Sorry I wasn't able to update last week. I'll try to have 2 more updates by next Friday, so please be patient. About the auras—try to stay with me. It's my interpretation of how their powers work and yes, Usagi and Sailor Moon's are different because I consider Usagi embodying different values when she transforms. I promise to make it clearer in future chapters if I have to.

I want to thank everyone for the reviews. I really appreciate the feedback :) Hope you all enjoy.

(Standard disclaimer: I do not own any of the Sailor Moon characters of which I am writing about. This story is an original that I wrote for fun and without compensation. All characters belong to Naoko Takeuchi.)

Two More Weeks

Chapter 10

The Call

*Mamoru*

Sailor Moon was still panting on the floor from when she'd jumped back to avoid a close encounter. He'd resisted the urge to help her this time and instead tried to focus on taunting the youma away from her until she recovered enough to give it the final blow. But there was a problem. The youma was thankfully no longer targeting a recuperating Sailor Moon, but at something else in the distance. And he knew exactly what.

He really didn't even have to think about it before he went into a quick form of action. Sweeping down from his perched light post, he ran as fast as he could toward his target, tackling Motoki out of the way with so much force that they both went flying at least 15ft into a mossy clearing behind them.

He rolled over quickly recovering, but he could tell that the impact had left Motoki in a daze. He stood and helped him up, holding him by the shoulders when he noticed him wobbling on his feet. Motoki brought a shaky hand up to his head but seemed otherwise fine and gave him a weak smile.

"You saved me…" Motoki was in disbelief and it offended him that he had so little faith. Of course he would never let anything happen to Motoki.

He looked on as Motoki brushed himself off and was relieved to know that he'd been helpful to at least one person. He still felt bad about his reckless collision with Sailor Moon. He still couldn't believe his terrible judgment call on that one, but it had been her resistance to his help that had thrown him off. Usually she would be the one practically jumping into his arms for him to save her, but when she'd readily moved away from his grasp, it had caused some temporary confusion on his part. It had been as if she didn't want his help.

He and Motoki stood on the sidelines watching as Sailor Moon finally made her way into their sights and quickly finished off the youma with her tiara. Wiping slime off her leg she gave them a short sideways glance before leaping away.

"She looks like Usagi," Motoki said after she'd vanished in the distance.

"I know." They both laughed. Wouldn't that be the most hilarious thing ever? Usagi as Sailor Moon! MUAHAHA. What a joke.

"They have the same eyes and the same scream." The wheels in Motoki's head were spinning, trying to find impossible connections. Connections that he'd dismissed long ago. He untransformed in the bushes again and started their walk back home. He knew that it wasn't smart to be seen with Motoki in case she returned, but he doubted that she would. She seemed to be in a rush.

"Give me a break," he muttered, annoyed that Motoki was being serious. "All girls her age sound the same."

It was the truth. Schoolgirls all had similar pitched tones. Honestly when Usagi and Rei along with the rest of their friends all talked in a group, he could barely discern which one of them was speaking. The same went for Cass and her sisters. Even Mina had reminded him a lot of Usagi at times.

"They do have different hair. Usagi's goes to a little past her shoulders, but Sailor Moon's is so long. Unless," Motoki thought brilliantly, "she's wearing a wig!" He shook his head, doubting it.

There had been a time where Sailor Moon had gotten a good couple of inches of her hair singed and she'd literally started crying until one of the other Senshi promised to take her to the salon for a hair treatment. If it had been a wig, she wouldn't have cared. No, that was her real hair. And he had pulled Usagi's hair enough to know that hers was real, too.

The only thing left to solve was that they just plain looked alike, but even that wasn't concrete evidence. A lot of people looked alike. Mina and Usagi for example. Then there was him and Sapphire. They weren't even related, but their resemblance was undeniable. So that was his main argument to that. Sailor Moon could be anybody. But not her.

"Sapphire could be my stunt double," he said, hoping to shut Motoki up about the subject.

Honestly, he didn't care too much about secret identities. What he was concerned over was agenda. What was Sailor Moon's mission? The Senshi's purpose? That's what mattered. For all he knew, they were all clueless girls unknowingly being used as pawns in someone else's mission. Or secret spies disguised as clueless girls trying to overthrow government. He just didn't know enough information.

