AN: Hey, if you guys are interested, tell me which chapter number (out of 100) you think Usagi and Mamoru will finally become a couple. Here's a hint: this whole series will cover their marriage and a little beyond, so the chapter number is probably lower than some people would expect.

I will write the person with the closest estimate a one-shot/short story with the prompt/pairing of their choosing. This is just a little fun contest I wanted to hold to challenge myself to write more, so please participate! You have until theme #10 to submit your guesses (and no, theme #10 is not the right answer, haha).

UsaMamo: 100 Examples of Everyday Love

theme #8: Kiss

by a quirky little tune

disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon in any way, shape, or form. I'm going to stop with the disclaimers from this point forth, because I think people get the right idea by now!

Mamoru really wished he could just stop talking, or at the very least, stop babbling nonsense.

This – speaking like a normal person with half a brain – wasn't usually a problem for him. He could scarcely remember another instance in which his words had failed him this badly.

Classroom presentations in his advanced topic classes? He was always Mr. Calm, Cool, Collected; the envy of all of his classmates for speaking in public so gracefully.

Calming down a hysterical little girl who had gotten separated from her mother? That didn't even phase him considering all his experiences with the younger children in his old orphanage. He'd gotten Ayaka laughing and giggling in no time flat.

Meeting with the president of Tokyo University to receive a scholarship award? Psh, piece of cake. He had spoken so eloquently, so intelligently, so charmingly, he had left that event with the president promising to write him a personalized letter of reference.

But this? Apologizing to a silly, teenaged girl for hurting her feelings during an argument that he couldn't even remember what it had been about?

Apparently, this was his Achilles heel. This was the nightmare scenario that tied his tongue up in a Gordian knot. Go figure.

Giving her a flower probably hadn't helped with his nerves either. Just grabbing her hand and placing the yellow tulip in her petit fingers had made his heart start beating quadruple-time. God, what was he? A third-grader?

"- so, again, Od – um, Usagi-san, I just wanted to convey how badly I feel in what happened today. Um, y'know, earlier, in the arcade. To be honest, I can't even, I mean, I don't really remember what we were fighting about in the first place. It was just so stupid – not you! I don't mean that you are stupid, just that it was, well, such a small matter to turn into such a big disagreement, and I –"

"Mamo-baka," Usagi cut in gently, but firmly. Her expression, which Mamoru had studiously avoided looking at during his speech, was warm. Even the use of her nickname for him sounded easygoing, happy.

He met her smiling eyes, and knew that everything was going to be okay.

"Thank you for the apology, I appreciate it," she said shyly. "And I'm sorry for some of the things I said, too."

"Not all the things you said?" he couldn't help but tease.

She laughed. "Nope. I meant every word when I said that you suck at that crane game."

"Ouch, Odango," he said lightly, putting his hand to his heart. Her laughter calmed down something frantic inside of him, and the violent urge to babble in her presence receded.

He could finally function like a regular human being once more. What a relief...

"This tulip is really pretty," Usagi said, bringing both of their focus on the bright flower he had given her. She raised it to her face to catch its scent, bringing it up close enough that her smiling lips met the yellow petals in a soft, accidental kiss.

… Er, never mind that bit about functioning like a regular human being.

He was so screwed.

This theme follows directly after the last one, but with a switch in perspective! Oh, and something that I couldn't fit into the actual story: Mamoru bought a yellow tulip specifically because the meaning of the flower is associated with cheerfulness and sunshine – things Mamoru believes are Usagi's strengths/trademarks. The yellow tulip used to symbolize hopeless love in the past, but that's not why he chose it.

ALSO I'm hosting a small challenge:

Guess which chapter number (out of 100) you think Usagi and Mamoru will finally become a couple. Here's a hint: this whole series will cover their marriage and a little beyond, so the chapter number is probably lower than some people would expect.

I will write the person with the closest estimate a one-shot/short story with the prompt/pairing of their choosing. You have until theme #10 to submit your guesses (and no, theme #10 is not the right answer, haha).

Please review, and tell me what you think of this story, the theme interpretations, the characterization! I'm dying to know! Oh, and guess for the contest, of course!

Thanks go to LoveInTheBattlefield, Trosario, and TheMoonPrincess110. You guys are so great, and really helped me find the inspiration to write this chapter. I wouldn't be at chapter 8 without you!

All my love,

a quirky little tune