A/N #1: Guys, keep in mind that Usagi and Tuxedo Kamen have an iffy relationship, at best because of that one episode in the series where the girls were stuck in an elevator shaft (or something of the sort), and Tuxedo Kamen basically said that the only reason he helps them is because it keeps the Dark Kingdom away from the crystals, which will eventually form the ginzuishou. As a result, Sailor Moon doesn't quite know if she should trust him or not, and she doesn't want to get her friends killed because she depended on someone who placed a bunch of rocks above the lives of five people. And as a P.S. of sorts, I don't mind suggestions or criticism or complaints at all, especially if it is well-founded and helps me improve my writing.

Disclaimer: This story is mine, so don't copy. If you want to use something in my story in your own fic, please make sure you have my permission first. Sailor Moon & Co. belongs only to the people making money off of its existence. I'm not one of those people. Of Mice and Men belongs to John Steinbeck and maybe a few select others, Don Quixote belongs to Miguel de Cervantes, The Wizard of Oz belongs to ….Frank L. Baum, and Yahoo! belongs to Yahoo!

OOOPS!
Chapter Seven
—I Don't Think We're in Kansas Anymore—

-Tsukino Usagi
11:00am; Tsukino Residence-

When I walked into the three-bedroom pile of bricks and mortar that I had long ago come to know as home, I was warmly greeted by noise.

Noise.

There is no other way to describe it. From the kitchen, came the sizzling sound the frying pan makes when cooking dinner, while rap music blared behind the closed door to my brother's bedroom. When my father had first heard of Shingo's new interest, he'd declared him possessed. My mother, on the other hand, had deemed it just a phase and told my father to leave it alone, threatening him with a spatula if he even jokingly suggested a visit to a psychiatrist again. From the living room, the unmistakable sounds of an old war movie assaulted my ears.

I closed my eyes and spun around in a slow circle, inhaling deeply, savoring the sweet scent of home.

"Usagi!" came my mother's familiar voice from behind me. "It's so good to see you."

"Mama!" I exclaimed, turning to face her.

"I've missed you these past few days," she stressed as we embraced.

"I've missed you too, Mama. Did you enjoy your trip? How's grandmother?" My mother, along with Shingo and my father, had gone to Nagoya for the weekend to visit my grandmother. She had broken her hip that winter and still had trouble getting around (although she insisted that she didn't need any help), and she hadn't been feeling well lately so my parents had decided that now was as good a time as any to take a road trip. I had bowed out on account of school. Apparently, I had three major tests and an important presentation on Friday. My parents just about died when I told them I was giving up a chance to miss school.

Only I wasn't, of course. I didn't give a rat's ass about school. I was Sailor Moon. I had a world to save and friends who depended on me to be there when a youma appeared. Considering Friday's attack, I had made the right choice.

"We got stuck in traffic on the way back, but it was all right overall. Your grandmother's fine. Your aunt was exaggerating as usual," my mother told me.

"That's good." I pulled away in time to snatch a handful of celery sticks from the plate Shingo was carrying as he walked by. My father had developed an obsession with health food some time back, and we were all making the best of it.

I swatted Shingo's hand away as he reached for the celery sticks I'd stolen and made my way to the kitchen to see if I could find some dip. Judging from the amount on Shingo's plate, the answer was no, but hey, you can't blame a girl for trying.

"Are you going to stay home today?" My mother set about washing the dishes as I rummaged through the refrigerator. I found the empty container on one of the shelves and chucked it into the garbage, then shook my head no.

"I've got an English report due tomorrow, and the sensei wants it typed, so I'm going to be in the library."

"I do wish you'd spend more time with your family, Usagi."

"I know, Mom, and I'm trying, but things have been really hectic lately. Maybe we can all go see a movie or something once everything settles down," I replied vaguely.

My mother looked more or less satisfied with the answer so I lost no time in running upstairs and grabbing my copy of Of Mice and Men, my library card, some cash, and the report requirements. Once I had everything, I carelessly stuffed it all into a shoulder bag, grabbed my keys, and bidding my parents good-bye, walked out the door.

