The Truths of Love: Chapter twelve
Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon. Never have, never will, so please don't sue me.
"Ah, it feels so good to be out of there!" Usagi exclaimed gleefully. "No more hospital food, no more I.V. pole when I have to go to the bathroom, and no more white!"
Mamoru laughed as he glanced at the girl sitting beside him in his car.
She was a bundle of energy after having just gotten out of the hospital after two days of staying there. Of course, she'd have to go back in once the stitches on her head had to come out, but that was beside the point.
All she cared about was that she was free from that stupid, stuffy hospital, and on the road to home again.
Mamoru's smile slowly faded away as he thought of the events that had put Usagi in the hospital to begin with.
"Usagi," he began quietly, "We have to take him to court for this. We can't let him get away with hurting you any longer."
Usagi's good mood vanished abruptly.
"Mamo-chan... we can't--"
"Take him to court because we don't have evidence?" Mamoru scoffed. "Sure, the bruises may have gone away, but what about the gash on your head, hm? He caused that."
"But not directly!" Usagi argued. Then she remembered the encounter where she'd almost been raped again, and the bruises she had gained from that one.
"Ah... actually, Mamoru... I do have bruises. From the second time he tried..."
Shivering, she rubbed her arms, wincing slightly as her hands touched the bruises on her arms.
Mamoru glanced over at her, his eyes icy.
Usagi, seeing the cold look in his eyes, flinched back, and instantly the look in his eyes softened.
"Usagi, I'm not upset or mad at you," Mamoru said gently. "I'm angry with two people. I'm mad at Matt for doing this to you, and myself... for not believing you when you came to me."
Usagi looked out the window, silent for a bit.
"Don't beat yourself up over it, Mamoru," she said finally, her voice quiet. "He was your friend. You couldn't have known what he was like, and even if you did, it wouldn't have mattered because he was your friend."
Mamoru shook his head.
"Be that as it may, I'd known you longer. And I knew you would never lie to me. Matt... well, Matt has lied to me before, but about trivial things. You never once lied to me. I should have known you weren't lying to me then."
Usagi shrugged slightly, still not looking at him.
"Still, Mamoru, don't be upset with yourself. Alright?"
Mamoru hesitated, and then nodded.
"Alright, Usako. If you say so."
Usagi smiled.
"I do say so," she said. "So no more of this beating yourself in the head."
Mamoru smiled slightly, and signaling, he turned right into the garage of his apartment. He parked the car and got out to carry the bags of Usagi's stuff that Minako had brought up the stairs to his apartment.
Usagi yawned as she walked in beside Mamoru.
"You know what I am looking forward to the most?" She asked as they got in to the apartment, and Mamoru was finally able to put the bags down.
"No, what are you looking forward to the most?" Mamoru asked.
Usagi grinned as she turned to him.
"A nice, home cooked meal. Eggs that aren't too hard to eat, bacon and toast that aren't burned to a crisp, and sausages that are longer than a fingernail."
Mamoru grinned and shook his head.
"What did I tell you?" he said with a laugh. "You're always thinking about food."
Usagi puffed up indignantly.
"That's not true!" She said angrily. "And besides, if you were stuck eating the hospital food, you'd want a nice home cooked meal too."
Mamoru laughed and conceded the point.
"Alright, alright. You're right. I wouldn't mind a nice home cooked meal right now, either."
Usagi smiled triumphantly.
"You see?" She exclaimed. "I'm not the only one with food on my mind."
Mamoru shook his head with a smile, walking towards the kitchen to make a small, but much better breakfast than the ones served at the hospital.
Fifteen minutes later, the food was done and set out on the table.
"Usagi, food's ready!" Mamoru called.
"I'm coming!" Usagi responded, dashing into the dining room and sitting down at the table.
As they were eating, the phone rang, and Mamoru got up to go get it.
"Hello?" he said into the phone.
"Hello, Mamoru. It's Detective Bayes."
Mamoru's eyes narrowed.
"Hello, Detective. What can I do for you?"
There was a sigh from the other end of the phone.
"I know you're probably upset about Matt getting away. But we want you to know that once more, we've caught him. We're searching his house now for evidence to bring to court. And speaking of court... you have to decide a court date. It can't be this month, but next month, sometime at the end of next month, or any time there after."
Mamoru sighed and nodded to himself.
"I know. I'll talk to Usagi and we'll set a time. Is there any number you can be reached at?"
