(salaices@stanford.edu)

Title: First Truths--Part 12a
By: Lilac Summers
Rated: PG

Hello everyone. Well...erm, I guess two weeks turned out to be longer
than I expected, huh? Believe me, if I could
sweatdrop a la Sailor Moon, I'd be swimming by now. I can't even begin to
tell everyone how sorry I am that I've taken so long to finish that; my
only excuse is that real life intruded. Believe me, its not often I have
a life, period, so when I actually got one (for a whole year!) it
required my entire attention. 

Another reason I took so long was that, after not writing for a while,
it was extremely difficult to get into the same tone I'd been using
before. I had a number of failed attempts that completely sounded as if
they'd been written by my alter ego, Lilac-who-writes-not-so-well. I had
to lure her into a small closet with promises of a scantily clad
Mamo-chan, then lock her in and throw away the key. Still, my writing
tone might start out a bit...differently. I hope it's still okay.

Finally, I had a horrid case of writer's block. I know it's an overused
excuse, but what the hey; it's true. It took many cartons of ice cream in
one sitting to open up the writing channels. (Mind you, my friends say it
was hallucinations due to mint-chocolate-chip overload, but as long as it
got me writing, does it really matter?)

Okay, so now for some actual useful information. A LOT is going on in
this chapter. THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER! It was getting so long and
complicated, I had to split it up. I was actually thinking of submitting
it all in one hugo chapter, but it would have taken me at least another
week to get it all finished, and I figured you guys might want the first
half to tide you over till next week, when the last part will be
finished. This chapter will hopefully be a lot lighter than the previous
few.

I hope you all enjoy!

As always:
<....> <--indicates thought

And I do not own Sailor Moon. (How's *that* for originality?)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
First Truths
by
Lilac Summers

Part 12a

2 weeks later

No one could say that Usagi was sad. She wasn't, not really. She
laughed and joked and klutzed out like she usually did. But somehow, she
was...different. Her school-friends really didn't know what it was: maybe
a certain shade to her eyes, or the way it took her a little longer to
react to their teasing, as if she had to weigh whether answering back was
worth the effort, or the fact that she never finished her lunch
anymore. That was the biggest clue of all, of course, because never in
the great history of Tsukino Usagi's life had she not finished her
lunch. Had it been a one-time occurrence, it could be attributed to some
freak chance...but two weeks straight?! Inconceivable!

Sometimes her classmates would catch her looking down at her desk, doing
nothing in particular. She didn't take notes, nor sleep through class,
nor try to sneak her lunch out. She just sat. Silent. On one occasion,
Miss Haruna had called her name three times with no reaction
forthcoming. Irritated, she'd stepped up to Usagi's desk and demanded her
attention. And Usagi had simply lifted her face and Miss Haruna stumbled
back in surprise for surely that composed, quiet face could not be
Usagi's. Her eyes were opaque, her gaze listless, and her voice...

"Yes, Miss Haruna?"

That's what Usagi had said, with no theatrics and no wailing and no "I
wasn't doing anything, honest!" Just that quiet "Yes, Miss Haruna" as if
she were asking the time to some stranger on the street. Miss Haruna had
had nothing to say to that quiet voice. What could she demand, after
all? Miracle of miracles, Usagi had been bringing in her homework all
week! So whereas before she would have scolded her for not paying
attention, this time she just shook her head slightly and mumbled an
"excuse me, Usagi," as if *she* were the guilty student caught
daydreaming. She'd stepped away and let Usagi be for the simple reason
that that quiet girl who stared at her desk was not Usagi. It couldn't
be. Miss Haruna wanted the old Usagi back. 

And the other Senshi knew, of course, though they didn't say
anything. They knew she was simply going through the motions of living,
but that, really, no one was home. A part of Usagi, the part that dazzled
strangers and made friends out of enemies, had been left behind. It was
as if Usagi, deciding to give her love, had given it completely. And when
that love had not been returned, she had not taken it back for
herself. That kind of love, Minako had whispered to her silent friends,
can never be reclaimed...it's a once-in-a-lifetime kind of deal. So the
Senshi worried, and fretted, and cursed, because they knew exactly to whom
Usagi had given that precious part of herself, and who had not had the
tiniest bit of sense to accept it.

