Hi everyone! I'm so pleased to bring you another chapter of this tiny little story close to my heart. After reading so many Usa/Mamo fics, I'm pleased to put mine out into the world in hopes that someone will love it and that some girls can daydream about it!  Enjoy!

His Royal Highness, Mamoru Chiba, Crown Prince of the Earth was…..

Pissed.

Correction. He was really pissed. Not that his Gracious and All-Humble Highness wasn't often pissed, but being in the death-grip of an imbecile blond didn't help his humors rise. He could not wait for the moment when this stupid curse was off him so he could pummel the idiot blond- weirdly called U-sa-gi (what a dopey name!) into the brown Earth. It wasn't HIS fault that he was in this ri-di-cu-lous situation. No. He was just being the handsome and princely…Prince that he was, and he saw no problem whatsoever in rejecting the girl that his mother had chosen for him as a Betrothed. Correction: The UGLY and sinister-looking young Princess whom his mother had chosen as a betrothal. He could no more imagine waking up next to her skeleton-thin body for the rest of her days than he could see himself kissing her puckered, dry lips FOR ETERNITY. No way, no how. Any Prince of his character, morals, upbringing, and good sense would have rejected Princess What's-Her-Face with no scruples about it. Mamoru, however, had to deal with The Scruples. Otherwise called Mother. The Queen.

One Week Ago

"Mamoru."

His name, spoken sternly, stopped the Prince in his tracks. It echoed over the white marble balustrades, balconies, receiving rooms, and giant concerto halls of the Imperial Palace. It gave pause to the dozens of maids and had them scurrying to dust more rooms. Mamoru's boots immediately came to a sharp and final step on the white marble. His lean frame turned gracefully, tousled midnight hair tickling over his thick sooty lashes which framed azure-and-gold-speckled eyes. He reached up and carelessly combed the errant hair away. He knew that voice- and he knew the repercussions of hearing that voice.

"Yes, Mother?" he said, now facing the usually gentle and magnanimous Queen of Earth, clothed in rich fabrics of lush greens and golds, taken from the natural foliage of her ruling planet. Her hair was a thick mass of brilliant auburn hair which fell to her shoulders in glistening waves like piles of autumn leaves. Her often-smiling apple-green eyes were, alas, not smiling today. He strode toward her son, her silly and foolish son, with a purpose in her stride that only a mother could convey. She stood before him, having to tilt her head up slightly to meet his gaze and somehow shrink him down to his height at age eight.

"Why," she began smoothly, which terrified Mamoru, "have you rejected my choice for your Betrothal? She is an amiable Princess and the bond between her kingdom and ours would be beneficial! Mamoru, you incorrigible boy!" she finished, with a hearty slap to the back of his head. He oof'd and righted himself, straightening his traditional royal clothing, a finely-made white law cotton shirt with a deep V in the chest, worn under a deep cobalt-blue vest with molded over his powerful, lean shoulders. He wore a traditional loose pant over his strong, lengthy legs and he often preferred to walk barefoot to better feel the earth under his soles. Today, however, it was boots. The maids did not complain. Not about size, not about anything the Prince chose to wear. His upper arms and a wrist were adorned with the golden circlet holding the Imperial Signet of the Earth and both middle fingers carried golden rings with gems in the same tradition. Suffice to say, Mamoru was breathtakingly handsome. He was as confident as Usagi was not, as rich as Usagi was poor, as experienced as Usagi was naïve, and as impatient as she was… late.

Mamoru took in a breath, looking into his mother's eyes and tried to convey an image of innocence that would hopefully pierce through her mother's-heart and win her loyalty. "Mama…" he began, softly, like a young boy waking up from a bad nightmare seeking comfort, "I did not like her. She was uninteresting at the dinner, uninformed, had bits of food in her hair….and she's not in the least attractive!" he finished with a slice of his hand through the air.

His mother eyed him warily. "You don't know how lucky you are to be offered this girl as a bride. You are 29; you ungrateful pup, and hardly can know your own luck!" When she finished, Mamoru let in another deep sigh, bringing his mother in for a powerfully warm hug. He spoke, and his voice rumbled in his chest like distant thunder. "Mama, I appreciate what you do for me, but I cannot marry That Girl. I want to know more about life and I know she can't be the one to open my eyes." His mother fairly melted. This was the Mamoru she knew and loved; a gentle, sensitive, caring young man who was still as stubborn as his father.

"Well, Mamoru," she said with a twinkle in her leaf-green eyes, "You'll just have to learn some things, won't you?" And with that, the Queen of Earth brought both arms up to return her son's loving hug, and at the touch of all ten fingertips to his back, Mamoru vanished with almost a questioning "Ma-"

And plopped unceremoniously on the grass, his body merged with an unremarkable rose, in the middle of nowhere.

Hey everyone, hope you liked it! In case you were curious about how the Prince got into that gosh-darn rose! Sorry it's moving slowly, but I'd rather give you more chapters that are short than take forever to write a huge one! Please comment!