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Disclaimer: Sailormoon and all its characters do not belong to me. Any resemblance to any other story is coincidental and not intentional.

This story happened after the senshi defeated Beryl and *** deviates*** from the original version. It is a continuation of the story, Failure.

Chapter Six – The Speaking Present 

"Mamo-chan!" a voice yelled out.

Surprised to hear that familiar voice and familiar name, Mamoru looked down at the bombshell gripping his waist tightly.

"Usako!" Shock registered on his face. "What are you doing here?"

Usagi looked up at her beloved's face. She had not seen it for so long and was ecstatic that she was finally in the place where she wanted to be so much.

"Oh, Mamo-chan! Surprise!" She laughed and smiled and wrapped her arms even tighter around Mamoru's waist.

"Oh, Usako! What… why… how?!" Mamoru stuttered as he held her in his arms, savouring the moment he had been wishing for.

After they stood there for several minutes, with the door wide open and Usagi's luggage on the floor, Mamoru lifted his head and looked down at his girlfriend-slash-fiancée.

"Usako, why are you here?" he asked.

Usagi giggled. "Oh Mamo-chan! I'm your Christmas present!" With one final quick squeeze, she let go and Mamoru felt distinctly abandoned. She turned to get her luggage and with a lunge, pulled the heavy suitcase into the apartment.

She took a deep breathe, "You know, after fighting all those Negacreeps, you would think I would be strong enough to carry my suitcase without getting out of breathe." Usagi looked up to see her boyfriend staring at her as if he could not believe his eyes. She sweat-dropped at the sight of him stunned.

A smile bloomed on her face and she giggled.

"Mamo-chan? Are you O.K.?" Usagi asked as she stepped up to him to poke him in the stomach. Before she even got the chance, Mamoru suddenly became animated once again and swept her up from the floor and yanked him against her. Usagi's face was full of surprise as Mamoru suddenly swooped down and kissed her passionately. She immediately returned the kiss.

After several minutes passed and they pulled away when their lungs started to burn with the lack of oxygen.

Usagi blushed bright red with the hungry way Mamoru looked at her as they moved apart. She looked down in embarrassment. "Uh…Mamoru? Hello?" Usagi waved her hand in front of his face.

Suddenly, he moved and grabbed her hand. Mamoru brought her hands up and kissed her palm.

"Usagi? Why are you here?" he asked once more. "When did you get here? Are you by yourself?"

Usagi giggled at his confusion. "I'm here because I wanted to be with you for Christmas. And I got here not long ago – I came straight from the airport. And yes! I'm here by myself!" She paused and looked around her. "Uh…Mamo-chan?"

Still holding her hand, Mamoru asked. "Yes, dear?"

Usagi blushed, "Can we get out of the door way?"

Mamoru dropped her hand in surprise, as if seeing their surroundings for the first time. He stuck his head out and looked into the hallway and saw a few people staring at them weirdly. Embarrassed, he quickly pulled her in and blushed. "So sorry Usa-chan. I didn't. . . I mean . . .I didn't mean. ..

Usagi laughed, "You mean to say that you didn't mean to ambush me while we were still technically outside?" she asked coyly.

Mamoru's blush grew even redder. "Yeah," he answered sheepishly.

"Well, come on, Mamo-chan. Help me with my stuff then! I'm exhausted!" Usagi pulled at his arms and dragged him fully inside the apartment.

"Hang on, Usa! Your bag!" Mamoru went back to pick up her things and huffed when he lifted them up. "Hey, Usagi, what did you pack in here? Encyclopaedias?"

"Ha ha" Usagi dryly said. "I only bought the essentials. Clothes, comics, stuff..." she trailed off.

As Mamoru walked in, he saw why Usagi stopped in the middle of her sentence and saw her standing in surprise in the middle of the room.

"Wow, Mamo-chan! You're apartment is great!" She twirled around, with her arms flung out wide. Her face was so open and bright, Mamoru's heart went warm.

He smiled. "Well, I can't do much without my roommate. He contributes half the rent."

"Your roommate?" asked Usagi, "Where is he? Can I meet him?"

Mamoru bought in the luggage and placed it next to the sofa. "No, I'm afraid he's gone home to his family for Christmas. He won't be back until after New Years."

Usagi's face fell. "You mean, you would have been alone for the holidays if I hadn't come?" She walked up to her boyfriend and wrapped her arms around him.

"Don't worry, Usagi. It would have been fine. Anyway, they needed some extra students to do some research over the holiday season. I need to be here."

