The Truths of Love: Chapter twenty three
Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon. Never have, never will, so please don't sue.
Mamoru paced back and forth, frustration practically oozing from every inch of his body.
"Where is she?" He ground out, his teeth tightly clenched together.
Motoki sighed, running a hand through his hair, tightly closing his eyes.
"We don't know, Mamoru," Motoki said for what seemed to be the millionth time in the past five minutes. "We're doing everything we can do. You need to be patient. The girls will be here in a few minutes. Hopefully they'll know something more, but until then, you need to relax."
The two of them had searched up and down the river for over two hours, and when finally 6:15 had rolled around, they'd given up and trudged back to Mamoru's apartment in defeat. Now that they'd arrived, however, Mamoru was pacing, itching to go back out and resume the search of his beloved Usagi.
"Relax, you say. Relax. Hah! I'd like to see how you'd react if it was Minako who had been kidnapped!" Mamoru snapped at his blonde haired friend.
Motoki flushed bright red, and his eyes snapped in anger.
"If it had been Minako, I wouldn't have let her out of my sight for even one instant!" Motoki snarled back, unable to hold back the comment, despite the pain he knew it would cause in Mamoru.
Instantly Mamoru's eyes clouded over, with self pity and anger, and he turned away.
"Yes, of course you wouldn't, Motoki," Mamoru replied bitterly. "Not even to get her a surprise; to do something spontaneous to show her how much you love her."
Motoki's face softened and he sighed.
"Mamoru, I'm sorry," he began, but Mamoru cut him off.
"Save it, Motoki. I know what you meant. I shouldn't have let her out of my sight. I never should have gone to get that damned rabbit for her!" Rage filled his every word, and he slammed his fist into the desk he stood beside, letting the pain course through him, barely noticing the timid knock that came at the door.
"Coming," Motoki muttered under his breath, standing and stretching his long legs and heading to the door.
As soon as the door was opened, a blonde blur threw itself sobbing into Motoki's arms.
"Oh, Motoki-kun!" Minako sobbed. "I couldn't find her! What if she's dead? What if he has her?"
Motoki glanced nervously at the dark head of hair that brooded silently for the moment over his desk, and then glanced down at the woman he held in his arms.
"Mina-chan, now isn't the greatest time to be saying that," Motoki began softly as the three other girls trailed into the room silently.
"If he has her, then there will be hell to pay," Mamoru spat out, his eyes flashing with undisguised hatred. "And she's not… not… dead. I'd know. I'd know…" This said, he sank down into his chair, rubbing his eyes with a sigh.
"Mamoru," Ami said with a soft sigh, "we'll find Usagi. Don't worry."
Mamoru looked up and gave the blue haired genius a curt nod before looking out his window at the Tokyo tower.
"I just don't know where she'd be," he ground out, and then stopped dead, staring.
"Mamoru?" Rei asked hesitantly, looking at him and then out the window where he was looking, and immediately her eyes widened.
At that point, the rest of the people looked out the window, and their eyes were drawn to the imposing figure of the Tokyo Tower, set in the middle of Tokyo.
"No way," Makoto breathed. "How could we have been so stupid?"
"It's so simple, really," Ami said softly, her eyes riveted to the tower. "Where would he go that no one would think, seeing as it's such an obvious place?"
"The Tokyo Tower," Rei added, unnecessarily.
Mamoru growled low in his throat and stood up, grabbing his jacket and heading for the door.
"Well?" He snarled as no one else in the room moved even an inch from their position at the window. "What are you waiting for? Let's go get her."
"Mamoru," Ami began tentatively.
"We can't just go barging in there," Minako protested.
"We'd get our asses kicked," Makoto stated bluntly.
"We need a plan of action," Rei put in, her violet eyes gleaming with determination.
Motoki stood back, rubbing the back of his head nervously.
Mamoru sighed and dropped his coat, sitting down once more on the chair, scrubbing his hands through his hair anxiously.
"Well, then, let's start planning," he said softly.
Usagi's first sight on reawakening was of a large glass window, through which she could see virtually all of western Tokyo. Sitting up, her jaw dropped in awe, and she let herself look through the window, admiring the early twilight.
"Mm, so you like it, little bunny," a voice stated smugly from behind her.
Usagi spun around, her face going blank, her eyes flashing with anger.
"Matt," she said simply. "So you've resorted to kidnapping to get what you want, eh?"
Matt just grinned, his eyes sparkling with barely concealed mirth.
"I told you I'd get you, my little rabbit. One way or another, you were to be back in my arms. If it took kidnapping to get it that way?" He shrugged slightly. "Then so be it. After all, it worked, didn't it? You're back with me, right where you belong."
So saying, he sidled up alongside her, reaching out to put his arms around her to draw her near.
Usagi snarled and bit down on his arm, causing him to cry out and yank his arm back.
"Little vixen!" He screamed, cradling his bleeding arm tightly to his chest. Reaching out with his other hand, he hit her, hard, across the face, sending her sprawling to the floor.
Usagi cried out softly and clasped her hands to her lip, which had split open and begun bleeding profusely from the slap. Advancing on her, Matt raised his hand and hit her again, leaving a mark across her cheek.
