Title: A Kiss In The Dark
Author:Princess Destiny
Email: In Profile
Author's Homepage: destinysgateway DOT com
Rating: M 15+
Summary: 'One Hour Challenge' #1 and 657 Combined: Response Fanfic. Eleven years ago, Mamoru's father married Usagi's mother. It's now almost Usagi's sixteenth birthday and she has to juggle her secret life as Sailor Moon, on top of school and a job at Motoki's shop. Her life is turned even more upside down when she begins to suspect the masked hero she is falling in love with is actually her awful step-brother!
Genre:Romance/UST/Comedy/Adventure/Action/Angst
Couple:Usagi/Mamoru
Category:SMTK
Chapters:16/?
Status:Unfinished
Year Completed: N/A
Size:373 KB

Comments: Hi everyone! This Chapter and the previous one was extremely difficult to write. It was very emotional, and I also had to go into the minds of a fifteen and seventeen year old and do and think what I thought they would be after the kiss. But I did my best, and I think they came out very well!

You wanted longer Chapters, so I wrote you one at over 43 KB. My Chapters are usually from between 25-30 KB. :) I know I said this wouldn't be out till Friday, but I got inspired after thinking the plot over a little. Your review responses are a huge help to me! Please keep them coming with any suggestions you have for the storyline, or improvements I can make.

Some of you asked how long I was planing on making this Fanfic, and well, the answer would be that I am going to end it between 500 and 600 KB. I will then be making a Sequel, which will no doubt be just as long. This first Fanfic will be all about Mamoru and Usagi struggling to find a balance between them and their relationships, their secrets, and the people around them. The Sequel will be all about the two falling in love, with things revealed like the Princess and Prince, the Silver Crystal and the battle with the Dark Kingdom. The two will most certainly be in a loving relationship in the second story. The romance in the first will have to be a slow build-up, as they as still thinking of each other as siblings. You just can't rush that sort of thing.

Thank you's: To Lisa, my editor. And to Usa, who I bounce my ideas off of, and get brilliant feedback in return.

Got a Sailor Moon Fanfic? Come on over to destinysgateway DOT com,
the Official Fanfiction Archives for the 'Sailor Moon And Tuxedo Kamen'
pairing! We would love for you to submit your Fanfiction to the Archives.

A KISS IN THE DARK

By Princess Destiny

Chapter Sixteen

Sailor Moon ran as if the devil were after her, feet repeatedly stumbling over everything in her path. She stopped once on top of the Crown Games Arcade, feeling a little safe there in a world that was no longer familiar. She jammed the knuckles of one hand into her mouth to keep from crying out. She wanted to scream and sob, but somehow it wouldn't come out. But she was shaking and couldn't seem to stop.

She was afraid of what had happened, apprehensive about seeing her step-brother again, andguilty because she had let it happen. She was a super hero! What-she couldn't have stomped on his foot, or at least slapped him silly when he let her go? But she hadn't and the enormity of the situation was overwhelming.

"I feel...revolted." The blonde whispered, covering her eyes. "That was my brother. I don't want-to see him. I can't. Oh god!"

She yanked off a glove and rubbed it over her lips, as if to totally erase the memory. The taste... The small girl hastily banished the image of his lips upon hers from her mind. She especially didn't want to recall how she had responded! "This isn't happening. It's all a dream." Sailor Moon put her glove back on and absently smoothed out any wrinkles in her skirt, frantically trying to distract herself.

'What if he followed me?!' Sailor Moon thought in sudden panic. She glanced behind her, then to the left and right, listening hard. She didn't spot Tuxedo Kamen anywhere, or hear footfalls. Slowly, she relaxed her stiff limbs. "I can fix this. We can fix it." She mumbled, a dazed sort of sensation setting into her heart.

She got to her feet and looked around, not sure where she was. She had run-and run. Oh yeah, this was on top of Motoki's place, but he was with Makoto back in a tree across from the Tsukino house. "God," The blonde gave a hysterical little laugh. "Makoto and he saw the whole thing. I wonder what Motoki made of the whole thing? Probably congratulating Mamoru right now for having been the first guy to kiss Sailor Moon."

