This chapter took me a really long time to write. I knew how I wanted it to go, but I just couldn't figure out how to get from Point A to Point B in each of the scenes. I'm still not 100% satisfied with it, but I think it came out pretty well.

Only one more chapter after this one!

Enjoy!

Usagi sighed. Cheers of her family and friends could be heard in the distance. She was wearing the wedding dress that she had looked at with her mother, but was way too out of her price range. Seiya was walking next to her, his arm intertwined with hers. The sound of wedding bells chimed and champagne was being popped open. Everything was so perfect; it was the exact wedding she had always dreamed of having since she was twelve. She shifted her eyes to look at her groom.

It wasn't Seiya.

Mamoru's eyes were staring down at her with an intensity that she only vaguely remembered from when they were together. It made her heart flutter and ache at the same time.

"Mamo-chan, we're finally married, aren't we?" she heard herself say. Mamoru turned to her and smiled widely.

"Usako, I will never let you go." The certainty in his voice made Usagi shudder. She felt her cheeks heat up and noticed that his face was slowly getting closer to hers.

"Mamo-chan…"

"Usako…"

She closed her eyes contently and smiled. "I'm so happy…" Mamoru's arms wrapped around her petite body tightly and she pressed onto her toes to reach his lips, just as she always had to do.

Their lips met, and the ground under them broke, causing her to fall out of Mamoru's arms and into a bright void. A piercing scream erupted from her lips as she watched Mamoru escape her vision.

"Usako!"

"Mamoru Chiba, you must not get close to Usagi Tsukino. When the two of you are bound together, the world will crumble, and Usagi Tsukino, Princess Serenity, will be struck by misfortune." Mamoru looked around angrily, seeming to be searching for the source of the voice.

"You're lying! It's a lie!"

Usagi woke up screaming. Sweat was dripping from her brow, and tears were welling in her eyes.

"Woah, Odango! Are you alright?" Seiya asked, sitting up. Usagi nodded, trying to steady her breath.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just had a nightmare." He raised an eyebrow, grabbing one of her hands and squeezing it. She ripped it away as if the contact had burned her skin, and she smiled lightly.

"Do you wanna talk about it or…" Usagi's eyes widened and flew to her fiance's worried gaze.

"No!" Seiya blinked at her sudden outburst, and Usagi bit her lip. "I'm… I'm fine. I promise. Just… go back to sleep." When Seiya rolled over, she buried her face in her hands, letting out a breath she didn't even know she had been holding. Usagi turned her head to face the clock on her nightstand. 5:03 AM. She groaned and rolled out of bed. There was no way she was going to be able to go back to sleep.

"I just don't know what to do! He was really hot, but his voice is just so weird! I don't think I can handle that in a relationship!" Makoto, Ami, and Rei groaned simultaneously at their friend's logic as they stepped out of the small cafe into the chilly winter weather.

"Minako, it seems like every guy you go out with, there's some little thing wrong with him, and you never see him again," Makoto sighed. Minako shrugged.

"So? If there's something I can't live with, I'm not gonna date them," she explained, leaning against the glass window and taking a sip of the coffee she had decided to order right as they were leaving.

"Maybe you should just give him another chance," Ami suggested, putting her wallet into her purse. "After a while you'll get used to his voice." Minako hummed.

"Nah, I think I'll just let him down nicely."

Rei scoffed. "You're so shallow." The flaxen made a pouty face.

"Aww, Rei, you're just jealous that I'm getting so many dates and you're not." She puckered her lips and got close to the dark-haired shrine maiden's face. "It's ok, the Goddess of Love will give you a kiss to make you feel better." Rei leaned forward and pecked Minako on the lips nonchalantly, quickly walking ahead of the group. Shell-shocked, Minako stared at the senshi of Mars. Makoto cleared her throat and turned to the silent blonde lingering behind the rest of the group.

"So Usagi, have you and Seiya decided on a date yet?" Usagi continued to stare at the ground while she walked. "Usagi?" Her head snapped up and met Makoto's concerned eyes.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"Are you feeling alright?" Ami asked, placing her hand on Usagi's shoulder. The blonde gave a forced smile and shook her head.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's nothing."

"Is this about Mamoru?" Minako spat, crossing her arms. Usagi's eyes flashed with fear for a moment, and it didn't go unnoticed. Minako scoffed and rolled her eyes, lifting her cup to her lips. "I can't believe he even had the nerve to come back here after all the shit he's done. You really dodged a bullet, Usa. Seiya's so much better for you."

The princess shrugged and fiddled with her engagement ring. "He's alright, I guess…"

Minako spit out her coffee onto Rei's red blouse, who inhaled sharply and clenched her fist. "Alright? Usagi, Seiya is an international pop icon who is sexy, sweet, sexy, rich, and SEXY! Mamoru dumped you for no reason after leading you on for weeks." Usagi twisted a lock of hair around her finger and swallowed.

"Well, what if his reason was justified? Like, what if it wasn't just out of the blue? What if he was trying to… protect me?" Minako rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, but he wasn't. If he was, he would've said something, right?"