The walk to the library was short and peaceful. I saw a few friends, greeted a couple of classmates, and hid from Haruna-sensei behind a tree. It was a perfectly uneventful fifteen minutes; no attacks, no Chiba Mamoru. Just me and the familiar noise of Tokyo. Looking back on it now, I realize I should have known it was all too good to last.

(X)(X)(X)

-Chiba Mamoru
11:30am; The Library-

"Mamoru!" I looked up, and Motoki lifted his hand in greeting.

"Motoki!" I tried to look somewhat happy, failed miserably, and went back to nursing the steaming cup of coffee I'd picked up on my way to the library. I was as far from a morning person as you could get without hitting nocturnal, and there was no use pretending otherwise.

"Physics report?" he asked.

I nodded. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a mass of blonde hair heading our way. It stopped suddenly and turned around, moving quickly in the opposite direction. Never one to give up the opportunity to make someone hate mornings as much as I did, I turned my head to the walking pigtails. "Odango!" I called, deeming it too early in the morning for pleasantries. "Over here!" I smirked when her shoulders slumped, and she slowly turned around. Misery loves company.

"Hey Motoki," she called, pointedly ignoring me.

"Hello, Usagi. How are you?" Motoki replied, looking slightly amused.

"I'm fine, how are you?"

"Good, thanks."

"So, uh, what're you doing here?"

"I've got a Physics report due tomorrow, and the sensei wants three written sources."

"Oh. That seems interesting."

"Hmm…so how 'bout you? I don't see you in the library very often." Usagi held up a book. It took me a moment to make out the title, Of Mice and Men, partly because it was in English and partly because she was holding the book upside down. I chose not to comment.

"I have to do a report for English, typed," she explained, "and my computer crashed last week. We're still waiting for the repair guy."

"Oh, well I hope you get it fixed soon. Maybe Mamoru will keep you company in the meantime."

She forced a smile. "What about you?"

"Oh, I have to get over to the Arcade. I promised my dad I'd help out today. I've already finished my Physics report—I've been here for two hours. Mamoru, on the other hand," Motoki motioned towards me, "is quite clearly not a morning person. He just got here, and I doubt he's going to detach his mouth from the rim of that coffee cup until he drains it. And even then, don't expect him to be civil until at least one."

"'Kay. It was nice seeing you, Motoki."

Motoki nodded and made as if to turn and then thought better of it. "By the way, Mamoru," he called over his shoulder, "I gave Unazuki her present this morning. She nearly had a heart attack. Told Mom she'd have to pry the frame from her cold, dead fingers when she asked to see it and disappeared into her room. Thanks for the suggestion."

I muttered a "No problem" through a mouthful of coffee and watched as Motoki pushed past the throng of people at the entrance and disappeared through the door. Then I turned to Usagi and smiled smugly.

"You know, Chiba, one day, you're going to be wrong," Usagi glared. "I just hope I'm around to see it." With that said, she turned on her heel and stalked over to a free computer.

Shaking my head, for she had strategically chosen the only unoccupied computer in that row, I headed over to the reference section and spent the next hour poring over Physics tomes.

(X)(X)(X)

-Tsukino Usagi
1:15pm; The Library-

Frowning to myself, I proofread my paper. It was one of the few reports we had been allowed to write in Japanese because of the sheer complexity of the assignment. We had been offered extra credit if we ventured to write in English, and considering just how much extra credit I needed, it was a chance I couldn't pass up. Generally, I was crap with languages but now, I had Mina as a friend and the girl had lived in England for fourteen years. After I spent a few hours a day for several months speaking only English to her, I improved to the point of being able to speak the language relatively well. Reading and writing took a little bit more practice, but I managed.

Satisfied, I found the print option and selected it. Then, I got up and went to find the printer that I had sent the document to.

