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Chapter Four: One Day of Serenity

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Moments later, the red car skidded to a halt in front of the city park. Usagi sat up straighter from her seat. Her trust had disintegrated, inch by agonizing inch, as the minutes swept by and the man had refused to speak to her. She even tried to take her hand from where he had placed it, but he quickly held it down with his, keeping it in place.

It wasn't that she was uncomfortable with them being so intimate. If anything, she felt the actions were tame, judging from the bolts of electricity that came from the both of them.

Something else made her wary. Her heart was hammering and a part of her was crying out in pain. Who ever the man was, he was someone who must have caused her a lot of heartbreak. What baffles her was that for someone who must have influenced her so, she had simply no recollection of him.

'NO! HOW COULD YOU!?'

'Please, your voice is unusually loud…I am in front of you so you need not shout.'

'Oh, no! Don't you dare go lady like on me! YOU ARE THE ONE WHO WENT

UNESCORTED WITH A MAN! WITH BAKA!!!!!'

'Is he really so horrible?'

'Are we afraid with thunder and lightning?'

'Do not snort. It is unbecoming. And no, we are not afraid of thunder and lightning.'

'No way! I'm scared stiff of them…'

'Why should you be afraid? Zeus would take offense…'

'The who?'

'We are skillfully steering the subject of our conversation. I had asked you why is Mamoru so terrible. You had yet to reply an acceptable answer.'

'I dunno. He rubs me the wrong way. And he hates me back, so it's not really important why I should stay clear of him. He really doesn't want to be my friend…'

'Why?'

'Look, let's just go. What's the point. He'll just spurt venom and you are so not equip to answer back!'

'But why? Why would he irritate you so? And why do you not want to win his friendship? I know you. I am you. It is not unusual for us to try to win his company…'

'Hemakesmefeellikedirt…'

'Forgive me. You spoke too fast; I was not able to understand…'

'He's perfect. I - you – US are not!'

'I cannot see what would b-'

'For pete's sake! You're the one who sprouts soliloquies every few seconds. Can't you guess? Pride! He makes me feel like I have no pride…'

'Oh…'

'He breaks me down, and points out how inadequate I am. Nothing I do satisfy him.'

'…..'

'Aren't you gonna say anything?'

'...Perhaps it is best. You should not get involved. We have someone for us, someone who will love us completely.'

'WHAT!?'

'So good to see you have gotten over your tears…'

'Quit skirting the issue. Who is HE? Is he a hunk? More gorgeous than Motoki? IS IT

TUXEDO MASK?! IS IT!? IS IT!?'

'…..'

'HEY! We have a very important topic to talk about here. What are you looking at anyways?'

'He is staring at us again… He has sad eyes too. You know, I think I know him…'

'Of course you know him. He is MY worst enemy. Look, about Tuxedo Mask…'

'More than that…much more…As if, a promise, spoken amid a garden of roses…'

'Look, you are getting loopy again. I mean, in—EEEP! Why are you gripping my hand like that!?'

'I remember him! I know why you are afraid of him!'

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"So shall we dance, Odango?"

They had left the closed space of the car. In silence, both lost in thought, they had walked to the edge of the man made lake located in the center of the park. Usagi was deep in thought. Her movement was uncertain, as if she was not aware she was walking at all, so lost was she in her contemplation.

Mamoru puzzled about the sudden change of tactic. His Odango certainly pulled one on him, and he needed to even out the odds. A part of him was desperately trying to convince his more cynical self to accept the chance and do it good. But Mamoru was a man set on his ways

Odango Atama is not strong enough to make him act differently, regardless of his jumbled feelings about her. There was Sailor Moon to think about. His princess, she was a factor as well. Those two were enough confusion in his life. Odango was his constant.

He needed to put everything on track. And the walk had given him time to analyze how to teach Usagi not to mess with routine.

His eyes dragged itself from the view of the lake, to settle on Usagi's face. It seemed blank, free of emotion. Some fire leaped within her eyes, and in seconds, her blue eyes came to life.

It was the look that she gave him which made him falter the next insult he was about to say.

'She looks, fearful, unsure. But not in the way she usually is. Her eyes are in pain…' his heart whispered to him softly.

Mamoru shook his head. It's a trick, all of it, and the better he acted along with her, the better he can get the upper hand again. His eyes steeled over.

Usagi was trembling. Her mind was screaming and staying silent at the same time. 'Is it you? But why are you so distant?' She almost ran away, her fear gripping her, leaving her incapable of rational thought. Usagi scrubbed her eyes, confused at the tears that were coming fast and furious. 'We gotta stop this. I'm not ready yet…'

Something in her rebelled. A part of her, some hidden part, the one who stayed silent when she cried, the one who stood in pride after her friends insulted her, stuck its stubborn head, and refused to budge. This hidden part had a core of steel. And this part of her wanted to remain.

'You are afraid of him?'

'Yes…'

'Move over. I'll handle Baka Buta.'

'You promised me this day. And I do not fear him in that way. If you will answer the call of your heart, you will realize your fear is not that way either.'

'Look, I do not really need your riddling now, got it? If you have something to say, I suggest you lay it straight. Otherwise, lemme at him.'

'I fear him, now, what he makes me feel. I fear his own heart's call. I fear that it is not me, now that I see who he is. I fear he sees you, and not me. I fear the knowledge, that he had not loved you at first sight…'

'Shimata! You are worse than Ames when she talks about analytical geometry. I didn't know there was anyway to talk that way without any math equations! GEEEZZZ!

'How did you meet?'

'Is that what you meant? What's with the I fear stuff?'

'You say he hates you? Does his heart remember and resent what I have brought about?'

