And we kissed. Burning kisses that, had
it not been so cold outside, might have sent the
building up in flames. The raw emotion I'd
experienced in Tuxedo Kamen's the previous night
was nothing compared to the passion conveyed in
the embrace I found myself in now. If anything,
the masked man had been restraining himself if
this was what had been locked up inside of him.
Hands cupping his face, I ravished my lips upon
his, attempting to match his desire with my own.
Mamoru's tongue pushed into my mouth and danced
with my own as his hands wound themselves in my
hair, easing my head to the side to deepen the kiss.

	Sooner than I imagined, our kisses eased
into something less bruising...something deeper.
I was pressed back with gentle hands to lay on the
floor, our lips never parting as he adjusted his
weight to carefully settle over me. I trembled
helplessly in his arms as I felt the man who held
me unlock his soul and place it trustingly into my
hands. Uncertainly, I did the same.

	I felt his pain, and he felt mine. I saw
the child's face, stunned and pale, as the nurses
told him his parents were no more. I witnessed the
loneliness that had plagued him for so many years.
I even felt the car careening off of the ledge. And
I met with the void within him that impossibly
challenged the intensity of the ache in my own
heart. I touched the wounds within him, caressing
them and slowly easing them away. The hurts had been
too long rejected by others. He did the same for me,
and the void within breathed a sigh of relief and
shuddered into peaceful nothingness. As did his.

	His lips were a ghost on my own, brushing
lightly against the flesh they had bruised moments
earlier. "Usako..." they whispered against my mouth,
and I felt a slight trace of his eyelashes against
my cheek as they fluttered shut, his head lowering
to the ground to rest beside mine. After a few moments
of peaceful stillness, he rolled off of me slowly and
lay on his back, gentle hands pulling me under the
crook of his arm. Resting my head on his chest, I
smiled at his peaceful face, his eyes closed, his
features soft and still. With a sigh, I let my eyes
drift shut as well, and Mamoru's arms tightened
around me as I snuggled a bit closer.