Well this one ended up a little shorter than I thought, but it's still here. I've posted a couple of short stories the past few weeks one called "Pink" and the other "Not A Dream" that are both humor based that you might enjoy. "Not A Dream" just went up on Monday morning.

A Little Late

Chapter 4/?

The first thing Sailor Moon did when they rematerialized, this time on a lonely, rocky beach under a blazing sun, was punch Endymion in the face.

She had been spending a lot of time with Makoto, and she vaguely wondered, as her hand throbbed, if the taller girl was rubbing off on her. Right now she didn't care because Endymion had threatened her mother and that meant he was on her shit list.

Massaging his jaw where Sailor Moon had landed her hit, Endymion frowned and released her. "Nice left cross."

"Jupiter's been teaching me," she sneered back. "You threatened my mother."

"I'm not here to talk to you about that."

"You are now, because that's what you just did! We're going to talk all five minutes about it because it's what you did," Sailor Moon insisted, heat rising in her face as she thought more about it. "You had your sword at her neck, Ma-Endymion."

"And would you have come with me any other way?"

Sailor Moon had to give him that fact, because she wouldn't have come with him of her own free will any other way. He would have had to wait to snatch her again. He would have waited, of course, for that time if it meant getting her alone again, but this was easier. Quicker results.

Maybe that's why Kunzite was so quick to use others to further the cause to get the ginzuishou. It was just faster.

And Endymion certainly understood the need to see Sailor Moon faster.

Whatever was driving him the last two weeks had a hold of him like a tiger held its prey. He couldn't accurately describe the feelings, he just knew he had them. Did he dare say that this was an obsession? That Usagi was something he wanted, that since finding out her identity he felt entitled to her time, her space, to her? It wasn't anything like that. Or so it was what he had to keep telling himself.

He just wanted the ginzuishou, and he would wear her down until she gave it up to him. He would fight her until she did. He would use her identity against her, his leverage, until it was his.

"See," he told her triumphantly, "I just had to get you to where I wanted you, and if you wouldn't do it willingly, well then I had to use other tactics, didn't I?"

Sailor Moon chewed her lower lip, hating herself for thinking this, but knowing that until she could heal him she had to come to some sort of understanding with him. She couldn't have him popping up and threatening her family, or stealing her away in the middle of detention again. He didn't seem interested in hurting her, he never did, just in the ginzuishou, so maybe she had a shot at this.

But what if this was her chance?

"What did you want to talk about anyway?"

"I thought we were talking about me threatening your mother," Endymion said as he took Sailor Moon's hand in his and gently caressed her palm with his thumb. "And how I was such a threat."

Sailor Moon didn't yank her hand away, but found her breath caught in her throat from the touch. So familiar, and yet so foreign from what it had once been. Was he really the same man who used tease her about her hair, her eating, her crush on Motoki?

Yes, he was, she had to believe that.

"Now we're talking about what you wanted to talk about. Four minutes."

Endymion cursed. He had been wasting precious time arguing with her, and he still had no idea what he wanted to talk with her about, he just wanted her near him. He wanted answers for why he wanted her near him more than anything.

"What are you doing to me, Usagi?" He hissed out under his breath. "Do you know how often I watch you? That I try to find a time for when you're alone to steal you away from your guardians just to tell you that I hate you for what you do to me?" He still hadn't let go of her hand, and pulled her close to him, so that they were touching.

"Well you sure don't seem to hate it that much," Sailor Moon said with impunity, but then flushed when she realized what she had said, and how close they actually were.

Endymion's eyes flashed down to Sailor Moon's arm and he remembered what had happened in the final seconds of the battle. His hand traveled from hers up her arm to stop right under the burn that Kunzite had inflicted upon her. Endymion rubbed the pad of his thumb against the raw skin, causing Sailor Moon to flinch.

"If I had been around, I wouldn't have let him touch you."

Sailor Moon stepped away from him and covered the wound. "I can take care of myself, Endymion."

"Of course you can," Endymion said smoothly, still not liking the way that the burn looked. "You certainly held the youma off on your own. Ever since I found out your identity you've been training like your families lives depended on it."

Sailor Moon stood a little straighter. "Three minutes," she told him harshly. "Let's get something straight, you aren't going to go near my family again. Ever. I'm your target, and only me. Me and the ginzuishou. My family stays out of it. I don't care what you think, or feel, or anything, just leave them out of this now."

"I said before that I only brought your mother into this because I needed your attention."

"And you got it." Sailor Moon quietly stuck her hand behind her back and called forth the Moon Stick. If he was going to be calm and collected about this, then so was she. She began to collect power into the Stick behind her, and hoped that he wouldn't notice. "But you still haven't told me why yet."

