The List: Chapter three.

Wow! I was so excited when I got home from work and saw all of your reviews, so I decided to get started on my next chapter right away. So, here it is!

Day One.

The doorbell rang early the next morning, and Usagi sat up, rubbing her eyes groggily, opening her eyes to look at the clock.

"Ano…? I can still see…" she whispered slightly with a small grin. It hadn't even occurred to her that she may not be able to today. Looking at the clock, she frowned; it was 4:30 in the morning.

'Three…two…one…'

"Who the hell is ringing our doorbell at four thirty in the morning!" Tsukino Kenji bellowed at the top of his lungs. Usagi giggled slightly, laying back in bed and closing her eyes.

'Mm. Probably just a prankster,' she thought to herself as she settled back down, snuggling into her comforter to drift back to sleep.

'Knock, knock, knock.'

Usagi sat up with a frown, looking at her door.

"Nani?" she called out, her voice cracking a bit. The door opened, and a very disheveled Kenji stuck his head in.

"Usagi-chan. A Chiba Mamoru is here to see you… said something about apologizing… and a list of some sorts. I didn't understand, but he said you would."

Usagi's eyes opened wide, and she stood up, pulling a pink, terrycloth bathrobe around her, and stepping into a pair of fuzzy pink slippers.

"Arigato, Kenji-papa," Usagi replied automatically. Meanwhile, her brain was whirling.

'How did he find out about my list? Isn't it in my pocket from yesterday?' she wondered, as she shuffled to the top of the stairs, making her way slowly down them.

At the bottom of the stairs, near the door way, stood Mamoru. Usagi frowned slightly upon seeing him.

"Mamoru-san. What are you doing here?" she asked coldly.

Mamoru looked up, and felt his jaw drop. There stood Usagi, in little more than a terrycloth bathrobe, her long blonde hair hanging loosely down to her feet; her sky blue eyes cold.

"Ano… I'll explain later. But for now, we need to get going, or we'll miss it," Mamoru replied, choosing his words carefully. "So… you need to go get dressed, and then we'll be off, alright?"

Usagi blinked slightly.

"Are you mad, Mamoru-san? It's four thirty in the morning!"

Mamoru grinned, raking a hand through his messy black hair.

"Hai, I know. Now hurry up and change."

Grumbling, Usagi did as she was told, heading back into her room, and throwing on a pair of dark blue jeans, a green t-shirt, and a black pullover sweatshirt.

Throwing her hair into a single pony tail, she bounded quickly down the stairs.

"Alright, write your parents a note: You're spending the day with me," Mamoru commanded, and Usagi raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Ano, Mamoru-san. You are mad."

Mamoru just grinned slightly, and nodded his head in confirmation. "Hai. Perhaps I am. Now hurry up, we're going to miss it."

"Miss what?" Usagi mumbled slightly as she shuffled to do as told once more, scribbling a quick note and leaving it on the kitchen table.

"Ready to go?" Mamoru asked impatiently.

"Hai, as ready as I'll ever be, for something I don't know," Usagi replied sarcastically.

"Great! Now, you're going to have to humor me, and put this on," Mamoru said, pulling out a black handkerchief, and walking up to her, tying it gently around her head.

Usagi's eyes narrowed and she shook her head.

"Mamoru-san, you are scaring me. Just what do you think you're doing?" She yelped.

"Trust me, Usagi. I won't hurt you, I promise. It's… a surprise," Mamoru explained gently.

"Some surprise," Usagi muttered. "You show up at my house at four in the morning, demanding that I come with you, with no other explanation than 'it's a surprise.' You blindfold me, and take me to your car, and expect me to not put up a fuss? Hah. I don't know what kind of women you're used to being around, Mamoru, but let me assure you, I am not a weakling."

"Of course you're not," Mamoru replied soothingly. "Now, for the final time, get moving. We're going to miss this."

"Fine!" Usagi finally gave in, moving with him to climb into the car.

There was a soft 'click' as her door shut, and then she heard the driver's side door open and another click as it shut once Mamoru had climbed in. A few seconds later, the scratch of the key into the ignition, and the sound of the engine was heard, and then they were off.

Usagi leaned her head back against the headrest, her eyes behind the makeshift blindfold closing as the car rolled smoothly down the road. Not knowing where she was going, or what was going, on, she decided that she'd trust Mamoru, just this once.

…

"Usagi, wake up. We're here."

Usagi let out a soft yawn and opened her eyes, and let out a soft shriek. The world was black.

Panicking, Usagi shook her head, tears welling in her eyes.

