A Week In Heaven
By Aubrey O'Bryan
Prologue
Usagi walked through the gardens of the resort with great caution, listening for any sound that might indicate that one of the things hunting her was nearby. She had been trying to stay away from them for almost thirty minutes, and she had no intention of allowing them to find her any time soon. A moment later, however, she heard the sound of footsteps not far behind her, and broke into a run. So did the creature behind her.
Usagi ran for all she was worth. She ran through the maze of hedges, dodged statues, and jumped over the small stone benches that dotted the gardens. Surprisingly, she didn't trip once. She heard the sound of footsteps getting closer, and knew that the creature was gaining on her. She doubled her speed, running as fast as her legs could carry her until, suddenly, she ran right into one of the creatures she was trying to avoid.
"Gotcha!" cried the creature, as it wrapped its arms tightly around Usagi, effectively trapping her.
"Lemme go!" shrieked Usagi, struggling to get free.
"Mamo-chan, I can't breathe. You're suffocating me!"
Mamoru immediately loosened his hold on Usagi, which had been exactly what she wanted. As soon as he loosened his grip, she ducked under his arms and took off running again, going even faster this time.
"I can't believe you fell for that!" said the other creature, doubled over with laughter.
"Shut up, Kunzite," Mamoru shot back at his friend, giving the other man a withering glare.
"I'm going to get her for that," he thought mischievously, and took off in hot pursuit of his prey.
Usagi kept running, determined to avoid being captured again. She had had a hard time believing her luck when she had actually been able to trick Mamoru into letting her go, though she felt kind of bad for making him worry.
Usagi looked to make sure she wasn't being followed and, when she didn't see anyone coming, dodged into the wooded area to her left. She found a large rock and sat down to rest for a while. All of that running had started taking its toll on her. She was out of breath, her feet were starting to hurt, and she was starting to get hungry. None of this really mattered though, because she was having a lot of fun.
The scouts, as well as Mamoru and the guys (who consisted of Nephrite, Zoicite, Kunzite and Jadeite) had, about thirty-five minutes ago, decided to play "Catch the Bunny" and, since her name meant rabbit, it had taken her all of five seconds to realize that she needed to get the heck out of there before any of them could get her. She had been running (and trying to hide) from them since.
Usagi was brought out of her reverie by the sound of a branch being broken somewhere nearby. She whirled around to face the direction that the sound had come from, but saw nothing. She let out a small sigh of relief and sat back down on the rock. It was then that a streak of red and green flew by her face and landed on the ground to her right. She glanced at the object, and she had to fight the urge to run. It was a beautiful red rose.
"Tuxedo Kamen," Usagi whispered.
"Hello, my lovely moon bunny," said a soft voice in her left ear.
"Aaahhh!" shrieked Usagi in surprise. She spun around, only to come face to face with the love of her life, Tuxedo Kamen, otherwise known as Chiba Mamoru.
"Usa-ko," said Tuxedo Kamen, wrapping his arms around Usagi's waist before she could run away again, "why do you keep running away from me?"
"Because, dearest, I know for a fact that you are playing Catch the Bunny with the others, and I don't want you to catch me."
"Why not?"
"Because my pride won't allow it," she stated simply.
"Oh, it won't, will it?"
"No, it won't."
It was then that Usagi realized that, in transforming into Tuxedo Kamen, Mamoru had enabled himself to use the powers that came with that transformation. In fact, that was most likely the very reason why he had transformed into Tuxedo Kamen.
"Hey! You're not allowed to use your powers to catch me!" cried Usagi, pasting a feigned look of anger on her face.
"Usa-ko, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you," Mamoru said, letting the transformation fade and instantly trying to make Usagi happy again. It wasn't that he was weak, he just didn't like to see her unhappy. After all, she was his little moon bunny, and he loved her more that life itself.
Usagi chose that moment to lean in close to Mamoru and kiss him, completely taking him by surprise. After overcoming his surprise, Mamoru did the only thing he could do. He kissed her right back.
"Gothcha," Usagi said softly, after they had finally broken off the kiss.
"I love you so much, Usa-ko," said Mamoru, holding Usagi close to him, the proof of that statement evident in both his voice and his eyes.
"And I love you, Mamo-chan," the same proof in her own voice and eyes.
"Well," said Mamoru, "we should probably get back to the resort and let the others know that I've won the game."
"Yeah," she replied quietly, feeling happy and content. "We should be getting back."
"I had fun, Usa-ko."
"So did I, Mamo-chan."
And at that, the two destined lovers made their way back to the resort and to their friends, both of them unable to conceal their love for one another. Not that either of them wanted to.