Hey look! An update! Do I get to beg for reviews now? :)

Episode 112

Recap: Oh, hot stuff! We're back to Daimohn-of-the-Week and this one happens to be a blue Western-themed one who rides a white horse pogo stick! I mean of course, what else would it be? Mimet's voice is still really obnoxious, and she falls in love with a movie star over the course of 5 seconds, and then *gasp* he has a girlfriend, so she relents and takes his pure heart. By making the blue pogo-stick-riding Daimohn swallow it. Obviously. But we get to see Pluto whip out "Dead Scream" for the first time, which is AWE-someeee. Oh, and also we meet Hotaru and Dr. Tomoe – and discover that he is the evil professor. Sweet episode.

Why do almost every single one of these chapters take place in Mamoru's apartment? Settingfail.

"What I'd like to know," said Usagi thoughtfully, "is where all of these people come from."

"Hm?" said Mamoru, chewing on his index finger.

"The bad guys, you know," she insisted. "This new one – Mimet or something – and Eugeal before, and Kaolinite before her… Do they just make clubs of people who want to throw the world over to darkness?"

"Mmhm," he said. "It's pretty popular. Right up there with scientology."

"What's that?"

"Never mind."

They were on their backs, staring up at the bleached-out sky from Mamoru's balcony. The city lights blared in condensation a few blocks away, but the horn honks and traffic screeches were distant enough to be white noise, soothing and nondescript.

"We should go out to the country sometime," Mamoru said quietly. "See the stars better from there."

Usagi sighed and nestled into his arm. "I kind of like it like this," she countered. "I like thinking that only the brightest stars can reach me here. The closest ones, the strongest ones. Like there's something watching over us from nearby. Even through all the extra lights, you know?" **

Christ, he loved it when she talked like that. "I guess so."

"It's just so beautiful," she said, her voice suddenly strained, high-pitched. "Why would someone want to destroy it? I don't understand."

"People have twisted ideas about what's the right thing to do," he replied evenly.

"Well here's a clue," she suggested. "Their plan involves darkness. Doesn't that kind of give them a hint?"

He chuckled. "You've got me there. But the Death Busters – "

"Who?"

"That's what they call themselves. The Death Busters."

She snorted. "What a terrible name."

"But doesn't that just give you a little bit of insight into their beliefs? Maybe they've got some convoluted concept that bringing more death into this world will ultimately destroy death itself."

"Mamo-chan," said Usagi impatiently, "they take pure hearts. Who would classify that as good?"

"All I'm saying is that you're thinking in black and white. Maybe you have to be able to empathize with the enemy before you destroy them."

"That's sick," Usagi muttered. "Reach out to someone and then kill them?"

"Alright," he acknowledged, "I didn't mean it quite like that…"

"If you're going to bother to try and think like them, you've got to be ready to lose," said Usagi firmly. "I'm not going to lose, Mamoru."

"Of course you're not," he said. "But you can still attempt to comprehend, all the same."

They were silent for a moment.

"It makes me wonder," Usagi said. "Setsuna-san said that if this world was destroyed, the future would change. But in the future, if there is a world, doesn't that mean we do win?"

"Hm," said Mamoru pensively. "I suppose that would imply that there's a good number of alternate futures depending on the outcomes of our battles. There might even be an infinite amount, each determined by the most minute decisions of our lives. Say in one situation you almost got hit by a car***. In an alternate universe there might be no Crystal Tokyo; there might be complete annihilation, if new enemies appeared. It all depends on if you died in that car accident or not."

"Maybe I was fine," Usagi grumbled. "Maybe nothing happened."

"In this universe," Mamoru corrected her.

"I don't like it!" she grumped. "If I don't die, I don't die! Simple as that!"

"But then there's no way to explain what Setsuna was talking about."

"Oh, well!" She folded her arms. "Sue me!"

He chuckled. "You're funny, Usako."

"I'm not funny."

"You are funny. I'm laughing. Therefore you are funny."

"Baka," she growled.

He continued to laugh.

"Shut up," she said. "You're interrupting my deep thoughts."

"Deep thoughts, eh? I didn't know odango atama could think deep thoughts."

She slugged him on the arm. "I was thinking," she continued, "that we used to be up there with the constellations."

He blinked. "You lost me there, Usako."

"We were on the moon, Mamo-chan." She clutched wistfully at his fingers. "Doesn't it sound like a fairy tale?"

"It sounds like a sick load of crap," he replied frankly. "I'm not a huge fan of the whole Shakespearian tragedy stuff. Suicide's not up my alley."

Usagi sighed heavily. "You're missing the point, baka. It's romantic."

"It's disgusting," he insisted. Rolling onto his side, he stared into Usagi's eyes, glimmering from the balcony lamp. "You'd never think of doing that again, would you?"

She laughed airily, stretching her arms above her head. "What, kill myself? All on account of you?" She poked him in the side. "No, Mamo-chan. There are more important things than you and me. I imagine I only did it back then because everything else was crumbling."

"Good," he replied gruffly, folding his arms over his chest. "Because – because. Well. Good."

"I don't like thinking that," Usagi muttered. "I don't like thinking that things were so bad. I don't like thinking that it was really us. I just think of it as two different people, like our ancestors or something. Because it couldn't really have been us. That just doesn't make sense."

"It certainly does transcend logical explanations, doesn't it?" said Mamoru wryly. "Even if it was physically us, though, down to the DNA, that doesn't mean we aren't different now, Usako. Everyone changes. Maybe we're so different, just from the way we've been brought up, and the world that we're living in, that we wouldn't even recognize ourselves from that life." He snorted. "I sure didn't recognize myself in a purple tuxedo."

"Yeah… I'm kind of scared about the future if you wear those pants," Usagi giggled. "They were terrible pants. Or they are – or… or they will be?"

He laughed. "Yes, that's right. They will be terrible pants."

Usagi leaned her cheek on his shoulder. "I like it how you make everything sound okay, Mamo-chan."

"I like that about me, too," he joked. "Nah, I'm just trying to be reasonable about it."

"One of us should be," Usagi murmured. "And I have a feeling it's not me."

"You try," Mamoru sighed theatrically.

Usagi chuckled. "Not really. I like things exciting, rather than reasonable."

"I think it's that attitude in you that created that sparkly pink moon stick."

"Wand!" cried Usagi. "Sparkly pink moon wand! Why do you always make fun of my wand?"

"Because it's ridiculous! And pink!"

"I'm ridiculous and pink," said Usagi, "but you still love me."

"…I don't think you meant that quite the way you said it, Usako."

"Hm?"

"Never mind."

"I like us now," she decided. "I don't care about what we were or what we will be. I just like us now."

"Me too."

"I'd rather just be Usagi and Mamoru instead of constellations."

"Me too."

"Normal us instead of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen."

"Hey, don't rule out the super hero aspect. I'm not complaining about the powers."

"You don't think the fighting gets old?" she asked uncertainly.

"Sure it does. But what other guy gets to say he can do this?" He flicked his fingers and showered three roses onto her stomach.

Usagi laughed and plucked one up delicately before bringing it to her nose to sample the smell. "Good point."

**THIS IS NOT A POSSIBLE FORESHADOWING OF THE STARLIGHTS. NOT AT ALL. WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT.

***AND THIS IS NOT A REFERENCE TO ANGELMOON GIRL'S "QUIRK OF FATE". SERIOUSLY. IT'S NOT. YOU'RE IMAGINING THINGS.

So how do you like that? I updated!

Thanks for reading! (Want to review? Pleaseeeee?)

~SB