A Time to Love
Chapter 7
By the way, and contrary to 'popular belief', I don't own Sailor Moon. Damn.
Oh, well, thank you Naoko Takeuchi, for unwittingly allowing me and everyone else to use your people in stories. Tchau.
Mamoru woke up before Usagi, and he rolled out of bed to fix a simple breakfast of eggs and bagels. He put coffee on for himself and set to making hot chocolate from scratch for his new housemate. Just as he was setting the table to get the food put out and wake Usagi, she entered the dining room, clad in an old t-shirt and shorts she had obviously borrowed the night before.
"Ohayo gozaimashita, Mamo-chan. Did you make this breakfast for us? It smells wonderful," Usagi breathed as she inhaled the warm smell of bagels, cream cheese and scrambled eggs. "Oh, I hope you don't mind that I borrowed your stuff. I was too tired to unpack my own, and your dresser was half open, so…"
"Don't worry about it, Usako. Sit down and eat, then we'll get to … whatever. We need to get you fully moved in and unpacked, then we'll talk meals, school, work, and the rest of the lot, okay?" And we'll get to the bottom of you going out in the middle of the night, especially after that scene… and that… ooh my, Mamoru thought to himself.
"I heard that… I don't want to talk about it," Usagi said around her already full mouth, "It's one of those things that you have to –"
"NO! You are not doing this to me, not now, not after I got you out of that house that you said you couldn't take anymore – not after you did what you did last night with that mouth of yours. You can't sneak out and about all the time. Your parents were right to worry, but where they went wrong was when they stopped caring. Guess what, Usagi-chan: I'm not your parent. You are living with me now, and I know that I am not that much older than you, but we are going to have respect for each other, starting with honesty and a long talk after breakfast and the dishes. Eat up, because we've got a long day ahead of us," Mamoru finished gruffly, savagely ripping into his bagel and digging into his eggs, pointedly not looking at Usagi.
"Well, fine then. I'm done, let's get moving," Usagi stood up to leave the dining room when Mamoru opened his mouth again.
"First rule, you ask to be excused – that is just polite. Second, it is extremely rude to leave before your dining partner is finished with his meal. Thirdly, you ate, so you help clean. Right now, you can't cook, so plan on not only doing clean-up but also on learning to prepare simple things," Mamoru put his fork down and looked at Usagi intently, searching for signs of an incipient temper tantrum.
"You're right," Usagi sighed as she sat back down, now next to Mamoru, "I'd gotten used to not using my manners, so could you cut me a little slack this time? I know that I have to learn to cook anyways, and I've got a friend who can give me the ins and outs of housewifery. I'm gonna try to give you my best, because I really do live you, I just don't want to talk about everything right now."
Mamoru picked up his dishes and pointed Usagi towards hers, "That's nice to hear. I didn't want to get so angry with you… but I know that you snuck out last night, and that you didn't come back for quite a while… Are you involved with some guy? Should you really be living with me if you are sleeping with someone else?"
Usagi dropped her dishes as she fell flat on her ass to the floor. "Heheh – you think that I am sleeping with some other guy, and that I am just using you, right? That is a crock of shit, and you know it, Mamoru! I love you, and you love me, you just have to remember!"
Mamoru set his dishes on the floor and straightened hers, "… I know, honeybunny. It is just with all these pieces missing from my memories, I have a hard time blindly trusting anyone. Can't you give me some clues?"
Usagi leaned into Mamoru's chest, "Read my thoughts… search for people who look like us," and she closed her eyes.
Mamoru didn't know where he was, but it looked rather like the dollhouse Usagi had shown him pictures of, the dollhouse she said that had been destroyed by an 'evil girl'.
Heheh…hahah…hmm…
Mamoru heard giggling and laughter behind him. He turned to see a beautiful girl. "Usagi? Is that you? Stop playing and show me what you want me to see!"
"Oh, my love!" Finally! She was showing some sense… but wait, she was turning around to another figure strolling out of the dollhouse – no, it look ed more like a castle the more Mamoru looked at it.
"You are mine, no matter what happens, and no one will ever take you from me, nor me from you," the figure said, coming into focus.
That's me! For Christ's sake, she's hallucinating. What the hell is she on!
Suddenly, Mamoru felt an odd tug on his heart. A tall woman strode out of the mist from the other direction, a beautiful, tall woman, with long dark hair and bronze-burnished skin.
"You were not to see this. She was not to show you. As the guardian of time, I must now show you what your impatience and her weakness may rend asunder," the woman's voice was sad, as if her heart broke to look at him. A tall staff appeared in her hand and she drew it down and back, revealing a little girl with strawberry-blonde, carrot-shaped odango and red-eyes.
"You look a lot like my daddy, but you aren't him. He's back at the castle, trying to save mommy. But I've got a secret: Puu's takin' me back so I can save my mommy and my daddy, and then I'll have them all to myself again. Bein' princess is no fun, cause mommy is too busy bein' queen and daddy's gotta help her all the time cause she's such a klutz! Bye, mister, see ya later!" And the girl ran off with the tall woman's keys.
"What the hell was that?" Mamoru looked at the tall woman accusingly, "Was she talking about Usagi? What is the whole princess/ queen bit about? Who was she – is Usagi in danger? What is going on?"
"It is time for you to go back… you have seen enough. When you wake, kiss the princess. More will be revealed then. Remember this, though: your impatience makes it even more important that you keep alert. Enemies will rise, and you must be steadfast. DO NOT leave the princess, at any time. For without your support, she will surely falter, and without petals, what is a rose?"