never to hear again.

"Matt?"

"What's wrong, buddy? You don't sound thrilled to hear from me," Matt's cheerful voice responded.

Gritting his teeth, Mamoru replied, "Of course I'm happy to hear from you at...8:36 in the morning."

"Oh, is that what's wrong?" Matt laughed it off. "Well, you should have been up and gone for work anyways, now that I think about it. What are you doing home?"

Mamoru sucked in a breath as he tried to come up with an answer that wouldn't be too suspicious. "Well, I uh--"

"It doesn't matter," Matt's voice cut in. "Look, the reason I'm calling is that I haven't seen Usagi around for awhile. You know she and I are dating, right?"

Mamoru's hand clenched into a fist and he managed to bite out, "Yeah, I heard it from somewhere."

"Well, anyways, I was just wondering if you'd seen her. She hasn't been around, and the house is a bit...lonely...if you know what I mean." Matt broke into laughter, extremely amused with the pun he'd made. "I just want my girl back, so if you know where she is, send her on over, alright?"

Mamoru was seeing red. All he could hear were the words "my girl."

"Look, Matt. I highly doubt she wants to be referred to as 'your girl,' and even if I saw her, I don't think I'd send her back to you. However, I haven't seen her, and I have to go now. Goodbye."

And with that, he slammed the phone back down on the receiver.

Sighing, he plopped down on the recliner and put his head in his hands, wondering what he'd just done. He wondered if that would be the last of Matt they heard for awhile, or if he should unplug the phone in case Matt called again, and Mamoru wasn't there to take it, and Usagi ended up picking up and relapsing into the quiet state she was in before.

With another sigh he stood to go to the kitchen once more when the bedroom door opened and Usagi's tousled head stuck out.

"Who was on the phone?" She asked quietly.

Thinking fast, Mamoru responded "Just a sales person. Stupid people never know when they should call and when they shouldn't." He gave a nervous laugh and hurried into the kitchen before she could ask anything more.

Usagi watched his retreating back, knowing perfectly well that it hadn't been a "sales person" as Mamoru claimed; the falseness of his laughter proved that. And the only other possibility that it could have been was...

"Matt," she whispered to herself, and shuddered.

However, she refused to let herself be brought down by him anymore. It had been just about a week since it had happened; Usagi needed to move on and get a hold of her life. She had to get back to her company; Naru must be panicking by now.

With a sigh, she walked back into the bedroom, and then into the bathroom where she took a quick shower and washed her hair. Looking around, she grabbed a pair of Mamoru's long black pants, and, grabbing the dress she'd worn for the past few days, tore off a length of the fabric, wrapping it around her waist in a makeshift belt. Next she grabbed one of his shirts and pulled it on, buttoning every button but the top, giving her a sexy yet casual look, despite how the clothes hung over her body.

Grabbing a brush off of the counter, she quickly pulled it through her long, silvery blonde hair, wrestling with the tangles she hadn't combed out for days. After ten minutes of yanking the brush through her hair, she went out into the bedroom, down the hall and into the kitchen.

Mamoru glanced up at her and then down again, and then back up, his eyes wide as he took in what she was wearing.

"Are those my...?"

Usagi blushed a bit and then nodded. "I'm sorry, but I don't have any clothes here. I'll go back to my place and pick some up, and then bring these back. Ah..." Here she paused for a minute, and then looked up at Mamoru. "Mamoru... can I stay with you for awhile longer? I don't want to be home alone..."

"Alone? Where's your family? Aren't they there?"

Usagi's eyes blanked and she turned away.

Mamoru blinked at Usagi's reaction, wondering just what was going on. He quickly amended, "Of course, Usagi-chan. You can stay as long as you like."

Usagi threw him a grateful smile and headed towards the door of the apartment.

"Hey, Usagi, let me just grab my jacket and I'll go with you, alright?" Mamoru said.

Usagi hesitated, knowing the state her house was in, what with her parents and Shingo's things packed up in boxes in their rooms, but then her thoughts drifted to Matt. What if he was at her house right at that moment, waiting for her? With no one there with her, she'd be taken again for sure.

A shiver ran up her spine and she nodded her head.

"That'd be great, Mamoru," she said softly.

