Hello :)
With Makotos birthday coming up I made a little Christmas lovestory for my favorite Sailor Senshi. I hope you like it and please let me know what you think.
--
03.12.
"Have you ever skated before, Chibiusa?"
The pink haired girl glanced embarrassed at her white boots, and while several children passed by laughing merrily on the ice around her, a delicate shade of pink appeared on her cheeks.
In Chibiusa's eyes, skating was clearly too fast. And much too dangerous! Just the few meters she had managed on Makoto's hand to the middle of the mirror-smooth ice rink on shaky legs were worse than any Wisemen or Nehelenias together! That was no sport, but suicide. Clearly! Why the heck was her mother so talented at it?!
"In Crystal Tokyo it's a kind of popular sport, but... I haven't had the urge to stand on skids until now," Chibiusa explained, and her face color changed to a tomato red, since she had only told half the truth.
Her latest trip into the past was because of two main reasons; on the one hand she wanted to celebrate Christmas twice this year, because the Sailor Team and Mamoru had become like a second family to her and on the other hand she wanted to learn one thing for sure!
Ice skating!
And who was better suited to teach her this than the queen of skating par excellence, Makoto Kino? She had chosen an enchanting backdrop for this; during the Tokyo Tower Winter Fantasy, the city's landmark, the television tower, was illuminated every year during the Advent season with nearly 60,000 different lights, all of which blinked and sparkled in any imaginable colors. For this year they even built a huge ice rink in front of the tower, on which, fortunately for Chibiusa, not too many people tumbled.
The two of them were also dressed appropriately for the event; Chibiusa had brought a glittering pink tracksuit from the future, while Makoto was dressed in a grass-green skating outfit to look highly professional. With two brisk gliding movements she had already reached the other side of the ice and turned a fantastic Bielmann piruette.
She was really fabulous on the ice and could move so elegantly, despite her impressive height she literally floated and was so graceful. Chibiusa wanted to learn all this from her. Makoto was so multi-talented and always worked hard on herself, something Chibiusa had often admired and envied on Sailor Jupiter. How she would love to be a little bit like the beautiful senshi.
Makoto ran back, smiled at her with understanding and offered Chibiusa her hand again.
"You know, Chibiusa, before you do anything, you should have one thing in particular."
"What's that?"
"Faith. Faith can move mountains, they say. Only if you really believe in yourself, you can make it. Everything else is diligence, will and a lot of work. Nothing can come from nothing. But even if you do everything courageously and work hard on yourself... Without faith in yourself, you will not achieve anything."
These were truly wise words from her friend and Chibiusa understood that the brunette young woman before her was exactly the right motivator for her ambitious project. With a happy grin, Chibiusa finally took Makoto's hand and let her lead her across the ice. After a few stumbles, it worked smoothly and Chibiusa floated just like her great idol. At least until Makoto suddenly let her go. With a loud screeching, she ploped her butt onto the cold ground ungentle like her mother normally did.
"And here we go again, get right back on Chibiusa, who doesn't dare, who doesn't waaaahhhh!"
As if from nowhere, the brunette was suddenly swept off the ice by someone, so that she landed backwards on the floor... and the same someone on top of her.
"Hey, watch where you're skating!!!" Makoto hissed visibly acidified and rubbed the painful back of her head while a few stars were dancing in front of her eyes. Thank God she wore her hair to a ponytail that acted as a buffer between her and the icy ground.
"Oh, I'm really sorry, I wasn't paying attention, sorry, I... uh, Mako?"
From one moment to the next her pain was blown away and Makoto felt like she had returned to school when the stars disappeared and she got a clear view of the person who caused the impact and who was still lying on top of her. To be more precise, she felt just like that day when she had collided with someone in the pouring rain on her way home from school. This very someone was looking at her with a slight concern through his beautiful dark green eyes. He was quite close to her.
"Oh, Motoki!"
"I'm sorry, Mako. Are you okay?"
There he really was. Motoki Furuhata.
