Written for Usagi and Mamoru: A Love Like No Other. Link can be found on bio.
71. Quiet despair
Darien rubbed his eyes as he stepped out onto his balcony. It had been a very long day. First he had a run-in with Serena before almost missing his anatomy exam and then he had been dragged out of bed to go help Sailor Moon fight a youma just as he had been about to fall asleep. And now as much as he tried to he simply couldn't get to sleep. Darien sighed as he leant against the railing.
Immediately his gaze was drawn towards the small figure standing on top of the building across the road from his. The figure was female with long blonde hair. Darien stood a little straighter and squinted his eyes. With a sigh he slumped back down. It was just his luck. Speak of the devil and she will appear and all that. It was Sailor Moon standing on that roof.
The wind picked up and she raised her head to stare at the full moon. Darien watched as the wind whipped her hair around her body. He knew that he should go back inside, that he should stop watching her, that he had more important things to think about. But there was something about the way she stood looking completely dejected and defeated with the moonlight shining all around her that had him transfixed.
As Darien watched her he noticed the tears slipping slowly down her cheeks. In the back of his mind there was a voice telling him that he shouldn't be able to see such tiny details from the distance he was at but he ignored it. Seeing those tears that Sailor Moon obviously tried to hide from the rest of the world made him realise that she was human just like everyone else. Sometimes it was easy to forget when he saw her standing proud and tall and facing down the evils of the Negaverse.
But in reality she was just a teenager living with the weight of the world on her shoulders. She was no different to him. They were both simply two teenagers who had somehow been dragged into being the saviours of the world. Sailor Moon glanced behind her and looked straight at Darien. Without bothering to acknowledge his presence she turned her eyes back to the moon. As she collapsed to her knees the moon seemed to shine brighter, almost as if it was trying to comfort its soldier.
Darien didn't move a muscle. The moonlight wasn't helping her. He could have gone over there himself to comfort her but he knew, without needing to be told, that Sailor Moon wanted to be alone. If it was anyone else seeing her like this (Namely Sailor Mars, Darien thought) they would tell her to stop crying because there was work to be done. But Darien was the one who had been helping Sailor Moon right from the very start, before Mercury or Mars or Jupiter arrived on the scene. And he knew the truth of the matter. He knew that sometimes even heroes have to cry.