Mamoru smiled in return, ran to the closet in the hallway and grabbed his green leather jacket, slinging it over his shoulder as the two of them walked out of his apartment and down the stairs to the parking lot, where they stopped in front of a big black car. Usagi, not much into cars, was impressed nonetheless.

"This is yours?" she asked in awe as she looked at the car.

Mamoru nodded proudly. "My pride and joy!" He answered.

Laughing, Usagi went to get into the car, not at all surprised to find the inside interior was made of the softest leather. Leather interior, great sound system, with two doors and a small back seat. Everything in the car was automatic, and even the seats were heated. The stereo held up to six CDs, and the sound system of the car was incredible, as proved when Mamoru started the car and the music blasted.

The ride to Usagi's went smoothly. The whole way there, Usagi and Mamoru talked about anything and everything they could think of, avoiding the only topic that both knew would be spoken of eventually: Matt LaClare.

All too soon they were pulling up in front of Usagi's house, a two story building made of bricks. Getting out of the car, Usagi took a deep breath and walked to the front door, bending down to the welcome mat and picking up the extra house key. Opening the front door, she walked through and took a deep breath.

'I'm back,' she thought to herself, a sad smile crossing her face. 'Even for only a few minutes, I'm back.'

Turning back out the door, she called out to Mamoru, "Come on in. I apologize for the state it's in. Since my family... well... since it happened, I haven't had much time to clean, and so... yeah." Her voice trailed off and she stepped quickly back into the entrance hall.

The floor of the hall was made of wood, and to the left and right there were open doorways, leading to the family room and the living room. Directly in front of the door was a staircase, leading to the second floor of the house.

Taking the stairs two at a time, Usagi quickly came to the top of the stairs. At the top of the stairs was another hallway, and at the very top of the stairs was a bathroom. To the left and right were two bedrooms, and down the hall and to the left and right were another two bedrooms. At the top of the stairs, Usagi took an immediate right and walked into her bedroom, sighing at the familiarity of it all.

The walls of her bedroom were a soft blue in color, with silver and gold stars and moons painted on the walls. On the far side of the room against the wall was her desk, cluttered with stuff. Inside the door and to the right was a chest of clothes, and on top of it were her picture frames. Along the wall by the clothes chest was her closet, which was partially open, and inside were shelves of stuff, as well as clothes. Her bed was close to her desk and covered with a pink blanket covered with small ducks, and an end table was beside it, holding her stereo and a small digital clock, that read 12:45.

Walking to the closet, Usagi grabbed out an armload of clothes, and walking to the clothes chest, grabbed a bunch of under clothes as well. Walking over to her bed, she dropped the clothes on it, and wrapped them up in the blanket. Picking the blanket up, she walked back out of her room, and was about to walk down the stairs when her eyes was caught by the room across from hers: her parent's room. Dropping the blanket with the clothes at the top of the stairs, she walked slowly into the room.

Her parent's room was very plain; the walls were plain white with only a picture or two hanging. Boxes of their things were strewn around the room, and Usagi's eyes filled with tears as she recalled what the room had looked like when they were still alive. The lacy curtains were dusty now, though, and the bed had been stripped bare of the bedspread and the covers. The closet that had held all of their clothing was empty now, as were the dressers and chests.

Unable to take it anymore, she whirled around and straight into the arms of Mamoru.

"Usagi-chan," Mamoru whispered, his eyes taking in the bare room of Ikuko and Kenji Tsukino. "Usagi, what happened? Why is all of their stuff packed up?"

Usagi clutched at his shirt, trying to drown out his questions, not wanting to talk about it. But she'd known that if he came over, he'd find out, and she knew it was only fair that she gave him an explanation, after everything he had done for her.

"They're... they're dead, Mamoru. My entire family... is dead."

Mamoru's eyes widened in shock.

"They were on a vacation. I couldn't go, because I had college finals to study for, and the business to run." She looked up at him, her eyes begging him to understand. "I couldn't go. I couldn't! I wanted to, but...but..." Her voice cut off as she began to sob once more, unable to hold her anguish at their death back any longer. "They're all gone now," she whispered softly. "My mother... my father... Shingo... all of them, they're gone. I'm the only one that's left." She paused and looked up at him with her tear streaked face. "Do you understand now? Why I can't stay here? There are too many memories. Too many things here that remind me of them."

