Tuxedo Mask watched, hidden in the branches of a tree, as the sailor guardians battled a youma. With a cry, Sailor Mercury shot a spray of bubbles spiraling into it's face, causing it to shriek in frustration. The monster, with a wild waving of it's clawed
/hands, sent a stream of viscous, black muck at Sailor Moon.
Tuxedo Mask's breath caught, but at the last moment, she leapt gracefully out of the acid's path.
She turned to Sailor Mars, planted her hands on her hips, and opened her mouth — probably, he assumed, rolling his eyes, to tell her off for whatever snide comment he was sure she'd made earlier.
Just as he was started to relax, the youma's heavy, scaled, and spiked tail whipped through the air toward Sailor Moon. Still distracted by her argument with Mars, she didn't notice the tail coming at her. With a sickening crack, her slender form, lit
/by moonlight, flew through the air.
Tuxedo Mask's heart lurched in his chest, and without pausing to think about the consequences of his actions, or even what his actions were, he leapt from the tree, reaching for his sailor.
He grabbed her, tucking her body into his chest, then curling his body up as tightly as he could.
They landed with a thud, an impact sure to leave a bruise on his shoulder. An ugly, throbbing bruise. But really, they were quite lucky, because, through Tuxedo Mask's quick, if rather impulsive, thinking, he was able to use their momentum to roll toa
stop.
He gingerly unfurled his sore body, cradling Sailor Moon in his arms. Somewhere along his frantic leap, he had lost his top hat, and now his dark hair was falling over his forehead. But as Sailor Moon's blue eyes blinked open, he found he didn't care.
/It didn't matter, nothing mattered, except her.
"Are you okay?" he asked, his voice both soft and worried.
She blinked twice, slowly like a cat, burning the image of her thick, long eyelashes into his retinas. Then a smile curved her pink, pink lips, and his anxiety eased a bit.
"Yes," she murmured in that soft voice that she didn't use with anyone else. Just him.
He stood up, holding her as carefully as he would hold blown glass.
But Sailor Moon's cheeks were rosy from exercise, and she stood on her own, not leaning into him. "Thanks," she whispered with another, smaller smile. She pecked him on the cheek, her lips brushing against his skin as delicately as a butterfly, and when
/his grip loosened, she pulled from his embrace, spun, and dashed backto the fight, her golden hair streaming behind her.
He watched with weary eyes as she yelled her familiar war cry and let her tiara fly. Her aim was true, striking the youma in the chest and sending it back to the Dark Kingdom.
The other sailor guardians gathered around her, hugging and laughing and cheering in their post-battle euphoria.
Tuxedo Mask, scooping up his discarded hat, slunk off to the shadowy silhouette of the tree he'd perched in earlier. He couldn't help but glance back, one last time.
She was not looking for him.
Why is it, he asked her silently, sadly, that you're always leaving me behind?