Endymion fumbled for words, so unlike him as both Endymion of the Dark Kingdom and Chiba Mamoru, as he tried to explain away his need to see her. "That doesn't matter, does it? What matters is that you keep your family safe by listening to me."

Sailor Moon blew out her bangs, not liking where this was going, until an idea occurred to her. "Wait, you had nothing to talk to me about, did you? You just…you really just wanted to get me alone, didn't you? Endymion of the Dark Kingdom is just some low life pervert! Two minutes."

Endymion's eyes were like steel as she figured out his dilemma. He just wanted to be near her. Again. "That isn't it at all! You're going to – "

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

It had taken longer because she had been forced to do gather her energy so quietly, something she wasn't used to doing. Endymion hadn't seen the attack coming and it caught him completely off guard. He was enveloped in the healing warmth of the ginzuishou, immobilizing him and causing him to cry out as the dark energy inside of him was attacked.

Sailor Moon put all she had into the healing, knowing she had to get him back this time, that she couldn't fail. Mamoru was in there somewhere begging her to release him and she was going to save him from Beryl. She increased the power and watched as his hands went up to his head, a groan escaping his lips. She was reaching him, she knew it, there was just so much darkness.

She didn't know how long she held the energy like that, but just when she thought she'd made her break through, Endymion launched one of his tell-tale black roses at her, breaking her concentration. The power cut off and Sailor Moon dropped the Moon Stick on the ground with a cry.

"What did you think you were doing?" Endymion roared, angry at the amount of pain he was now in, and that he had never seen the attack coming. She had better skills that even he gave her credit for sometimes.

"Healing you, Mamoru-san!" Sailor Moon yelled back, picking the Moon Stick up and holding it out in front of her like a sword. While she wasn't sure how long she had held her energy, she said it anyway. "One minute."

"You think I'm going to just take you back like that after what you did?"

Sailor Moon looked at the burn on her arm and then at the Moon Stick. "I could try again. I almost had you back."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I was never yours to have."

Even as he said it, he grabbed his head, images filling his vision. Of another life, another person. Many of them revolving around the girl in front of him, sometimes as Sailor Moon, others as Usagi, and still others from even longer ago when she was known as Serenity. And this made less sense to Endymion. And it stirred sometime in him, something deeper than just the need to see her, just the want to know her. He still couldn't name it, and he was even more confused than before, and he knew it was her fault. She was planting fake memories in him, doing something with her magic.

"What have you done to me, Usagi?" Endymion demanded.

"It's working, isn't it?" Usagi was breathless. "You saw something."

"Your time's up!" he snapped, grabbing ahold of her and yanking her towards him. The ginzuishou, so powerful, so dangerous, was within his grasp, but he didn't want to touch it now. He was afraid that if he did something else, something far worse, would happen and the man he was would disappear.

A tinkling sound, the same song that he had heard that day at the lake, filled his ears and Endymion turned his unfeeling eyes to Usagi. "What is that? Why does it play when I'm near you?"

Sailor Moon swallowed and grasped the offending locket close to her chest. "One more time and you'll know why," Sailor Moon said, feeling her heart skip a beat as he pulled her closer again. "What if next time, and any time you want to 'talk', I come with you. You just have to ask me. Just say away from my family."

"Don't try your dirty tricks on me again."

Sailor Moon bit the inside of her cheek and nodded her consent. She'd have to get him during battle then, but she had no doubt she would be able to do this. "Fine. It's a deal."

Their time was up as it was signaled by the sound of Sailor Moon's communicator going off. "I guess I'll return you to your friends. They're obviously worried."

"They have good reason to be."

"I would never harm you, Serenity."

"Or tell Kunzite?"

"Or tell Kunzite. It would ruin my one lead over him."

As they faded back into the alleyway in Juuban, Sailor Moon wasn't entirely sure he was aware of using her 'real' name.

XxXxXxXx

"Call them. It's been six minutes," Mars ordered whoever would listen to her.

They had stayed in the alley to wait for their leader's return, and ensure that Ikuko was okay. The mark on her neck from the sharp sword had mostly faded, leaving only a faint bruise. She had calmed down relatively quickly, being a mother allowed her that, but she was still fearful for her daughter.

Mercury, though, listened to Mars and pulled out her communicator and pressed the symbol that corresponded to Sailor Moon, and waited for her to pick up, or hopefully reappear. Nervous energy was thick in the air and Venus paced, her heels clicking on the ground. Jupiter was leaning up against the wall, her arms crossed as they waited for Sailor Moon to get back.