Right...Mamoru had kissed her alter ego, not her. But he had to have realised there at the end. She couldn't have made her reaction to his kiss plainer. Well, after he had pulled away, that was. After the initial horror, the fight had just gone right out of her. Their kiss had seemed almost-fated? "No, no. What am I thinking? You can't be destined to kiss your brother!" She whimpered, not sure what she was saying or thinking. "But I'm Sailor Moon and brother is Tuxedo Kamen. There is some sort of very twisted logic in there somewhere."

Yeah, and now she was just coming up with some stupid ideas for the whole horrible mess, when she should have been screaming in terror. But she was not an ordinary girl, and he wasn't an ordinary guy. "This whole thing is just screwed up!" Sailor Moon screamed into the night air. Nothing but the faint sounds of cars on the road, and some birds she had scared from their roost on the Arcade roof, was her answer.

"You're horrible Mamoru," She whispered harshly. He should have known it was her. But then...she had known it was her brother and how he would have reacted to being in front of Sailor Moon. The dark-haired man had never said or done anything special when he rescued her. Had it been a big shock to him to find her coming into his room? "He must have thought 'how the hell did she know who I am?'. Or something like that. I didn't consider it, and I should have. I'm an idiot."

It was all her fault. But it was his too. "Jerk!" She yelled, shaking a fist at the moon. "Stupid, older guy, should have known better, jerk."

Now, she was just being silly. Shouting in his face would have made her feel a heck of a lot better right then, but the thought of seeing his face made her nauseous.

Well, she couldn't crouch there all night, worried about returning home and stewing in her own misery-as much as she was tempted to do so. And besides, she had already spent a much longer time as Sailor Moon than she had ever needed to in battle. The transformation might run out or something, and then she'd be stuck on someone's roof. And her mom and dad would start to worry.

And the jerk too.

"Damn it." She said softly. Yeah, Mamoru would really be concerned about her right then, as well as beating himself up over it. And so he should be! But she wasn't that heartless. She was miserable! Tears came to her eyes, obscuring her vision. What a cry-baby she was.

In times of great trouble, Usagi ran to one place. Her best friend, Rei. The priestess was a haven in a storm, and although she screeched as badly as the blonde over things, she was a very caring person. Makoto was not far behind her, she knew. If she could have gone into the Senshi of Jupiter's arms, she would have done, but Motoki was there.

The blonde forced herself to her feet, and she headed towards the Cherry Hills Temple and refuge. Sailor Moon hardly noticed a thing she passed, or anyone she saw at that time of the night. She was totally focused on reaching her friend.

Finally the steps came into sight and she felt a huge rush of relief. The blonde rushed up the steps to the temple, not even bothering to de-transform.

"Rei! Rei." Sailor Moon called out frantically, aware that her voice had an anguished, frantic quality to it. Rei would make everything all better. Call her an idiot for worrying so much. And maybe, beat the crap out of her step-brother, with Makoto egging her on. No wait, that was bad.

As if she had been expected, the raven-haired priestess came pelting out of her room and down the hall, to where the two girls collided and collapsed into a heap. Her arms went immediately around Sailor Moon and she held her tightly. "What happened?" Rei whispered harshly into her ear. "Why are you transformed?!"

"Mamoru kissed me!" The Senshi said, her words stumbling over each other. Her mind went completely blank on everything else she should have been saying. It was all too much, and suddenly she was crying again.

The raven-haired girl's eyes gripped painfully, and her purple eyes flamed with wrath. "I'll kill him!" She spat out, absolutely serious. Although she did have a crush on Usagi's step-brother, what he had done was unforgivable. Had the bastard finally taken advantage of their relationship and molested her friend? She was fully aware that though they their parents were married, the two siblings had to know they weren't actually related in any way. But that didn't explain why the blonde was currently dressed as Sailor Moon.

"He didn't know, she went as Sailor Moon," Jupiter gasped out, thundering up behind the two. Her transformation reversed as she willed it. And Makoto almost fell into the heap of arms and legs, but caught herself on the wall just in time. It had taken a fair few minutes after transforming, to even divine which direction Sailor Moon had fled. She had run like the wind, and it had finally clicked in her worried mind, just where Usagi would have gone.