If he truly wanted, he could bug Sailor Moon with a tracking device. It was easy. He touched her enough times anyway, but that was a two-way street. He'd seen some high tech devices on Sailor Mercury that he was sure could easily track him, but they both seemed to have a mutual understanding about crossing the boundaries. Identities were not at all that relevant to him anyway. With his own lack of privacy in his everyday life, he'd realized that everyone was entitled to their own secrets and to have their personal lives respected. Figuring out who she was wasn't his goal. As long as she kept her distance from him, he would do the same. He didn't care one bit about the Senshi.

"True," Motoki answered after having given his reasoning some thought. "But there's just something about… It's almost as if the absurdity of it all is what makes it so plausible." Motoki shrugged smiling to himself. "What do you think?"

"It's not her." The finality in his voice drew a long glance from Motoki.

"Why are you so sure about that?" Motoki wondered, bordering suspicion.

"Because it's ludicrous," he replied, deciding to keep the secret of his new power to himself. He didn't want to explain his aura sensing abilities to him, especially since Motoki didn't have one.

If he really wanted to find Sailor Moon all he had to do was find a matching aura. Usagi, while she shined considerably more than the average person, she was still just a pale pink, grayish almost. Not Sailor Moon. She could illuminate even the darkest of places as she had tonight. This was his first time witnessing it with his new powers and even he couldn't have thought her blinding light possible.

"I know. But how ridiculous would it be if she was? Usagi being Sailor Moon…" Motoki trailed off, coming to the same conclusion he had. There were just so many similarities and it was easy to get caught up in believing it might be someone you know, but this world was made up of too many people. "I wouldn't trust her to save me at all!"

"Tell me about it," he muttered. Usagi was the most incompetent person on the planet. "These poor people would be dying left and right."

"Whoa buddy, let's not get too cocky," Motoki laughed. "Or did I not just see you knock Sailor Moon out over there?" Mamoru shook his head. Motoki wasn't going to drop that, was he? "What was that about? Were you trying to be a complete doofus when you rammed into her. Poor girl."

"Yeah, I don't know what happened there," he confessed. "I had no idea that thing was so close to me. I wasn't trying to hit her."

"You didn't even try to help her up either," Motoki said shaking his head. "Bastard."

"I think she was angry," he admitted. "You saw the way she moved away when I tried to help her the first time? I don't know what's wrong with her." He shrugged. Nor did he care. "But it doesn't matter to me anyhow. I have more important things to worry about."

"Like calling Usagi?" Motoki added slyly.

"She's going to have to think twice if she really thinks she's going to blow me off," he huffed, splitting away from the path towards his own home.

"Don't forget to ask her if her leg is alright," Motoki called out after him. "And make sure you didn't bruise her chest. You hit her pretty hard." He rolled his eyes. Sometimes Motoki's imagination was just too wild.

*Usagi*

It seemed like the worst things always happened to her. Why did there have to be a youma attack right now? When Ichigo was in her house waiting for her to get ready, when he was sitting in her kitchen table with her father?! The universe hated her.

And then there was Tuxedo Kamen. Where had he even come from anyway? She hadn't seen him in ages and he suddenly showed up now? That jackass. Didn't he realize that she didn't need him anymore? She hadn't needed his help in months and she certainly hadn't needed him now. But going by his actions, she rubbed her chest soothingly, he was just as confused being there. He should have stayed in retirement.

She had come to understand a while ago that she controlled the bond between them. It had little to do with whether she was in danger or not, it was simply whether she was truly afraid and if she was, he would come. It wasn't instantaneous because he wouldn't just poof before her, but since she would usually start every battle scared for her life by the time she needed him the most he had already arrived. That ended this past summer when she'd overcome those fears. Striving to become better Senshi, her mindset changed and she no longer needed saving. She no longer needed Tuxedo Kamen.

Still the question boggled her every time she saw him. Who was he? She'd only heard him speak once in her life and other than that, she'd never seen his full face, never stared him in the eyes, she'd never touched his bare hands. It was frustrating because she'd never had any type of connection with him. He always avoided her, well, maybe not avoided, but he was incredibly indifferent and she'd always wondered why he saved her because he never looked like it was something he wanted to do. It had probably been an obligation for him and she was just glad that she'd been able to cut him off. She didn't need him doing her any favors, especially when he was not interested in getting to know her.

She only knew a few things about him. The first fact being: He was a man. That was almost solid evidence, but hey, they were all magical here so there was still a possibility that he was a polar bear. But for the sake of being reasonable, she would hold true all things that applied to her and the Senshi. So that would remain: Tuxedo Kamen was assumed to be a man. Age: unknown. Height: super tall, probably over 6ft tall. But then again, his stupid hat could be creating an illusion of his stature that may not be necessarily true. Facial features: he might as well be wearing a ski mask because those goggles/lens/glasses, whatever they were, sealed his vision from her and the eyes were really the main focus when try to recognize someone.

