I guess you guys should be happy that I haven't updated on the regular. Otherwise you would have to wait till tomorrow for one with that cliffhanger. If I hadn't promised you guys, I would be so cruel as to leave you guys with that, but I try to keep my promises! Someone mentioned that I update very quickly. Let me tell you my secret, (those of you who have read TCIAR already know this) but I don't post anything that isn't finished already. I write my stories all the way through then I post them. What you guys are having to wait for is me proof reading and putting the chapters into the doc manager. I don't want to start posting a story ad not be able to finish it or something. Plus I really don't like waiting and tend to only read finished stories. So for your convenience, I finish mine. Not much of a shocking revelation I know but if you want to update as fast as I do, that's the trick! Any who, enjoy!

The Truth About Tragedy

Ch. 12

"Only people who are capable of loving strongly can also suffer great sorrow, but this same necessity of loving serves to counteract their grief and heals them." – Leo Tolstoy

"No. No this is all in my head. You aren't real! This is my mind wishing that you two are the same."

"Why would your mind want me to be Tuxedo Kamen?"

"Because...of my feelings for the both of you! I've been so confused this last month. I care so much for both of you, I don't know what to do!"

"I felt the same way till I learned who you were, Sailor Moon."

"Oh now I know this isn't real. Chiba Mamoru does not have feeling for me."

He cupped her face and placed his lips on hers. It was soft and warm making her heart beat sporadically. Her knees felt like jelly and when he pulled away she could feel the blush on her cheeks.

"Even if this isn't real, do you at least believe that I am here to help you?"

She was at a loss for words, so she gave him a nod. He took her hand and the warmth returned. The laugh returned as well and Tuxedo Kamen or Mamoru moved defensively in front of her.

"So the Princess has a savior huh? Good luck! I control her mind now!"

He turned to her, "Usagi, you have to take back control. This is your dream, your mind."

She looked into his eyes and knew that she trusted him. Closing her eyes, she imagined the park. She pictured the two of them on the swings as the snow fell. Cold nipped at her arms and when she opened her eyes they were back at that night. The snow fell gently around them as Tuxedo Kamen held her hand in the night. She was back in her clothes from that night too. Mamoru was in his clothes as well as he looked at her and then their surroundings.

"You picked this night?"

"It was the first night you opened up to me. The first time I saw who you really are."

He moved to kiss her again when a laugh interrupted them. Standing in from of them was Zoicite, his feet not touching the ground.

"Okay Princess, so you are a little stronger than I gave you credit. But that won't stop me from my plans. Soon you will be dead and the silver crystal will be in Queen Beryl's hands."

"What do you know about the silver crystal?"

"Not much...yet. But that's what you are going to tell me Princess."

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!"

She reached into her pocket to find her brooch and transformed in front of the two of them. Shock plastered Zoicite's face but it quickly turned into a smirk.

"Well well well lucky me. So your Sailor Moon too. Looks like I will be killing two birds tonight!"

He didn't know she was Sailor Moon? Then why did he target her in the first place? If he didn't know she was Sailor Moon then why would he ask her about the crystal? If he didn't know she was Sailor Moon...oh transforming in front of him was a bad idea!

Mamoru was back in his tuxedo when he pulled her out of the way of Zoicite's attack. Zoicite began to power up, drawing in a dark purple light that slowly formed a ball that grew in size. She pulled out her moon wand and began to power up as well. They both sent out their energy which collided together with a loud pop. The two energies poured from the two of them and danced together in a fight between them. They were equally matched. She dug deep and pulled out more power causing the flow to push a little towards Zoicite. It was like a tug of war between them with energy as the rope. She could feel her energy draining from her but she couldn't give up. Then, two arms wrapped around her as hands joined hers on her wand. She turned her head to see Tuxedo Kamen holding onto her and the wand. He whispered into her ear, "Remember, it's your dream. Let me help you."

She gave him a small smile then turned back to the battle to see her energy double and over take Zoicite. He disappeared into mist with a scream. She felt drained and exhausted, falling back into Tuxedo Kamen's embrace. He lowered her to the ground as she rest in his arms. Looking up into his eyes, she carefully removed his mask once again so she could look into Mamoru's face. She traced his face with her fingers and watched the smile play on his lovely lips.

"I wish this wasn't a dream." She whispered.

"Why is that?"

"Cause then you could really be Tuxedo Kamen. I want you to be him so bad."