"She was giving him a present because she made him made, and well, the kiss on the cheek got turned into something else." The Senshi of Jupiter hesitated, not wanting to be the cause of Mamoru's demise. "He did it on purpose." She said darkly, cracking her knuckles in a meaningful way. Oh yeah, when she got her hands on that creep, his pretty-boy face would be all a memory.

Makoto was very tempted to go back and beat some manners into the guy, but Usagi needed her first and foremost.

"I'll kill him!" Rei raged again, getting to her feet hurriedly and pulling her sobbing friend after her. She hugged Sailor Moon again, arms reaching about her as far as they could.

The other girl put her arms about the two. "Not before I kill the bastard. I would have done, but Usagi ran and I followed." She grimaced. "I wonder if Motoki is suspicious?" He was sure to be after the way she had practically galloped down the street after Sailor Moon!

The priestess gaped over Sailor Moon's shoulder, practically eye to eye with her friend. "Motoki? Why on earth was he there?" She slowly pulled back and began to lead them all down the hall to her room. If they were lucky, grandpa hadn't hear anything. It was possible he already knew what was going on anyway. "Never mind, go back to the kiss." The sobs of the blonde grew pained. "Usagi please calm down. Getting hysterical will solve nothing."

Sailor Moon sniffed and gradually her watering eyes stopped. "Thanks." She told them simply, letting her eyes show her gratitude for their love.

"So, he knew that you-" Rei began, but was cut off.

"No, he doesn't know she's Usagi. But she acted like he'd shot her in the heart with a bullet when their lips locked." Makoto said with some of her old dry humour. She laughed, but then her face became stern. "I don't know why I'm joking. It isn't funny." She looked at the blonde. "Sorry Usagi."

Sailor Moon hiccupped as a giggle fought to rise to her lips. It looked as if none of them quite knew what to do in this situation. "This isn't happening." She said, striving for a calm tone. It was hard when her mouth was trembling. "It's worse than you think," The blonde said after a moment. "I think that Mamoru knows about me being Sailor Moon."

"What?!" The other two girls exclaimed. They were now the ones panicking.

"My wound-" The small girl said tentatively. She bit her lip, knowing she was going to get in trouble, no matter how she explained how moronic she had been over the last few days. Sure, throw out every hint possible to bait Mamoru. Her step-brother was very smart and the way his eyes had gone wide after seeing her wound had been a sure-fire revelation about her alter ego. And his. And what it meant.

"God, Usagi, when did this happen?" Rei burst out, eyes huge as she finally noticed the blood seeping down her friend's arm. She quickly clamped a hand over the wound, which was still bleeding. "Makoto, get the first aid kit from under my bed." She said hurriedly. Something occurred to her and she aimed a glare at her best friend. "Is this from the other night?"

"Yeah, sorry." Sailor Moon nodded in defeat. She'd spent days hiding it from her Senshi, but now it was quite obvious. "Mamoru patched me up, and then tonight when he grabbed me..." She paused when Makoto handed her a handkerchief she had dug out of Rei's dresser draw. "Thanks." She wiped her wet cheeks and then blew her nose. A good cry always made her feel better. Right then, she felt a little more calm, but also sort of numb...

"That idiot." Makoto growled angrily. She plonked the kit down beside them and opened it. "We'll need you to de-transform so we can get a good look. The wound looks like it deep." The brunette grabbed a couple of cotton swabs, bandages and butterfly clips. "I wonder if it'll need stiches?" She quickly went to one of Rei's dresser draws and hunted around for needle and thread.

Sailor Moon and Rei stared at her for a moment, with raised brows. "You've done this before." They said simultaneously.

"Absolutely," The tall girl said without hesitation. "You think I got this reputation from holding tea parties?" She pointed at the Senshi of the Moon. "De-transform immediately, Usagi!" She ordered.

Sailor Moon's fuku vanished into pink ribbons and then Usagi was sitting there with puffy eyes. "I know the drill," She said, baring her arm and turning towards the two. At least, while they were tending to her, they weren't all thinking about what had happened. God, how was she even going to look Mamoru in the eyes ever again?

