Chapter 4 - Love

Motoki made his way down the hall to the familiar apartment of his best friend. Mamoru had left a panicked message at five in the morning on his voicemail both at home and at the arcade saying he needed to talk as soon as possible. Unfortunately for Mamoru, Motoki had been in transit at the time and missed both calls until he had been two hours into his shift. He hadn't been able to leave until his shift had ended three hours later. But as soon as he was free he had made the mile and a half walk to his friend's apartment.

His hand hadn't even struck the door once, when it flew open immediately. He jumped a little in surprise, wondering if Mamoru's super abilities included the ability to see through walls or sense someone's presence.

At his friend's frantic appearance, Motoki refrained from asking. Instead, he let himself be ushered inside. And before he had taken a seat, a brown bottle of beer was shoved into his hand. Motoki looked at the drink slightly dubiously. It was still an hour before noon, too early for Motoki by far to be drinking.

"Thanks for coming over," Mamoru greeted as he opened a second bottle for himself.

"Of course Mamoru-kun. What's so urgent?" Motoki asked taking a sip from the beverage in spite of his better judgment.

"Usagi found out about the dream," he explained without preamble.

Motoki cursed. "I knew this would backfire! How did she find out?"

"Setsuna."

"What? You told her?"

"No! Yes! Sort of. She's a damn Sailor Senshi and she knew who I was and apparently has some kind of psychic powers."

Motoki took this bit of news stoically, but internally he was reeling. Mamoru, Usagi, and now Setsuna?

"Is there anyone in my life that isn't a Sailor Senshi?" Motoki grumbled.

"She linked Usagi and I together," Mamoru continued ignoring the complaint, "while I was dreaming and she saw the whole thing."

Motoki whistled. Mamoru sure led a strange life.

"How did she react?"

"She showed up in the middle of the night last night, telling me that she didn't care. That she was perfectly willing to take the risk for love," he growled angrily. "And then! Before she made it home, she was attacked again…" his friend trailed off.

"But she's okay, right?" Motoki demanded urgently. "You felt it or whatever and you went and saved her."

"She's okay now," Mamoru reassured. "But when I got there she on the ground unconscious. I thought… I thought…" Mamoru's eyes squeezed closed and he couldn't finish the sentence.

Motoki didn't need him to finish. He had thought Usagi had died – that he had been too late.

"Mamoru-kun," Motoki said gently.

"I don't know how I'm going to keep doing this Motoki-kun. It was harder to push her away. She knows that I still love her and she is so stubborn!"

"Maybe you shouldn't," Motoki insisted gently.

"Maybe I shouldn't love her?" Mamoru growled in disbelief.

"Push her away, baka!"

"But I can't keep allowing these attacks to happen – not when I can do something to stop them – to protect her," he insisted.

"Mamoru-kun, did the dream say when she would die?"

"It was our wedding day," he whispered, his eyes unfocused. "At least it seemed like it. She was wearing a wedding dress."

"So don't get married until after you have this figured out and don't let her try on any wedding dresses!" Motoki suggested.

Mamoru laughed. It was a genuine heartfelt laugh. The first one Motoki had heard from his friend in months.

…

Mianko gently stroked the brush through her friend's impossibly long golden tresses. The senshi were having a pamper-the-princess-because-she-almost-died party in Makoto's studio apartment. Their host was in the kitchen throwing together some culinary masterpiece no doubt that involved lots of shifting of pans and sizzling. Whatever it was it smelled wonderful.

Meanwhile Ami, Rei, and Usagi all sat scattered on the floor with steaming mugs of hot chocolate in their hands. Minako had turned her charge around to face the vanity as she gave the girl the royal treatment.

"How do you get your hair to be so silky Usa?" Minako demanded. "Mine always feels dry and dead unless I put two bottles worth of product in it," she complained.

Usagi laughed, "Trade secret."

"Whatever, it's gorgeous!" Minako exclaimed.

Rei came over and began setting twisting the freed strands back into the normal buns and ponytails. "You really are so gorgeous Usagi," Rei agreed. "I have no idea how that baka could ever resist you."

Usagi said nothing. Minako shot her dark haired friend an angry scowl. What was she doing bringing up the idiot prince? This was supposed to be about cheering her up! Not making her sad!"

"After last night, there's no doubt in my mind Usa-chan. Mamoru will come around. He just got cold feet," Minako reassured as she decorated each bun, or odango as Mamoru liked to call them, with pink rosebuds.