Chiba Mamoru, idiot extraordinaire.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It might have made them feel a bit better to know that that selfsame
idiot extraordinaire had not been having an easy time of it, either. He
haunted his apartment like a specter, restlessly moving from kitchen to
couch to bedroom, never settling in one place. 

His princess wouldn't come. Since Usagi had walked out the door,
leaving him feeling as if a semi truck had gleefully driven over him, his
dream princess had refused to make an appearance at night. He no longer
dreamt and, so, he no longer slept. His sleep was even more lonely than
his life, so why bother? And it hurt so very much, this betrayal from his
princess. 

On the third night of dreamlessness, he'd stormed out into his balcony,
raised his head to the moon, and demanded an explanation.

"Why?!" he'd screamed, uncaring of his neighbors. "Why won't you
come? I gave up everything for *you*. I gave up...I gave *HER* up for
you. You can't leave me now, do you understand?! DO YOU UNDERSTAND
ME?!" And he'd damned her, and broken a pot of perfect blood-red rosebuds
with his bare hands, raging till he'd finally dragged himself back inside
with his bloody hands and wondered if he'd been cursing his princess or
himself. 

Eleven days later, both princess and schoolgirl continued to avoid
him. He never ran into Usagi on his way to classes anymore. She had
either started getting to school earlier, or had taken another route. On
the occasion when a youma had popped up, Sailor Moon thanked him politely
for helping, inquired after his health, then slipped away like a shadow
the moment he had looked away.

This very afternoon, she evaded him when he walked into the Crown
Arcade. He stepped inside and caught sight of her at the Sailor V
game. Her back was to him and, as he watched, her shoulders had tensed,
sensing his gaze. She'd risen from her seat, picked up her satchel, and
then turned to face him. He could read nothing from her face, could make
out no differences in her demeanor other than that disquieting
stillness. She'd nodded at him in greeting and wordlessly left the
arcade, leaving him with his fists and jaw clenched. He reached her
vacant seat at the Sailor V game just in time to watch her player die,
only then realizing she'd left the arcade mid-game and, it seemed, with
the highest score anyone had ever gotten. The little digitized Sailor V
seemed to glare up at him accusingly as the boss got the better of
her. The "winner's score" box popped up then, cursor blinking rapidly in
cadence with his thoughts, that ran along the lines of "idiot, idiot,
idiot, idiot..." He softly keyed in "Usa" in the three spaces, then
walked out to his solitary apartment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That's what Usagi realized when she finally
reached her street after having run from the arcade. Her hands were
trembling and her heart was thudding painfully. Every time she saw him,
it hurt more. Whoever had said that time healed all wounds was a
moron. They'd obviously never had the dubious honor of having their soul
jerked out, ripped to shreds, and then unceremoniously shoved back into
their bodies, as if they were supposed to continue living with it.

She guessed it had just seemed as if it would never happened to
her. She'd seen the movies, heard the radio talk-shows, heard her
classmates bemoan about it...but never, ever had she thought that one day
she'd experience the phenomenon known as unrequited love. She'd been so
sure that the moment, that wonderful, glorious moment that she finally
found the man whom she wanted to spend the rest of her life with--for whom
she'd gladly die for--he would be as equally in love with her. Fate
couldn't be so cruel, right? Well, it turned out that it could. And,
dammit all, it wasn't fair. At least, *at the very least*, her status as
a superhero should amount to some kind of benefits from the fate
department. But no, she'd been cheated again.

God, he'd looked so gorgeous. She sighed, bringing still-trembling
hands to her face. She'd known the instant he'd stepped into the
arcade. Nevermind that she had her back to the door, she had *felt* him
walk in. Every cell in her body was vibrating, an odd sort of resonance
that informed her he was there and watching *her*. World and life
forgotten, she'd turned to catch his gaze. There he stood, the
penultimate brooding hero out of any novel. It seemed as though he hadn't
slept, or lost some weight, or *something* that made his eyes so dark and
intense, the chiseled planes and angles of his face more accentuated, only
serving to highlight how handsome he was. And there was sadness and
maybe...regret?...as he looked at her. She hadn't been able to stand
it--had been unwilling to stay to figure it out--and had left before her
feelings overwhelmed her. Her heart was beating in tandem with her
thoughts, a beat for every word: he's not yours he's not yours he's not
yours he's not yours.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The apartment was silent and dark when Mamoru walked in, just as
he'd left it. If he had been paying any sort of attention he might have
noticed the gentle breeze of evening air that entered through open balcony
doors. Of course, he had other, Odangoed things on his mind, so he didn't
notice. 

