The Truths of Love: Chapter twenty
Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon. Never have, never will, so please don't sue me.
"Rei Hino, I do NOT look like that when I eat!" Usagi spat, glaring at the raven haired girl across from her.
Rei smirked, deflating her cheeks and uncrossing her eyes.
"Oh yes you do, Odango. Ami here can attest to it, can't you, Ami-chan?"
Usagi gave a gasp of outrage and turned hurt blue eyes on the blue haired girl, who turned a brilliant shade of red and tried to sink into the cushions of the booth they sat in.
"Ami… you don't really think that's what I look like, do you?" Usagi asked, her tone plaintive.
"W-well," Ami began, her face turning brighter by the moment. "You do kind of make a funny face and---"
"You see?" Rei crowed in triumph. "Even Ami agrees with me!"
"Ami, I'm hurt!" Usagi exclaimed, moving to stand up. However, in the process, she managed to spill her milkshake all over Ami's lap.
"Oh! Ami, I'm so sorry!" Usagi cried as Ami yelped at the cold. "Here, let me help…" Grapping at some napkins, Usagi tried to shove them into Ami's lap, trying to soak up the milk shake.
Ami laughed softly and stood, pushing away Usagi's attempts to help her.
"Don't worry about it, Usagi-chan. It's fine. I'll just go to the bathroom and wash it out as best I can. Alright? No harm done."
Usagi nodded morosely, and sat down, watching Ami walking towards the bathroom.
"Oh, way to go, Odango Atama," Rei taunted. "Spilling your milkshake all over Ami. Really nice."
"I didn't mean to!" Usagi spluttered in self defense. "And besides--"
At that moment the door to the café banged open, and a figure dressed in torn rags stumbled into the room, his head turning from side to side, before the ice blue eyes locked on Usagi in triumph.
Walking over to the table, he grabbed Usagi by the shoulders and pulled her out of her seat, holding her close to his side.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Usagi shrieked, trying to pull away.
All her struggling amounted to was the figure holding her more closely to his side, and pulling a gun out.
"Stay still, little bunny," the voice of Usagi's nightmares hissed. "And all of you. If anyone moves, you'll be shot. Don't think I'm joking. Now, I'm going to take this girl with me. If anyone even thinks to stop me, well… I wouldn't want to be you."
That said, Matt began dragging Usagi with him towards the door.
At that moment, the door of the bathroom opened, and Ami came back in, looking down at the new stain in her shirt.
"Usagi, this is a new shirt," Ami started, not looking up as she headed back towards the table.
"Ami, no!" Usagi shrieked, but it was too late.
Matt's gun was aimed at Ami in a heartbeat, and in the next instant, a shot rang through the café, and Ami crumpled to the floor, her eyes wide with mingled shock and pain.
"Ami! Let me go, Matt!" Usagi shrieked, tears running down her face. "I hate you!" Grabbing his arm, Usagi sank her teeth into it, in an attempt to make him let go.
Cursing, Matt loosened his grip just enough so that Usagi was able to pull away.
Motoki leapt over the counter as he saw Matt heading towards the exit of the cafe, unnoticed by the rest of the cafe's occupants, who were all so involved with Ami, lying on the floor.
"And where do you think you're going?" Motoki snarled as he blocked the exit way.
Matt hissed low in his throat and brought the gun up level with Motoki's chest.
"I suggest you move, little boy," Matt growled quietly. "Unless, of course, you wish to end up like your little friend over there."
Motoki hesitated slightly, indecision showing on his face. Matt played upon this opportunity and nodded.
"That's it. Move aside and let me go… and you'll get away safely, too."
Motoki's eyes narrowed in hatred as he took a small step to the side.
Matt smiled and made a mocking bow as he quickly exited the café.
At the sound of the door closing, Makoto looked up at Motoki and her eyes widened in horror.
"You fool!" She screeched loudly. "You let him get away! How could you!"
Motoki exhaled lowly and scrubbed a hand through his lank hair, looking at the ground.