"When you and Usagi decide on a date, call 555-8706. That's my office, and I should be there from 8am to around 11pm. Give me a call, and we'll work something out. Have a good day, Mamoru."
"You too, Detective."
Mamoru hung up the phone and sighed, running a hand through his dark hair and walking back out to the dining room.
Once there, the serious call from the detective was just about pushed from his mind as he saw Usagi, finishing her first plate of eggs and moving for a second, while trying to reach the bacon and sausages as well.
Shaking his head, he laughed and walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her from behind, effectively cutting off her attempts for more food.
"Usako, love..." he began softly. "We need to talk."
Usagi paused, and her eyes widened at his words, and quickly, her good mood vanished. Setting down her plate, she stood up and walked to the den, where she sat down on the couch, refusing to look at Mamoru as he sat next to her and took her hand.
"I know what this is about," Usagi said abruptly.
Mamoru raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"You do?" he asked.
Usagi nodded curtly.
"Of course. You don't love me. You just said it that night to calm me down. I'm sorry I've been such a burden on you. That was probably the girl that you really want to be with, wasn't it?"
"Usagi...that was Detective Bayes. He wants us to decide on a court date."
Usagi blinked, and a slow flush crept up her cheeks. She turned to look at Mamoru, and blushed a brighter shade of red as she saw the smirk playing over his face.
Usagi sighed, and did her best to frown.
"You shouldn't have said 'we need to talk' like that, Mamoru! You had me scared... that you wanted me to leave, and go back to the house alone..." her voice trailed off and she looked away, but not before Mamoru saw he fear that was apparent in her eyes and on her face.
Mamoru shook his head.
"Never, Usagi. And actually, we do need to have a talk. But that's not for now."
He grinned, idly touching the small box he had in his pocket, the one he had picked up on his way to the hospital the day before, after he had taken a short rest.
"Anyways," he continued, "Detective Bayes needs us to decide when we want to go to court. He said it can't be this month, but sometime at the end of next month, or any time there after. It can't be too much longer, though, or the court case will be dismissed."
Usagi nodded, looking thoughtful.
"I don't want it to be too far away, either," she said softly. "I have my own evidence... and they'll fade soon enough. We should take pictures of the bruises before they completely fade away..." She shivered at the thought.
Mamoru nodded slightly, and then, hesitating, looked away.
"Usagi... the first night you were here... I did take pictures. I should have asked you, but I couldn't... you were too delirious. I just took pictures of your arms and legs, and of your face. That should be enough evidence right there to get him convicted, at least for a few years."
Usagi looked away, knowing he had been right to take them, and yet still angry that he had without her permission. Still, though, now that she thought back to those few days, she knew she wouldn't have given him permission, whether he was Mamoru or not.
Usagi turned back to him with a faint smile and leaned over, kissing his cheek gently.
"Thank you for taking care of me," she said softly. "It means a lot to me... A lot more than you will ever know."
Mamoru smiled slightly, wrapping his arms gently around Usagi and pulling her closer, lightly kissing the top of her head.
"Usagi, when do we want to do this? Go to court, I mean."
Usagi sighed and closed her eyes, wanting to forget, just for the minute, that any of it had happened.
Opening her eyes once more, she turned to Mamoru.
"Why not next month sometime... how about... August 27th?"
Mamoru looked intently at her, and then nodded.
"August 27th it is. We have a lot of work to do before then; it's only one month away. We have to get doctors reports on what happened with the gash on your head and--"
"Mamoru, he didn't do that," Usagi cut in. "I fell off of the couch."
"But he caused it," Mamoru agued. "It's the same thing. Intentional or not, he caused it by trying to rape you again. What damages were done was his fault."
Usagi hesitated, and then nodded, realizing he was right.
"Alright, Mamoru," she said softly. "I suppose that's true..."
She sighed.
"I'm just... I'm scared, Mamoru. What if he doesn't get convicted? What if he gets away with all he's done? He'll come after me for bringing him to court, Mamoru... and the court won't want to have the same case again."
Mamoru held her closer, rocking her slowly back and forth, murmuring soothing words to her.
"Usagi, it won't happen. We won't let him get away with it. We have evidence of what he did, and Detective Bayes is going to Matt's house tomorrow to collect more evidence. He won't get away with what he did. We'll make sure of that. Alright?"
Usagi nodded tremulously.