(X)(X)(X)

-Chiba Mamoru
1:15pm; The Library-

I watched Usagi get up and saunter away to look for her report. After I'd gotten all the information I needed, I had found myself a computer (funnily enough, there was one right near Usagi by the time I needed it) and set about finishing my report. I'd typed my last sentence half an hour ago and for the past fifteen minutes, I had been scrolling up and down the document, occasionally selecting a word, deleting it, and then retyping that same word, while I watched Usagi out of the corner of my eye and planned about how to best prove that she was indeed Sailor Moon. Nothing interesting had yet presented itself besides some blackmail material—the girl talked to herself while she worked, muttering half in English, half in Japanese, making herself incomprehensible to everyone but a select few.

I looked up and scanned the library for the blonde in question. She was quite a distance away, arguing with a librarian. Good. Casually, I leaned over and glanced at her computer screen, hoping it would give me an idea. My eyes lit on the taskbar at the bottom. She had an internet explorer window open to what looked like her e-mail provider. I clicked on the button that said "Yahoo! Japan" and found the mail button. Unbelievable, I thought as the window changed slightly to display "Welcome Usagi!" She was logged on. I checked her inbox and trash can for anything of interest, then the other folders. A couple of invitations, some notes, things of that sort; nothing incriminating.

'You know that's illegal, right?'

I ignored the voice in my head. I would deal with Endymion later. Meanwhile, it seemed as if Usagi had quickly gotten through to the librarian and was picking up her report from the printer. Shit. After a minute of quick thinking, I found the "My Account" button and clicked on it. My eyes flitted over the screen. It was asking me to retype the password as a security measure, but that wasn't what had caught my attention. There, right above the password box were the words: Yahoo! ID: tsukinohime. I smiled, memorizing the screen name without batting an eyelash.

'Hurry up, she's coming!'

I clicked the back button until I found the page Usagi had originally been on and returned the screen to its original condition, sitting back in my chair with moments to spare, only getting an annoyed look from Usagi as she slid back into her seat.

Executing the few commands I needed from memory, I saved my report on a floppy disk and got up, looking around for a seat that would serve as a clear vantage point from which I could make my observations.

The computer section of the library was organized with every two tables standing together, the computers of one table facing those of the other. The seat opposite of Usagi's was unoccupied. Perfect. I walked over and sat down, taking a few minutes to log on and find my own e-mail provider. Then, I began to type.

(X)(X)(X)

-Tsukino Usagi
1:20pm; The Library-

I saved a backup copy of my report on a floppy disk and was just about to close everything and leave when my e-mail pinged, signaling that someone had sent me a message. I quickly considered ignoring it, but upon a five second contemplation, decided that it may be important and opened the document.

-(X)-

Date: Sun 21 Apr 2002 13:20:10 +0900
From: anonymous83
To: tsukinohime
Subject: Important

I know your secret.

-(X)-

I blinked slowly and let my eyes skim over the screen once more. Once I'd realized I wasn't hallucinating, I cautiously replied, my brain buzzing with questions. Who the hell was this guy? What secret could he possibly be refer—I froze. Oh no. He couldn't possibly know….it was impossible. We had always been so careful. How could anyone know? A minute later, I got my answer.

-(X)-

Date: Sun 21 Apr 2002 13:21:05 +0900
From: anonymous83
To: tsukinohime
Subject: Re: Re: Important

I know what you're hiding; where you go every night. You're no ordinary girl at all, are you, Usagi?

tsukinohime wrote:
.: Excuse me? What is this, some kind of joke?

anonymous83 wrote:
.: I know your secret.

-(X)-

I paled and my throat clenched, my stomach knotting. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening.

'Pull yourself together,' Serenity hissed inside my head.

After a few more seconds of panic, I inhaled sharply and carefully schooled my face into a mask of surprise and slight annoyance. The creep who sent the e-mail was most likely somewhere nearby, watching me, waiting with bated breath for a reaction. Thankfully, the breakdown I'd had only lasted a few seconds. There was a chance he (or she) didn't see it for what it was. My fingers trembling, I typed my second reply and like before, the message came back almost instantaneously.