'Look, I dunno what you are saying, but my head is hurting. Talking to you is worse torture than those stupid Shakespearian plays Haruna-sensei insists we learn.'

'I—will you trust me?'

'Why?'

'Tis only for one day, I promise.'

'You are scaring me again.'

'Tis only one day. I was denied this. We both were. Allow me to make it right…'

'Why are you so sad? And not being insensitive or anything, but I'm getting very bad vibes…'

'One day is all I ask, all I shall require, I promise.'

'GAH! Don't cry! Look, ah, heck…I thought we had cleared that. Fine, one day. Or till midnight. No more no less…And better tell me what you are up to. I do not, DO NOT want surprises!'

'……'

'Sheesh! Fine. But look, we need guidelines. This thing you are about to do, I do not want any waterworks when I get back. And I do not, in any way, want angst! Jeez Luis, I got enough problems. Add anymore complications and I will boot you out of my mind!'

'I promise. This one day, he will see a different us. Endym—Forgive me, I meant, Mamoru will glimpse the woman that we should have been.'

'I'm pretty sure there is an insult somewhere in there…But I'm just so stressed with what you might reveal, I'm not even gonna bother to be outraged.'

'Would it help, if I forget again who he is? I can retract what I remembered…'

'Yeah. Won't that be complicated though? HE doesn't know we are in lala land…'

'It is beside the point. All that is required for me, for us, to remember, is that we are, and have always been, in love with him. Be it any lifetime…'

'Well, sheesh. Couldn't you have just sai-…'

'…….'

'Gomen, but…did you say, in love.'

'Hai…'

'Ooooohh, shitttttttttttt….'

Mamoru was unnerved by Usagi's pain. He closed his eyes, trying to clear the demons that had answered her pain. His own demons, from his own past. The princess used to keep it at bay, at night. Until the nightmares begun, until the dreams lost the joy in them, and became nothing but pooled anguished. That was when the demons took over, threatening and mocking him. 'Find the crystal, or your beloved princess is dead.'

He could not understand it, but for a moment there, he could have sworn it was the princess standing before him.

When he opened his eyes again, it was Usagi again who was gazing at him, unsure and slightly ill at ease. He almost breathed a sigh of relief. Odango he could handle. Sailor Moon he could handle. The princess, he could not handle.

Because Usagi and the Moon Warrior were like a pea in a pod. A pea, not two. They were the same, save for the super powers, and the fact that one could dust a youma with a twirling tiara. The princess, he felt, was slightly different. She was a more distorted image of the first two. Sadder, and yes, weaker…How he knew this, he doesn't know. But the cry baby he constantly teased was stronger somehow, than the exquisite sylph that occupied his slumber.

He opened his eyes, ready to do battle.

Usagi was the first to give the deathblow. "Mamo-chan…I think you should know. I—I love you very much…"

In some obscure, fog filled place, a young girl with blonde hair chased her taller mirror image, fully intent on murder.

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(A/N: One for the blonde! HA HA HA. You seriously did not think I was gonna fill this part with drama and angst. What is the score again? Usagi-3, Mamoru-nil. By the time the story is over, Mamoru's inside will be nothing more than mush…

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Mamoru was about to do first-degree murder. He has crossed the line, somewhere. While he was contemplating how Usagi had looked like the tragic entity that haunted him every night, the twit had managed to dig deep, and decided to hold no punches.

'Why can't we just accept what she might be saying as true?' the irritating voice asked. Mamoru almost let go of his anger. The voice had sounded humbled, as in awed by Usagi's revelation. He almost gave in with the suggestion, until self-preservation reeled in and insisted he stop thinking impossible thoughts.

What now? He honestly have no clue. One thing for sure, getting Usagi away from her friends and taking her on some secluded spot was without a doubt the most moronic action he could have done.

His senses were in overdrive. Failing in keeping his emotions under control, he decided to resolve the turmoil inside him. And the best way to do that was to make sure Usagi was as far away from him as possible.

That was pathetically clear. Mamoru considered his next move. He did not try to look at Usagi's face, nor try to catch her eyes. She herself was gazing at him with rapture. It the same expression on her face when she looked at Motoki.

Then again- there was a difference. With Motoki, her eyes had the glazed look of a crazed fan looking at her favorite idol. The look he was receiving now was honest and pure. The look in her eyes was making him feel hot and cold, then hot again. This look wasn't dazzled. It was bedazzling. This look was finishing off what her declaration of love had failed to do. This was mostly for his heart to stop beating.

That or for him to scoop it out of his chest, and have it delivered to the golden girl before him, still beating and ribbon it in delicate lace.

Closing his eyes, and steeling himself for the inevitable electricity that appeared when he and Usagi touched, he scooped the girl bride style, ran to his car, wrenched the car door open, dump the cause of all his problems, scoot to his seat and drive toward the temple where he knew Rei lived. His car fairly flew down the road.

Usagi, oblivious to Mamoru's heart problems (N/A: can't help it, sorry), snuggled closer to Mamoru and happily sniffed her way again inside his green jacket. She had conveniently remembered to look for the place where the scent of a rose was coming from. Mamoru clutched his heart. It felt ready to leap out and find the nearest gift-wrapping station.

He felt something wet on his cheeks and wiped it impatiently. He couldn't understand why he was crying. Bravely he analyzed the reasons, and came with the most conclusive explanation. He had seen it during his internship last summer. Men and women, whose emotion escalates from laughter to tears, while talking to inner voices that seemed to have a mind of its own.

He could not leave behind the fact that of him being in love with the girl of his dreams –literally- while contemplating how to ask a heroine for a romantic date.

Mamoru was losing his mind…

Needless to say, Usagi and Mamoru got to the temple record time.

Naturally, Rei, Makoto and Ami were there, waiting.

Naturally…