His lips found hers again as she drifted into a deep, restful sleep.

Waking peacefully, she found herself in her bed. Light was trickling through her window as she turned to face a pair of green eyes. Startled, she jump back, falling off her bed hard to her bedroom floor. Luna watched unfazed by her young ward's antics.

"Usagi, you gave us quiet a scare."

"Oh yeah. What happened?"

"You don't remember?"

"Well I remember the yoma in the park, walking home, then getting knocked out into hell. What did you guys do? How did I get home?"

"We had to take you to control. You screaming so much." She noted the fear and sadness in her mentor's voice and gave her a hug. "Tuxedo Kamen was there but we didn't have a choice. We couldn't wake you up normally so we needed help from control's computer. Tuxedo Kamen carried you in and we went to work. Makoto and Rei kept trying to wake you while Ami hooked you up to the computer. Then your body temperature dropped like you were freezing to death. Even Tuxedo Kamen's cape made no difference, your body temp just kept dropping. You only regained heat when Tuxedo Kamen held her hand, like it broke some of the spell.

By then Ami managed to assess that you were being attacked through your dreams. Then you started to scream again. You even tried to pull your hand away from Tuxedo Kamen. We had to get him to let go of you to gt your screams to stop. We feared the worse when you went still. Tuxedo Kamen just held your hand and closed his eyes. We didn't know what the hell was going on and he wouldn't move or do a damn thing! Then he just stood up and walked out without a word. Ami's analysis showed that the threat was gone, that it had been resolved from the inside somehow. So we took you home."

Luna was in full tears by the time she finished her tale.

"I was afraid that you were never going to wake up Usagi. Don't you ever scare me like this again!"

The rest of the week went without incident. The girls almost hugged her to death when she met up with them later. More tears were shed at the hopelessness they had felt and the happiness they felt now for her return.

The week passed by quickly and soon it was Saturday, her first weekend shift. The good news was that she wasn't having nightmares anymore and got a reasonable amount of sleep. The bad news was most of her nights were filled with her struggle to figure out how much of her last battle was real. Mamoru hadn't said a word about it or even made any suggestion that the dream was real. It's not like she could just come out and ask him. Not without revealing her identity to him if he wasn't Tuxedo Kamen. So every car ride was filled with nothing but silence and stolen glances as she tried to read the unreadable man.

She pulled her coat over her work uniform, left a note for her Aunt reminding her of her shift today, and quietly shut the door behind her. The bus ride was long but not as nerve wracking as a ride with Mamoru would have been. She was kept busy with phone calls from Makoto, then Ami, and of course Rei. All of them checking up on her, still worried her nightmares would return. The last call came from Yukio who some how missed the note and forgot about her shift even though Usagi told her a thousand times throughout the week. Promising she would be home for dinner was the only way to get her off the phone as she entered the Cafe to start her shift.

Her manager had not exaggerating about Saturdays. The place was packed most of the day with young families, off duty business men, and of course college students. She weaved her way through the running children, brief cases, and college books all day, but was making a ton of tips so she didn't mind. It had finally started to slow down near the end of her shift as she wrapped silverware. Unazuki entered the two way door of the kitchen.

"Hey Usagi, you got one last table. They just sat down."

"Ug. Promise me this is my last one today."

"I can take it if you want."

"No it's okay you go ahead and go. I'll take this last one."

The next shift had just entered when she made her way to the table, and made their way to the back. Her last table was a mixed group, two guys and three girls. They were sort of paired up at the table. They had already stolen a table from another section and pushed the two together to fit the group. There were a few book bags between them so she figured them for college students. Another must have been joining them soon cause an empty chair sat next to an anxious girl at the end of the table. Getting their attention, she began to take drink orders.

"Well hello hello gorgeous."

"Hiro-chun would you not be a jerk?"

"Hey I can't help it if the waitress is hot!"

"Just order your drink stupid."

The girl and Hiro-chun bantered back and forth while she got the other orders. The girl next to the empty chair looked her up and down then ordered the mystery guest a cup of coffee. She could hear their calls as she walked away to the person who just entered.
"There he is!"

"Over here man."

"Dude, wait till you see our waitress!"

"Shut up Hiro-chun!"

"Come on Kenta, back me up on this man."

The conversation went out of ear shot as she left the dinning room. Placing all the drinks on one tray she made her way back to her last table. She had become pretty good at balancing. This job had actually made her less of a klutz! Who knew all she needed was a job in food services. Keeping her eyes on the drinks, she carefully unloaded her tray to the guest. The table grew quiet with her return.

