"The hardest thing to do is watch someone you love, love someone else."

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Title: The Story We Never Knew

Book 1: What They Didn't Tell Us

Chapter 3: Behind Crystal Doors

Author: Sailor Song

Editor: Meesa

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"I hope she is okay," Luna spoke aloud and jumped, not realizing she had voiced her thoughts.

"Don't worry, Luna," Artemis consoled his companion. "He'll find her."

"Argh, this is taking way too long!" Mars exclaimed. "We should have gone with him."

"There is no need to worry, Sailor Mars," King Endymion appeared for the first time since Mamoru had left. "Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen have safely returned. Look." He directed their attention to the television where they saw their friends making their way back.

"Let's go!" Venus exclaimed.

……

Usagi transformed back into her sailor fuku shortly after she and Mamoru had made up. They had wanted to stay in each other's arms forever, but the Dark Moon Clan would inevitably be after them. They ran together as far as they could, but she was too weak to carry on at that pace. Mamoru thought it was due to the escape and offered his arm for support. Usagi knew it had to be because of the dark crystal's energy that had been absorbed into her body. How much had she actually taken in? Could her crystal heal her? She'd have to ask Luna about it when they made it back.

Right now, she didn't want to worry Mamoru anymore after all he had been through. She couldn't imagine how he could take night after night of that nightmare he'd been having… thanks to his future self. Would she have broken up with him to keep him safe if the tables were turned?

As they took the last set of steps, Usagi could hear voices and footsteps coming closer to them. 'The girls?' she wondered hopefully.

"Usagi!" They all cried out in unison as they ran out to greet the pair. With the excitement of seeing her friends, she jumped from Mamoru into their open arms. After being looked over for signs of physical damage and once Mars saw she was safe, she and Usagi traded some light-hearted banter.

Tuxedo Kamen looked at his love. He knew she was safe with her friends and that he would protect her at all costs. He was worried, however, because she hadn't talked about what had happened before he arrived. He knew it might be a difficult conversation so he would wait until the Nemesis threat had passed.

He looked past the group to see the ghostly figure of his future self was headed for them. Endymion was not looking at him, but instead at the girls who were overjoyed at their leader's return. His expression caused some concern for Mamoru, for though he looked happy to see Usagi safe, there seemed to be an inner conflict. Was it only because his own love was trapped in a crystal prison and he was unable to touch her?

Mamoru felt warm arms wrap around his waist, and a petite body snuggled into his own. He looked down with a smile at the odangos and mass of golden hair. He wrapped his own arms around her tightly and kissed the top of her head. Looking up again at the king, he could see in his eyes what the man was thinking. He was telling Mamoru to protect her, to love and cherish her always. Both men nodded in understanding.

King Endymion cleared his throat in an attempt to break up the reunion. "The Dark Moon Family could attack us again at any moment. We are not completely invincible here, as Dimando has demonstrated." Everyone looked toward the ghostly man. We should get Usak…" he coughed, "Usagi inside with Chibi-Usa. Dimando will never give up on her. That may inevitably be his downfall, but for now she is not strong enough to fight him again. This way."

Usagi heard what the king had almost called her. She could tell how tormented he was, hologram or not. King Endymion was her Mamo-chan, and it seemed even in the future, he masked his emotions.

Once they were inside the palace, Endymion disappeared as soon as he walked through the doors. Chibi-Usa, who had waited in the palace at her father's urging, ran up to Usagi and Mamoru to see that they were both all right.

Knowing Usagi would be tired, Venus called the senshi toward the computer room. They agreed that a meeting with Luna and Artemis was necessary so that they could think up some ideas to protect Chibi-Usa and Usagi from another kidnapping attempt. Mamoru didn't want to leave Usagi, afraid she might disappear again, but he did feel he should be involved in the meeting considering what he saw at the Dark Moon Palace. Chibi-Usa gave him just the opportunity.

Looking shyly at the older girl she now knew to be her mother, she asked her quietly if she'd like to see her room. Usagi smiled and nodded. She looked at Mamoru to reassure him she would be fine with the young girl. He bent down to her, softly brushing his lips against hers. He stood and she gave him a smile as he turned to join the others. She took Chibi-Usa's hand in her own and the girl began to lead her down the immense corridors.

……

"This is the hall where all of the Sailor Soldiers have their rooms," said Chibi-Usa excited to show someone around her home. "It's very rare to have them all here at the same time. Usually, it's because of a holiday."