His first inkling that something was wrong came when he caught a
whiff of perfume in his decidedly not-supposed-to-be perfumed
apartment. He whirled around to face a shadowy corner, battle senses
humming. He dropped into a defensive stance, wary to transform lest it be
nothing more than burglars and he inadvertently reveal his
identity. Decidedly feminine-smelling burglars, but burglars
nonetheless. A faint sound alerted him to an attack, and he spun and
lashed out with a lethal hit to strike...nothing. His mind was barely
registering this impossible miss as a slew of freezing fog appeared out
of nowhere. He was instantly blinded, his direction hopelessly scrambled,
when he caught another tiny sound behind him and felt the rush of
displaced air. He whirled once more, but it was too late. His world went
black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Is he awake yet?"

"No, not yet."

"Jeez, how hard did you hit him?"

"How was I supposed to know he wouldn't put up a fight with those roses of
his? Just wham, down like a stone."

"Still, what if there's brain damage?"

"Who'll tell the difference? He can't be dumber than he already is."

Mamoru opened his eyes on that decidedly uncomplimentary note. He had
expected thieves at the least, Negaverse generals at the worst. He did
*not* expect two worried blue eyes peering back at him from behind a
visor. He jerked his head back in surprise and winced when he made hard
contact with the back of a chair.

"He's awake, thank the heavens."

"About damn time."

Now, at least, he was awake enough to recognize the voices as
female. He cautiously opened his eyes again, working around the pounding
in the back of his head, and concentrated.

Blue, red, green, and yellow. Or, more significantly, Mercury, Mars,
Jupiter, and Venus. He groaned, most definitely not due to the pain in
his head.

"Hiya, boyo. Happy to see us?" said the one in yellow.

A growled epithet was answer enough, as he surged to his feet to
confront them. Or, tried...to...surge to his...feet. They, he realized
with baffled outrage, had actually had the gall to TIE HIM TO A
CHAIR! The following curses really weren't reserved for polite society.

Amused chuckles erupted all around. Even kind Mercury stifled a few
giggles. 

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" he roared, fully expecting them to quiver
in fear.

There was no quivering in sight. Mars stepped up to him and roughly
pushed his head back against the chair, as Mercury winced at the rough
treatment. "Simmer down, Tuxie! We don't want your neighbors barging in
here, now do we?"

Mamoru tried to breathe evenly through clenched teeth. With careful
movements he tested the strength of his bonds, stifling another curse when
he found they were expertly tied, and that the rope was made out of
thickly-woven nylon, impossible to break. They'd also had the foresight
to make sure his hands were bound at the wrist, with not enough leverage
to allow him to use his roses.

Sailor Jupiter grinned at him, knowing full well what he was up
to. "Don't even waste your time. I'm a woman of many talents, tying
ropes being one of them."

Sailor Venus couldn't help but turn towards Mercury and wonder, "I don't
even want to *know* why in the world she knows how to tie men up. Too
much information." 

Mamoru ignored the comment, grinding his jaw so hard it was practically
audible. "I'm quite sure you've mistaken me for someone else," he
directed at his "captors."

Mars released his hair and stepped back impatiently. "Please, don't
insult our intelligence. We know who you are, and you know why we're
here."

Mamoru glared at them. "If that's the way you want it, Rei," and here
he pierced Mars with a look, "Ami, Makoto, Minako." He was gratified to
see them blanche, but only for a moment, before Makoto nodded in his
direction, smiling grimly.

"So now that that is out in the open, why don't you tell me why you're
here?"

It looked like Makoto wanted to hit him. She raised a fist, "You. don't.
know. Why. We. ARe. HERE?!"

Ami moaned and latched on desperately to Makoto's arm. "Remember,
Mako-chan! Lawsuit! Lawsuit!"