The dream of her teenage days. What a rapture she had for the most beautiful man in the entire Game Crown Center. But unfortunately he wasn't really into schoolgirls at the time, was in a steady relationship and found Makoto just "really cute". That had once hit her romantic schoolgirl heart really hard. But she had accepted it and was happy for him that he had found such a nice girlfriend in Reika. That's how life played out. But Motoki really deserved only the best.
"What are you doing here? I thought you were in Europe."
Something was suddenly in Motoki's eyes that she couldn't quite put on a finger when he finally got himself up and gallantly helped her up off the cold ice. He even blushed slightly around his cheeks and then explained as he ran his free hand through his sand blonde hair.
"Oh you know, it's Christmas Season and I wanted to take the chance and stop by good old Tokyo again. Besides that-"
He hesitated with his further explanation, but then decided to spit out which was lying on his mind
"...I intend to settle down permanently here in my hometown again."
All the alarm bells suddenly went off in Makoto's head. Motoki wanted to come back to Japan after four years? If she put two and two together, it could mean that maybe...
Slightly confused, she now looked at his hand that still held hers tightly. Hadn't he even noticed how this would look like to others?
Before either of them could say anything, Chibiusa jumped enthusiastically into the arms of her beloved name-uncle. Or rather, she had only just managed to get up, promptly slipped again and fell around Motoki's neck, which - to Makoto's slight regret - meant a separation of her hands that had previously been tightly clasped.
"Heeelllooooo Motoki! It's great to finally see you again. What's up?"
"Chibiusa! My, how you've grown in the last few months. How do you do that?"
Motoki's astonishment made Chibiusa uneasy for a moment. Until now, nobody had told Motoki that Chibiusa wasn't Usagi's cousin but the daughter of his best friend and his wife.
"Uhhh, well, I'm just growing at the moment. That is normal when you are a teenager. After all, I am already thirteen."
"Oh yes, I was once. It's funny. My life was a lot easier then. Well, let's leave that alone. How about I buy you both a hot cup of cocoa?"
Chibiusa clapped her hands enthusiastically while Makoto gave Motoki a sincere smile. She had become curious and was eager to learn the real reason for Motoki's sudden appearance here in Tokyo.
Less than ten minutes later, the three of them were standing at a cozy wine stand at the Christmas market. Motoki had - as he claimed with a slight wink to Makoto - treated himself to a glass of burnt punch to celebrate the day. Makoto held her non alcohol punch firmly in her arms while she dreamily inhaled the sweet steam of the hot drink.
Chibiusa looked up from her cocoa and confronted Motoki
"Now tell me about Motoki. Why aren't you in Europe anymore and where is Reika anyway?"
Motoki almost choked on his punch when she asked him, as he carefully sipped it.
Something was going on here!
"Well, so you know. Sometimes it's just that things change in life that you just can't influence yourself. That's how it was with Reika and me. Especially after Usagi's and Mamoru's wedding, we both somehow realized that there can't be a "we" anymore in the future."
Oh yes, the wedding. Makoto still remembered it well, especially the great party night. Everyone had celebrated happily until the early morning hours after the bridal couple had said goodbye. Rei and Ami had Yuichiro and Ryo in tow, Minako had surprisingly shown up with her new and at the same time old friend Alan and Makoto had been single at the beginning... but ever since Motoki accidentally caught the wedding bouquet and gave it to her, the two had somehow started inseparably into the wedding party evening. Reika had already said goodbye at that point as she had an important conference call with her professor in Europe that was supposed to be urgent and so Motoki was free for Makoto that evening as a grass widower.
Everyone had a great time and partied until late into the night. Rarely had Makoto had such a good time and Motoki had been a really good dancer, much to her surprise. Even months later, the memory of the great time with her friends brought a smile on her face.
"Uhh, does this mean that you guys broke up?"
Only now, with Chibiusa's direct question and Motoki's barely noticeable nod, did the actual information about the brunette sunk in. She dropped her cup in shock, which crashed to the floor with a loud bang and broke into umpteen pieces... but most of the sweetly sticky liquid landed on Motoki's shoes.