Usagi smiled at her energetic tour guide and looked at the inscriptions on each door.

'Mars… Mercury… Jupiter… Venus… Pluto!' The remaining seven doors were not familiar to her.

"This is the only passage that leads to mine and my parent's bedrooms upstairs." At the end of the corridor seemed to be an empty wall, but Chibi-Usa kept walking towards it.

"Um… Chibi-Usa…" Usagi started. But the girl only smiled and as they got closer Usagi could see a small button that was the same color as the wall.

Chibi-Usa pressed the button and a laser appeared and scanned both her then Usagi. It paused on her as though it didn't quite recognize her, but after a moment it disappeared and the wall parted. Usagi expected to see an elevator, but was instead surprised to find a large, circular staircase. It was lit with soft orbs of light that hung from the ceiling and walls.

"Stairs!" she exclaimed with a whimper. "Why did it have to be stairs?"

Chibi-Usa giggled as they began to ascend. "Daddy said it's because he and Mama were trapped in an elevator when they were first getting to know each other."

"Yeah," Usagi scoffed, remembering how she and Mamoru had revealed their identities on Zoisite's elevator of death. She hadn't been a big fan of them since.

"But Mama says Sailor Mars changed the plans to make her suffer."

Usagi laughed. "I'd believe that too." As they continued the climb she sighed, "How much farther?"

"We're here!" Chibi-Usa exclaimed. She stood in front of another wall with another hidden button. She pressed it and again a scanner checked the two girls. After acknowledging who they were, the wall opened to reveal a long hallway.

This corridor was just as large as the previous one that passed the rooms of the senshi. It was lit by more of the soft orbs and the walls were lined in shimmering silver paint. Each side had only one set of large double doors that seemed to extend to the ceiling and there was a third set at the very end of the hall.

"The right side is where Mama and Daddy sleep, my room is on the left." Looking to the ground she said almost inaudibly, "The ginzuishou is… was protected in room at the end. I'm not allowed to go in there. Only Mama."

"Well," Usagi said noticing her mood change, "let's go see your room!"

"Okay!" Chibi-Usa exclaimed. She led Usagi towards the double doors, but once they were inside another trio of much smaller doors stopped them. Usagi looked down at her guide with inquisitive eyes. "The left is my bedroom, the middle is a playroom, and I don't really know about the right room," Chibi-Usa shrugged. "Sometimes Mama and I will sleep in there together. Usually during really bad storms."

Usagi smiled, but why would her future self not sleep with Mamoru during a storm?

Chibi-Usa opened the door to her bedroom. "Mama helped decorate it," she said proudly. Usagi could definitely tell; it looked like something she would do. There were some obvious hints that Mamoru tried to make it less pink, but it was pink nonetheless.

Chibi-Usa gave a stifled yawn. "Sorry, I haven't had any sleep since you were… you know. Everyone was really worried. Then Mamo-chan left, you both were gone a couple of days."

"Wow. I didn't know how long I'd been there." Not wanting to get into a discussion about where she'd been, she tried changing the subject. "Well, if you want to lie down for a little while, I'll stay nearby."

Chibi-Usa nodded and walked towards her large canopy bed. Beside it, on the nightstand Usagi saw a tattered old book that was severely out of place in this well-furnished bedchamber. She picked it up and saw it was the exact book she had read to Chibi-Usa about the sleeping beauty. No wonder she was so bored by the story that night. She looked to the girl who was already fast asleep, sprawled across the bed in her usual sleeping position.

Usagi looked around for something to occupy her for a while, but soon her curiosity got the best of her. Creeping out slowly, she quietly shut the door behind her and found herself back in the hall facing the unknown room that caused her inquisitiveness. She stood outside the door for a few moments debating whether or not to enter. This could solve all of the questions Dimando had raised, but did she really want to know so much about her own future?

She grasped the doorknob, but was conflicted. She wondered again why her future self would sleep in here and not with Mamoru during a storm.

'Well, why not,' she figured. 'It's not like I'm breaking and entering.'

As she pushed the heavy door open, looked in awe around the room. It was just as beautiful as Chibi-Usa's, however; it was not decorated for a child. Was Neo-Queen Serenity sleeping in here more than Chibi-Usa thought?