Venus, otherwise known as Minako, intercepted and waved the group
away. It seemed like the idiot had to have some things explained to
him. She grabbed a neighboring chair and dragged it in front of the bound
man, straddling it so she faced him over her chair's back. "Lookie here,
Tuxie--"

"Mamoru," growled Mamoru, "MA-MO-RU. Not Tuxie!"

He didn't know what was more insulting, the dismissing little way she
waved her hand in his face, or the placating way she said his
name. "Right, Mamoru-san. Anyway, we're here to help you out."

"With what? And who asked for your help?"

Makoto leaned in, grinning at him evilly. "It's obvious that you are
very sick, Mamoru-san."

"I am *not* sick," he denied.

"Yes you are," she informed him smugly. "Because only a SICK MAN WOULD
MAKE USAGI CRY!!!"

Rei and Ami held her back just in time to keep her from "curing" Mamoru
with her fists. "Let me at him! Let me at him!" screeched Makoto.

"We are sooooo going to get sued for this," wailed Ami.

Minako valiantly ignored the other girls, finding the way Mamoru's face
had turned miserably pale much more interesting. "It bothers you, doesn't
it?" she asked sweetly.

"The idea of getting pounded on by that violent psycho? Yes."

"No, not that. I bothers you thinking that you made Usagi cry." She
leaned back with a satisfied smile as every last trace of color bled from
his face, his lips becoming a thin, tensed white line. He said nothing.

Enjoying herself, she scooted forward and whispered conspirationally,
"she cries buckets, Luna tells us. She doesn't sleep,
either. Something's not the same about her, and it's all your fault. You
are making her miserable. She's lost weight. She's so thin you can see
the bones in her wrists. She's whiling away to nothing while you sit here
in your comfy apartment knowing that you're killing her. Slowly draining
the life out of her--"

"Minako, stop," cut Ami in gently. "Don't torture him like that." They
both turned to look at a dazed Mamoru, his head hanging low so his bangs
shielded his eyes, his shoulders hunched in upon himself as though he was
trying to make himself as small as possible. Minako caught the telltale
glimmer of moisture on his cheeks and humphed. 

"He shouldn't have done it if he isn't man enough to handle the
consequences," she sniffed, abandoning her position on the chair.

Rei agilely jumped in to take her place. "My turn!" she
announced. "Come on, buck up Mamoru, we're just getting started."

He raised his head and his eyes were furious behind the drying sheen of
tears. "I don't need to hear any more of this! Do you think this is some
game? Do you think this is funny?! I don't need a bunch of teenage girls
barging into my apartment and trying to drill into my brain when you don't
have a CLUE what is going on! So get. the. hell. out."

The girls were completely silent, shocked expressions on their faces as
they stared at the bitter, stony man before them. "Mamoru-san..." Rei
began.

"Leave me alone!!" 

"We can't!" screamed Makoto, frustrated. "Don't you see?! You screwed
it up! You had it all lined up, and you friggin' screwed it up!" Rei
scampered out of Makoto's way as she advanced on Mamoru, wrenching his
head back by the hair. "So you better fix it! You make Usagi happy again
or we'll hurt you!"

"What do you know about it?" sneered Mamoru coldly, ignoring her grip on
his hair.

Makoto's eyes narrowed into fierce glimmers of emerald as she reared
back a lethal fist.

"Makoto! Makoto, dear god, not the face! She'll kill us if she sees
it! I *knew* I shouldn't have let you guys do this!" bemoaned Ami. She
tugged Makoto's arm away, standing between Mamoru and Makoto. "You're
going to break him!"

Mamoru was not pleased at hearing himself referred to as some expensive
toy. "Why, Ami-chan, so nice to know you care."

She rounded on him and seeing her sweet face turn into grim displeasure
shocked him more than Makoto's fist ever could. "I'm not doing it for
you, half-wit," she scoffed. "I'm here for Usagi, because if something
happens to you, she's the one that's going to be upset. So be glad I'm
here, or Makoto would have turned you into paste, and the only one to
mourn would be Usagi."

Cowed, but unwilling to show it, Mamoru responded, "she's welcome to
try."

Pain exploded in his stomach and he bent over, gagging. Finally gaining
his breath, he turned a murderous gaze towards Makoto, only to find her
looking as shocked as the rest of them.