"Ahhhh oh please excuse Motoki" she rushed frantically to the floor and took a green handkerchief with a rose application out of her jacket pocket. Desperately trying to contain the mess she dabbed his brown suede shoes.
It seemed more than embarrassing for Motoki.
"Ah, Mako please, I wanted to buy new ones soon anyway. Besides -"
he bent down to her with a mark and put on a crooked smile.
"after I accidentally knocked you down on the ice just now...are we kind of even now, or what?"
Both looked deeply into each other's eyes. Makoto suddenly became hot, very very hot!
She stammered "E-even?" but was immediately interrupted by Chibiusa.
"Even? Oh no, you both still owe me a favor. A very big one even !!! Because of YOU I had to interrupt my skating training and because of YOU I now have lots of punch on my clothes!
Obviously, the lukewarm drink had spread not only over Motoki's suede shoes, but also over Chibiusa's brand new, glittering pink winter jacket. Makoto was just about to apologize again, when to her surprise Chibiusa mischievously grinned at her and Motoki.
The little lady had done her homework and understood in a flash that new opportunities were opening up for two particular, potential lovebirds in front of her, to whom she wanted to give an early Christmas present - especially now in the Christmas season.
"Don't say anything, or you'll only make things worse. However, I have an idea how you can quickly make up for your mistakes."
With these words, she pulled a wrinkled flyer out of her jacket pocket and stretched the unfolded piece of paper - which, by the way, now smelled like sugar-sweet punch - out in front of the two of them.
Makoto read through the information and then looked at Chibiusa with big eyes
"A Christmas fairy tale? The day after tomorrow?"
"Aren't you a little too old for that, Chibiusa?" Motoki remarked with a slightly amused expression.
"You're never too old for that. Let's go there together, okay?"
Makoto blushed slightly when she thought about going to a theater performance with Motoki, but then she thought of something else.
"To be honest, I don't know if I'll be able to get everything ready to go into the Christmas fairy tale by then."
"That's right Mako, your birthday's on December 5th." Motoki nodded approvingly.
He knew when her birthday was? Really?
"Nooooo, you can do this easily Makoto. After all, you're a professional in cooking and baking."
Addressing Motoki, the pink haired girl explained
"Makoto invited us all to her birthday. We celebrate in her pastry shop. Are you coming, too?"
When she made her spontaneous invitation, the blond man blushed slightly and once again embarrassedly ran a hand through his shiny blond hair.
"Oh yeah? Well, I don't know, I actually wanted to get sorted a few things concerning my move and-"
"Oh poppycock, that can wait! The day after tomorrow you'll go to the Christmas fairy tale with Makoto and me at noon and afterwards we'll all celebrate with delicious cakes, hot chocolate and coffee in Makoto's pastry shop...deal?"
"Deal!" both said happily to Chibiusa after they had given each other a short look deep into each other's eyes.
"Fantastic!" Chibiusa rubbed her hands enthusiastically. She would come up with a very good plan. Playing Armor... it was a perfect mission for her vacation in the past. Learning to skate had to wait for now.
05.12.
A warm and cozy feeling surrounded her heart as she watched the love of her youth. He had become even more beautiful in his mid-twenties. At that time, when he was still eighteen and she fourteen, the age difference between the two felt immensely large and hardly bridgeable. But now she was already 21, owned her own store and was even quite successful. After the stressful Christmas business, she was determined to take a few days off and spend a relaxing winter vacation in the mountains of Nagano together with the Chibas. So far unfortunately without (male) company.
"But what is not, can perhaps still become." she muttered under her breath as she marched towards Motoki and Chibiusa, who were already standing at the entrance to the opera. Actually, she didn't have time to show up here. She had finished the cakes and cookies, but the whole decoration was still missing. Well, later there was certainly some time left and maybe Motoki and Chibiusa could help her with the rest of the preparations before all the friends came.