Mamoru held Usagi closer, running his hands slowly up and down her back, leaning his chin on her head, pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head.

"It's alright," he said softly. "You can stay with me for as long as you need. Come on, now. Let's get out of here." With that said, the two of them turned and walked out of the room and to the top of the stairs, Mamoru bending down to scoop up the blanket full of clothing, and then they headed down the stairs and out of the house, Usagi turning around to lock the door once more, and then putting the key back under the welcome mat.

The ride back to Mamoru's apartment was quiet, each of the occupants of the car deep within their own thoughts.

Once they reached the apartment, Usagi reached into the back of the car to grab her clothing.

"Usagi," Mamoru began softly.

Usagi turned to look at him, her eyes questioning. "Yes, Mamoru?"

"I..." he paused, unable to go on. "I'm sorry about what happened with your parents. If I could turn time back, I would make sure that they got onto a different plane, or that, more importantly, the plane wouldn't have crashed in the first place. But I can't, and I'm sorry."

"Mamoru," she whispered softly. "Thank you. For everything." Her emotions blurred, and she leaned against him for a minute, before standing back up and taking old of her clothes once more. "Come on," she said. "Let's get these upstairs."

A few hours later, a knock came at the door, and both Usagi and Mamoru tensed. Mamoru stood up and walked to the door, as Usagi stood and bolted for the bedroom, once more shutting and locking the door.

Mamoru slowly opened the door, prepared for the worst, and in barged Rei and Makoto, both of whom needed and waited for no greeting or admittance.

"Usagi!" Rei called out. "We know you're here, Ami and Minako were here yesterday."

Usagi blinked at the sound of the familiar voice, loud, slightly demanding, and definitely not male.

Walking to the door, she opened it and stuck her head out once more, looking down the hallway and towards the entrance.

"Rei? Makoto? Is that you?"

"Usagi!" came the reply as Rei threw herself at the blonde girl.

"So this is where you've been, eh, Usa?" Came the deeper voice of Makoto as she followed Rei into the bedroom. Once they were both inside, Usagi shut the door once more, politely but firmly shutting Mamoru out of the conversation once more.

"So, Usagi-chan, what's been going on?" Rei asked quietly. "Minako told us you'd tell us what was going on, and they absolutely refused to tell us anything before you did. Fill us in, ne?"

"Indeed, Usagi. If there are asses to kick, I'm here to do it," Makoto growled.

With a soft laugh at Makoto, Usagi took a deep breath, and relayed the story for the second time, this time to the other two of her best friends. By the time she was finished, Makoto was up and pacing the room, hitting her lift hand with the fist of her right hand, muttering about bashing heads and kicking asses, and Rei was shaking her head, comforting Usagi who had broken down into tears as she once more relayed the horror of those few weeks. Once she had calmed down, she sat up, and made them promise not to tell Mamoru anything that had been said in the room, telling them as she'd told Ami and Minako that eventually, she would tell Mamoru everything.

Once she had their promises, she nodded, and leaned back on the bed, allowing the two girls to leave the room, after they both promised to come back and see her soon. When they were gone, Usagi leaned over and opened the blanket containing her clothes, as well as one other thing: a portrait of her, Shingo, and her parents, as they had been two weeks before the accident.

A bit embarrassed to be taking over Mamoru's room, she wrapped her clothes up and opened the door to the bedroom and walked out, dragging the blanket with her clothes out with her.

"Mamoru," she said. "I've been thinking. I feel awful about you having to stay in the guest room, when this is your apartment, so I've decided to take the guest bedroom, and let you have your own bedroom back." Usagi smiled uncertainly at him, unsure if she'd hurt his feelings.

"Usagi," Mamoru said with a light smile, "I don't mind the guest bedroom at all. And, as you are my guest for however long it may be, I want you to be as comfortable as possible. Therefore, please keep the master bedroom. As it is," he continued, his smile turning into more of a smirk, "I've been sleeping in my bed for almost as many nights have you have. And I must admit it is much more comfortable than the guest bedroom. So, if you don't have any complaints, I believe we would both be able to fit comfortably in the master bedroom." He paused, and allowed his words to sink in, before continuing, rather nervously, "So...? What do you say?"