Rei thumped a hand onto the blonde's head. "One thing at a time, Odango." She scowled. "Don't got getting all depressed when you have two friends to get that way with."

"Three!" Ami said breathlessly, hurrying into the room with a huge medical kit. "I'm here, Usagi!" She stopped when she saw the open kit on Rei's floor. "Darn, I thought we needed this." Her face looked crestfallen.

When Makoto's call over the communicator had come in, she had first been concerned that there was a battle, but when she heard what had happened, she left immediately. The blue-haired girl had been in the middle of a lonely dinner, since her mom was working at the hospital. She had left her microwave pasta without a second thought, and even used her alter ego of Mercury to speed her to the temple as quickly as possible.

Neither Senshi had called Luna. The cat would have had a heart attack if she knew what was going on!

A look at Usagi's puffy eyes and lost expression made Ami immediately rush to give her a hug. When she pulled back, the blonde gave her a wan expression, but her smile was soft. "You're a mess." The blue-haired girl told her in exasperation. "But understandable given the circumstances."

"No problem," Makoto relied smoothly, deliberately closing the lid of Rei's kit as if it didn't exist. "We need your bandages." To emphasis her point, she tossed the two she had in front of her over her back. They thudded into the wall and the four of them laughed.

"It certainly comes in handy to have a mother for a doctor," The blue-haired Senshi said, sitting down on a cushion next to Rei. "We have everything you can think of-" Her eyes fell on the needle and thread. "Oh Usagi, is it that deep?" She exclaimed in worry.

"Mamoru just used butterfly clips. I told him I wasn't going to the hospital." Usagi's face was mulish. Her brother had not done a bodgie job on her arm! He had been very caring, given their usual close relationship and he was going to be a famous doctor one day.

"Mamoru?" Ami shook her head. He was going to be a doctor, so he should have known better. Stitches were definitely needed. But perhaps doing the stitches to his sister was more than the poor guy could handle. He really loved her, despite their constant fights. She wondered if they would ever go back to that close relationship now that this kiss had happened. It had to be traumatising for them both.

"Okay, start at the beginning, I'm confused. Makoto called me on the run, and only babbled something about Mamoru and kisses." The Senshi of Mercury stared hard at Usagi. "It was an accident, I hope?" If it wasn't, she was going to go over to their house and have a nice long talk with Mamoru. And maybe get Makoto to smack him around a little just to make sure what he had done had really sunk in.

Mamoru wasn't a bastard, he was just a little dense sometimes. Just like his sister, although Ami would never say that one out-loud.

"Nope." Makoto and Usagi said together in response. That lip lock had most certainly not been an accident.

The blonde flushed brightly, eyes avoiding her friend's gazes. If they knew she hadn't fought him much, and had even accepted the kiss after a while... But Makoto had seen, hadn't she? Or had Motoki been watching right then? Usagi stared hard at the brunette, as if the answer was stamped on her forehead.

Things were explained scene by scene from what had happened the night Usagi got injured, to the school roof, and then the horrible thing that happened in Mamoru's bedroom. Three sets of eyes were enormous afterwards, and the blonde could only stare at her red Senshi boots. Guilt was overriding the shock now and she was left feeling very awkward and apprehensive. After they talked, she would still have to go home and face him. Would he be in shock too? Angry? Sad? He couldn't be any worse off than her.

"What a mess." The Senshi of Mercury said, stating the obvious. She was a little lost. In times like this, it was her they all looked to for a sensible answer, but she was drawing a blank.

Makoto wiped her hands with a wet cloth Rei had fetched for her. The blonde had needed some stiches after all, and luckily she was skilled in that department. There had been screaming and thrashing, but with two Senshi sitting on her, and the other sewing, it had been done in a relatively short time.

"Now back-track a little, Usagi and tell me why you think he knows you're Sailor Moon?" She said slowly, wondering if she'd missed something crucial.