All she had left to go on was his hair. It was black, but holding the same rules that bound her and the Senshi, his hair might not even look like that in real life. Her hair and Sailor Moon's were different lengths, as with Ami and Sailor Mercury. Ami had let her hair grow out to shoulder length, while Sailor Mercury permanently rocked the boyish bob. They learned that whatever they looked like when they first transformed, that was the permanent look of the Senshi as well. The Senshi's entire outfit was an illusion. Their suits (and boots!) uncoiled like ribbons when they untransformed so it only made sense that their hair would follow the same rule and would change back into whatever it looked like previously.

She could assume that Tuxedo Kamen looked the same as his alter ego, but that probably wasn't the case. He couldn't be that dumb. Tuxedo Kamen could be anybody. He could look like anyone. She had zero suspects on her lists because 1- she didn't have that much time to stalk him, but mostly 2- Luna and Artemis had commanded all the Senshi to drop it. They wouldn't explain why, but just said it wasn't one of their main concerns at the moment.

Still, all she could think of were guys. Motoki, whom she was just glad was safe. Tuxedo Kamen, the useless mime who had by some miracle managed to save Motoki (which was weird because he'd never saved anyone that wasn't her before and there had been plenty of times that the other Senshi were in danger, but whatever), her father, who she prayed wasn't going bananas on Ichigo. Ichigo, who she hoped wasn't getting freaked out by her crazy father. And then of course there was Mamoru, but she was thinking about him for many different reasons, none of them worth mentioning.

What she really needed to concern herself with was getting home quickly so that she could finish getting ready. Worse yet wasn't that she needed to re-shower just to take the muck off her legs, it was the thought of what her dad was saying to Ichigo. She ran faster.

She untransformed a block away from her house and ran through her backyard. She was wearing a stupid dress, but thankfully no heels and moved as fast as she could without knocking over any of her mother's flowerpots. Leaping to her window, she climbed into her room and rushed into her bathroom to get ready.

When she finished changing clothes, she went downstairs and saw Ichigo sitting nervously next to her father on the dining table. Both were silent and facing away from each other. Beyond awkward. Surprisingly, her father looked more anxious than Ichigo.

"You're back," her father sighed. Something in her stomach churned at his excessive relief.

"I was just in my room getting ready," she reminded him. He couldn't have known she was gone, could he? She forced herself to push away her paranoia about her father knowing she was Sailor Moon and turned to Ichigo, putting on her coat. "Let's go." Ichigo stood up quickly following her out the kitchen with a curt nod to her dad. Her father finally turned to his normal annoying self after he noticed Ichigo reach for her hand. He cleared his throat.

"You said you two are going to dinner?" Her father stared at Ichigo hard.

"Yes, sir."

"Then you have two hours. It doesn't take long to eat. It's already late." He didn't wait for a reply and walked to the door, grabbing Ichigo by the shoulder. "Two hours." She rolled her eyes, prying her father's hand off and pushing Ichigo out the house.

"Good bye." She slammed the front door behind them. What was wrong with her father? Two hours? What an old fart. Although she hadn't originally wanted to go out with Ichigo tonight, she was still glad they were. Ichigo had been sweet enough to bring her a box of chocolates when he'd come to pick her up and she felt bad that he had to deal with her father. If only she hadn't run off to into battle he wouldn't have had to endure so much parental protectiveness.

But thankfully that was all done with; she couldn't keep dwelling on things she had no control over. They took a cab to the restaurant (since Ichigo had gotten too lazy to cook for them earlier) and they arrived at a cute hole-in-the-wall with intimate seating. They waited half an hour for a table, but according to Ichigo, they served some of the best ramen. He was right.

"Before I forget," Ichigo started after their food had arrived. "I saw Naru today on my way out. She said to tell you hi."

"Oh, ok." She pulled the noodles out of her soup and blew.

"You two used to be really good friends," Ichigo said carefully, sipping some of his hot broth. "What happened?" She shrugged.

"Nothing. Since she's been dating Umino, we've just talked less." Ever since summer she felt like she had been sidelined for Umino. "I guess when you have a boyfriend things are different. She spends all her time with him."

"I wish you would do that for me."

She stopped eating. Ichigo was smiling at her playfully, but he was not kidding. She felt horrible.

"It's different with Rei and Makoto," she said. "We've always been close and we like to see each other often. Especially since we all have memberships to the spa. I'm telling you, that place is amazing. If you could see how it was inside you'd understand."

