Woo. XD I'm a little late, aren't I? Sorry about that peeps, my dad got back into town last Mondayand so I've been a little distracted. :) Anyway, I hope this little chapter is worth the wait. I will let you know right now that the next chapter hasn't been written yet, and my arm (I've got mild carpal tunnel --;;;) has been acting up, so hopefully the chapter will be up next week, but I guarantee nothing. So yes. Hopefully. :D

Anyways, enjoy the story, and thank you soooooooooo much for all the fantastic comments, they have definitely helped reassure me and make me want to finish this story. :D

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and Mamoru and Usagi don't belong to me. :(

For a split second, Mamoru wasn't entirely sure that he had actually heard her say anything. But then he realized what she had said and a suffocating sense of guilt and shock settled over him. "What?" he responded, his voice almost as quiet as hers. She thought he hated her? God, was he really that bad?

His heart gave a horrible, halting lurch when she answered him. "Why—d—do you h—hate me so much?" she whispered again, choking on the words. She was crying. He had made her cry. And not that ridiculous, horrific wailing screech she usually projected at him. No, this was crying that he couldn't even really hear. Quiet sniffling and whimpering, muffled by the door and probably her hands too as she tried in vain to stop or at least hide it. Crying with actual tears, from actual hurt. Hurt that he had caused her. His guilt was overwhelming. How could he be such a complete and utter baka?

"Usagi-chan," he finally managed, "I don't hate you."

"Th—then why are you s—so mean to me?" she asked wretchedly, and he squeezed his eyes shut, his stomach churning. He was the horrible person she always told him that he was. He made fun of a teenaged girl, yanking away whatever feeling of self-worth she had, and making a mockery of all of her worst insecurities at a time when her insecurities were her worst enemy. She was right. He was heartless.

"Usagi-chan," he whispered, finding it incredibly painful to try and explain his actions. "I…" He sighed heavily, running his hands through his hair, and sat up, turning to face the door, pressing his hands against it and leaning his forehead against it as though that would help him communicate how abysmal he felt at the moment. "I don't have a good reason," he finally concluded. "I don't know why I'm so awful to you Usagi-chan. I…It's like I can't control myself when I'm around you. Once I said the first mean thing when we met, it was like I opened the floodgates, and I couldn't stop. I don't hate you, I never could, and I honestly couldn't tell you why I say the things I do. After our arguments I usually walk away kicking myself, wondering why I couldn't be nice to you just once. You don't have a mean bone in your body, and I, apparently, don't have a nice one in mine." He paused and then exhaled slowly, saying seriously, "Usagi-chan, I don't say I'm sorry. I haven't said it to anyone in my entire life—aside from Motoki-kun. But I'm going to say it to you now: I am so sorry. I wish I could take back every mean thing I've ever said to you and do it all over again. It's obvious you're a wonderful person, and I don't know why I've gone so far as to completely sabotage any chance I'll ever have at having a friend like you. So…I'm sorry. I…I hope you can somehow forgive me," he whispered.

This hurt. It hurt more than he could bear. Everything he'd just said, all of it was true, and none of it would probably make any difference to her. God, he was such a miserable excuse for a human being.

Inside the closet he could hear her still sniffling, and now he could actually hear the sounds of her breathing hitching as she sobbed. He was lucky no one was here to see this, they would probably murder him on the spot for doing something to make happy-go-lucky Usagi break down in tears like this. He just—

"I forgive you."

Mamoru swore that his heart stopped at that moment. "What?" he whispered to the door, hardly daring to hope he'd actually heard her right. Surely after all the degrading things he'd done to her she wouldn't—

"I forgive you," she repeated, softly, and gently.

It took him a moment, but finally he whispered, "Why?"

At this she gave a wavery little laugh. "Why not? You said you were sorry. How could I not? Besides…I told you earlier that my instincts about people were always right. I think you deserve a second chance. I've seen the Mamoru-kun that I thought you were when I first saw you."

Mamoru's throat constricted painfully and he bowed his head, choking on the torrent of emotions she had just flooded him with. How could she do this to him! But now he understood why everyone was always astonished when they found out how he treated Usagi. She really was incredible… He buried his head in his hands and turned away from the door. From now on, he would be kinder to her than he had ever been to anyone he had ever known. He owed her at least that much.

"Mamoru-kun?" she said, her voice small and concerned. "Are you okay? I can hear you breathing—it sounds funny."

"I'm fine," he said, his voice rough and thick. It was ridiculous how much emotion this one girl could send ripping through him.

He could hear the frown in her voice. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," he said. "I promise." As the wave of emotion abated, he took a shaky breath and leaned his head back against the door. "Thank you, Usagi-chan," he whispered.

"For what?" she asked innocently.

He smiled bitterly, "For forgiving me."

Her voice suddenly became sharp. "Mamoru-kun, don't go beating yourself up for this! You already apologized! It's done, it's over."

"But Usagi-chan—"

"It's over!"

"Okay," he murmured. Silence followed. Then uncomfortably, "So…um…what now, Usagi-chan? You still have...approximately fifty-four minutes in the closet."

She groaned. "Are you serious? I thought the pockets would take up way more time then that!"

He chuckled, awkwardly at first, but slowly began warming up to the new feeling of their chatting. He and Usagi had a relationship. And a good one. He couldn't help smiling to himself in wonder of it.