Usagi's long nails thrummed nervously on the table next to her. She reached for her cup of tea, which Rei had also provided for frayed nerves. A hunted look at the other three revealed that they were all glaring at her with impatience. Could she tell them though? That Mamoru was Tuxedo Kamen? It felt like betraying him. Hadn't enough happened to ruin their lives; did she need to go shouting his secret to the world?

"He patched my wound. I watched his eyes as he realised there were too many coincidences between me and Sailor Moon. I think that he figured it out." She mumbled finally. He had figured it out, right? He must have. His haunted, anguished look before she left, would be forever burnt into her memory.

"You're not sure though?" Rei breathed a sigh of relief. "Until he gets evidence against you, I think we're safe."

"Maybe..." Usagi said doubtfully. That look in the familiar blue eyes had been so shocked and horrified and it hadn't only been because he had realised she was his sister. Although, most of it had been. She sighed. "He's not stupid, no matter how much of an idiot or a jerk he is."

"Then-we watch him," Ami mused, eyes thoughtful. Would Mamoru keep their secret if he had figured it out? Yes, he would. He was very trustworthy. "How about Motoki?" She said as the blonde man popped into her head. He had witnessed it all along with Makoto. It would be a miracle if the guy hadn't figured out they were the Senshi. Maybe he had already known. "I can't believe you two were in a tree, spying on Usagi and Mamoru." She burst out in exasperation.

"My binoculars!" Makoto suddenly wailed, sounding very like Usagi on a bad day. Her hands dug into her long hair and yanked, almost breaking the tie of her ponytail. "I just dropped them there." She got to her feet. "It's late and I'll walk Usagi home." She offered to Usagi. The question really was, did her friend want to go home. If not, she would be happy to put the blonde up at her place over night.

"That's true. I think your mom is going to be really worried." Ami nodded in agreement. But she wasn't going to force her friend to go home after all this. She exchanged a quick look with Rei and confirmed that the priestess would not be forcing Usagi either. She would let her stay at the Temple over night, till things looked clearer. Bad things sometimes didn't look so bad in the cold light of day.

Her mom was going to homicidal more-like, the blonde winced and closed her eyes. Oh dear, she hadn't told the Senshi about the old lady and the police. Because of that incident, her parents now trusted her a little less. "Urk." Usagi said incoherently, eyes darting about the room in a guilty manner.

Rei's purple eyes narrowed. She knew that look! "Just what haven't you told us?" She said coolly. After all their support of her, the blonde was still hiding something. Outrage blossomed in the priestess' chest. "Us-a-gi!" She growled threateningly.

The Senshi of the Moon blurted out the whole situation with the granny mugger, and the pummelling, and then the police and there was a long silence.

Ami put a hand over her eyes. "I'm not going to say a word Usagi, since you know you did wrong."

"Idiot!" The priestess raged, a lot less conservative about the whole thing. She bopped her best friend on the head. Whew, and here she had been thinking something really bad happened. 'At least, nothing on the magnitude of Usagi and Mamoru's kiss.' Rei corrected herself.

"Well, a flying leap onto the robbers back sure would have clued Mamoru in that you weren't normal." Makoto mused, chewing on the tip of her finger and trying to picture it all.

Her green eyes swung towards the blonde. "You feeling better now we've talked it all over?" She asked gently.

"I don't want to go home," Usagi whispered, her happiness over being close to her friends was over. She felt cold inside and miserable, and she couldn't stop her mind from going over scenarios in her head. Mamoru never speaking to her again. Mamoru yelling after her apology for tricking him. Mamoru with a distant, cold look in his eyes like he sometimes got, but this time it was aimed at her.

"He won't forgive me. Mamoru thought he was kissing the girl he liked." The Senshi of the Moon said quietly, eyes downcast. She fiddled with her empty tea-cup, then absently toyed with her hair. She seemed unable to calm down, or sit still.

Maybe a good run around Juuban would cure her? "I need to think for a while." She told her friends. "Moon Prism Power, Makeup!"

Rei, Ami and Makoto stared as their friend transformed into her alter ego once more and then they came to their feet and did the same.

