10: Comfort

It took Mamoru a moment to realise the girl was almost asleep; half of him wanted to let her go to sleep, but the other half knew that they had to talk. That half also knew that if she slept, all she would dream of was Rei.

Usagi turned and looked up at him, her blue eyes wide, Mamoru returned the gaze; he had the biggest urge to apologise, though for what, he had no idea. It was funny, even though her clothes were still skanky, the look on her face was the old Usagi, not this new one. Well maybe not funny, considering the fact that Rei was in hospital and had been shot, but it was interesting, to say the least. Mamoru felt a pang, he was deceiving this girl, she probably still thought he was Darien; Gods, what a mess, how did this happen? Mamoru frowned; he knew exactly how it had happened: he had pushed Usagi away and that had probably caused her massive change in personality.

"Can I get you anything?" He asked quietly, realising her gaze still rested upon his face.

She shook her head, "No, it's just that you remind me of someone I knew a long time ago. And I don't really want you to move…" her voice was croaky because of her crying; she sniffed, a few tears leaking out of her eyes as she remembered Rei lying on the pavement, not moving.

Mamoru's arms tightened around the girl even more, if that was possible, and suddenly she was glad to have this half stranger here. She thought this moment would be awkward, when she finally finished sobbing, but it wasn't, it was the most natural thing in the world, and she had no idea why.

"I-It-It's my fault, if I hadn't.. oh god's if I'd just been there…why did I ever.." Her words were cut off by her own sobs, as they started afresh. Darien just held her until she had herself under control again, then he spoke.

"It's been a tough night, I know, poor Rei…" His voice died away as Usagi's blue eyes shot him a piercing glance.

"How did you know her name?" Usagi demanded, she would have sat up, but his arms were too tight around her. What had been a comforting embrace only seconds before had turned to a set of confining chains.

Inwardly, Mamoru gulped, this was not how he planned for her to find out who he was, in fact, it was the worst possible scenario. "I met her a while ago, we had some mutual friends," He kept his voice neutral, trying to sound as if he had only met her a few times.

Usagi's eyes narrowed, her mouth pursed, "When?" she asked viciously.

"I don't really remember, about 6 months ago maybe," He knew she wouldn't be able to refute this, because he knew they hadn't been friends the past year and a half. She softened, as he thought she might, relaxing once more into his arms. Mamoru let out an inward sigh of relief, disaster averted for now.

Usagi resettled herself, putting her head in his lap now, instead of leaning against his chest; and soon her breath evened out and it was obvious the traumatised girl had fallen asleep.

Mamoru let out a deep breath; he had averted that only just… He had no idea what was going to happen when she finally found out, but he was sure it would be scary. Mamoru's deep blue eyes sought out Usagi's face, hidden in his lap; she was deeply asleep enough for him to move her to Motoki's guest room bed.

It was weird, no matter how long he'd been away, he still knew his way around; Mamoru felt like he was fitting back into his old life. I mean, here Usagi was, head in his lap (well maybe that hadn't happened in his old life, but it was damn well making this one better), and he was realising how much he'd missed everything about her.. Stop that! Called the idiotic part of his brain (also the part of his brain that had forced him to push Usagi away, when it got too scared of his body's feelings), What do you think you're – No. The sane part of his brain finally chimed in, I'm happy and you're not going to stop me. And with that, the horrible little voice was silenced,

Mamoru was pleased with himself, finally! That voice had been tormenting him since a few weeks before he left, ultimately causing his decision to leave. He felt like pulling an Usagi-like face at the voice; which reminded him that he had been standing next to the bed for the last minute. Now for a new argument inside his head: to lie down next to her, or not? The vulnerable girl made a faint cry in her sleep, and that made up his mind. Mamoru lay down and took her in his arms once more, soothing her into nicer dreams; he was soon asleep himself.

Usagi woke first, when she accidentally moved her body the wrong way; it had taken her a moment to realise what she was doing in Darien's arms, and to remember the previous night. Usagi was content to stay where she was until further notice, or until Darien woke up and moved away from her. This was odd for Usagi; usually she would leave straight after doing anything in a bed, but not today.

The blonde girl felt odd, the past few days had almost sent her back to her previous self; in fact, she had a craving for longer skirts and hair. She wanted to tone down her clothes, her makeup; in fact, she just wanted to be herself again. Maybe if she'd been herself Rei would have been okay, maybe… No, Usagi reined in her thoughts; this could only lead to bad things. What's worse than being the cause of your friend's injury and near death? She's not my friend! She's not anything to me anymore! … But she used to be something to you, and that's not going to go away…

Hey guys, look! New chapter! And i'm finally getting into the fluffy stuff! YAY! However, i doubt the next chapter will be so nice... you'll see anyways.. I'm going to put review replies on my homepage in a few days.. i'm just too tired and lazy to do them now, but know that i completely appreciate all responses!

xx Usa