She sighed. "I don't know. Let me think…" She was quiet for a few minutes and Mamoru's thoughts drifted to how things were going to be now. He was going to have to be careful not to revert to his old ways. But being able to see Usagi, and greet her, and have the fun, casual conversations about nothing that she had with Motoki and with her friends…that was going to be the fun part. It would be like getting to know her all over again.

"Ooh, I know!" she exclaimed suddenly. "We'll play a word association game!"

Mamoru grinned slowly. "A word association game?"

"Yeah! You know, I'll say a word, and then you tell me what comes to mind! That way I can get to know you! I mean, other than those really icky thick books you read, and your great taste in clothes, and um…yeah. New stuff!"

It sent a pang through his heart to know that that was all she could associate with him, but he was about to amend that, and that made it that much less painful. "All right, Usagi-chan. Go ahead."

"Um…okay…teddy bear."

Mamoru rolled his eyes. "Dumb."

"Dumb!" Usagi cried. "Mamoru-kun, how could you say that!"

Mamoru was amused by her reaction. "What do you mean how could I say that? They're dumb. It's a bunch of fuzzy cloth with cotton stuffed into it. What's the point?"

Usagi gasped incredulously. "You obviously never had a teddy bear!"

"No, actually I didn't, Usagi-chan," he replied smartly.

Usagi was quiet for a second and Mamoru was afraid he had said something wrong. Then she asked softly, "You didn't? Why not?"

Mamoru glanced at the door as if to see if she were serious. "I just didn't. No one ever gave me one."

"Your parents never gave you a teddy bear?" she replied in astonishment.

Mamoru picked at the carpet fibers. "Well, they might have, but I don't remember. They died when I was six, Usagi-chan." He just barely heard her gasp.

"Oh Mamoru…"

He flushed. "It's not that big a deal," he said, knowing that he was lying through his teeth.

"Of course it is!" she insisted. "You're so ornery because you never had a teddy bear!"

Mamoru couldn't help laughing in surprise. She was good at doing that… "What?"

"Well, it's obvious isn't it? If you had gotten a teddy bear from your parents, you would be perfectly normal. But you never had a teddy bear to love!" she explained.

Mamoru smiled in amusement. "Oh, is that what's wrong with me?"

"Absolutely! I'll have to get you a teddy bear."

He laughed. "You do that Usagi-chan." He would later be stunned when Usagi actually bought him a small, soft, dark brown teddy bear with a bright red bow around its neck. He didn't really expect anything like that from her. But she was full that kind of little surprise.

"All right, next word," she announced. "Ice cream."

"Cold."

She laughed and he felt his heart flutter in his chest. "Well, duh. Snow."

"Um…cold."

Again she laughed, this time louder. A grin split his face, a warm feeling expanding in his chest as he realized that he was the one making her laugh. "Mamoru-kun, you can't use the same word! Pick something else!"

He smiled and then after thinking for a second said, "Beautiful."

Usagi's voice was smiling and gently teasing when she spoke. "Aw, is the hardhearted Mamoru-kun showing a softer side of himself?" He smiled, but didn't reply. "Aardvark."

More surprised laughter. "Usagi-chan, are you serious?"

She grinned. "No. But I caught you off guard, didn't I?"

He smirked. "You got me."

"Dancing."

"Uncomfortable."

"Aw, really?"

"Really. Dancing with some fawning girl is not my idea of fun."

"Well you'll just have to dance with a girl who isn't fawning sometime and find out if it makes a difference!" she said optimistically.

Mamoru smiled. "Are you volunteering?"

Usagi blushed. 'Does he mean that?' "Um, sure, if you want me to."

Mamoru's eyes widened and a soft blush spread over his cheeks. Well he hadn't expected that. "How 'bout I give you some words now?" he finally said, clearing his throat.

Usagi nodded vigorously. "Okay!"

"Cockroach."

"Ewww, gross, Mamoru-kun!"

He laughed. "Okay, okay sorry, I couldn't resist. Rain."

"Refreshing."

"Roses."

"…love."

Mamoru's cheeks warmed.

"You know, it's kind of funny that this rose hasn't wilted yet," Usagi commented, reminding him that she had his transformation rose in the closet with her. It was a good thing Sailor Moon was keeping out of trouble today, because he would have been helpless to go to her rescue.

"That is kind of funny," he murmured. "Um…Tuxedo Kamen."

Usagi giggled. "That's two words silly. But I'll tell you anyway. Gorgeous."

For the second time since their little ordeal had begun, he was incredibly glad that there was a wooden door between them and she couldn't see his face. He coughed a few times in embarrassment, oddly flattered by her indirect compliment.

"Are you okay, Mamoru-kun?" she asked innocently.

"Eh, heh. Yeah. I'm fine," he muttered. "So um…how about…coffee?"

Usagi grinned, "I think of you Mamoru-kun. It's all you ever drink."

He grinned, "That's not true."

"Uh huh, sure." Then she sighed. "Now how much time, Mamoru-kun?"

Mamoru smiled and glanced at his watch. "You've got just another twenty seven minutes in my closet left."

"Really!" she squealed delightedly.

"Really," he replied. It was amazing how quickly the time had gone.

They're almost out of the woods! XD