"Oh hello Makoto, I already got the tickets. We have great seats," Chibiusa exclaimed enthusiastically and embraced the tall brunette happily.
"All the best and happy birthday!"
"Yes, uh, from me too, Mako," it came shyly from Motoki, who looked at her slightly flushed as she glanced over Chibiusa's shoulder at him, who was still eager to cuddle and hug Makoto.
"Uhh thank you" it came back from her with a slight gasp, because the little lady had slightly underestimated her powers and almost squeezed her friend's neck. But finally she let go of her and waved happily with three tickets in her hand while she took enthusiastically Motokis and Makotos arm.
"The Christmas fairytale this year is Hansel and Gretel. Oh, I am so excited! Hurry up, otherwise they'll start without us."
Makoto hesitantly let herself be dragged along. Her little hope that she could sit next to her crush today vanished when she realized that the "top seats" provided a great view of the piece, but unfortunately they weren't next to each other.
This was not exactly how she had imagined her birthday, when a rather old man sat down next to her shortly before the performance began and started snoring loudly even before the first tones of the fairy tale sounded. There were only two seats next to each other and Motoki had insisted that Chibiusa sit next to Makoto so she wouldn't be alone.
Just as the conductor entered the orchestra pit and the first in the audience began to clap, Makoto heard not a snore next to her any longer but a restrained clearing his throat.
"Oh sorry, but something must have gotten mixed up with our seats. Would you mind swapping seats with me?"
The old man blinked and then looked astonished at Motoki and then at Makoto and Chibiusa. Something in him seemed to work briefly until he put on a smile and explained to the blond man in front of him
"Yes, of course I would like to. Your daughter has been looking forward to the fairy tale so much and your wife looks a bit devastated that you are not sitting next to her. I have to say, all respect, you're both in your mid-twenties at most and already have such a big daughter? Well that must be love!"
With these words the old man stood up and offered his place to a tomato red Motoki. Makoto was still in embarrassing shock and could not say anything else as the Christmas fairy tale began. She was pretty sure she would sit next to Motoki for an hour and a half as if on hot coals. Chibiusa just grinned broadly. The first part of today's goal had already been achieved.
--
Barely two hours later, Makoto, Motoki and Chibiusa stood in front of Makoto's confectionery. They had all enjoyed the Christmas fairy tale to the full, even though there was still a strange tension between Makoto and Motoki because of the old man's commentary.
Makoto opened the store door and immediately found herself confronted with a bunch of people who were happily singing loudly in the choir
SURPRISE!!!!
They had all come and...had secretly prepared everything for the birthday party. With a brief sideways glance at Chibiusa Makoto spoke to her friends
"Oh, what a great surprise! Now I also know why Chibiusa absolutely wanted to go with me to the Christmas fairy tale today."
"Yeah, so we could get you out of the way and organize everything here," Minako said with a wink.
"It was really quite exhausting. At least one of us had to keep watch at the cake buffet so Usagi wouldn't eat secretly," Rei noticed with a loud sigh.
"Hey, I didn't get anything to eat since this morning either. So it's normal that I'm hungry, okay?"
With these words, Makoto took a closer look at her friend Usagi. They had last seen each other about a month ago.
Somehow, Usagi, who is usually so slim and willowy, seemed to be a bit... fat. She also had a certain glow around her cheeks which surely wasn't caused by the cold outside. Besides, she always held her belly or put a hand in her back. When she observed her more closely, the blonde young woman could not breathe very well. Strange.
Mamoru had always been the "slightly overprotective" type with regard to his Usako, but today he really hung on his newlywed wife like a magnet. Well, newlywed was good. The two still seemed to have fallen head over heels in love recently, but they had been married for three months.
At that time, Motoki had appeared at the wedding with Reika and it was even rumored that they might be the next in the circle of friends who would dare to tie the knot. To everyone's surprise, Motoki caught the bridal bouquet and handed it over to Makoto with the lame excuse that she had made it and he wished her to find her dream prince soon. Looking back, Reika had already been a bit frustrated at that time and had also seemed to be somewhat absent. Was that the only thing she hadn't had an eye for back then?
