a/n: Ah! So I've decided to update because you all actually REVIEWED! I was going to wait until 15 people had but then I decided fuck it, I'm going to anyway. And that deserves something eh? I guess the Mamoru enticement worked well- lord knows Mamoru is enticing . There is a fair amount of angst in this chapter but, really, what do you expect? It's Mamoru before Usagi and we all know that he wasn't a very happy person before our dear Usa came into his life. He's obviously got some issues that I'm touching on here- just giving you all a taste of his personality. This is my first time actually writing from his POV (sorta) and it's really fun! I like writing angst more than mushy crap (does that bode well for the outcome of this story- I don't know- but I do like happy endings so….) Oh, and any problems with the chapter please forgive me and tell me, I typed this fast, and I don't have a beta-reader (does anyone want to beta read this?) so it might be…..lacking…. Anyway,

ENJOY- and review

Disclaimer: Refer to chapter one

The Antique Locket

Chapter II: The Gallivanting Song of Solitude

Crown Game Center, Azabu Juuban, Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan- Present Day
'I don't even like coffee,'

He stared absently at the mug of the substance that had been placed in front of him. That was placed in front of him every day, courtesy of one Arcade owner, and best friend.

'Am I really stuck in that mundane of an existence that I order black coffee everyday not because I want it but because I don't know what I want?'

He was often philosophic over coffee. Well, to be fair, Mamoru was often philosophic period. He was the sort of man that contemplated life at every tick of the minute hand and he raved about sticking to hard facts. Because in dealing with hard facts life could not be questioned. Yet, Mamoru sometimes, much to his chagrin, found himself questioning life.

Yes, Chiba Mamoru was a hypocrite, though no one knew that except himself.

And the coffee he mused to of course.

He muttered a dull "thanks" to Motoki, who gave him a chipper "welcome" in return. And then he continued to stare into his coffee mug, looking for the answer to his problems. And to life.

'I shouldn't be drinking caffeine; I already can't sleep at night.'

For all of Mamoru's accomplishments he had never conquered the insomnia that seemed to have started after his parents' bizarre car accident when he was six. The doctor part of Mamoru- the part that was more often present than not, for this was the part that was philosophic- admitted it might be a psychological response to the trauma brought on by such a great loss. The doctor-part knew that many people, especially children, dealt with difficult situations by repressing the memories that hurt them. Mamoru had no memory from his life before the car accident.

Sleep itself had always scared Mamoru as a child because he was afraid of the darkness that he saw behind his eyelids when he closed his eyes. When he had first emerged from the coma that was induced by the car accident, Mamoru had not been able to see. Though now, at 21, he knew that seeing the darkness behind his eyelids when his eyes were closed was a normal thing, when he was six he had had no such knowledge. He had been afraid that every time he closed his eyes he went blind- and Mamoru, even now, did not like the darkness that always seemed to be skirting about the edge of his memory, and his vision.

However, the other part of Mamoru- the part that was the less mature 21 year old man- thought that maybe he was thinking too hard about all of this, and he should, maybe, look into getting a prescribed sleeping medicine.

'But when I do sleep, I like my dreams.'

Mamoru grimaced and took a sip of his, now lukewarm, coffee. Sighing he sat up from his hunched over position over the coffee cup and winced as he discovered a crick in his neck.

'Whatever the reason is,' He thought to himself as he stood up, retrieved a few bucks from his pocket, waved a farewell to Motoki while dropping the cash on the Arcade's counter, and began to walk out. 'I really need a life.'

Yes, Chiba Mamoru was not a happy man, though no one knew that except himself.

Because no one ever got close enough to see.

He dreamt of her in moonlight and the darkness that gathered around her was infinite, but it never touched her.

She stood on a balcony in his dreams. And there was always a veil of something obstructing his vision so he could not see her clearly. She would turn to him, starlight jewelry glowing on her neck and ears. And her eyes were the most magnificent azure he had ever seen. Furious in their sorrow and radiant in their intensity.

He could not understand what she was saying when she spoke to him.

And when he tried to call out to her he could not understand his words.

And when she started to cry, and in his dreams she always did, his heart felt as if it was pierced with something- cold and dark and unyielding.