Mercury was about to press the symbol again and this time, in a flurry of dark energy, Endymion appeared, holding on to Sailor Moon in a rather intimate embrace. They let go of each other and Sailor Moon managed one last longing glance at Endymion, who looked at her angrily before vanishing once more, no more words passing between them.

Ikuko ran forward and embraced Sailor Moon, who let her transformation melt away like snow on a hot spring morning. The others watched the exchange briefly before determining that there probably wasn't any immediate danger. Usagi's wound still needed tending to and they had to now debrief her on what had happened between her and Endymion. A lot can take place in just five minutes.

"Usagi, what's wrong?" Ikuko asked when she noticed that Usagi was crying silently. "He didn't hurt you?"

"No," Usagi said as she wiped at the tears, the star locket in her hand. "I almost had him, mama. I was so close." She sniffled and scrubbed at her eyes. "I won't lose him! I'm not going to lose him!"

XxXxXxXx

After fixing Usagi up, and patting her on the back for being able to open up Mamoru's mind to who he truly was, everyone went home. No one, however, was happy with her arrangement with Endymion. Rei yelled at her until she was hoarse about it before Usagi put her foot down that she wasn't going to allow him to terrorize her family, and he had said that he wasn't going to tell anyone else about it because it gave him an edge over Kunzite.

The Senshi didn't like it, Usagi felt like she was losing a bit of her freedom by agreeing with him, but what choice did they really have? They would just have to defeat him as soon as possible, bring him back.

At dinner that night it was obvious to Usagi and Makoto that Shingo and Kenji had been briefed on what had happened. It became more obvious when Shingo blurted out how cool it was that his sister took on a youma all by herself. Usagi had just mumbled her thanks and eaten a little faster at that, because her father was still a little uncomfortable with the whole situation, and she knew he definitely didn't want to talk about the fact that she had agreed to go off with Endymion anytime he asked.

After dinner, when Usagi was getting ready for bed, she heard a knock at the door. Makoto was downstairs helping Ikuko clean the dishes, Usagi had been excused from it for the night. Curious, she exchanged a look with Luna and called out. "Yeah?"

Shingo opened the door and stepped into Usagi's room. He was already in his pajamas and fidgeting uncomfortably, as though he was carrying the weight of something great upon his shoulders. Usagi regarded him with some suspicion, used to doing that because they were siblings after all, but when he sat down across from her, she realized that something was bothering him.

They sat in silence, neither one sure how to broach the elephant in the room, and Luna took a moment to scurry out the window. After a few minutes though, Shingo worked up the courage and he spoke.

"You know, I think you're super cool, Usagi."

Usagi blanched at this. Shingo's recent hero worship of her was still something she had to get used to. Not that she minded too much, it certainly beat how much they used to fight. It was just a little weird, that's all.

"Thanks, Shingo."

"But you don't have to put yourself in danger for us," he continued, trying to be brave. "I mean, that Mamoru guy isn't going to hurt us, right? He's just trying to scare you, and that's totally not fair."

Usagi smiled at him, her lips a little thinner than she meant them to be. "No, it's totally not fair at all. But it works."

"So what are you going to do?" he asked. "I mean, about this guy. You obviously like him and everything, and you've got that weird past life thing going on. I'm just afraid that…that…"

"That I'm going to get hurt," Usagi finished for him.

Shingo nodded solemnly, feeling a little lighter on the inside. "You're annoying, and a cry baby, and loud, but I don't want you to get hurt by some jerk whose been brain washed by an evil organization."

"Gee, thanks a lot for that."

"I'm serious!" Shingo exclaimed, suddenly full of energy. "These jerks, thinking they're just going to take over the world, walk all over my sister. I won't forgive them for this!"

Usagi gave Shingo a soft look, appreciating that this must have been hard for him, too. "Shingo, they aren't going to win. The Sailor Senshi always win, we've never lost a battle and the only thing I've ever lost is Mamoru-san. And I'm going to get him back. This world is ours to protect, nothing is ever going to happen to you, nothing is ever going to happen to me. Maybe it sounds strange, but I honestly believe I was reborn on this world to protect it, and to be happy. That my mother wouldn't have given me a second chance unless she thought I deserved it, or that I couldn't make it happen. So I'm going to, because I won't let anyone down."

Shingo sat there in silent reverence of his sister for a moment before he leaned back on his hands, let out a soft whistle and then said the two words that seemed to define his and Usagi's relationship. "Stupid Usagi."

That's it for chapter four, I think it's going to be an eight or nine chapter fanfic, but I haven't written the last chapter yet so I haven't decided exactly how long. We'll see how long it ends up with NaNo going.