Chibiusa finally got Makoto out of her thoughts by ringing a small golden bell.
"So Makoto, as you can see, your friends have been very busy decorating...aaand also rehearsed something for you."
Now Makoto was slightly flabbergasted. They had rehearsed something? For her? Before Makoto could answer anything, Rei had pushed a chair underneath her from behind and put the tall brunette on it. Afterwards, she stood next to Minako, Ami and Usagi who all had put on red Christmas caps. And then, her mouth was open when Motoki stood next to the girls, conjured a guitar out of nowhere and put on a Santa hat as well.
Had all this been planned after all and had she not had an eye for it due to all the stress of the last weeks?
"Dear Mako, we know that friendship is the most important thing to you and even though you said that you don't want to have any presents from us, we still wanted to give you something. Namely a very special song."
Tears rose in Makoto's eyes as Motoki gently tuned in to the first sounds with his guitar. She really didn't know that he mastered this instrument like...a young god... and then he started singing and Makoto's tears ran down her cheeks uncontrollably.
"When your legs dont work like they used to before
And I cant sweep you off of your feet
Will your mouth still remember the taste of my love
Will your eyes still smile from your cheeks."
It was her absolute favorite song. He knew that. She had whispered it in his ear at the wedding party, being a little tipsy, while they danced to the song in close embrace. He had only smiled at her and carried her gently in his strong arms to the music.
The girls hummed to the guitar sounds as background singers, while Motoki sang for Makoto from the bottom of his heart
"And darling I will be loving you 'til we're 70
And baby my heart could still fall as hard at 23
And I'm thinking 'bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways
Maybe just the touch of a hand-"
Did he mean her? With that song? Were these HIS feelings, which he just didn't dare to express out loud? Her heart was on fire! He touched her very deeply with his words in her soul. Her fragile, little heart that had been broken many times. Also by him. At that time. But now? Could it be that... there was hope?
As if in a trance, she listened to his warm, deep, beautiful voice and it almost felt as if she was all alone with him in this so lovingly decorated room. Surrounded by the finest smell of delicious cake and coffee, hot chocolate and the warm, cozy feeling in her heart.
Love. Yes, this is what love feels like.
'...And we found love right where we are'*
"That... that was really... the best gift I ever got." she finally managed to say after a few moments of silence in which somehow nobody really knew what was going on in Makoto's pastry shop when Motoki played the last chords.
Motoki touched the back of his head and finally said
"Ahh, we're so glad, Mako, we had first thought about singing some Christmas carols, but you said at the wedding that you liked this song best, so I thought-"
"Motoki, it was perfect! Just look at Makoto's face, man, you have put her on fire... and now we've got to get down to the delicious cakes and pies, I'm starving!!!
Everyone shouted enthusiastically "Yee-ha!" in the choir and followed Chibiusa's order all too willingly.
The afternoon was a huge party. Rei and Minako took turns doing their best at karaoke, Usagi had happily eaten at least five pieces of cake and Mamoru held her bravely on his lap the whole time as if he didn't want to let her go. Ami read for Chibiusa one Christmas story after the other and Makoto and Motoki talked about everything and anything. They realized more and more how much they had in common, what similar views they shared and what they both wanted for the future. family. At least three children, both boys and girls. A chic big house in Azabu-Juban, although neither of them could afford it at the moment, and lots of good friends around them who went through life with them.
Motoki wanted to work at the Crown again in the new year, but he had been offered the position of manager and already had a lot of new ideas on how to turn the old, somewhat dusty business into something new.
Suddenly, as they all sat together so happily, Motoki's phone rang. With a serious look he gazed at the display and apologized to Makoto
"Oh, excuse me. I have to take this."
Makoto nodded, and when she heard him say her name, all her future dreams were shattered
"Reika... what's wrong?"