"It doesn't matter, Mamo-chan! I'm here now! You won't be alone!" Usagi cheerfully said with a quick squeeze of her arms. She tiptoed and kissed him chastely on the lips, intending to pull back. However, Mamoru had different ideas after months of separation from his girlfriend. He captured her lips in a tight lip lock and Usagi sighed into the embrace.

After a few minutes, they released each other and Usagi stepped back and blushed furiously at her boyfriend's deep need.

She cleared her throat and turned away towards her suitcase. "Well, Mamo-chan….umm… uhhhh…. Where can I put my things?"

Mamoru also cleared his throat, embarrassed at his sudden burst of emotion. "Well, since David won't be here, you can take my room and I'll sleep in his."

Usagi pouted. "Are you sure?" She had hoped that they might, just might get…

Mamoru cleared his throat again, his face red. "Uhhh…I don't think your father would approve of that." He bent over to pick up the luggage again and started to move to his bedroom. He distinctly remembered that stern speech Kenji had given him one time about such things during one of his visits to the Tsukino's house for dinner.

Flashback

Mamoru sat quietly on the sofa with Shingo on the other side while Usagi and her mother cluttered around in the kitchen. Despite Usagi's shortcomings in the cooking department, she was determined to learn how to cook for him. And that meant she often disappeared into the kitchen with her mother while he was stuck in the living room with a very disgruntled father.

Mamoru cleared his throat and tried not to look too nervous. Kenji sat in the lounge chair in the corner, staring at him. Mamoru could feel those eyes burning into his body and wished Usagi would come out of the kitchen very soon.

"Well, Chiba…" Kenji started.

Mamoru sat up even straighter and looked at him. "Yes, sir?"

"You've been seeing my daughter for quite some time now," asked Kenji.

Mamoru nodded. "Yes, sir."

Kenji cleared his throat nervously and a vein started to be visible around his forehead. "Well, as much as I hate to do this, Usagi's mother has decided that we should have this talk together."

Confused, Mamoru asked, "Talk? About what, sir?"

Once again, Kenji swallowed nervously. "A…ummm… A talk about relations."

"Relations, Dad?" Shingo finally spoke up. "What do you mean? Aren't they already having a relationship?"

Kenji's face flushed. "Well, not exactly that type of relations…."

"Ohhhh…" Mamoru's face blushed as it dawned on him and quickly added, "Rest assured, sir, Usagi and I have NOT been having that type of relation."

"Well, I certainly hope not!" Kenji said sternly. "But my wife believes it is umm… time… to bring this up with you."

"Dad? What do you mean?" interrupted Shingo once again. "I still don't get it. I want to know…" he stopped when both his father and Mamoru turned and glared at him. Suddenly, a light bulb clicked for Shingo and he started laughing. "You mean… you mean… Mamoru and Usagi!!!" He bent over in effort to control his laughter.

Mamoru and Kenji blushed bright red.

"Shingo!" admonished Kenji.

"Hic…Hic…sorry, dad…" Shingo hiccupped as he tried to stop laughing. "But, the notion of…." Shingo started to laugh once more, tears running down his face.

"Shingo!" Kenji repeated. "We are trying to have a serious conversation here. If you can not control yourself, please go to the kitchen and help your mother and sister with the dinner."

Shingo waved his hands around and slowly the laughter grew less. "No! No, I want to stay and hear this. I'll stop laughing, I promise." Shingo giggled.

"Well..uh hmm…Chiba-san.." Kenji began again. "As I was saying before, it's time to have uh…this talk about relations…"

Mamoru was still blushing furiously. "Please, sir, Usagi and I…would never dream of… ummm.. you know…" He looked down at his feet, embarrassed.

Kenji cleared his throat once more. "Don't lie to me, Chiba. I know how young boys are. It's all they can think about, especially when they have a beautiful woman in their arms!"

Shingo burst into laughter again. "Usagi? HA Ha Ha! Beautiful? Ha Ha Ha!!!"

Kenji stared at him angrily and Shingo immediately closed his mouth. This was a conversation not to be missed!

Mamoru started to fidget. "Well, sir, We haven't done any…ummm… you know…" He looked up frantically. "And we're not... planning to…you know…Please believe me!" he pleaded.

This time it was Kenji's turn to look away. "Well, Usagi's mother seem to believe that." Kenji turned to face Mamoru once more, his face now very angry. "But if I catch you doing any inappropriate…things… with my baby girl, I will so…."