Makoto's eyebrows furrowed. "Usa, you're not reconsidering your engagement, are you?" Usagi stiffened, looking like a deer in the headlights.

"No, of course not! I was just… thinking out loud. I guess since he came back I've been thinking about our breakup a lot, that's all." Ami nodded.

"It makes sense. She hasn't seen him in four years, so it's logical that seeing him again would trigger old feelings, even if they're just questions that have never been answered." Usagi smiled, gesturing to Ami.

"See, I'm fine! Don't worry about me, I'll be over it in a few days." The senshi exchanged looks.

"Are you sure?" Rei asked. Usagi shook her head.

"Of course. You know me, always upset over the smallest things." Her friends shrugged, continuing to walk down the sidewalk. Usagi began to join them, but she felt a hand pull her back. Rei raised an eyebrow, refusing to release the princess's arm.

"Rei wha-"

"You know, marriage is a huge deal. It's not just something you do because you feel like you have to." Usagi looked down.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Rei rolled her eyes.

"Oh come on. You don't love Seiya. You love Mamoru." Usagi froze and jerked back.

"No, I do-"

"Usagi, you only said yes to dating Seiya to get your mind off of Mamoru." Usagi shoved her hands into her pockets.

"So what? I'm engaged to Seiya, not Mamoru."

"You don't have to be." Usagi opened her mouth to respond, but Rei was already running back to the group.

Mamoru woke up to an aggressive knocking on his door. It shocked him at first, considering that not many people knew that he was back in town, and the people that did weren't the type to just show up uninvited, especially so early. He suspected that it could be Motoki, but he never visited without calling first, and even so, there wasn't much of a reason for him to be visiting Mamoru anyway when he came to the Crown nearly every day.

Mamoru made his way across the apartment, his pace quickening with every knock. He twisted the knob and swung the door open, his breath catching when he noticed who his guest was.

"Usako…"

Usagi walked past him and entered the living room, removing her black slides in one swift motion. She looked like she just woke up, with her gray sweats and hair piled up into a sloppy bun. Mamoru blinked at his ex's abrupt entrance, turning around to face her. "Come in?"

Usagi crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Mamoru Chiba I swear to God if you broke my heart all because of some dream…" Mamoru froze.

"How do you know about that?"

Usagi groaned. "What the fuck is wrong with you? What, did you trust some random ominous dream more than you trusted me?"

"You could've died!"

"Oh come on!" She threw her hands in the air and began to pace around the room. "I understand that we were young, and we were dumb, but did you really believe that? They were nothing more than some stupid nightmares!" Mamoru grabbed her hand and whipped her around to face him.

"You try watching the only person you've ever loved die right in front of your eyes every night." Usagi blinked, her eyes becoming glassy. "I knew they were just dreams, and I knew that they might not be true, but if there was the slightest chance that our love could kill you, I couldn't just let it happen." Usagi frowned and gently pulled her hand out of his grasp.

"Maybe if you just talked to me we could've-"

"You wouldn't have understood! You wouldn't just said "I don't mind dying if we can be together!'" Usagi rolled her eyes at his impression of her.

"I don't sound like that."

"You did when you were fourteen." Mamoru crossed his arms and stared down the blonde. With her pouty lips, makeupless eyes, and determined gaze, he could've sworn she was a teenager again. It was as if she was still his Usako, and he her Mamo-chan.

He hadn't noticed how close they were until Mamoru could feel her choppy breaths on his skin. Her expression became softer and her eyelids drooped, but she didn't break eye-contact with him. He could have sworn he saw her lips pucker slightly as their faces inched closer and closer together.

His entire mind was screaming at him to stop. She was engaged. She had a fiance. Hell, she could die.

Her lips brushed his like a feather before she dropped her head in shame, resting her forehead on his chin. Mamoru blinked. What was he doing? How could he have let some meaningless dreams take away the only good thing that ever happened to him?

He heard her release a shaky breath. "I'm sorry, I…"

He snaked his arms around her waist, and he felt her body jerk in surprise. She lifted her head with a bewildered shine in her eyes. His hand subconsciously began to trace circles on her back. "Do you still love me?" Usagi whispered, cheeks flushing as soon as the words were out of her mouth.

"Always," he responded, not missing a beat.

She pushed off of him, heading for the door and hastily slipping her shoes on.

"Usagi I-"

Their eyes met for a moment, and he could feel the thousands of emotions radiating off of her. The look in her eyes was so longing, so desperate, so pitiful that it made his heart drop to his stomach. She practically ran into the hallway, forgetting to close the door behind her. Mamoru collapsed onto the couch, running his hands over his face.

He couldn't do it anymore. The moment their lips touched, he knew that he made a mistake. There was nobody in the world who could replace Usagi. He never should have let her go. He didn't want to let her go ever again. If he had just been less stubborn, they would be together. She would be getting married to him.

But she wasn't. Usagi was getting married to someone else, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.