Motoko listened attentively and his face darkened from second to second. Quickly he was out of the pastry shop with a few steps and continued to talk in the cold, gesticulating excitedly and wildly. He had not even put on a jacket.
"Um? What has Motoki got all of a sudden," Usagi asked while she shovelled the sixth piece of cake onto her plate.
Makoto didn't look at her but followed Motoki with her look out of the window who had hung up and stared angrily into his phone.
"I don't know." she honestly admitted. When Motoki came back, there was a guilty look in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, but I have to go now. There... there are some things I have to sort out."
He exchanged a quick glance with Mamoru, then said to the others.
"I wish you all a nice celebration today, but unfortunately I have to catch a plane."
"What? But you can't just leave now, Motoki. We're going to the rink later."
Chibiusa was obviously disappointed with Motoki's premature departure. She still had a mission to accomplish and everything was going so well so far.
But Motoki was already out the door - this time with his coat, cap and scarf - and about to call a cab.
"Tell me Mamoru, maybe you know something more," Usagi now addressed her husband. All others followed her questioning look and waited anxiously for Mamoru's answer.
Slightly embarrassed, he scratched his head and obviously, he had to think twice if he should really tell what he knew.
"Well, you know. Motoki and Reika have only recently separated and... something happened that Motoki hadn't quite expected."
"Spit it out, Mamoru. We want to know now! What's wrong with Reika?!"
Makoto suspected something really, really bad. There was only one thing in the world that could make someone like Motoki travel halfway around the world...
Mamoru sighed again loudly and then let the cat out of the bag
"Reika is pregnant."
24.12.
Bravely, Makoto stomped packed with bags of delicious stuff from her car through the snowy streets of Azabu-Juban towards the apartment of the Chibas. Thank God the others were in charge of buying the ingredients for the main course of this year's Christmas dinner. With three pies, two cakes and all kinds of freshly baked cookies, she had been snowed under with baking anyway. Now Makoto stood in front of the entrance door to the reception hall and knocked the snow off her Bordeaux-colored coat.
Three weeks. Three unspeakably long, agonizing weeks had passed since Motoki had disappeared from Tokyo and thus from her life again.
When Mamoru had told her and the girls that Reika was in a delicate situation, Makoto had felt devastated at first. That had been the best and at the same time the worst birthday ever for her. She and Motoki could have become something real. At least he seemed to be free for a new love again. But if Reika was expecting a child, it was more than clear that Motoki would try to fix his relationship with Reika as soon as possible.
Makoto sighed loudly before the elevator doors opened and got finally in.
Another year had passed. As a single. Sure, she had put a lot of her time into her store and every now and then handsome men came in. But somehow nobody was like... Motoki.
When she arrived at the floor of Mamoru's and Usagi's apartment, she slowly walked down the hall and could already hear the Christmas music from the open door. As well as the wonderful smell of freshly mulled wine.
"Oh, it is great to have such wonderful friends. What do I need love when I have such lovely people around me?"
she muttered under her breath and took the last steps towards the apartment door. Makoto was amazed; the living room of the new penthouse apartment of the Chibas was decorated absolutely gorgeously. A huge, colorful Christmas tree stood on the side of the impressive glass front with a truly exclusive view of the Tokyo Tower, the landmark of their beloved hometown.
But not only the apartment shone in all its glory. Everyone had dressed up. Rei and Yuichiro wore funny Christmas sweaters, Minako wore something indefinable made of latex and tulle in bright red while her friend Alan wore typical British traditional tweet, Ami and Ryo appeared in a mega chic partner look consisting of a dark jacket and matching casual chino pants and Mamoru wore a classic tuxedo. Usagi and Chibiusa both wore pink princess dresses, but the blonde young woman should have bought her dress two sizes bigger. Well, no matter. Everyone looked simply fantastic!
"Hey Makoto, come in! We were just talking about you!"
"Did you bring cake?"
Makoto grinned broadly and held up the stacked boxes in her hands
"Of course! We'll start right away, and then we'll start on the starter for the Christmas menu."
