The List: Chapter four

And chapter four…

Usagi awoke with a yawn, a grin on her face as she recalled yesterday's events.

…

"Those roses were so gorgeous!" Usagi gushed as she and Mamoru left the Rose Gardens.

"Mm, indeed they were," Mamoru agreed, unable to keep a small smile off of his face. It wasn't purely by the list Usagi had made that he'd brought her to the Rose Gardens; roses held a special place in his heart, and for some reason, he felt comfortable sharing them with Usagi. Of course, he hadn't mentioned this to her. He had allowed her to believe that he'd brought her due to number 20 on her list. Not to mention the fact that the Rose Gardens were public, so there was no suspicion on her part, either.

"To Disney Land now, right, Mamoru?" Usagi asked, turning her big blue eyes on him.

Mamoru chuckled, sticking his hands in his pockets, and nodded his head in confirmation.

Usagi made a soft sound, trying her best to hold back her excitement at the prospect that she'd finally get to see Disney Land. It had always been a place she'd wanted to see since she was a kid, but either she was too busy, her parents were too busy, or the place was closed down, for one reason or other. But now, today, with Chiba Mamoru, no less, she would finally get to go.

Usagi had mixed feelings about all of these things. Why was she seeing these places with Mamoru? And why did seeing them with him feel so natural? It was all so confusing, and the more she thought about it, the more it made her head spin. Finally, she just gave up.

Getting into his car once more, Usagi stared silently out the window, unable to keep a grin off of her face.

"Ah… Mamoru… I wanted to thank you, for doing all this for me," she finally said, eager to break the silence. "It's been so long since I've just gone around and did things like this, and it's so great to be able to just relax, you know?"

Mamoru looked over at her, and gave a small smile.

"Mm. I guess you're right. It's been awhile since I've done anything of the sort, either. Normally, I'm so occupied with college, and working part time at the hospital, and…" Abruptly he cut off.

Usagi looked at him, her head tilted slightly to one side.

"I didn't know you worked at the hospital, Mamoru-san," she said quietly.

Mamoru chuckled slightly.


"There's much you don't know about me, Odango," he said, and with an aloof smile, quickly changed the subject.

A half hour later, they arrived at the parking lot, and pulling in, Mamoru paid the parking fee, and pulled into the parking lot. Even before he'd put the car into park and turned off the engine, Usagi had unbuckled her seatbelt and jumped out of the car, squealing loudly and looking every which way, her eyes wide with amazement.

For the next seven hours, they wandered around Disney Land, going on every single one of the rides, and stopping often to get something to eat or drink.

As the park drew to a close, Mamoru grabbed Usagi's hand.

"Come on," he murmured. "The best part is about to start, now. It's time for the Spectral Magic parade."

"The what?" Usagi asked, confused.

"You'll see," he assured her, leading her to Main Street, which was currently being blocked off with ropes, to keep people out of the actual street, and more to the side walk.

Suddenly, over the speakers that were randomly spread throughout the park, music started blaring. The lights around the park flickered, and went out, and suddenly, all was plunged into darkness, with the exception of a few store lights. Then, from down the street, the parade began moving.

Usagi gasped in shock.

Floats of all different sizes began moving slowly down the street, bedecked in different colored light bulbs, which twinkled and flickered as the floats moved. On top of these floats rode the different Disney characters, also alight with colorful light bulbs on their costumes. Each float represented a different theme, and with each different theme, a different character rode. Between each float, they had random other people; jugglers and unicyclists; big robotic fish, moving around and blinking large, soulful eyes as they stopped, before twirling around and moving on.

The cries of delighted children mingled with the general hum of the motorized floats, and the sound of the music as the parade continued on. Usagi simply stared in awe, unable to move, or blink, or tear her eyes away from the sight before her.

As the last float moved down the street, Usagi blinked a few tears from her eyes, and turned to grin slightly at Mamoru.

"That… was the coolest thing I have ever seen, in my entire life!" she squealed, laughing ecstatically as she jumped up and down, looking for all the world like she'd just won the lottery.

Laughing, Mamoru grabbed her hand and pointed upwards with his other hand.

"Wait just a few minutes, and there will be fireworks," he told her with a grin.

Usagi's eyes widened, and she stared up at the sky eagerly, her eyes searching the sky for sign of the colors. After a few minutes had passed, she looked back at him with a disappointed frown.