Tears leaked down Usagi's cheeks, and she squeezed her eyes shut as pain lanced through her body.
Snarling, Matt retreated, once more clutching his arm with small teeth bites on it close to his chest.
"I'll be back, little bunny," he growled, and stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Usagi sighed and finally allowed tears to flow freely down her cheeks, letting go of all of the pent-up emotions she'd been storing. Her body heaved with sobs, tears cascading down her cheeks, falling to the floor. Slowly, she pulled herself back to the window, staring down at the bustling city below her, pulling her knees up to her chest and continuing to cry silently.
"Mamoru," she whispered softly through her cracked and bloody lips. "Please, Mamoru, please save me."
Sighing once more, she slipped blissfully back into oblivion.
Several hours later, Mamoru leaned back in his chair with a sigh.
"So, in two hours we commence Operation Save Usagi. Any last questions?"
Ami, Makoto, Minako, Motoki and Rei all blanched.
"Operation… Save… Usagi?" Minako finally blurted out. "What kind of a name is that?"
"Yeah, and when did we decide we were going to call it that?" Rei asked, folding her arms across her chest. "Personally, I like 'Operation Get Odango Atama out of Another Mess.'"
Motoki burst into laughter, subsiding only as Ami, Mamoru, Makoto and Minako glared at him.
"Okay, okay," he muttered, throwing a resentful glare at the four. "I get the picture. It wasn't a good name."
Turning to Rei, however, he winked slightly, causing the raven haired girl to grin.
"So anyways," Mamoru resumed, glaring at the two once more, "we'll meet back here at a little after ten. Remember to bring what you need, and only what you need."
None of the people in the room could miss the stress on the word only, and they glanced hesitantly at each other, nodding once to Mamoru.
"Mamoru," Minako asked hesitantly, breaking the small silence in the room. "Does this mean I can't bring my lipstick?"
Mamoru's head shot up, and he turned to glare at the blonde, before he saw the small smirk on her face, and let his head drop back down, his cheeks burning with embarrassment as the room cracked up with laughter.
"Lighten up, Mamoru, I was only joking," Minako giggled, leaning back against Motoki, who wrapped his arms around her.
Mamoru grumbled something under his breath and abruptly stood, heading to the door and opening it.
"Out, out, out!" He snapped, pointing out into the hallway with one finger. "And don't be late. We leave at precisely 10:05. Got it?"
The five people in the room stood up, gathering their things with mumbled acknowledgements and headed towards the door.
"Oh, and you guys?" Mamoru called to them, causing them all to wince as they turned around. He paused for a moment, and then threw them a small smile. "Thank you for your help. I'm sorry I've been such a jerk, I'm just… really worried about Usagi."
Minako's face softened and she hugged Mamoru fiercely.
"Don't worry, Mamoru. We'll get her back, and that creep will pay."
The others nodded in agreement, and a brief flash of determination showed in Mamoru's eyes as he nodded once, curtly.
"Now, get out of here before I turn back into the baka Usagi always thought I was," he grinned at them.
Laughing, Ami, Makoto, Minako, Motoki, and Rei all left the apartment, leaving Mamoru smiling and shaking his head behind them.
As he closed the door, however, he sighed and leaned his back up against it, squeezing his eyes shut tight, and bringing his hands up to his temples, rubbing them slowly.
"Oh, please, for the love of all that is good, please let this work. Please let us get Usagi safely out of this mess," he prayed quietly. "Please let us get her out."
Turning to the window in his room, he looked up at the Tokyo Tower once more, his gaze hardening, and turned his back on it, preparing what he'd need for that night.
Minako sighed, clutching onto Motoki's arm as the five made their way out onto the sidewalk outside of Mamoru's apartment and stopped.
"You guys, do you think Usagi's gonna be alright?" Minako asked quietly.
Rei's violet eyes flashed and she nodded abruptly.
"Of course she is. She's Odango Atama. She's gotten out of worse situations than this before."
Ami looked at the raven haired girl and shook her head slightly.
"I hope you're joking, Rei. She's never been in a situation like this before, ever. However, I do agree with you that she'll be fine. Usagi is a strong girl. It won't be easy to break her spirit. It's Mamoru that I worry about."
Ami's blue eyes looked back up at the apartment, worry apparent in her posture.
"I don't know what's going to happen tonight, but I can assure you of this much. I truly wouldn't want to be Matt when we get up there."
The group nodded their heads in agreement, and fell into silence for a moment.
"Well," Makoto finally said into the silence. "We should get going if we want to be back here in time. And remember." She straightened up and did her best Mamoru impression. "'Bring what you need, and only what you need'"
The group burst into laughter and departed, thoughts of their beloved friend and the plan they'd made fresh in their minds.
Well, you guys, there you have it. I'm so sorry it's so short, but the next one will be longer, I promise. It'll be the whole rescue of Usagi and all that jazz, and I'm still not sure what I want to happen with Matt; whether he'll escape and come back to get Usagi in future chapters, or if he's just going to die now and I'll end the story and start a new one. Let me know what you guys think, as I'm not sure whether or not this story is worth continuing. Thanks again for all of the support you've given me thus far. I love you all!
Lady Tsukino