"Ami-chan!" she squeaked.

Eyes widening, Mamoru turned to see Ami-chan with one dainty fist still
upraised. "That," she announced, "Usagi won't see. And that's the end of
that; no more bodily harm comes to him." With one last angry look his
way, she retreated to the other side of the room, effectively dismissing
them all.

"Blue wanted to hog all the fun herself; that's why she always stopped
us," muttered Minako.

Rei threw her hands up in the air. "Okay, all right, this is getting us
nowhere. Mamoru-san, look," she sighed, taking back her seat, "you just
answer one question, and answer it honestly, and we'll think about leaving
you alone."

He raised one dark eyebrow. "You'll *think* about leaving me alone," he
repeated, unimpressed.

Rei shrugged her red-clad shoulders as if to say "hey, what can ya do
about it?" "It's the best I can offer at this point," she said.

"You do realize that this is utterly insane? What would Usagi say if
she found out you were doing this?" he pointed out reasonably.

He could have sworn little sparks flew from Rei's fingertips. "How
would she possibly find out? *We* aren't going to tell her....*you*
aren't going to tell her. What would you say, after all?" Here she
stopped and dropped her voice to a mimicking bass, bringing a hand to her
chest dramatically. "Usagi, your four girlfriends tied me up to a chair
and forced me to...forced me to...oh, it's too horrible! Forced me to
talk about my feelings! I feel so cheap and used!"

He bared his teeth as they dissolved into giggles again at his expense,
but remained silent. She had a point, after all.

"So," she continued, after the hilarity died down, "here's my
question. What did you do to Usagi, and what part of your brain died on
you that caused you to make such a stupid mistake?"

"That's two questions," he muttered.

"Gee, there goes my aspiring career as a mathematician! Just answer the
questions, smartass."

"All right!" he growled, clenching his fists. Then, more quietly, "all
right, if you four will leave me alone."

The girls leaned forward as one, breaths abated.

He flushed at the scrutiny, none-too-proud at himself to begin
with. "When I brought her back to my apartment that day, we had a little
bit of an argument, don't" he forestalled, "ask about what. Anyway, in
the end, she....she told me that she loved me and I..." he shut his eyes,
remembering that look of pained horror on her face. His voice dropped to
almost a whisper.

"You what? What did you do?" breathed Ami.

"I told her," he said haltingly, as if he didn't quite believe it
himself, "I told her that I loved the Princess".

The girls gasped in shock at the revelation, their faces mirroring
betrayed hurt at what he'd done to Usagi. He rushed to defend
himself. "But it's true! I couldn't lie to her, could I? I mean, I've
dreamt of the Princess for as long as I can remember! I *know* she's out
there, waiting for me. I can't---I can't suddenly let go of that, no
matter what I may have thought I felt for Odango Atama. I can't!!"

"But---but," cut in Minako, unbelieving and confused. "That can't be
right! No--how is that possible?! I *felt* it. I..." she looked at her
friends beseechingly. "I couldn't have been wrong, could I?"

Makoto and Ami looked down at the floor, fearful that they had been
wrong all along and scared, oh so scared, that this wouldn't work out for
Usagi, after all.

Rei looked as shell-shocked as the rest, till her face twisted with
determination. "No," she growled, "I refuse to believe this is how it
ends for Usagi! It's not fair!"

She paced the carpet, knocking her fists on her temples as if to
stimulate thought. There had to be a way to get to the bottom of it, to
find out whom he was truly tied to. If only she could see what was truly
inside him...what drove him. She stopped in mid-step, a bewildered
expression on her face. It would be risky, but well worth it if it
worked. 

She advanced on a slumped Mamoru, who was too emotionally drained to care
very much about what she had planned next. With little preamble she
grabbed his head in her hands and forced him to meet her gaze. "This
might hurt, Tuxie. Don't know; never done it before. If your brain
starts to fry...well, it'll be too late for me to do anything about that,
so...sorry." And she gathered every drop of psychic power within her to
dive into his soul with as much grace as a four hundred-pound sumo
wrestler performing a belly flop into a kiddy pool.

Mamoru's mouth opened in a silent scream as his eyes clenched shut, the
tendons in his neck standing out as he strained against the invasion.