'I knew it was coming, but I didn't think it would be today,' she whimpered softly to herself.

"Woah, there, Usagi, it's alright." Hands at the back of her head were untying something, and suddenly the blackness fell away, leaving…

Usagi brought her hands up to her mouth, covering a gasp of shock.

Mamoru had driven her to the coast line, and as she watched, waves lapped gently at the shore line. For as far as she could see, water stretched across the horizon, and in the very distance, a faint purple color was beginning to show.

"Mamoru… this is…"

"Hai, Usagi. I found your list at the arcade the other day, after you'd left. Motoki told me what it was… and… well, I needed to apologize to you for what I said, that day that we met. I didn't… I wasn't aware of… of you know… and… I spoke without thinking. I want to help you, Usagi. I want to help you see all of the things that are on your list, and perhaps some other things, as well."

Usagi's eyes brimmed with tears, and she quickly scrubbed the back of her hand across her eyes.

"Look." Mamoru took her hand, and pointed it out over the water, towards where the sun was rising.

The purple, far off in the distance, had slowly spread, and now the horizon was a splash of pink, purple, and a soft orange. The water reflected the colors, mixing them and twisting them, around and around, until Usagi couldn't tell where one color started, and the next ended.

Finally, the sun had risen above the water, and the colors stopped overlapping. The suns reflection shone off the water as the waves continued to crash along the beach, but no longer did they reflect with the colors of sunrise.

Usagi sat still for a moment longer, listening to the roar of the surf, and gazing out across the horizon once more. A slight rustling beside her pulled her attention to Mamoru, who was holding out her list, as well as a pen.

"I think… you can cross number one off," Mamoru told her quietly, and Usagi nodded, her eyes blazing with tears as she took hold of the pen and paper, drawing a shaky line through number one: Watch the sun rise over the ocean.

"Arigato, Mamoru-san," Usagi said softly, unable to meet his eyes. "I don't think I would have been able to see this, if it weren't for you."

Mamoru shrugged his shoulders, trying to act nonchalant, as Motoki was so capable of doing.

"Don't mention it, Odango," he replied offhandedly.

Usagi's cheeks puffed out, and she glared at him hotly.

"Just when I think you're starting to be nice, you have to go and blow it, don't you, baka?"

Mamoru only grinned and stood up, reaching a hand down to help her up. "Come on. That was only the first thing on your list; we still have another twenty six to go."

Usagi blinked up at him in surprise.

"You're really going to help me see all of these things? Why?"

Mamoru raised his shoulders in a light shrug.

"To be honest… I'm not really sure. I feel as though I owe you an apology for what I said the other day," he explained slowly.

"But taking me to see the sunrise was apology enough," Usagi protested. "You don't need to do any more for me."

Mamoru grinned slightly down at her, his dark blue eyes sparkling slightly.

"I know I don't have to. But for some reason… I want to."

Usagi's eyes narrowed slightly.

'If he pities me… I'm going to scream,' she thought to herself darkly.

"I don't want your pity, Mamoru," she bit out harshly. "If pity is the only reason why you're helping me, then you'd better take me home right now. I won't tolerate it."

Mamoru's eyes widened in shock as he looked at the young woman sitting beside him.

"I don't pity you, Usagi. I admire you. I respect you. You have more courage than any person I know; Kami, you have more courage than everyone I know combined. No, Usagi. I don't pity you. I never will."

Usagi's eyes shone with a fierce determination, and she examined the man in front of her skeptically, before nodding her head once.

"Good. With all that said and done, let's get going."

"Ah, where to?"

"Well… on your list… here… it says that you want to go to Disney Land, ne? So…" Mamoru reached into his pocket, and pulled out two brightly colored slips of paper. "Ta da! Tickets to Disney Land, good for one day." He smiled proudly, and the look on his face nearly caused Usagi's heart to melt.

'What is this?' She asked herself anxiously. 'He's a baka, remember?'

'He may be a baka, but look at all he's doing for you,' her conscious smirked slightly. 'It's no wonder, either. He's not bad looking at all.'

Usagi's face turned a bright red, causing Mamoru to blink once in surprise.

"Ano, Odango? Are you alright?" He asked.

"H-hai!" Usagi cried, grabbing for his hand and racing back to the car. "I'm just excited is all! Quick, let's go!"

Mamoru blinked slightly at her, and shook his head in amusement.

"And on the way there, we can stop at the famous Tokyo Rose Garden."

Usagi squealed slightly in delight, her eyes shining with happiness.

"Arigato, Mamoru-san!" she cried.

"Think nothing of it, Odango," he replied with an easy smile.