The party was in full swing and everyone was enjoying themselves, when Mamoru finally took a spoon and clinked it against his champagne glass. Obviously, there was something to announce because Usagi also rose a bit clumsy from the couch and snorted slightly.
"Dear friends, we are so happy that you all could make it to be here with us tonight on this special day. You are nothing more than family to us, so we wanted to take advantage of our gathering to tell you about the wonderful news that came to us almost three weeks ago. Usako?"
Mamoru turned his deeply in love look to his beloved wife, who blushed slightly and then blurted out with the news, beaming at her future daughter
"Chibiusa, I'm expecting you!"
"Whaaaaaaatttt?"
cried everyone at the same time and suddenly a wild babble of voices broke out. Everybody wanted to hug the mother-to-be and her husband, to congratulate and cuddle her. Finally it was Makoto's turn and she gave her friend a heartfelt, intimate hug
"This is the best news ever! I am so incredibly happy for you, for us! Oh, this is gonna be sooooo great."
And with a look at Mamoru, she managed to say
"Well, then you and Motoki will become daddies almost at the same time. Congratulations."
Now Mamoru looked at her honestly confused
"What do you mean, Makoto? Since when will Motoki become a father?"
"Uhhhh"
now it was Makoto's turn to be at a loss
"Because Reika's pregnant?"
This statement gave her a look from Mamoru that she had never seen on him before. It was a mixture of insight, horror and relief when he finally explained
"Oh my God, Makoto! You've got that completely wrong. Now I realize a lot. Come."
Mamoru ignored the congratulating crowd, grabbed the brunette by the arm and dragged her into the kitchen. There he grabbed his head and obviously struggled with how best to explain the whole thing to her. Finally he found a suitable start
"First of all, it is true that Reika is expecting a child... ...but it's definitely not Motoki's!"
"It is not?" Makoto looked at him in disbelief.
"No, and that was also more or less the reason for their break up. Reika had an affair with her professor for several months and finally she confessed it to Motoki. Right after we got married."
Makoto felt sick all of a sudden. Reika had cheated on Motoki?
"And that's why he came back from Europe?"
"Well, not quite... ...but it's best if he explains it to you himself." Mamoru's look was unfathomable. He would be the perfect poker player. "Anyway, they broke up amicably and Reika officially dated her professor. But when she found out that she was pregnant, her new boyfriend had a panic attack and dumped her. Thereupon she called Motoki and... you know him. He never lets anyone down."
Makoto tried to follow the whole story as best she could.
"So did he drop everything because he wanted to help her in her emergency?"
"He tracked down the professor, confronted him and gave him a good talking to. That must have had an effect, because he finally came back to Reika in remorse and the two of them even got married in a registry office almost two weeks later. Maybe you can guess who her best man was?"
Makoto was totally flabbergasted. How bad must it have been for Motoki? But if he had acted the way Mamoru had told him, then he was really more than done with his love for Reika. Right?
"Mamoru... Why are you telling me all this?
In disbelief, the brunette stared at him.
"I think it's more than important that YOU, of all people, should know the truth. Motoki asked me to keep this whole thing quiet though. I didn't even tell Usako."
"You want me to know the truth? Why?"
Mamoru kept his poker face.
"You'd better ask him that yourself. You will have your chance soon. He is also invited to the party."
Makoto's heart suddenly fluttered. But all this knowledge about Reika's pregnancy didn't help her either. Motoki would come here? What did she look like anyway? What could she say to him? How should she behave towards him? He had left her without any explanation, ran away from her birthday party and took the next plane to Reika. But somehow it all fit to Motoki. He was so reliable, so responsible. So-
"Oh dear" it came from Makoto all of a sudden, for which she once again received a confused look from Mamoru
"Uhhh, what is it?"
"Oh, damn, I left another cake in my car."
All of a sudden, her thoughts about the sand blond man were swept away and had to make space for a completely different subject. After all, it was an absolutely special cake that Makoto had put the greatest effort into.