Her blond friend gave her a sad smile through the mirror.

"I don't know Mina. I don't think he will," she said softly.

"What? What makes you say that?" Minako demanded.

"He cares about me too much," she confided as if it explained everything.

"That doesn't make any sense Usagi-chan. None at all!" Rei complained.

"He's been having nightmares," the princess explained. "Ones that say I'll die if he stays with me."

"You mean…" Minako began.

"…he did this whole thing to save you?" Rei finished.

Usagi's crystal eyes filled with tears.

"That's almost sweet," Minako commented sadly.

"It would be if it weren't completely moronic!" Rei interrupted angrily. "Any idiot can see that some things are worse than death."

"Do you know anything about these nightmares?" Ami asked, joining the conversation.

"It was our wedding day," she began. "The ground started shaking and then tore open and I fell. Mamoru tried to save me, but he was held back by another version of him. He told him… told him that it was too late. That I had already gone. He told him that it was his fault, but that he could prevent it by staying away."

"Mamoru told you all this?" Ami asked.

The blond girl shook her head. "No, I had the dream myself last night. That's why I was out so late. I went to see him."

"I can't believe he would give you up based on some stupid dream," Rei growled.

"I don't think it was just the dreams Rei-chan," Usagi said calmly. "The attacks only seem to happen after I've seen him."

"What?" Minako demanded. "Why didn't you tell us this before? We're supposed to protect you!" Minako chastised.

"I didn't realize until yesterday," Usagi said defensively. "There hadn't been one in so long.

"How quickly did the attacks happen after you saw him?" Ami interrupted urgently.

Usagi cocked her head to the side in concentration. "Umm… usually just after I had seen him. Maybe ten minutes?" she guessed.

"And it was always that quick?"

"There was a two day gap once," she admitted. "But all the others, yes."

"And has there been an attack every single time you've seen him since this all started?" Ami continued.

Usagi paused again. "No. But almost everytime."

"Define almost," Ami insisted.

"Ami-chan! Calm down," Minako chastised. "This is not an interrogation."

Ami blushed.

"It's okay Mina. I know Ami is only trying to help in her own special way," Usagi said with a soft smile for her blue haired friend, which Ami gratefully returned.

"So how many times did you see Mamoru-san without an attack following the visit?"

"Once," she said immediately. "No, maybe twice. I don't know for sure."

"That is a pretty strong correlation," Ami mused.

"Why are you all having a senshi meeting without me?" Makoto demanded as she brought in a platter of banana tempura drizzled in honey.

"What are you talking about Mako-chan?" Rei questioned even as she dove into the treat. "This is a studio apartment, you were in the same room the entire time."

"Yeah, but I was frying so I couldn't hear more than bits and pieces," she complained.

"Well, it turns out Mamoru is not a complete jerk," Minako explained rapidly.

"Just a moron!" Rei insisted. Minako waved away the complaint.

"He broke up with Usagi over a dream that told him she would die if he didn't. And Ami thinks that he may be somehow related to the recent attacks on Usagi," she finished before gasping for breadth.

"Do you want me to go beat him up?" Makoto offered seriously.

Usagi's face lit up into a huge smile that spread across her whole face. Minako almost cried at her friend's expression. She had feared that Usagi had lost her easy cheer permanently.

…

"Mamoru-san, we'd like a word," a familiar voice said tightly.

He turned from his coffee to find a fidgeting Ami and a scowling Makoto on either side of him.

He was both saddened and amused by Makoto's threatening stance. He had always gotten along best with her of Usagi's friends and senshi. At least Rei wasn't there. She'd be grilling him with one side of her fiery tongue or the other. Makoto was polite enough to limit her expressions of displeasure to icy glares and body language.

"Usagi told you," it was not a question.

"Mamoru-san, we would never under normal circumstances pry into your and Usagi's personal life," Ami apologized.

"Speak for yourself," Makoto interjected.

"But I was hoping," Ami continued smoothly as if she hadn't just been interrupted, "you might be able give us some insight on this enemy. If we can combine what we know, Usagi will be that much safer."

"So you've come to get as much information out of me as you can using all your impossibly effective interrogation techniques. You know that I'm afraid of needles right?" he said jokingly.

Ami laughed. "I have all I need right here," she said tapping the small hand held computer she always had with her.