-(X)-

Date: Sun 21 Apr 2002 13:23:05 +0900
From: anonymous83
To: tsukinohime
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Important

You're a bad liar, princess.

tsukinohime wrote:
.: Cute, but I think someone should tell you that April Fool's was three weeks ago, and I have no idea what you're talking about.

anonymous83 wrote:
.: I know what you're hiding; where you go every night. You're no ordinary girl at all, are you, Usagi?

tsukinohime wrote:
.: Excuse me? What is this, some kind of joke?

anonymous83 wrote:
.: I know your secret.

-(X)-

My eyes widened as I read the reply, and I nearly fell out of my chair. How did he know? How could he possibly know?

Before I could give the matter more thought, I really did fall out of my chair, as did several others. I hastily scrambled to my feet. What in the world was going on? There was another tremor, like the one that had thrown me out of my seat. This one seemed to be more powerful. It shook the building to its foundation. Someone nearby screamed.

"Don't panic," I told myself.

"Yeah, that's not going to work, I already tried." I looked up and came face to face with the dark blue irises of Chiba Mamoru. Perfect.

"What are you doing here?" I spat venomously while the mantra continued running through my head. How did he know?

"Making sure you're all right. You're welcome, by the way."

I scowled darkly at him. "Didn't you just leave?"

"No, I was putting some books back on their shelves," he replied smoothly. I scanned his face for any sign of untruths, but all I saw was a carefully blank mask. I thought back to the e-mails I'd just received. Was it possible that he'd—no. I ended the train of thought before it could go any further. It was a ridiculous idea that didn't deserve even the least bit of my attention.

Another tremor knocked me into Mamoru. He grabbed my elbow to steady me and began to steer me towards the doors. "We've got to get out of here."

I jerked my arm out of his grasp. "And how do you propose we do that?" I hissed, trying to buy myself time. I couldn't leave if the Dark Kingdom was behind this. It was my duty to stay and make sure no one got hurt.

Mamoru paused. "It's really quite simple, Odango. See, first, we walk to the entrance, then, we push open the doors, and after that, we walk through said doors into the sunlight that's ever-so-kindly gracing Tokyo with its presence. Duh." Somehow, during the ever-so-humorous declaration, Mamoru's face ended up inches from my own. Blushing at the proximity of his person, I pushed him away.

"Good luck," I told him, looking pointedly at the entrance, where a crowd of people had gathered, everyone employing elbows, feet, and whatever other weapons they had handy to get out of the library.

"There must be another way out of here," he muttered, eyebrows knitted together in concentration, as he scanned every inch of the building for an exit.

"Gee, here's a thought," I muttered under my breath, "let's climb out of a window!"

"That's actually a good idea." Mamoru grabbed my hand and began to drag me over to a nearby window.

Vaguely registering that he wasn't supposed to hear that, I pulled my hand back. "Stop doing that," I told him irritably.

"Doing what?" he asked innocently.

"Invading my personal space."

"Oh was I invading your personal space?" he drawled. "I am so sorry."

"You are not," I sniffed.

"You're right, I'm not." He grabbed my hand again and this time, succeeded in getting the both of us to the window.

"Kami…" I breathed, upon seeing the sight it had to offer us. A few minutes earlier, while Mamoru and I had been fighting, as per usual, the quakes had stopped, and now I knew why. Gone were the concrete-encrusted streets of Tokyo, Japan, replaced instead by an endless expanse of sky. A fluffy, white cloud floated past the window, close enough to touch.

"Mamoru?" I said in a small voice.

"Yeah?"

"Just out of curiosity…what do you think happened?"

He shook his head. "I have no idea."

"So um…what do we do?"

"We wait, I guess."

"Okay," I whispered.

(X)(X)(X)

-Chiba Mamoru
2:00pm; The Library-

"What are you doing?" I asked as I watched Usagi taking books off the shelf and piling them up on a table.