Mamoru edged away from the angry man, as far as the sofa would allow him to. He waved his arms about. "No! Sir! We won't! I promise! Usagi is too young for that! And we're not ready…"

Kenji leaned forward from his chair, "You better not be, Chiba, EVER! Or the next thing you will be seeing is my SHOT GUN in your face!"

Mamoru's face contorted in fright. "No!! I promise!"

Then there was a deafening silence as the two men stared at each other, one in fright and the other in anger. Suddenly, the kitchen door opened.

"Dad! Mamo-chan! Shingo! Dinner is ready!" Usagi sang out as she carried a large platter into the dining room. She stopped as she felt the tension in the room. "Dad? Mamo-chan?"

Usagi quickly placed the dish onto the table and walked into the living room. "Dad? Mamo-chan?" she repeated.

Both men turned away from each other.

"Uh... Usako…" Mamoru was the first to speak.

"Why isn't anyone coming to eat?" Ikuko stepped out of the kitchen, also carrying a large plate of vegetables. Like her daughter, she placed the food on the table and turned around to face the others. Ikuko looked around and realised what had just happened.  She turned to Kenji. "You had THAT talk already?" Ikuko demanded, her hands at her hips.

Kenji cleared his throat for what seemed like the tenth time that night. "Well, darling… you did say that…" he began.

"Well, I didn't mean, right this minute, today!" Ikuko scolded her husband. "And why was Shingo in the room during this discussion?"

Shingo looked at his mother sheepishly. "Well, mom. You couldn't expect me to miss out on this, did you? It was priceless!"

Usagi, still looking confused as ever, asked, "What discussion? What was so priceless?" She looked at Mamoru who was trying to hide in the sofa but failing very badly because of his large stature. "Mamo-chan? Can anyone explain why there is so much tension in this room?" She looked around once more and when no-one answered her, Usagi burst into tears. "WAH!!! No-one ever tells me anything!"

End of Flashback

Mamoru shivered at the memory. It was one of the scariest events in his life and Usagi still had no idea what they were talking about. It took over 30 minutes to calm her down and that was using the chocolate dessert as a bribe. By that time, Usagi had forgotten about why she had started crying and the whole family never brought that particular subject up again.

Even still, Mamoru never forgot the warning and would not forget it now. Especially now with Usagi and himself alone in this apartment for a week. He walked into his bedroom and looked behind him. Usagi had followed him into the room and looked in awe at the surroundings.

"Wow, Mamo-chan. Your bedroom is huge!" She looked down. "And your bed is so big!" With that, she jumped on the bed face first, laughing. "I am so going to love sleeping here!"

She rolled around and saw Mamoru standing there, still at the foot of the bed. "Mamo-chan? What are you staring at?" Horror came over her face. "Do I have something on my face? Maybe something in my teeth?" She frantically rubbed her face with her sleeve.

When there was no reply from Mamoru, Usagi peered over her arm and saw that he was still standing there. "Mamo-chan?" she asked again.

Mamoru snapped out his shock. To see Usagi lying there on his bed… "Uhh…sorry, Usagi….it's just that…" he shook his head to clear it.

"Mamo-chan? It's just what?" Usagi asked innocently.

Mamoru's face softened and he smiled. "It's just that… with you lying there… you look so much like an angel…"

Usagi grin melted into a smile. "An angel? Awww…..how sweet, Mamo-chan!" She held out her arms, while still lying on the bed.

"Uh…I better not, Usako." Mamoru cleared his throat and turned away. "Your father…"

"Ohhh! Dad!" Usagi bounced up from the bed and down next to her suitcase. "Dad bought you an early Christmas present! He told me that you should open it right away!"

Mamoru looked puzzled. "Christmas present? Why? I thought your father wouldn't even think of given me a present at all! I'm not his favourite person."

Usagi looked up from where she was. "Don't be silly, Mamo-chan. Dad is starting to like you! Why else would he give you such a large gift? Here you go!" She took out a long package from her suitcase and handed it to her boyfriend.

"What is it?" he asked, twisting the package left and right.

Usagi shrugged. "I don't know, Mamo-chan. He just told me to give this to you as soon as I arrived but I was a bit side tracked by a certain someone's kisses!"

Blushing furiously at what had happened at his doorway a little while ago, Mamoru peeled off the red and green wrapping. Then, as the present revealed itself to him, Mamoru's face slowly lost its colour.

"Mamo-chan? What is it?" Usagi asked. She stood up and looked at her father's gift and started to giggle.

Because there sat in Mamoru's hands was a toy replica of Kenji's shot gun, reminding Mamoru of his threat!

Next Chapter – Reconfirmation of Love