Makoto's eyes darkened, clearly less than pleased with the banter that passed between the two of them so easily.

He almost laughed. The girls always kept him on his toes and he missed it! Missed them! Not nearly as much as he had missed Usagi, of course. But he enjoyed being part of something – part of a team. When had the senshi become such a fixture in his life?

"Let's go some place a little more private," he suggested.

Ami nodded gracefully. Makoto didn't acknowledge him at all, but followed just the same.

Once they had moved to an unused private party room, Ami did not waste a second before launching into her list of questions.

"Why do you think you're the cause of the attacks?"

"They always happen right after she's been with me."

"Which came first? The dream or the attack?"

"The attack came first, but since the first attack I usually see the nightmare first."

She continued drilling him for the rest of the hour making him wrack his brain to remember the details of events that had happened weeks ago. She recorded everything in her computer. Eventually she ran out of questions and they fell into silence.

"I think you're right Mamoru-san," she concluded.

Mamoru jumped at the pronouncement. "Right about what?"

"There's something about you that is summoning these creatures."

"So I am causing this," he concluded.

"I don't know that actually," she corrected. "There's a correlation. One that's too strong to ignore, but correlation does not equal causation."

"I was right to keep her away," he whispered.

"Not necessarily. The attacks are not correlated with your proximity."

She flipped the computer around to show the monitor to him.

"Do you see this energy pattern?"

He glanced at the graph. It showed a high frequency pulse with sharp crests giving it a jagged look. He looked back up, waiting for her explanation.

She touched a button and the screen flashed to another similar graph, and then another and another.

"What is it?" he asked.

"That's the energy pattern that I detect every time one of these creatures attacks. It's not a high energy field. It took three attacks before I noticed the occurrence at all, but once I knew to look for it, I found that it was there every time."

"What does that have to do with me?"

She showed him another signal. "This is the energy pattern that your aura is emanating right now."

He glanced at the graph – the screen pulsed erratically suggesting she was taking live data, but the periodic wave bore no resemblance at all to the energy pattern she had shown him before.

"I don't understand the connection."

"That's because I haven't mentioned Usagi or your nightmares yet," she said carefully. Her words sent the visions spinning through his head and he willed them away.

The screen flashed – the signal changed dramatically, mirroring the original pattern she had shown him. He stared at the screen unhappily.

"And this signal is coming from me?" he asked. "It's causing the attacks?"

"No," she said. "You were giving off this vibration multiple times during my interview. If it was causing the attacks, we would have had to dash out of here to rescue her highness by now. But it's definitely related. I think it has something to do with what you're thinking or feeling and not actual proximity."

"So why are you not sure that I am causing it?"

"Like I said, it's a correlation," she continued. "You could be causing the spirits. Or the spirits could be causing you to have the nightmares. Or something else is doing this to both of you and the signal is the evidence of its interference."

"Can you create some kind of interference? Or cut me off from it?" Mamoru asked.

She shook her head. "To create interference I would need to know the trigger. And to cut you off, I would need to know the source. I don't know how to trace the source of the signal. We're talking about following a dream. How do you do that?"

"I might know someone who can do exactly that."

"Who?" Makoto barked finally joining the conversation.

"Nevermind," he said. He was under the distinct impression Sailor Pluto preferred to remain anonymous. "I'll go see her and see if she can help. I'll get back to you, Mizuno-san when I've spoken with her," he said, rising to his feet.

She nodded in agreement. "I would like to point out Mamoru-san, how much progress we've made in so very little time now that you're communicating what's going on with all of us."

"Is that an 'I told you so', Sailor Mercury?" Mamoru asked, though he smiled at her jibe. She was right of course.

"I will discuss with Minako about inviting you to all senshi meetings from here on out," she said.

He was taken completely aback by the offer. "Are you sure?" he asked. He knew the senshi meetings were just as much of girl bonding time as they were actual meetings. "I wouldn't want to intrude."

She nodded. "I think you need to become more of an integrated part of the team. Hopefully, if you are, nothing like this will ever happen again," she said dignified as ever.

"Thank you," he said sincerely.

She nodded again and began walking toward the door, Makoto trailing in her wake.

"How is she?" he called after her.

She turned back and smiled in compassion.

"I wouldn't say she's good," Makoto snapped. "You…"

"But definitely better," Ami interrupted. "She's not giving up."