"Picking my least favorite ones."

"Why?"

"We need to build a fire, or we'll all freeze to death." About ten minutes into the trip, the building had started gathering speed, and the temperature had dropped drastically. The change could have easily been explained by the high altitude, but I had a feeling we were heading north. In an effort to keep warm, we had closed all of the windows, but that had only helped so much. It had been an unusually warm day for April, and most of us were dressed lightly. We needed to find a solution, and fast.

"Yeah, and?" I asked, refusing to comprehend what she was implying.

"Fires need fuel." My eyes bulged.

"You can't burn books! That's sacrilegious!"

"It's either us or the books."

"Well, why can't we burn chairs? They're wood, and they'll last longer than the paper."

"The chairs and the tables are being gathered, but there's not nearly enough to keep us alive for long."

"So you're going to resort to burning books?"

"Only the bad ones," she told me, tossing a copy of Cervantes' Don Quixote onto the pile.

"Don Quixote?" I shrieked in a stunningly accurate imitation of Usagi, "that's a classic!" Usagi grimaced.

"Oh, please. It's about a glorified knight who thinks windmills are giants and flocks of sheep are armies."

For a second, I wondered if she'd actually taken the time to read the book (not likely) or if she'd just skimmed the blurb (much more possible). Then I realized that I should say something in my defense.

"Don Quixote happens to be the world's first modern novel. The messages it gets across are worth more than…than…" I paused, searching for something that would complete the comparison. Looking around the library, which was crammed with those who had not managed to get out in time, I waved my arm in a circular motion, "…all of these people combined."

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I regretted them. If the look on Odango's face was anything to go by, I'd just set off a bomb. I cringed, waiting for the explosion. She didn't disappoint me.

"How can you say that?" she screeched. "How dare you imply that an ancient pile of paper has more worth than even one innocent life?"

"These people aren't innocent! Every single one of them has sinned, and half the time, they're only making everything worse. Books are the salvation of the human race. They are our inspiration, our creed as to what is right and what is wrong. If it wasn't for The Analects, life as we know if would never have existed."

Hmm…well at least I partially believed what I was saying. I mentally shook my head in amusement, wondering why I was digging myself deeper into the hole I'd hit at rock bottom when I'd implied that I knew who deserved to die. Maybe Motoki was right, and I really was crazy, or maybe I was just bored and fighting with Usagi was a way to distract myself.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Usagi's voice was dangerously low. Obviously she felt strongly about this. I was beginning to regret my decision to start a fight about something serious. "Who are you to say how important a person's life is? Who are you to say who gets to live and who should die? It's true that there are many people in the world who deserve a fate worse than death for the crimes they have committed, but there are also good and kind people who have done so much good in their lives, and yet they are taken from their loved ones for absolutely no fathomable reason. Can you give those people life? Can you predict if someone in this room will live to cure cancer or AIDS or world hunger? Who are you to deal judgment?"

"Um…Odango…?"

"What?" she snarled.

"I wasn't being serious."

"Excuse me?" Yup, digging deeper and deeper.

"I was just trying to set you off."

"WHAT?" she yelled. "You JERK!" She grabbed a particularly heavy tome off a shelf and chucked it at my head." Wisely, I ducked, but it didn't help me much. "How can you even joke about something like that?" She grabbed a pile of books off the table and started throwing them at me, one by one. Interestingly enough, each book was thrown with frightening speed and accuracy, the deadly corners of the volumes always the first to hit a target, and it was only my Tuxedo Kamen reflexes that saved me from impalement.

As I dodged, I became vaguely aware that what Usagi and I were doing was the subject of many a conversation.

"What in the dickens is going on in that corner?" a voice asked incredulously.

"Lover's spat," muttered another voice indifferently.

"They're going to kill each other," someone murmured from a corner nearby. "Somebody should stop them."