Looking here and there at the drawers, jewelry boxes, and massive closet, it became more and more clear to Usagi that something was definitely wrong. If her and Endymion's room was across the hall, why was so much of her stuff in here? And if they were having problems as she suspected, her friends may not even know because no one else besides the royal family had access to the upper hall.

"Mamo-chan," she cried. She had lost him all over again and didn't know why.

"She began sleeping in here after giving birth to Small Lady." Usagi jumped at the new voice in the room. She turned around to see King Endymion sitting on the bed (or at least his projected self was). "I would have knocked, but…" To elaborate his point, he tried to knock on one of the bedposts only to succeed in his hand going through it.

"I'm sorry," she bowed. "I shouldn't be in here."

King Endymion laughed inwardly at the irony. The one time he actually wanted her to stay in here.

"Please stay. I've been wanting to speak with you, Usagi." He spoke her name carefully so he wouldn't slip and call her by his nickname for her like he almost did earlier. He gave her a sad smile. "Besides, this is your room."

Usagi nodded and sat on the bed beside him. For a few moments it was quiet. Neither one really knew what would be the right thing to say to the other. The awkward silence seemed ridiculous to pair that had always believed that their love would survive anything.

Endymion was the first to crack. Literally. Usagi looked at the poor guy who was laughing next to her on the bed. She wondered if it were possible he had been hit a little too hard in the head during the attack that left him in his condition.

"I'm sorry, Usagi," he said, his laughter slowing. "I wanted to talk to you and it seems I have nothing really to say."

"Um… that's okay, Endymion." She watched as he flinched after calling him by his imperial name. To be honest, she wasn't sure what to call him. She felt she would be betraying her own Mamo-chan if she had called his future self the same name.

He went through the motion of clearing his throat, though both of them knew there couldn't be anything there. "To tell you the truth, there are a great many things I'd like to tell you, and Mamoru, and your senshi. However, Pluto will scold me for days about being irresponsible about time interference as soon as I get my body back. She's already pissed at me about sending the nightmares to Mamoru."

"Well, I don't think anyone else was too thrilled about those either," she responded to him. "But, I know you wouldn't do something to hurt me without having a good reason." She smiled at the ghostly king who was unable to return the gesture.

"Except I did. Or, in your case I will." He stood and walked a few feet from her. "I don't deserve her. I never did. I promised so much, but I have yet to hold true to my word. I excelled at everything in my youth, yet this has proved to be the only thing I always fail at."

"Mamo-chan?" she interrupted. He turned to her with eyes widened, which made it obvious he had not heard the name in a long time. Were it possible, Usagi was sure he would have blushed. "I know you are worried about her… me. I know in my heart she still loves you. We'll save Serenity. I promised Chibi-Usa we would so don't give up hope."

"I won't, Usagi. Thank you." They smiled at each other.

Usagi stood up and walked over to Endymion. "Let's head back downstairs with Chibi-Usa. We've been gone for a while now."

"Sure," he said in reply.

Both began walking towards the door when a sudden wave of energy swept over Usagi. Overcome by dizziness, she passed out.

Endymion felt the dark energy and saw her beginning to falter. He held his arms out as he had done before so many times in the past. Horror struck his face as he watched her pass through him. Instead of landing into his strong embrace, she met hard with the cold floor.

"Usako! NO!" he cried and fell to his knees beside her. Physically unable to cry all he could do was kneel beside her until she came around.

Author's Notes: Yay! A chapter that is actually original! I am sure you would be excited, except I made it a cliffhanger. Erm, sorry. Just a couple more chapters and I will actually start the story I am trying to write here. This baby has only begun! See you soon.

Really quick… ffgirlmoonie, in the anime version future Darien (Endymion) is transparent because during the Dark Moon Clan's attack on Crystal Tokyo he's in the computer room and it seems to blow up, which makes no sense because everyone goes into that room when they travel to the future and it looks fine. As for the manga version (which I like so much better because Darien doesn't seem like a jerk) Endymion and the senshi are all outside when Neo-Queen Serenity is attacked by the initial blast. The senshi protect her with that crystal but they are hit. Either way, his body is in a coma and he somehow created a holographic image of himself so he could wander around. Think, Moonlight Knight… only less helpful. 

Random babble: Summer is getting closer. I can't wait to get out of school. Though, I will miss one class because there is a reeeeeeeeeeeeally hot guy in there. I swear he looks like he just walked out of a magazine. Blue eyes, dark hair, great smile… yum!