"She never does," he whispered with a slight smile.

"You should call her," Ami suggested.

He nodded stiffly. That was not a conversation he was looking forward to.

…

Setsuna answered the polite knock at the door. She regarded her uninvited, though not entirely unexpected, guest with indifference.

"Hi Setsuna-chan. May I come in?" Mamoru said contritely.

"I'm assuming by how meek you are that you've finally seen sense," she said coldly.

"I was wondering if you would be willing to help me?"

"With?" If Mamoru asked her to continue parading around as his supposed girlfriend she had no scruples about striking him into the next century.

"Well, if you can connect to me well enough to see the dream or send it to another, is it within your power to trace it to its source?"

She smiled.

"Now, why didn't I think of that?" she asked sarcastically.

"You mean you already have?" he questioned urgently.

"Come on in," she invited. "I have a lot to tell you."

"So do you want the good news or the bad?" she asked as he followed her in.

"Might as well get the bad over with…"

"The bad news is that I can't remove the vision. It is beyond my expertise."

"And the good news?"

"It is not causing these attacks and it is not a true prophecy. It was sent to you to uncover certain unconscious… issues in your psyche, in hopes of changing the future."

"By whom?"

"Me," she admitted.

She saw him stiffen in anger. But he held himself in tight control. Good, maybe he could learn to manage his fears as well.

"Then why can't you remove it?"

"As I said, it's beyond my expertise."

"I don't understand."

She sighed.

"I didn't put it there. My future self did and I don't know how to give someone a vision like that, let alone remove it. Not yet anyway. It's amazing work really," she said clearly impressed.

"Setsuna," he growled.

"Sorry," she said, "but like I said. It's not causing the attacks. It's a warning of what the attacks could lead to."

"What's causing the attacks?"

"You are," she said bluntly.

He looked like she had hit him with a train.

"I would never do anything to hurt Usagi," he insisted.

"Well, not unless it was to keep her safe," she commented dryly.

He scowled, "You know what I meant!"

She nodded. "I didn't say that you were doing it intentionally. The Shittenou informed me that you haven't been trained in this lifetime and that you are not aware of what you're doing."

He took the news stoically before he suddenly jerked his eyes back up to hers.

"The Shittenou? How? They..."

"Died?" she filled in evn as she shook her head. "You, of all people, should realize that death is not a permanent end. Their existence has changed, but the Shittenou continue to serve you. I suspect you could learn to communicate with them."

"How?"

Before she could answer, he shook his head. "Later, you can teach me that later. Right now, I want to know if they told you what I was doing to trigger the attacks."

She shrugged. "I don't know," she lied.

"So what do I do?"

"Spend time with Usagi," she said without hesitation.

"But what if I…"

"Look, I can't tell you there's no risk with seeing her. There is a risk. However, I can also tell you that the only way to resolve this is through her. I can't remove the vision or take away the threat. But together, you can!"

Mamoru remained silent as he considered her words.

"You were willing to risk everything for love once," she reminded him.

…

Mamoru paced back and forth in front of the phone still strangely reluctant to call. He wanted so much to hear her voice. But he didn't know how he could face her. He knew through every fiber of his being that she would forgive him. But he wasn't certain he deserved that forgiveness.

And, despite Ami and Setsuna's findings, he still feared that contact with her would put her in danger. He didn't know what he was doing or how, but he knew that all of the attacks were somehow his fault. Ami had said it had something to do with his thoughts or feelings. But it also had something to do with his thoughts and feelings for Usagi. Surely, by being with her whatever thoughts he was supposed to avoid would surface more readily.

He was willing to sacrifice his own happiness to save her – that hadn't changed. He didn't think it would ever change. But staying away and making them both miserable had shown itself to be less than foolproof. According to Setsuna, he had to spend time with Usagi to figure it out. She was the key for eliminating the threat completely. He had to take the risk now to keep her safe permanently.

He rapidly dialed the number before he could change his mind.

"Tsukino residence!" the bright voice greeted him. His mouth felt dry and his tongue felt thick.

"Hello…?" the voice asked.

Mamoru forced himself to speak.

"Usako, can we meet?" he croaked.

The question was met with silence. He clutched the handset as if it was a lifeline, not daring to breathe as the silence extended from seconds to what felt like an eternity.

"Where?" she finally asked. His stomach unclenched slightly.

"The park?"

"When?"