And then the darkness that always surrounded her that was always held at bay, would break lose and cloud his vision even more. Chiba Mamoru did not like the darkness.

She had always seemed beyond the threshold of everything and anything. The music that played in his dreams was one that he could never grasp the tune of, yet he hummed it unconsciously under his breath during the day time and was often questioned as to what tune he was humming so diligently.

"I'm humming?" He'd ask in surprise and then lean toward who'd ever asked him intently- usually it was a woman, who blushed red at his attention; sometimes when it was a man they blushed too, he just had that affect- "What was it? What was the tune? Can you hum it back?" He sounded as desperate as he was. And no one could answer him, they would just shake their head in puzzlement, not being able to place the tune he had been humming and suddenly unsure as to whether or not there had been a tune at all- had he been humming? What had he been humming? It frustrated him, and since he seemed to hum under his breath constantly, he was often frustrated.

Well, being Chiba Mamoru, he was naturally frustrated. But lately the humming was unnerving him. And the dreams were coming often now, sometimes occurring more than one time a night; and they were getting worse.

They were getting darker.

Tsukino Residence, Azabu Juuban, Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan – Present Day

Usagi contemplated her situation as she sat on her bed and tried to, therapeutically, brush out her hair. She wasn't really sure how she had gotten there, the afternoon following the incident was a blur in her memory. It seemed to her as if the world were moving too fast, and instead of not noticing the movement, like a normal human being, she was the only thing that was actually standing still. So everything blurred around her and she was, although in the eye of a major storm, getting rather sick of the ride.

'I just need some sleep is all.' Somehow Usagi doubted that would come so easily, but she settled into her bed just the same, and squinted her eyes shut tightly keen on ignoring the odd locket that sat on her dresser. 'What a weird day…'

Flashback earlier the same day.

"You must take it. It's yours." Usagi didn't understand the woman and quite frankly she was getting a little bit irked about the whole situation in general. She held the locket as far away from her body as she could and let it dangle from the long chain.

"I don't want it." The thing was beautiful to be sure, almost too beautiful, but something about it rubbed Usagi in…Well, an eerie way.

"It's yours." The woman was very insistent and, - just who did she think she was anyway!

Usagi meekly asked that very question, and jumped, jingling the locket, as the woman gave a bark of laughter.

"I own this store girlie, and I'm telling you… That broken locket has been here a very long time."

"It's not broken though." Usagi proclaimed in confusion, suddenly realizing that the locket had indeed been in the section of the shop where the broken items were stored.

"Ah." The woman gazed with unnerving clarity at the girl. "Ah, well… It seems to be working for you at least. But no one else, I assure you, does the locket play for."

"Usagi? Are you ready to- Oh! What a pretty locket you've found Usa!" Her mother was exuberant and Usagi was finding herself in an uncharacteristically grumpy mood. She opened her mouth to reply, but the old woman cut her off.

"Isn't it though? Usagi and I were just discussing the fact." The woman, although addressing her mother, continued to stare at Usagi.

"How much is it mrs…"

"Natsumi. Natsumi Amaya."

"Ah! Well, my name is Tsukino Ikuko, and this is my daughter Usagi. How nice to meet you! And…How much is the locket?"

"It's free of charge," The elderly woman- Amaya- continued to stare hard at Usagi, and at the girl's protest cut in bluntly:

"It's yours after all."

After the awkward pause had been filled up with inane chatter from her mother, what was wrong with her mother today, the two Tsukino's had left the store. The Star shaped locket was still in Usagi's hand.

"UMPH!"

Lost in thought, Usagi had completely failed to notice the stranger that had been standing in front of 'Starlight Antiques' and staring into the window. Thus, Usagi took a fall, and the locket dropped from her hand.

"Ah! I'm sorry!" The girl, whom Usagi had bumped into, apologized. Reaching out a friendly hand she helped Usagi up.

"It's ok...It's my fault, I wasn't watching where I was going…" But the girl wasn't listening. She had glimpsed the locket sitting on the sidewalk and was now frozen. "Are you alright?"

Usagi watched as the pretty blond snapped out of it and bent down to hesitantly pick up the trinket. She stood up and stared for a moment down at the locket in her hand. And then she looked up at Usagi, the distinctive red bow that was positioned at a jaunty angle on the back of the girl's head wiggled endearingly with the movement.