Sticking her tongue out at him was her only reaction, for she'd decided that with all he was doing for her, she'd allow him to call her whatever he pleased.

As they drove away from the ocean, Usagi turned back to watch as it disappeared slowly from view, until only the faint roar of the surf, and the smell of the salt water was left.

With a happy smile, she turned to watch the scenery as it passed her out the window, squinting only slightly to see everything she could.

Mamoru watched her out of the corner of his eye.

'Face it, Mamoru, you are crazy. Who would have thought that seeing her smile like this could send your heart fluttering? And after only knowing her for three days at that, with the first two being that she hated your guts. And with good reason, at that.'

'Ah, but can you blame yourself? Look at her. She's a little bundle of joy, and so beautiful, too. Face it; even if you don't want to admit it right now, you like seeing her happy. You like being the one that makes her smile like that. And you wouldn't trade it for the world,' Mamoru's conscious taunted.

A flush spread faintly through Mamoru's cheeks, and he quickly averted his eyes away from her, looking back out at the road.

'So what?' he grumbled slightly to himself. 'So what if I like seeing her happy? It doesn't mean anything. And besides, I'm only doing this to apologize for what I said on meeting her that first day.'

'That's not true, and you know it. As she said, taking her to see the sun rise was enough of an apology. So why are you going through all the work of taking her to Disney Land, and the Rose Gardens, and everything else you have planned for her? Face it. You want her to like you.'

Mamoru grimaced slightly, and with a strong effort, shoved the nagging voice to the back of his mind.

'It doesn't matter,' he told himself firmly. 'I'm just doing this to be a nice guy, nothing more. After all, I know virtually nothing about this girl, besides her name, and the fact that she's going blind, and all the stuff that she wants to do before she does go blind. Oh, yes, and the fact that she has a father that wants to skin me alive because I came to pick his daughter up at around four in the morning.' At this thought, Mamoru cringed slightly.

"Ano, Usagi, does your father always act like that?" Mamoru asked timidly.

"Like… what?" Usagi asked with a blink, turning to look at him.

"Ano, he tried to kill me this morning," Mamoru said, taking one hand off the steering wheel to idly rub the back of his neck. "And when I told him I was there to pick you up, he looked like he was going to blow a gasket or something. I was scared."

Usagi stared at him for a minute, and then burst into gales of laughter.

"Oh… I'm so sorry… gomen nasai, Mamoru… I don't… mean to laugh…but…" Usagi's voice cut off as another bout of laughter shook her body, and finally, Mamoru gave in to a little laughter himself, as well.

After a few minutes of laughing, Usagi leaned back, wiping her eyes slightly to clear them of tears of mirth.

"Oh, man… yes, Mamoru, Kenji-papa is like that a lot. Especially when it comes to boys and me. And when you show up at four thirty in the morning to pick me up, not only are you disturbing his sleep, but you're probably a psychopathic rapist, too. But that's in the eyes of my father, not me!" she hastily concluded.

Mamoru grinned sheepishly.

"I may be crazy, but I would never hurt you," Mamoru responded. "But it's nice to know that you're protected by your father. Will you… tell me a little about your family?"

Usagi tilted her head to one side, but nodded slightly.

"Well… there's Kenji-papa, who you obviously met. He really is a nice man, Mamoru, just very protective. And then there's Ikuko-mama. I love her so very much… she's the one that keeps Kenji-papa from doing anything drastic. Unfortunately for you, she was still sound asleep when you came; otherwise, you wouldn't have been so frightened. And then there's Shingo-san… my younger brother. He's such a sweet kid… I love him dearly."

Mamoru nodded his head, his eyes strictly on the road.

"It must be nice, to have such a loving family," he murmured quietly.

"Oh, it's the best!" Usagi agreed. "I couldn't ask for any better. But… what about you, Mamoru-san? What's your family like?"

Mamoru choked slightly.

"I…ah… I don't have a family," he muttered slightly, and as Usagi was about to respond, he quickly cut her off. "Oh, look, we're at the Rose Gardens," he announced. "Come on, Usagi, let's go look around for a bit, and then head to Disney Land, alright?"

Usagi blinked, shocked at the abrupt change of topics, but picking up on the fact that he didn't want to talk about it, she nodded her head slightly, and as he parked the car, made a resolution.

'I will get to know him better by the end of the day,' she told herself firmly. 'And maybe, just maybe, I can get him to open up to me.'

…

Yay! There's chapter three for you guys… it's a little longer than normal, but that's alright, ne? Good. Review, please and thank you!

Lady Tsukino