"You volunteering?" a fourth voice asked gruffly. "Because I sure as hell ain't. Do you hear the set of lungs that girl has on her? And that temper? She'll tear the next person to come near her to pieces and burst their eardrums. He got her into a rotten mood, let him calm her down."

"And what do you suggest we do in the meantime?"

"Find a pair of earplugs."

A book whizzed by, millimeters away from my head. Too close. I tuned out the voices. Unless I started paying attention, I'd end up dead. Then, after what seemed like and eternity of gymnastics moves that were worthy of the Olympics, Usagi ran out of ammo. I sighed in relief and my shoulders slumped, only to find that she wasn't finished with me yet.

"Arrogant jerk," she hissed before planting her hand firmly on my shoulders and shoving me against the wall behind me with a bone-jarring thud.

"Don't push me!"

In reply, she lifted her foot and proceeded to grind her heel into my toes. Yelping, I pushed her away. She pushed me back and we continued the vicious cycle of insults and physical harm for some time, while I had a few interesting revelations.

Tsukino Usagi was beautiful. She was fifteen and had not yet truly come into all that Mother Nature had gifted her with, but she was beautiful nonetheless. And it wasn't just the shapely legs I knew were there, hidden as they may be by jeans, or the delicate hands, or the sparkling eyes, or the smile, or even the curves. It was everything about her; the energy she carried inside, how passionate she was about the things she believed in, the way she could be kind and loving to almost anyone, and yet had the most explosive temper I'd ever encountered. Standing in front of me, her hands up, muscles tensed, ready to lash out and push me again, breathing hard, her face flushed with anger and exertion, Tsukino Usagi was the most beautiful thing in the world, and I wanted to do nothing more than to kiss her senseless.

I'd like to say something in my defense at this moment: The fact that I was acknowledging that Odango was attractive did not mean that I had any sort of feelings for her. I was simply bored and looking for trouble and had found something interesting to do Kami only knows how many kilometers above the ground in a flying library. Really.

So I did, kiss her, I mean. The next time Usagi's hands came into contact with my shoulders, I caught her wrists and pinned her deftly against a nearby bookcase. Then, I firmly planted my mouth on hers. Interesting is the most applicable word in describing the experience. I'd kissed other girls before, of course, but it had never been quite like this. The emotions behind the kisses had never been this strong, this explosive. Kissing Usagi was strange and familiar all at once. It was like coming home and at the same time, it was like being lost. Fire surged through my veins. My brain seemed numb, devoid of thoughts. And I didn't want it to end. Unfortunately, she had other plans.

Displaying strength I would have normally never expected her to have, she detached herself from me and shot me one of those you'd-better-duck looks. Before I knew it, her fist was flying towards my face. I reached out and caught it.

At that moment, there was a loud thud, and the wind that had been howling outside only seconds before quieted. Momentarily distracted, Usagi and I found the nearest window and looked outside.

"Toto," I whispered, taking in the sight, "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."

TBC

A/N # 2: Okay, not, Saturday, as promised, but Monday, which is close enough. I thought about rushing the chapter to get it on the site on Saturday but I figured you guys would appreciate a good chapter a few days later than promised, rather than a crappy one on time. I'm still kinda iffy about this installment, actually. I think the e-mail scene at the library was kind of weak and awkwardly written and I'm not sure how well I'm getting across my point. Let me know what you guys think.

I'm leaving for camp next Friday, I think, so I'll try to write Chapter 8 by then, but I'm not sure how that will work out.

I actually did get off my lazy butt (or on my lazy butt, depending on how you want to look at it) and planned out the remainder of the fic. It's going to be two more chapters and an epilogue, bringing it to total of ten installments. After that, I'll look everything over one more time, edit my typos, and declare the fic complete. I'm telling you right now, no matter how open-ended the epilogue may seem, THERE WILL BE NO SEQUEL.

/Children: You spend the first two years of their life teaching them to walk and talk. Then you spend the next sixteen telling them to sit down and shut-up./ -coolsig