Tears were streaming down Makoto's face as she jumped to her feet and strode over to where Motoki stood looking abashedly at the ground. Pulling back her fist, she was about to slam it into him when a hand on her fist stopped her.
"Don't do it, Makoto. He would have gotten away, no matter what." Usagi's emotionless voice came from the floor where she still held Ami. "Motoki only did what was right. Matt would have shot him and then escaped, or gotten away without shooting someone else. Motoki did the right thing."
Seeing Makoto's look of resignation, Rei let go of her hand.
Minako, who at some point had run outside, returned at that moment.
"The ambulance is coming down the street, guys," she announced.
Meanwhile, Mamoru was walking down the sidewalk to the Crown, having received Usagi's note. A small smile graced his features as he thought about surprising her at the arcade; he'd gotten off of work early, stopped by a flower shop to buy a small bouquet of roses, and come home to surprise her, only to find she was gone.
So, he'd changed his clothes, grabbed his jacket and the bouquet, and headed down the sidewalk.
As he neared the Crown, a shape hurled past him, running as though something were after him. Mamoru frowned slightly, turning his head to try and catch another glimpse of the person.
'That's odd,' he thought to himself. 'That almost looked like…'
His eyes widened in horror, and his pace increased as he hurried to the Crown.
The roses he had in his hand fell forgotten to the ground.
The paramedics rolled Ami slowly into the ambulance on the cart, an artificial respirator strapped to her nose, helping her to breathe.
Mamoru skidded around the last corner just in time to see the door of the ambulance being shut.
"Usagi!" He cried breathlessly.
A blonde head, about to disappear into the driver's side of the ambulance, stopped short and looked back.
Usagi's eyes widened as she saw Mamoru, and her heart sped up.
"Mamoru!" She cried, running to him, throwing herself into his arms.
"Usako," he murmured, wrapping her in his arms, holding her close. "What happened?"
"He came, Mamo-chan! He was here, and he grabbed me, and he threatened, and she came out of the room, and he saw her, and the gun, and the blood, and…Oh Mamoru!"
Her voice trailed off into sobs, and she pressed her face against his chest, crying.
Mamoru held her close for a moment, letting her cry, before gently pulling back.
"Usako, take a deep breath and tell me, slowly what happened. I didn't understand anything you said."
Usagi gave a weak laugh and wiped her eyes quickly.
"Matt was here, Mamoru. He came in and started threatening everyone. Amy came out of the bathroom, because I had spilled my milkshake on her shirt, and she'd gone to clean it, and he looked up, and… and… Oh, Mamoru, he SHOT her!" Usagi's disposure crumpled one more, and she buried her face against his chest once more, crying for all she was worth.
Mamoru's eyes widened in horror, and he held Usagi close as she sobbed, heart wrenching sobs of pain and terror.
"Alright, Usagi. Let's get you home," Mamoru murmured softly.
Usagi shook her head frantically, her eyes wide with horror.
"N-no!" She cried softly. "I have to be there! I have to be with Ami! Please, Mamoru, please, we have to go to the hospital!"
Mamoru hesitated, but as he looked down into the eyes of the woman he loved, those tear filled, pleading blue eyes, he felt himself relenting, and nodded his consent.
"Alright, Usako. Let's just go get the car. I walked down here, so we'll have to go back to the apartment."
At this moment, the paramedic popped his head out of the driver's door impatiently, glancing at Usagi.
"Are you coming or not? We need to get going."
Usagi glance slightly at Mamoru, and then nodded to the paramedic.
"Mamoru… will you meet us at the hospital? I really need to go with her… please, Mamoru…"
Mamoru wasted no time in nodding his agreement.
"You go along. I'll be there when I can be."
Usagi smiled gratefully at him and rushed over to the ambulance once more, hopping inside and pulling her door closed. The sirens wailing, the ambulance took off down the road, leaving Mamoru behind, staring after it for a moment, before turning and heading back to the apartment at a quick pace, jostling people in his haste to get home.