Usagi stared at him wide eyed, her jaw hanging slightly, not believing what she was hearing. Her cheeks had flushed pink as she realized the truth of what he'd said though, and after a few moments of contemplation, she gave a brief nod.

"Alright," she said quietly. "I suppose that will work... I mean, if you're comfortable with it."

Mamoru nodded once, trying not to show just how eager he was. He knew something had happened between her and Matt, something that had left a permanent impression and a permanent scar on her. And yet, he couldn't help but being happy to be able to be with her. He had finally realized that he loved her, and despite the experience with Matt, whatever it was, he wanted to show her that not everyone was like him.

Usagi smiled softly and went about dragging her clothes back into the bedroom, putting them in a corner of the room, so that they would be out of the way of when people would be walking. Mamoru walked into the room in time to see this, and he smiled lightly.

"Usagi," he said, "why don't you hang your clothes up in the closet? At least that way they won't be so wrinkled. And you can put whatever else you have in the clothes chest there. Only half of them are being used; the bottom half is open. You can put whatever you need to in there."

Usagi hesitated, torn between hanging her clothes up and letting Mamoru have the closet for his own clothes.

Seeing the indecision in her eyes, Mamoru smiled.

"Don't worry," he said. "My clothes are just spaced out. Pushed together, they'll only take up about half the closet, probably a little less then that. I'll help you put your things away."

Usagi shook her head with a smile and took the clothes that needed to be hung up and placed them on the bed, and then set about putting her underclothes into the clothes chest he had mentioned she could use. About half way through putting the clothes away, Usagi looked up at Mamoru, watching him as he put everything away neatly for her.

"Mamoru," she said softly, pausing and closing the drawer of the chest.

"Yes, Usagi?" Mamoru paused in hanging up the clothes, sensing that this was the moment he'd been waiting for, that this was the time she'd tell him what had happened.

"I..." she began, but then lost her nerve, and instead blurted out, "I want to thank you again. For everything you've done for me. I know you have no idea what's going on, and for that I apologize. All I can do is promise you that eventually, you will know what is going on. And, if truth be told, you'll probably know sooner rather than later. However, right now, I just can't tell you. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings by not telling you, but please understand it's not that I don't trust you. I just... can't tell you right now."

Usagi looked down, and resumed putting the clothes into the chest once more, waiting with a held breath to see if he was going to kick her out now.

After a few minutes there was a sigh.

"Usagi, I don't want to force you to tell me. I understand that whatever it is, it's going to take time for you to be able to tell me about it. And I understand your hesitancy to talk to me about it. Whenever you do feel comfortable to talk to me about it... I'm here. And I always will be here for you. I want you to know that, alright?"

Usagi looked up at him, her eyes brimming with tears, and she stood, walking over to him, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him for a moment, to lost in her thoughts to be able to do anything else.

Mamoru blinked in surprise at her actions, but slowly wrapped his arms around her in return, holding her close, stroking her hair softly and murmuring soothing words into her ear.

After a few moments, Usagi looked up with a wry smile and brushed away a few stray tears.

"I'm sorry I'm acting like this, Mamoru. I don't know what's gotten into me; I shouldn't be this weak. But... again, I want to thank you for all you have done for me. Without you... well..." She smiled faintly and looked away from his blue eyes. "Without you I'd be a wreck. I'd probably be dead by now if it weren't for you. So thank you."

Mamoru smiled softly, and slowly lifted her chin so she was looking into his eyes.

"You're welcome," he said softly, and then lowered his head, placing the softest of kisses on her lips.

Usagi's eyes widened at the touch of Mamoru's lips on hers, but unlike the kisses she'd had with Matt, this one was gentle, not at all demanding. After a moment, she slowly felt herself responding, and for the next minute they stood in each other's embrace, basking in the touch of lips on lips.

Suddenly, Usagi realized what she was doing and pulled back, a faint blush in her cheeks.

"Mamoru, we shouldn't have done that," she whispered, pulling out of his arms and hurrying to finish putting her clothes away.

Mamoru smiled slightly and turned to finish hanging up the clothes.