A/N: It seems that this chapter is a tad short... oh well! I'll update more tomorrow. Enjoy for now!

Thanks:

jessicam242: Well, what better way to find out other than reading? Please enjoy this chapter, thank you for reviewing!

bunnykim89: They are cute, aren't they? One of my favorite anime couples. She does seem sick, doesn't she? Hehehe. Anyhoo, thanks for the reaview, enjoy the chapter!

SailorMoonForever: Hmmm... eating disorder, you say? That's a good one to have picked up from the second chapter. Thanks for your review, enjoy this chapter!

Credits: I DO NOT OWN SAILOR MOON! But the story is all a creation of my mind!

Summery: Tsukino Usagi, already facing a brutal life of an orphanage, now has to help Chiba Mamoru with his hate for life by attempting to be his friend and helping him see the wonders of love. All this proves to harden when she is a targeted with a sickness she would not reveal to anyone but the doctors. With her life-line reducing dramatically, how can she keep the promise she made to her new friend and herself when death could just as well be around the corner?

To Teach Him To Love

Chapter 3

For two weeks, Mamoru and I worked on our friendship. There were occasions when Mamoru was cold towards me. I had learned that he did not mean it. He was really hurting inside. I would leave him alone to think. But that was in the morning. During the night, we shared a kind of bond that could not be explained. It was as if when twilight arrived, the walls around us fell with it. I would go to his room and we would tease each other for hours. As a result, we ended up sleeping through mornings and occasionally afternoons. Mr. and Mrs. Wayne would not mind it. They were, instead of worried, gleeful. And Mamoru could now hear me between the fifty four centimetre table during breakfast, and I didn't even have to strain my voice for him anymore. It was all working out, and we both felt like we had found something very, very special in each others company.

Mamoru told me that his parents died in a car accident and they were all a very, very tight family. I told him about how I ended up here at Lilly Valley Orphanage. When we share such secrets between each other, it is as if our lives at stronger knotted. Right now, it was as if the string in the knot was about to rip off because of the strength put into it to tie it up, but somehow it just managed to not break.

My birthday came and went, and no one cared, like usual. Or so I thought. When I came into my room, an hour before twilight, I found a red box tied with a golden bow on my bed. It was small, it was precious. Inside it was a beautiful perfume bottle which curled up in this fancy way, and a note. Mamoru had written 'Happy birthday, bunny' in his neat cursive. He signed it 'love Mamoru', and not 'sincerely', which had made me keep the note itself. I did not use the perfume, though. I would never use it except for when a special day between him and me would come. And I kept it in that little red box, along with the letter.

But then… a horrible, horrible thing happened a few days after my birthday. It all began with a little pain in my chest and throat. But the pain grew. It grew into a tremendous agony, not enough for even me to bear…

--

It was a normal afternoon. I had come down to have breakfast, and sat down at my new usual chair in front of Mamoru. We shared a secret glance at each other to make sure that neither of us were upset, and then went along eating our breakfast. We'd whisper a few words to each other when no one was in the room and pick at our foods..

But then, the pain in my chest started.

I spit out the piece of bread that Mamoru had stuffed in my mouth in the middle of my protest, telling me that I needed to eat more, again, and hugged my body, waiting for the pain to increase.

It didn't disappoint me…

Mamoru knew the procedure. By now, everyone around me knew the procedure. He was up from his seat in seconds, forcing my hands to part from around myself so that I could breathe easily… But this time, it was different.

The pain didn't stop at my throat. After it reached my throat, I felt it lower down to my waist, it crawled to my knees and wimply slugged to my toes.

I heard myself scream, the first loud sound I had ever made.

I saw Mamorus eyes glance around the room, worried. When I saw him get up, I yelled for him not to leave me.

He looked torn between getting me help or staying by my side. I fell out of my chair to my knees, clutching myself again.

"Mamoru… no…" I managed to whimper.

He was by my side again. I felt his warmth through the vital stings of the needles inside of me. My breathing began to shallow again.