"When can you be there?"

"Fifteen minutes," she said immediately. His whole body loosened in relief.

"I will be there," he managed over the lump in his throat.

…

She sat serenely on a park bench, her hands folded in her lap. He admired her composure as he took a seat beside her. Neither of them said a word. She didn't acknowledge his presence at all.

He needed to say something. He had rehearsed his apologies for days, but now that she was here – two inches away, words deserted him.

"Thank you for meeting me," he said lamely.

She nodded, "Of course."

They fell into awkward silence again. What was wrong with him? Had it been so long that he didn't know how to talk to her anymore unless her life was in mortal peril.

"Usako," he began. "I'm sorry."

She turned turn towards him expectantly. He took a deep breath.

"For a lot of things," he continued. "For ever making you doubt yourself, for ever giving you cause to doubt my love, for the entire Setsuna fiasco, for trusting a dream more than you, for ever teasing your hairstyle, for criticizing your interests or grades in front of an entire arcade of people, for…"

"Stop," she interrupted.

"I should have told you about the dream," he finished.

"You should have," she agreed. "I thought you trusted me."

"Of course I trust you! I… I was terrified. I… I thought you would choose to die."

"I would choose to love."

"I know. That's why I didn't tell you," he confessed. "I'm not worth that sacrifice."

She slapped him hard.

He pressed a hand to his stinging cheek and met her angry watery eyes.

"Don't you dare belittle the man I love!" she screeched. "Or tell me what I'm allowed to sacrifice!"

"Usako…" he pleaded. "Please don't."

"Don't what? Love you?" she demanded harshly. "I'm sorry Mamo-chan, but I don't know how to not do that."

"I just meant, please don't be so eager to sacrifice yourself," he said brokenly, letting his head fall into his hands. How could he explain his fear? How much it haunted and paralyzed him?

"Usako, I have the nightmare every night," he confided still not looking at her. "And it resurfaces every single time you touch me."

She gasped.

"I can't think of anything else. It's all I see sometimes," he continued, afraid that if he stopped, he'd never be able to finish. "You don't know what my life was like before you. I didn't remember my parents. I didn't have anyone. Only a dream of a princess that every person I confided in – whether they were friend, mentor, or stranger – told me wasn't real."

"Mamo-chan," she said her voice full of concern.

"Until you," he said finally lifting his eyes to hers. "That day on the bus, you were the first person ever to tell me not to give up. That she was out there somewhere. I just had to have faith."

"So yes, I'm afraid of you dying. I'm afraid that you'll sacrifice yourself for me. It would be a pointless sacrifice because without you in it, my life would be empty."

"I'm right here," she said, reaching out to comfort him.

"No don't," he warned, pulling away just slightly.

"Right. I forgot about the nightmare. Sorry," she said contritely, folding her hands in her lap. "I can't help it. I don't like seeing you in pain."

"Yeah, I get it. Trust me."

She laughed. She actually laughed. He saw nothing funny in the situation, but the sound was musical.

"Mamo-chan," she said, turning serious once again. "I need you to understand something too." She paused searching for her own words.

"I never wanted to be Sailor Moon," she finally said. "When Luna told me my destiny was to protect the whole world, I threw a tantrum. After that first battle, I had nightmares of my own of me dying. I cried and begged whenever she insisted I had to fight. I used to think it wasn't fair that I had this responsibility."

Mamoru agreed with that sentiment whole-heartedly. And it hadn't helped that this destiny fell squarely on the shoulders of a fourteen year old girl. At fourteen, she should have been allowed to gossip with her friends, blush over boys, and dream of her future without a care in the world. Instead she had had to pick arms to slay youmas.

"But someone had to do it and apparently I had been chosen. But it felt so big – bigger than I could ever even hope to be able to hold. The only way I face it without being crushed, is knowing that I have you to lean on. That you will always be there. Not just to save me with your well timed roses, because you don't just protect my life Mamo-chan. You protect my heart. You share the impossible burden of protecting an entire planet with me.

"That battle with the dragon and the wolf, I saw no point in fighting anymore. I couldn't do it by myself. I needed you then and you weren't there," she accused.

"Usako… I'm so sorry," his voice cracked. He cradled the side of her face in his hand.