"I guess they're not running ton--" Her words were cut off as a high pitched whistle, followed by a loud 'boom' split the night air. Looking up, Usagi was just in time to see the last few sparks of the first firework drifting down towards the water.

With a gleeful exclamation, she fixed her eyes on the sky once more as the fireworks started to come in succession, each one out doing the last, in color, size, and over all splendor. The colors ranged anywhere from a crimson red to a deep golden rod, with all the colors of the rainbow mixed in.

Finally, ten minutes later, the fireworks came to an end with a stunning conclusion, and Usagi looked down, smiling broadly.

"This night… no, this entire day… has been so incredible. And I owe it all to you, Mamoru-san. Thank you. Thank you so much." In an impulsive move, she threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

Mamoru blinked once, and looked down at the golden haired girl in his arms, before smiling slightly and returning the hug.

"Hey, it's late, and we've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow as well, so let's get you home, alright?"

Usagi blinked slightly as she took a step back from him.

"Wait, what's going on tomorrow?" She asked, confused.

"We have to finish your list, of course," Mamoru responded as they headed towards the exit, threading their way through the crowd of people, and finally managing to get out through the exit.

"You don't mean to tell me you're going to do more for me, do you?" Usagi asked incredulously, staring at him.

"Well of course I do," Mamoru remarked. "I told you I'd help you with your list, and I meant it. We've crossed off a few things today, and there are only a few more left on your list. Of course, once this one is done, I expect you to make a new one, and we'll do that one, as well."

Usagi looked down, an unfamiliar emotion bubbling in her body, threatening to burst and consume her very being. Choking back a small sob, she nodded briefly and headed with him back to the car.

"Are you alright, Usagi-chan? You seem to have gotten quiet all of a sudden," Mamoru commented, looking over at the girl beside him.

"Ne, ne Mamoru-san. I'm fine. I'm just tired. It was a long day," Usagi replied as lightly as she could, throwing him a small smile.

Mamoru nodded thoughtfully as he started driving the car, and for awhile, silence reigned over the two of them.

After fifteen minutes had passed, Mamoru began to speak.

"You know, Usagi, these past few days have really been great. I want to thank you, for letting me… for letting me share these things with you. It really means a lot to me." He fell silent after this, and when he got no reply, blinked slightly, and took his eyes from the road to glance once more at Usagi. A wry smile spread across his face, and he chuckled slightly. Usagi was fast asleep, her head resting lightly against the window, her breath fogging a small patch of the glass with each breath she took.

After that, the ride home went pretty quickly, with Usagi snoring quietly, and Mamoru deep in thought as to how he was going to finish the next day off.

When he pulled into her driveway, he got out of the car and walked around to the passenger side, opening it up and lifting the sleeping girl into his arms, carried her up the front steps and to the door, where, with a grimace, he managed to ring the doorbell, hoping for his sake that he wasn't waking the family up.

Moments later, the door was opened, and Kenji Tsukino stuck his head out the door. Taking one look at the man holding his daughter, he drew back, and filled his lungs to bellow, when his wife stepped up beside him, placing a hand on his arm to restrain him.

"How was your day, Chiba-san?" Ikuko questioned politely. "Usagi is just sleeping, right?"

Mamoru smiled nervously.

"Ah, yes, Ikuko-san, she fell asleep on the way home from Disney Land. I imagine today was a long one for her; we did many of the things on her list, and we intend to finish them tomorrow."


"I see," Ikuko murmured, a small smile on her face. "Well, you should take Usagi up to her room… it's the first one on the right at the top of the stairs. Then you should be getting home, and to sleep, for I imagine that it was just as long a day for you, as it was for her."

Mamoru smiled gratefully at her, and stepped into the house, carrying Usagi up to her room, and laying her down on her bed. Stepping up to her, he pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead, and smoothed her bangs back, before stepping away and turning to go.

"Mamoru-san…?" The voice was soft, and drowsy with sleep.

Mamoru turned around, and smiled softly at the half asleep girl.

"Yes, Usagi-san?"

"Thank you… for everything…" Usagi murmured, before rolling onto her side, and falling back into a deep sleep.

A tender smile spread across his face, as he whispered a soft reply and stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"It was nothing, Usako."

…

Well, there's chapter four. And I think, either the next chapter, or the chapter after that will be the conclusion of this story, so I can work again on the other ones I have out there. Again, thank you SO much for your patience, and continued support. I love you all!