"See man, what did I tell you."

He said it as a whisper but it was impossible not to hear. She placed the coffee last, digging into her apron to retrieve her note pad to take their orders.

"Dude, your staring."

She was starting to get irritated with this table. None of them looked her in the eyes accept for the guy who kept talking like she was a piece of meat and now this new guy was staring at her. She didn't even bother to look at them again, she was afraid her anger would read on her face. She could feel the eyes of the girl next to the mystery guest trying to burn holes in her. She didn't care, she didn't want her man or any man at the table.

"I hope coffee is okay. I noticed you tend to always be drinking it Mamoru."

At the name she snapped her head up to dark blue eyes burrowing into hers. The jerk at her end of the table must have noticed.

"Oh you two know each other?"

Mamoru cleared his throat and pulled his attention to the question.

"Yeah, I give Usagi and her brother rides to school."

The girl next to him curled around his arm, "Oh that is so sweet, taking kids to school."

She emphasized the word "kids" as she looked at Usagi again. She stood silent, watching the scene in front of her. The girl on Mamoru's arm clung to him, pressing her well developed breast against him. Mamoru was again looking at her but he didn't pull away from the girl. He was enjoying this moment of embarrassment she was plagued with.

"So your name is Usagi huh?"

Her attention was drawn to the idiot next to her. He gave her an honest smile. He was actually trying to save her from the moment? Guess he isn't that bad after all. She awarded him a smile and he pretended to faint at the sight.

"Hiro-chun get a grip. She is too young. What are you honey? 12? 13?"

The girl smirked as Usagi's face turned red.

"Well anyways, we're not ready to order yet so you can just give us a few minutes thank you."

She said it all quickly and without sincerity. The two other girls at the table snickered and no one came to her rescue, not even Mamoru. She came to the realization that her dream last night had been just that, a dream. There was no way Mamoru was Tuxedo Kamen. The man that had saved her in her dreams the other night was just a figment of her hopeful imagination. She closed her book and quickly made her way to the kitchen.

"Masao, you want to take this table for me? It's my last one and I really just want to get out of here."

The boy nodded and she quickly swapped her apron for her coat. She could hear their laughter as she ducked out the door and ran to the bus stop.

There were a few people on the bus so she made her way to the back seat. Rubbing a few tears out of her eyes she prayed for the bus to move soon. Just as it was about to take off, it came to a quick stop and the doors reopened. She looked up to see a mass of black hair enter. Dark blue eyes found hers before she could hide behind the seat cursing. The bus began to move again as a form settled next to her. She busied herself by looking out the window while the traitor began to talk.

"I'm sorry about those guys Usagi. We all have this class together and they begged me to help them study."

"And I care why?"

"...I just wanted you to know that they are not my friends."

She turned to look at him through her tear filled eyes, "Friends or not, you should have stood up for me."

"I was in stock. Why didn't you tell me that's where you were working?"

"What difference does it make."

She pulled her arms protectively over her chest and returned her gaze out of the window.

"I would have asked to meet some where else if I'd known you'd be there."

"Why so you wouldn't be embarrassed with knowing me?"

He turned her to face him.

"No, I just know those guys can be jerks. I would have made them go somewhere else so they couldn't hurt you."

Still protecting her. She didn't know what to think. If he wanted to protect her why didn't he say anything in the Cafe? How much of her dream was real? The face behind the mask? The kiss? Her face flushed at the thought of the kiss in her dream. A kiss that she had shared with Mamoru, not Tuxedo Kamen. His eyes twinkled with his smile as he watched her blush as if he knew what it was for. She had to turn away again before he could see her smile. It was hard to stay mad at him all of the sudden but she didn't want him to know that. A sigh escaped his lips and soon she was force by two fingers under her chin to face his now very close face again.

"I'm sorry. I should have stopped them or said something. It won't happen again."

She could see the sincerity shining in his eyes. There was a hint of remorse in them but she wasn't sure if it was due to her pain or his current closeness. The bus came to a stop and he pulled her to her feet.

"What are you doing?"

"Come on, I'm taking you home."