Finally, he managed to get to the apartment garage, and ran down the aisles to his car, pulling his keys out of his pocket and unlocking his car, jumping into the driver side and slamming the door closed, turning the car on and peeling out of the parking space, out of the garage, and down the street towards the hospital in record time.
"Is she… going to be okay?" Usagi hesitatingly asked the paramedic as they sped down the street toward the hospital.
The man driving looked at the woman out of the corner of his eyes and managed a brief nod.
"We're doing our best. The bullet didn't hit any major arteries, nor did it hit any vital parts of her body. Still, she lost a lot of blood. However… her will to live is quite strong. Even if he had hit something, I'm not sure it would have gotten her down. It's odd, really." He shrugged his shoulders and fell silent, paying attention to the road once more.
Usagi looked out the window, her shoulders sagging a bit.
'Please, Ami-chan… please, please pull through this… I'm so sorry for putting you in danger…'
Then her mind cleared, and she simply watched out the window as they traveled down the road to the hospital.
Two hours later…
Usagi paced back and forth in the waiting room, unable to sit still. Mamoru, Makoto, Minako and Rei were sitting in chairs around the room, Mamoru staring off into space, Rei looking at her watch and tapping her foot, Makoto reading a magazine, or at least attempting to, and Minako watching Usagi, her face growing more and more restless with each passing moment.
"Usagi! Sit down!" She snapped, unable to hold back any longer.
Usagi glanced at her, her eyes faraway.
"I'm sorry, Minako. I can't. It's my fault she's in here in the first place… If I hadn't spilled the milkshake… but even before that, if I hadn't made Matt so unhappy… none of this would ever have happened…"
Minako's eyes softened and she shook her head.
"That's not true, Usagi," Makoto said softly, looking up from the magazine. "Matt is unstable. He would have done this no matter what."
"No!" Usagi insisted. "If I hadn't made him so upset with me in the first place, none of this would have happened! I shouldn't have talked to Mamoru about what was happening, and…"
"Usako." Mamoru's voice cut her off. "You most definitely should have told me. Matt was abusing you. He wouldn't have stopped, no matter how much you tried to please him. We've been through this before, love…"
Usagi looked down, tears pooling in her eyes.
"Yes, but…"
At that moment the door of the hospital opened, and a doctor walked out, running a hand through his graying hair with a weary sigh. Looking up, he gave a weak smile.
"You're here for Mizuno Ami I presume?"
Usagi's head nodded frantically and she rushed up to the doctor.
"How is she?! Is she going to be okay? Is she alright? What's going on?! Oh, please, tell me what's happening!"
"Relax, child," the doctor commanded with a friendly smile. "She's fine. She just needs to rest for awhile. She lost quite a bit of blood, so we weren't sure for awhile whether she'd make it or not, but she pulled through remarkably. I'm sorry, though; we can't let anybody see her today. She truly needs her rest, and we can't take any chances that you might disturb her. I'm terribly sorry, but you'll have to come back tomorrow."
Usagi's face had lit up at this news, only to fall once more at his next words. She nodded her understanding, though, and turned, walking to Mamoru.
"Alright. Thank you so much, for all your help. We'll be here first thing tomorrow morning."
With a nod, Mamoru stood, pulling Usagi lightly into his arms once more. Makoto, Minako and Rei stood as well, and with a last thanks, they headed for the doors of the hospital, filing out.
"Well, Usako," Mamoru began, looking down at her. "Let's get you home. It's been a long day."
Usagi nodded her consent, and, leaning against him, they headed home.
Phew! Wow, it's been, what, five months since I last updated? I'm so, so, so, so, so, so, SO, so sorry for that! I've been really busy… work and school are eating my LIFE. So, here's the chapter, and I'm sorry it's shorter than most, but along with having no time, I also have writer's block. So. I thought I'd get this chapter out, and see what happens from now on. So. Sorry again for taking such a long time, and thanks for sticking with me. Love to you all!