Sailor Moon blinked at them in bewilderment. "I meant, on my own?" She hinted, frowning. They were going to tag along with her? How sweet-but very distracting. She needed right then to be on her own, and sort out the mess in her mind.

"Not happening. You're way too upset to be alone right now, Usagi." Mars frowned back at her, and crossed her arms. If her best friend was wandering around Tokyo in a pained daze, she needed to be watched.

"I totally agree. You want some space, we'll give it to you, but from a few meters away." The Senshi of Mercury nodded at them all. "Right, guys."

"Absolutely." Jupiter grinned and gave Sailor Moon a gentle push towards the door. "Off you go."

The blonde hesitated for a moment, then gave a teary smile, as her sadness was overflowing again and she couldn't seem to stop it. "Okay." She said, taking off. She ran through the temple grounds first, then as they reached the suburbs, she took to the roof-tops. Sailor Moon didn't really care if anyone saw her, or the three Senshi faithfully following.

Mamoru filled her mind. Their closeness since they were children, their little games that they played so often, then way he had a warm smile only for her when she was down.

...But then, her thoughts flew to Tuxedo Kamen, his alter ego.

The way he rescued her even though he had no idea it was his step-sister. The Star Locket he had clung to, but had decided to give her. The way he had been unfailingly at her side, and relatively loyal, despite having his own agenda to do with the Imperium Silver Crystal.

Did Mamoru know about the Moon Princess?

The blonde bit her lip, coming to a halt in the park and gazing up at the cherry blossoms falling. It was beautiful. A glance backwards revealed her friends at a careful distance behind her. Close enough to come running if she needed them, but far back enough to afford some privacy.

"I don't want this to be my life and his," She whispered to the tree she was standing under. Usagi put her hand against the bark, and almost imagined that she could feel life flowing through it. "Mamoru is my brother and I love him, but things are really weird right now."

Yeah, like her talking to a tree!

"He's also Tuxedo Kamen and I don't know when or how that happened." Sailor Moon rested her forehead against the bark.

When had Mamoru become the masked hero that rescued her? He didn't seem to have a cat guardian and he fought alone. He wasn't one of them. She had never noticed anything amiss in his life, but then again, her life was distracting as it was. When a battle had called her out, she had never paid attention to Mamoru disappearing to transform. How had he seen her from that perspective? She must have vanished many times from his sight, without telling him the truth about where she was heading.

Now that they both knew each other's secrets, how would they react?

That kiss... A gloved hand touched her lips, remembering how soft and sweet it had been. She was equally horrified and bewildered inside. On one hand, it had been Tuxedo Kamen kissing Sailor Moon, and on the other Mamoru kissing Usagi. She could not ignore that it had happened, but for their sake, they could...maybe...pretend it never happened? Go on with their lives?

"Should I act like he's mistaken about my secret identity? I did admit that Usagi knew Sailor Moon." She mused aloud. Should she confuse Mamoru even more by throwing him off the scent? No, she couldn't do that to him. Usagi cared far too much for Mamoru to lie to his face about her being Sailor Moon. No, if he asked her straight out, she would tell him truthfully.

"And the kiss?" The small blonde girl turned her back to the tree and held out a gloved hand for the cherry blossoms to fall onto. Mamoru had not kissed his sister, he had kissed the heroine he had feelings for. It had been an honest mistake on his part. And she had to make sure it didn't destroy their relationship.

In the bottom of her heart, she had mixed feelings about it all. The kiss had shocked her at first, but then, somehow, she had forgotten it was even him kissing her. Her first kiss had been very tender, and she had most definitely forgotten just who had been kissing her that way. Or maybe, her mind had accepted that he was Tuxedo Kamen on some level. What made things even worse were the clear feelings that Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen had for each other. Before Usagi had discovered that Mamoru was her dark-haired hero of the night. And before he had discovered that she was the girl he loved to rescue.

In her mind, perhaps she had convinced herself that he was just Tuxedo Kamen and she Sailor Moon and that it had been fated.

She said that because-at the moment of the kiss, Usagi could have sworn the world shook on it's hinges. Something in her mind seemed to scream 'Yes! Finally', as if the event had been a long time in coming. She could also have sworn that someone's soul had merged with hers, a sensation of great joy and love filling her.