Taking glances at him, the entire ride home she fought with the idea of Mamoru being Tuxedo Kamen. Tuxedo Kamen said that he had known her identity for over a year and didn't say anything. Had Mamoru acted any different since the night of the ball? She remembered that for a while after he had been quite and a little nicer but it didn't last long. If that was her only evidence then she was screwed. They have the same hair. It wasn't much but she didn't know anyone else with hair like his. Tuxedo Kamen said her hair style helped to give her away. She fingered a tendril at the idea that hair could give anyone away.

She studied his profile. It did look a lot like his and their voices were very similar. When Tuxedo Kamen was in her bedroom, he had removed his gloves. She looked at his hands. One gripped the steering wheel while the other rest in his lap. When Tuxedo Kamen's bare hand had touched hers, it caused a warmth to flow through her. Just like in her dream and just like when Mamoru held her hand at her parent's funeral. But she had never held a man's hand before, maybe it always felt like that. She cursed her innocents.

The car pulled into the driveway but the two of them just sat there. Neither said a word or moved a muscle. She knew she needed to get out of the car and go inside but she wasn't ready to leave him yet. She still had so many questions and she knew that once he was gone, she would miss him. When more time than what was normal passed, she put her hand on the handle but froze.

"Would you like to join us for dinner?"

She couldn't even face him as time passed by slowly, but the engine turned off and she heard his door open in response. Soon the two of them bombarded with smells from the kitchen and Shingo jumping on them to play video games.

It was late as she helped Yukio clear the table. Shingo and Mamoru still played video games in the living room. After being forced out of the kitchen she grabbed a blanket and made her way to the back porch, stealing some quiet and solitude. The moon was slowly growing back and dimly lit the back yard. It was still freezing but they weren't suppose to get any more snow this year to her disappointment. Every thing was so different from the night of her parent's death. The snow was gone along with her nightmares. The ache in her heart was ebbing away and her little family was starting to get a handle on things. She wasn't out there long when Mamoru joined her.

"So...had any nightmares lately?"

She tired to gauge his face to see if it would reveal any secrets, but he had his mask on again. Maybe that was another clue. The two of them could masks their faces so easily, making it impossible to see who they really are.

"How do you do that?"

He turned to her, "Do what?"

"Sometimes when I look at you, it's like there is a mask hiding your face. Hiding your emotions and thoughts. I can never tell what you are feeling when you put it up. I wish I could do it."

"One of the best parts about you is how easy you are to read Dumpling. You always have your heart on your sleeve. It draws people to you."

Draws people to me? Tuxedo Kamen said he was drawn to me too. She eyed him suspiciously.

"So people are drawn to me huh?"

"Yes."

He was revealing nothing to her. He bravely looked her in the eyes while they talked knowing full well that she wouldn't get past his mask. She yelled in aggravation and left her seat to pace in the garden in front of him. Finally he showed something on his face, he looked confused.

"What? Did I say something wrong?"

"No it's what you didn't say."

"..."

"I'm tried of masks! Why does everyone seem to wear one these days? I hate that everyone can read me like a book yet you can just hide everything away! It's not fair and I'm so tried of it!"

He stood and grabbed her, stopping her pacing before cupping her face and claiming her lips. It was just like her dream. His lips were soft and warm. Her heart beat wildly in her chest and her knees turned to jelly. His arm wrapped around her waist, steadying her and pulling her deeper into the kiss. She felt the urge to be closer to him, to close any gap that might exist between them and never let it exist again. Her fingers laced behind his head in his hair, molding her body to his. Time seemed to stop as he held her in his embrace placing butterfly kisses on her face and neck. She snuggled her face into his neck not wanting to let go as their breaths puffed out small quick clouds in the cold. He pulled her out of his hold just so they were face to face. A small smile traced his lips and his eyes twinkled like they did on the bus.

"Still see a mask?"

She wasn't sure what she saw on his face but it wasn't a mask. Raising to her tiptoes, she closed the gap again and kissed him. He gratefully returned it, quickly deepening it. His tongue played on her lips. Granting him entrance, his tongue played skillfully with hers in a pleasurable dance. She sincerely hoped her inexperience wasn't obvious but it was hard to worry about anything really while she was in his arms.

That is until a grunt and a cleared throat caught both their attentions. They turned to see Yukio standing on the porch. She didn't say anything else, she just turned and walked back in the house. Did she want them to follow her? Her Aunt could be so strange, she probably didn't want them to stop but didn't want to be irresponsible and let it continue. Mamoru chuckled and dropped his arms. She let out a moan of protest and he gave her a peck on the lips before taking her hand and leading her inside.