10. Stars

It was almost midnight, but he could not sleep. He had dreamt of the Princess again and woken once more with a confused heart. Deep down, he knew he was supposed to love the Princess, and he had a duty to protect Sailor Moon. But somewhere amongst all the chaos, Usagi had slipped in.

Over the course of the past few weeks, the girl had unknowingly tore apart the walls that caged in his emotions. She had triggered feelings he could not put a name to, and had left his heart in a bigger jumble than it was already in.

Letting out a groan, he ran his fingers through his hair. He knew it was going to be a while until he could fall back asleep again, and so settling on going for a stroll, he threw on his favourite blazer and snatched his keys on the way out. The cool brisk air at night always helped to clear his mind.

As he headed towards the bridge, he saw the outline of a person leaning against its rails. Upon closer inspection, he could make out two round buns with long streamers of hair flowing out from each one.

Just his luck, he thought, to bump into the one person he was trying to free his mind of. Sighing, he walked over to join her.

"You're up rather late," he said.

She jumped at the sound, clearly not expecting to have company at this time. Seeing the owner of the voice, however, she relaxed visibly and resumed her fixation on the stars.

"Oh, it's you."

"Shouldn't you be at home sleeping? I'll bet your parents are worried," he said frowning.

She shook her head, but remained silent. When he saw that he wasn't going to get any more out of her, he resolved on keeping the rest of his questions to himself and simply enjoying the quiet of the night.

This time, it was Usagi who broke the silence.

"Have you ever wondered about your future? You know, where you'll end up, who you're going to be - that sort of stuff?" Her eyes remained glued to the sky and held a distant look to them.

"All the time," he replied. And because he was Mamoru, he couldn't help but add, "Although, I'm surprised you've given your future any thought at all - what with all those failing grades." He cringed as the words left his mouth, inwardly praying that he hadn't ruined the moment and what would probably have been documented as their first civilized conversation ever.

She suppressed growl, but shook it off quickly, returning to her thoughts. Mamoru breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sometimes, I wonder if everything's already planned out for me. Like I have no choice in the matter, but to follow through with what was already chosen to be my destiny." She closed her eyes, reminiscing the moment she first found out that she was the guardian soldier of love and justice.

Mamoru surveyed the girl. On the outside, she looked peaceful and content, but he could sense the sadness underlying her words. Before tonight, he would not have thought it possible that anything could bring her down. She was always smiling and so full of life, even when the situation at hand seemed grim. But seeing her now, he thought perhaps there was more to her than she showed everyone on the surface.

Usagi opened her eyes, but the glazed look in them told she was a million miles away.

"They say that your fate is written in the stars," she said softly. "I've been searching all night, but they all just look like stars to me."

He followed her gaze, and his eyes landed on the greatest expanse of stars he had ever seen. He couldn't remember a night where the sky had been illuminated by more twinkling lights, glistening like crystals against the dark backdrop. It was as if they were all purposely gathered tonight, for the sole reason of spelling out what the girl's future held.

"Maybe there's a special way to read them," he said. He watched as she furrowed her brows, deep in concentration, and set on finding out what fate had in stock for her once and for all.

"I'll help you look," he offered. Maybe the stars held information on his future too. It wouldn't hurt to try, he thought, remembering his tangled heart and split feelings for the three women in his life.

And that was how the two came to be, searching the skies for clues, with neither realizing that the answer they sought was standing beside them all along.

What did you think? I know, I'm terrible at keeping these short, but it's so hard to stop writing once you start!