"It must be amazing if it keeps you away from me so often." She looked down at her soup. Why was he so good at making her feel guilty?

She looked at her phone beside her plate knowing it was one of those bad habits her generation shared to put electronics on the table. It was ringing, but the restaurant was too loud for it to be heard. It did however shake her cup as it vibrated. She looked at the caller: Momo. She stopped breathing. She had no friend named Momo… but it was the nickname she'd changed Mamoru's stored contact information into. She looked at Ichigo, panicking since he was staring at the screen waiting for her to pick up.

"It's fine," he said, urging her to take the call. "I don't mind." She snatched the phone and got up so quickly she almost knocked her chair over. "Where are you going?" Ichigo asked.

"I don't think I'll be able to hear anything in here. I'll be right back!" She was so glad that it wasn't a lie and rushed out the packed restaurant, rudely pushing past a few customers that were waiting by the entrance. She picked up as soon as she got outside and hoped he hadn't hung up. "Hello?"

"Odango." Oh my goodness. It was him. How had he gotten her number?

"Mamoru?" she whispered. He sounded different over the phone and she just wanted to make sure. Why was he calling her for?!

"You forgot about me already?"

"Of course not!" she almost yelled. He chuckled. Dammit! Where did her coolness go? The street was small and she walked a few paces away from the front of the restaurant. Taking a few deep breaths, she leaned on a parked car hugging herself to keep warm. She needed to keep it together.

"I'm glad to hear that." How could he sound so smooth even over the phone? "The way you left the other day made me wonder if you were trying to run away from me."

"I told you I was busy," she reminded him, smiling to herself because he still sounded terse about it.

"Are you busy now?"

Her heart started pounding. He had tried to mask it, but she totally heard it. Hopeful. He was hopeful. He wanted to see her now? What should she say? Immediately she wanted to blurt no, the answer was no, she was not busy. Not busy at all.

She looked back at the restaurant window and stomped her feet. But she really was. What was she supposed to say? Yes? No? This was the biggest pickle of her life! She really really wanted to see him… She could rush her meal with Ichigo and leave straight from here. She could meet Mamoru in as little as 15 minutes. She could do it. She was going to do it. She took a deep breath.

"Yes," she finally said. "I am." She covered her face in shame because she knew what she really wanted. She wanted to dump Ichigo right here, right now, but she forced herself to stay committed for at least the day. Besides, how much trouble would she get into if she didn't make it before her curfew.

"Such a shame," Mamoru answered after a long pause. "Listen." She pushed the phone closer to her ear waiting anxiously for his next words. Was he mad at her? "I'm not going to play games with you." She stayed quiet on the line. "I won't chase you."

"That wasn't-"

"Next time I see you, Usagi," he whispered her name menacingly. "You're going to regret leaving me."

Shocked, she remained silent on the line. Well if that wasn't the sexiest threat she'd ever received. A bit abrupt and probably overdramatic, but hot all the same. Who ever said Mamoru didn't know how to be charming?

"First of all," she recovered, trying to match his forcefulness. "Seeing as you're the one that's too impatient to wait for my phone call, maybe you should consider being a little nicer to me, Mamoru," she goaded. "Especially when I have something you really want."

"Tell me where you are," he growled, "so I can go over there and beat your ass." She pulled the phone away from her face and covered her mouth so he wouldn't hear her laugh. He was so aggressive!

"As much as I would love that," she teased, "I told you already that I can't." She took a deep breath. "How about Saturday?"

"I'm busy." Her heart sank. Well there went that. She was just glad he couldn't see her expression… "Kidding. Pick a time." The twitch in her eye wouldn't relent. If she could punch him through the line, she would. Didn't he understand just how nerve-racking it was for her to ask him out? It was not funny.

"4'oclock, jerk. But I'm really considering making you wait longer."

"No, don't do that," he laughed. "I'll pick you up at your house. Don't make me wait."

They hung up and she paced around a few times, dreading her return to the restaurant. She wanted to go home and sleep for the next day and a half so she wouldn't have to wait so long for Saturday.

Dragging her feet back towards the restaurant, she forced herself to cheer up. She had so much to look forward to. Right now she was about to finish eating a delicious meal with her sweet boyfriend and on Saturday she would go on an even better date and have the wildest sex her body could handle. She was so lucky. It was such a shame that they couldn't be the same guy, but hey, there were some details in life that weren't worth getting worked up over.

Mmmhmm! Honey badger don't care!

-CattyKitty