"Alright, Mamoru. I trust you."
Mamoru smiled softly.
"Good. Now then. The girls and Motoki are coming over today, so why don't we clean up the table, and then clean ourselves up and get ready, eh?"
Usagi brightened considerably at the news of her friends coming over.
"Alright, Mamoru. And... do you want to call Detective Bayes back and let him know what we decided?"
Mamoru nodded.
"I'll do that right away. You get started on cleaning the table, and I'll go call him, alright?"
Usagi nodded, and the two of them split up.
"Detective Bayes?" Mamoru said into the phone.
"What can I do for you, Mamoru?" the detective asked.
"Usagi and I... we have decided on a date for court. How does August 27th sound?"
"Mm, that should be fine," Bayes said into the phone. "Ah, look. Don't mention this to the girl, but... we found something in his house. Something that should be enough to put him in prison for life."
Mamoru's eyebrows shot up.
"What is it?" he asked anxiously.
"Yes well, about that. I can't tell you quite yet. But when we get to court, you'll find out at the same time as Usagi. Just know that he won't get away with doing any of this, alright?"
Mamoru hesitated, frowning, his mind reeling over anything that could possibly be enough against Matt to put him in prison for life. Finally shrugging it off, he sighed.
"Alright, Detective," Mamoru said. "We'll see you at court on the 27th."
"Okay, Mamoru. See you then."
Sighing, Mamoru hung up the phone and walked into the bedroom. Flopping down on the bed and closing his eyes, he thought again about what could have been found that would incriminate Matt. But nothing came to him, except for the thought that he may have raped and abused other women back in America. But that didn't make sense to him, so he pushed it from his head.
For a few hours, he lay awake, thinking, each thought as unlikely as the one before it. Finally realizing it was about 3 in the morning, he decided to get some sleep.
Pushing thoughts from his head, he opened his eyes and turned to Usagi and smiled softly as he watched her sleep. Closing his eyes once more, he too fell into a deep sleep.
The next morning, Usagi was awakened to a pounding on the front door of the apartment.
Sitting up and shaking her head, she rubbed her eyes to clear them of sleep, and then stood up. Walking to the front door, she yawned before pulling it open.
She blinked once in surprise as she realized who it was standing at the doorstep. Frowning, she turned back and looked at the clock. It was 2:30 pm.
Her eyes flew wide open in surprise, and turning back to the girls standing at the door she laughed and threw the door open wide.
"Girls!" She exclaimed. "Come on in! I had no idea it was so late; I don't know why I didn't wake up before. Please, come in."
Minako laughed, and Rei smirked.
"Geez, Usagi," Rei teased. "I knew you were lazy, but not getting up until 2:30 is drawing the line a bit, isn't it?"
Usagi glared at Rei.
"For your information, we were busy last night. We were cleaning because we thought you guys were going to come yesterday, like you said you were going to, but then you never showed up."
Rei had the grace to blush.
"We're sorry about that, Usagi. We just thought that you might want to settle in once more before we came barging in. After all, you did just get out of the hospital. We thought we'd give you some room," Rei explained hastily.
Minako nodded once.
"It was Ami's idea," she said. "Ami told us to let you get some rest before we came over and bugged you more."
Usagi grinned at that last bit.
"And bugged me, eh? She should have known that you would be a welcome distraction, not a bother."
Usagi rolled her eyes.
"You could have at least called to let us know you weren't coming," she continued. "Mamoru and I were up until 1 am thinking you were just coming late. So it's your own fault that I slept so late this morning. Maybe if you had let us know, we wouldn't have been up so late, and therefore wouldn't have been up so late."
Once again, the two girls blushed, looking down.
"Yes, well," Minako mumbled lightly. "We're very sorry about that. Anyways, get dressed. We have a full day planned for you, and we need to get started now. We'll be lucky if we get to everything that's been planned, seeing as we're starting so late."
Usagi nodded, and quickly ran into the bedroom.
Fifteen minutes later she came out again, freshly showered and clothed, and ready to go.
"Alright, then," Usagi said with a grin, looking from Minako to Rei and back again. "Let's go!"
Laughing, Usagi, Rei and Minako made their way from the apartment, down the steps, and to Minako's red sports car.
"To the mall!" Minako called.
"To the mall!" The others responded with a laugh, and with that, the car pulled out of the apartment garage and drove down the street, heading towards the mall.