Mamoru turned to face the gaping crevasse in the middle of the rose garden. The edge was only centimeters away. He forced himself to peer over the edge. His intestines writhed painfully and his throat pushed down into his chest. Her crumpled form lay broken on red glowing rocks below unmoving. Her dress glowed red and orange as the edges burned like paper before a candle.

He yanked his hand back as if burned, his head spun as the visions only intensified.

"Mamo-chan!" her scream sounded distant.

He jumped down into the chasm, ignoring the heat and cradled her lifeless body in his arms. Dead clouded eyes looked through him, no longer seeing. He desperately pulled her cold blue lips to his own. She remained icy and unresponsive. Salty tears splashed onto her once flushed cheeks. His throat clogged with despair and anger. This could not be real. He could not accept it.

"Usako!" he screamed. He could not lose her. He wouldn't survive it.

"Mamo-chan?" her voice trembled in fear. He shook his head trying to clear his head. When he brought the world into focus he immediately regretted it.

Countless fearsome creatures from legends and nightmares occupied the park in front of them like an invading army. Chimeras, griffons, sphinxes, and so many others he could not attach a name to. He pushed the petite blond behind him.

"You can't have her!" he shouted defiantly at the beasts even has he transformed. The mythical creatures surged forward. He swept her up and leapt past glowing insubstantial entities to land in a nearby tree. Terrifying shrieks pursued them from the ground and the sky. He launched himself and his beloved off the tree branch. They crashed onto a nearby rooftop with a painful jolt. He pushed Usagi to her feet.

"Run!" he ordered, even as he followed suit.

They reached the edge of the roof only to be cut off by the flying spirits. Usagi stumbled backwards into his arms. They turned back the way they came, only to come up short, cut off again.

Surrounded on all sides, there was nowhere left to go. He held Usagi protectively to his chest desperately. Was this it? Mamoru wondered. Had all of his sacrifice of the last three months been for naught? He wanted to kill Motoki, Ami, and Setsuna for ever suggesting that meeting with Usagi, knowing what they did, was a good idea. He cursed himself for going against his better judgment.

The worst part of it was that he knew he wouldn't die. The non-corporeal creatures would pass straight through him. Harm only coming to his beloved. She would leave him here alone. He didn't want to survive without her.

"Mamo-chan," she whispered looking up at him calmly, "kiss me."

He squeezed his eyes closed against what he recognized as her last request, as her acceptance of death.

"Don't give up me Usako…" he whispered.

"Trust me!" she screamed at him.

He didn't need to be told twice. He crushed his lips against hers desperately.

The music stopped and for a split second everything was perfect. They were the only two people that existed.

He deepened the kiss, allowing their tongues to dance, sharing the same air. He breathed in her essence.

A second later, the silence seemed deafening. He turned, glancing around. Everything froze in perfect stillness.

He tried to convey all his regrets and his love in the simple contact. If this was going to be the last time tasted her sweet lips he had to make it memorable enough to last a lifetime.

Then the world exploded in sound and heat. The ground itself ripped itself apart, directly under Usagi's feet. She began to fall into the chasm seemingly in slow motion.

Mamoru dismissed the vision of his beloved's demise, losing himself in the kiss that he never wanted to end.

Usagi pulled away gasping for breadth. He felt like the sun had just disappeared.

She squealed in delight. "It worked!"

He opened his eyes slowly, looking at the clear open blue sky in amazement. All evidence of the supernatural creatures that hunted his princess had vanished.

He turned to Usagi in amazement. "How did you know that would work?"

"Don't you see Mamo-chan?" she asked with a giddy grin.

"I…" he stared at her. "No… I really don't." he gave her a sheepish grin. "Explain."

"They always came when you feared for me. They always left…"

"…when I thought about how much I loved you," he finished with incredulity.

"That's my theory!" she said brightly.

He laughed in relief and crumpled onto the concrete rooftop below him.

She plopped down next to him and took his hand.

Her crumpled form lay broken on red glowing rocks below unmoving.

He snatched his hand away without thinking. She frowned at his reaction.

"Nightmares?" she asked.

He nodded confirmation.

"If we've defeated the enemy, why is the nightmare still happening?" she asked.

"I don't know," he said and at that particular moment he didn't care. He knew how to protect her now and it was the easiest thing in the world. He just had to focus on how much he loved her. "But we'll figure it out."

…

A/N: So I once again underestimated my last chapter and decided to split it into two. There was just such a natural break here… it makes sense.

So there's still one more chapter and an epilogue!