Was this the same person who had boosted her powers during the battle? It was a little scary to think someone else might be sharing her body, but not as repulsive as it should have been. However had been visiting her, had felt familiar, and was not evil. But she could think about that more another time. Yet another think she had not been sharing with her Senshi, or Luna.

"I have to forget it ever happened." She smiled slowly, relief spreading through her body. Yes, that was it. It hadn't happened. She was going to pretend and block it all out. He never kissed her, and she would make sure it was never mentioned between herself and Mamoru ever again. Well, maybe it was a taboo subjectafter whatever talks they were going to have when she finally got up the guts to go home!

"Do you feel better now, Usagi?" Sailor Mars asked affectionately, appearing in front of the blonde. She brushed a cherry blossom from her friend's hair and saw a kind of peace in her eyes. She had somehow come to terms with what had happened to her. "I'm glad." She breathed, shoulders slumping.

"Thank god." Mercury said fervently. This had all the makings of a disaster, but somehow Sailor Moon had seen the bright side of it all.

"I knew she could do it." Jupiter grinned and gave a thumbs up. "You're a lot stronger than you think. Than we did think of you when we met you and found out what a cry-baby you were." Her friend's bravery was simply amazing and very commendable. The three Senshi had a very healthy respect of their little airhead after seeing her huge heart in everything she did. The Sailor Senshi could never defeat the Generals or Youma without her.

Usagi gave a tiny smile to them, wondering how on earth she was bouncing back already. Mamoru was likely doing very badly. So why was she feeling so a lot more calm about it inside? A talk with your dear friends worked miracles, apparently. It wasn't right for him to have kissed her, but it hadn't been a serious lip lock. It wasn't like they had a romance blooming or anything. He had made an honest mistake.

Okay, so the kiss hadn't been a mistake, but not knowing she was his step-sister under that fuku had been.

'I wonder what he'll do next battle, if he really knows it's me he usually rescues.' She wondered about that, how they would go on, especially in times of battle. She was willing to forgive and forget, but was he? Mamoru was as bad as a dog with a bone if he wanted to stew over something. He would think for hours, get brooding looks on his face, and then finally come to a decision. That was deep thinking for you!

It would be a real disaster if he stood by and refused to rescue her when she had one of her usual klutz attacks in from of the youma!

But still, she didn't want to see any sign of Mamoru at least till morning. Yeesh, how was she supposed to act around him now? Maybe the best thing to do was pretend it hadn't happened? "Yeah, that'll have to do." She muttered to herself. "Take me home, guys?" She said with a grimace. Time to face the music.

"I think, it will be an avoid-all-contact week or two." Because the thought of him touching her, even innocently, made her stomach want to expel it's contents. She was not the hysterical girl of an hour or so ago, but she was still a young girl who had been through a troubling situation with a family member. So, this was one hurdle of many they have helped her get over, but there would be many more once she got home.

And the big, huge, troubling problem now foremost in her mind-and it had to be hidden at any cost, from the Senshi, from her brother, and especially from herself.

For a few moments during that kiss, when Sailor Moon had forgotten who's lips were caressing hers so tenderly, and had responded to him...

Whether it be from some sort of cosmic fate, or even maybe the other soul that she had felt merge into hers.

Right or wrong... In the darkness of her heart, Usagi knew that she had enjoyed that kiss.

To Be Continued...

Write me if you liked! Comments are adored and much appreciated.

The next Chapter will be out in a couple of days. It will be from Mamoru's point of view on the kiss situation, so it will also be extremely hard to write. Oo Please be patient.

Please don't forget to check out my Archives 'Destiny's Gateway Romance Fanfiction Archives'. We're a 'Couples' Fanfiction Archive, pure romance in any rating and always with a happy ending. Our Sailor Moon section is quite extensive and growing daily. We would love you to come on over and have a read and even submit your own Fanfiction there. :) The link can be found in my Profile, so just click on my pen name above this Chapter and come on over. All of my Fanfiction is up there, and I've written over 135 Fanfics.

Hugs,
Princess Destiny