"Sorry," The girl replied instead of responding to Usagi's question, and her eyes were filled with a sort of knowledge that made Usagi uneasy. The girl smiled a very cheerful smile that seemed out of place, and much too young, for her old looking eyes. "So you've found it." The girl leaned forward and placed the necklace into Usagi's numb hand. Leaning forward even more, and giggling at the look on Usagi's face, the girl whispered her farewell.

"Watch out for cats."

And then she spun around, red bow bouncing, and pranced away.

Usagi's mother, who had realized the girl was not following her when she was half way down the block, had found her daughter stationary with a look of inexorable confusion etched across her pretty face.

End Flashback.

Tokyo, Japan- Present day.

Although everyone wanted to be like him, Chiba Mamoru was not popular in the aspect of obtaining, and retaining, friends. Because, while people admired Mamoru and wanted to be like him, they didn't want to know him. His apathetic persona put most people off, and Mamoru, for the most part, was all right with that.

For the most part.

"Umph."

It wasn't the smartest idea to be walking down a crowed sidewalk in the middle of Tokyo while philosophizing about life. But there Mamoru was doing just that, and as a result, he had crashed into an unsuspecting pedestrian.

"Oh," He exclaimed with a little surprise, "I'm sorry." Glancing down, he noticed absently just how beautiful the woman, sprawled on the sidewalk at his feet, was.

Long, long legs… Uniquely colored, curly hair…

Yes, she was, in a word, divine. Mamoru smiled charmingly and reached out a gentlemanly hand to help the woman while waiting for her to look up; for she had frozen for a moment at the sound of his voice. And when she did look up, she stared at him for an instant and then smiled at him with a smile that held a little too much recognition in it. Mamoru wondered for a moment if they had ever met before, but then dismissed it as she reached out and took his hand, professing her thanks as he helped her up.

She dusted off her dress for a moment and then gave him another one of her unnerving smiles.

"Be expecting some run-ins." She said, to his confusion. And then she looked at him with knowing, mirthful, eyes finally giving him a small farewell bow. Mamoru watched as she sashayed away towards a blond man who, he had failed to notice earlier, was glaring viciously at him from the street corner. Mamoru gave him a little smirk and then, catching the eyes of the man, blatantly checked out the way the pretty woman's dress fitted to her body in the wind's wake. The man's eyes narrowed and he turned to the woman to say something. Whatever he said elicited a tinkling laugh and the woman turned to look back at Mamoru.

There was a sad knowing look in her eyes that Mamoru didn't like. He watched as she said something else to the man, who smiled in return and put an arm around her. Turning from Mamoru she grinned up at the blond who was now talking animatedly.

Mamoru watched as they walked away.

There was a strange misplaced feeling in his chest. He realized that, although he was in the middle of a very crowded sidewalk, with people pushing and brushing by him from all sides and, although he was in the middle of one of the busiest metropolis' in the world, he did not have the sort of closeness with anyone like that couple shared with one another. Instead Mamoru had solitude.

Yes, Mamoru realized that he was very alone in the world. Though no one would know that from looking at him as he stood in the middle of that crowded walkway.

Because no one ever got close enough to see.

a/n: Wow… This chapter was WAY longer than expected….And I'm causing many characters to have 'run-ins!' Poor Mamo-chan, he is very unhappy --. And I have to say I'm unhappy because I think I used Usagi's name too much in this chapter (But it's so hard to make two people that look like each other, and whose name of one we don't know, talk to one another without using a name--- did that make sense!)

You get a cookie, and maybe a more promptly written chapter if you can guess who the people Usa and Mamo bumped into! Though for Usagi I think it's pretty obvious and I know some of you guys thought Mamoru had bumped into Usagi at first! But I tricked you .

Well, here's the deal- If I get reviews, the next chapter will be out promptly, and for enticement I will tell you this: The next chapter is THE RUN-IN WE HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR…. And if you don't know what I mean then shame on you (cough-usagiandmamorumeet-cough) Give me 15 reviews and I will be a happy girl.

READREVIEW AND BE EXCITED- that is all. PS: I HATE the story spacing on this site- the whole thing looks to cramped. That really is all.

-Kay