"Usagi, don't do that. You know you can't breathe when you do that!"

I screamed again.

"Mr. Wayne!" I heard Mamoru call.

No one came.

"Mrs. Wayne!"

I heard the precious seconds pass, and the pain did not stop. I could feel myself drifting off… blacking out. I did not want to black out…

Finally, Mr. Wayne ran into the room. His eyes landed on us, and in a second, he was yelling orders to Mamoru and dialing a number on his phone.

Mrs. Wayne joined us after that. She helped Mamoru carry me to the love seat in the living room next to the dining room. She then applied a cold cloth to my forehead, but I wouldn't admit that it did nothing.

That was the last thing I felt.

The next thing I knew, I woke up with doctors hovering over me. I heard a rapid "beep, beep, beep" to my right. I noticed the wires strapped to my skin.

I began to panic. I heard the "beep, beep" thing exhilarate until it was running wild.

"Calm down! Calm down!" one man said.

"Where am I? What am I doing here?!"

The panicky edge to my voice felt unfamiliar. It felt… loud. It was as if my ears had gained their ability of hearing three times of what it used to be.

"You're in the hospital. You've been unconscious for almost thirty four hours."

"Thirty… four?"

"That's right. How do you feel?"

I pondered that question. "I feel…" The beeping slowed. "I feel like… I'm going to puke."

"I am so sorry about that. Ms. Tsukino, I want you to listen to me."

I nodded.

"You have a sickness."

I listened to the doctor tell me about this 'sickness'. He told me that my life was being affected because of it. He told me that I have carried it for years, and it had just spread for no particular reason. And he told me that I had only two months left to live, from what he could tell.

That did it.

"Two months!"

"I'm sorry, Ms. Tsukino."

"B-but I can't die! I have got someone I need to live for!"

I did not want to die. I knew it wasn't because I was selfish. It was because I promised Mamoru once, so many days ago when our friendship was in new bloom, that I would be there for him forever. I told him forever! This was hardly forever! Two months?! I just couldn't die in two months! I-I couldn't! What would happen to Mamoru? I'd hurt him so, so much!

The doctor brushed the wet from my cheeks, and that's when I noticed I had begun to cry.

I couldn't die. I wanted to live!

'I take it back!' my mind screamed at the heavens. 'I don't want to die! I take back all those times I had said I wanted to die! I don't want to die! Do you hear me?! I don't!!'

I closed my eyes tightly, and reopened them, hoping this was all just a bad dream. But it wasn't.

My life was ending – soon.

And I had no say in this whatsoever. Huh... This sorta reminds me of the thought, "You don't know what you have until the end".

--

The doctor left after I made them promise not to tell anyone about this, not even my caregivers, giving me time to process all the information that has been laid out onto me. It was a few hours later that a nurse came in, telling me I had guests.

"Bring them in," I sighed.

"Usagi… oh, Usagi…"

I looked up, unsmiling. Mr. and Mrs. Wayne stood at the door. Mrs. Wayne had tears in her eyes, and Mr. Wayne had laid a protective hand on her shoulder.

"Hey," I croaked. Now that I had time to relax, I realized that my throat hurt. Apparantly, it was because of the scans that the doctors had done. The put some tube down my throat. Glad to know I wasn't awake for that.

"Oh… Are you alright?"

"Barely…"

Mrs. Wayne walked over to me, wrapping me in a tight bear hug. "Oh… Usagi…"

"I have… two months left to live."

My voice sounded weak and dull. I had accepted this, but I did not want it.

"No… No! That's not…"

Mr. Wayne rushed to Mrs. Wayne to hug her.

"That's not fair!" I heard her sob into Mr. Wayne's shirt.

You're telling me.

"What do you have?! What disease caused such a change?!"

I ignored Mr. Wayne's question. Instead, I asked my own.

"Is Mamoru with you?"

I was hoping he wasn't. I didn't want to tell him – but he deserved to know, I knew.

"Yes," Mr. Wayne said. "He is."

TBC

A/N: Please review!