Three weeks ago, she had already put two and two together when Usagi's unrestrained hunger for cake was mentioned and therefore, she had made a baby cake especially for today's occasion. Well, it wasn't exactly a baby cake but rather a cake in the shape of a pink heart. Chibiusa was supposed to have something of the announcement of her upcoming birth and she had formed extra skates out of marzipan and used them as decoration.
When she took a quick look at the snow flurry outside, she had little desire to go out in the cold, but the cake was a Christmas present for the chibas.
Makoto quickly ran back to the living room and headed straight for the Genkan while muttering a short apology to her friends
"I'll just go down to the car and get something else that I forgot. I'll be right back."
She closed the door quietly behind her and took the steps in the stairwell. As soon as she opened the door to the entrance hall, she was met by an icy chill. She quickly stomped through the now meter-high snow and cursed herself that she had left the most important cake in the car.
While she carefully lifted the present out of the trunk, she continued to rant and rave.
"Faith, faith moves mountains," they say. Pah, what was I kidding myself? No matter how much I wish for it, he won't show up and confess his love to me. How could he? As if I'd ever been lucky in any way in such a way ahhhhhhh-"
What Makoto didn't quite realize was that a layer of ice had formed under the freshly fallen snow on the sidewalk, which now resembled an ice surface more like a sheet of ice. The otherwise so well-versed figure skater, armed with a cake and praying inside and screaming loudly outside, now slid across the sidewalk until she finally drove right into someone and completely knocked them down.
With her eyes still firmly closed, she dared to blink briefly at the box directly in front of her. It was still intact. Nothing looked crushed on the outside. That was probably also because two gloves held it from both sides. There were even hands in them. Big ones. Obviously they belonged to a man. On which Makoto more or less lay.
"Oh gee, I'm really sorry about that, I wasn't paying attention where I was going...errrer"
She could hardly believe who was underneath her as the cake box was carefully lifted by both hands and revealed the man's face.
"Motoki?"
Instead of an expected red tone, only a broad, crooked grin appeared on his face.
"Mako, hello!"
Motoki carefully placed the box with the cake next to him on the curb and turned his full attention back to the girl who was still lying on top of him
"So, uh, did you come back?"
It was more of a statement than a question, and Motoki's grin only deepened.
Before Makoto could move on to another declarative question, the blond man directly below her explained
"Mamoru just called me and asked me if I could make it in time for the party and I said no, I have some urgent business to do."
"Oh" it came from Makoto, who wanted to get up from the floor or better said from Motoki, but strong arms prevented her from doing so, because... Motoki was not finished yet
"Yes, there is something I should have done when I caught Usagi's bridal bouquet"
"Oh yeah?" she whispered only, because however he had done it, but her lips were now dangerously close.
"Yeah, that."
And no further explanation was needed as he placed his lips on hers and wrapped his arms tightly around her. Thus they kissed passionately in the middle of the snowy sidewalk, while the snowflakes danced around them, the most beautiful Christmas carols sounded from the open stores and exactly nine pairs of eyes amusedly eyed them from the 12th floor of an apartment complex.
"Oh God, that's beautiful. Mamoru, Chibiusa, you did such a great job. I could cry at the sight of those two lovebirds on the sidewalk!"
Usagi had tears of emotion in her eyes and was already looking forward to the upcoming winter vacation with Mamoru, Chibiusa, Baby-Chibiusa, Motoki and Makoto.
"Christmas is the feast of love, Mama. I am so happy that I can spend it this year with you too."
Chibiusa snuggled very close to her future mother and stroked her lovingly over her slightly spherical belly
"This is going to be a great cuddle time. For all of us." she grinned contentedly and looked out of the window again with all the others at the two lovers who had forgotten not only the cake but the whole rest of the world around them in the snow flurry.
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Songwriter: Amy Wadge / Edward Christopher Sheeran
Lyrics by Thinking Out Loud Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Bucks Music Group