Rei found herself falling through a dark tunnel and realized, a moment
too late, that she did not yet have the power necessary to try this
dangerous maneuver. She cried silently for help, and was rewarded with
the feeling of a warm hand reaching out to her corporeal body. Suddenly,
Minako's presence was there with her, gently nudging her with her
knowledge of love and its secrets. In her mind she heard the wry voice of
Minako, "I figured I could help you out with this one, you dumb
blockhead. Don't mess with him too much; it's not nice."

Rei grimaced at the reprimand. With Minako's power aiding her, she had
a little more control. She carefully avoided his memories, dreams, and
secrets, knowing she had no right to be here and that her intrusion was
already more than unjust to Mamoru. Instead, she followed Minako's
counsel, and Minako's natural connection to love, and found herself
clinging to a red thread that was interwoven into every part of his soul
and beyond, casting the inky darkness around her into crimson. It was the
most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Instantly she felt engulfed in
peace and pain, joy and heartbreak, loss and gain, life and death, for
millennia upon millennia upon millennia. It was immense and never, in all
her lives, would she be able to understand the true scope of this
connection. She felt Minako's presence become buoyed with delight, and
could only wonder at how the Senshi of Love must be experiencing this
sight. 

"Minako," she communicated, "can such a link be a love triangle? Can he
love two people at once with this intensity?"

Minako's denial sounded loud and clear. "No way, Rei. This kind of
link is...well, just short of a miracle. It goes beyond love to true and
utter devotion. Unrequited love is a sickly, starving thing. Love
divided is not true love. Neither kind would forge such a connection
that, quite frankly, transcends death."

Rei gulped, more than a little awed. "What do you mean?"

"She dies, he dies. She lives, he lives. Always the same, always
together. They share a soul, Rei. You can't go deeper than that."

"Oh," squeaked Rei. "Erm, can you tell where it goes?"

Rei could just imagine Minako sighing through her teeth. "You want me
to touch that?! Are you trying to kill me? I always knew you were
jealous of my superior wit!"

"Can you are can't you?! I'm running out of time here, blondie."

"Sheesh, all right, all right. Gimme a minute." There was silence for
a few seconds, then, "you're gonna have to touch it, Rei. I'm not
actually 'there' in the sense that you are."

Rei had been afraid of that one. She approached the "string" warily,
and gently placed a hand on it, muttering "the things I do for that
meatballs for brains."

Rei's entire being went numb at contact, and she sensed Minako move
through her to read the string. 

"My god, so much power, Rei! I--my god," Minako's voice was truly
reverent. She was silent for what seemed like eons, then an invisible,
psychic wind began to circulate around Rei, almost making her lose her
grip on the link. She tightened her grip on the "string" reflexively,
mentally gritting her teeth as power singed up her arms. Suddenly
Minako's presence was very strong, hurtfully so, as she felt Minako's
psyched take firm control of Rei's link.

Minako's voice returned, with a strange, lilting, singsong quality to
it, as though she were reading a fairy tale. "A Prince and his Princess,
separated. Lost...for so long. Death. She was with him, through the
darkness. He feels her cry sometimes. But he can't...won't
remember. Tried to tell him so many times, but it hurts. The fear is
strong. She's there... I finally found her! I found her! And he
doesn't see! Why doesn't he *see*?! He is clinging to the past...has not
found his future. Oh, it hurts! He loves so strongly but he-- He loved
the Princess. He loves Sailor Moon. He loves...oh." Minako's voice was
suddenly jolted into normalcy. Normal and agitated. "OH! God, god god
god. Rei, get out. For grief's sake, get out!" 

Rei's hand slipped away, stunned by Minako's fervor. Without questions
she scurried back into her body by concentrating on the violent, almost
hurtful grip Minako had on her real hand. She snapped out of her trance
with a gasp for air, like a swimmer after the last lap, and heard Minako
and Mamoru echo her as they snapped awake with her. Immediately she
dropped her other hand from Mamoru's head as though he'd scalded her.

"Minako, wha--"

"How dare you," hissed Mamoru, nearly whispering, and was all the more
dangerous in his quiet rage. The girls all flinched as if he'd screamed
at them. "What made you think you have the right to barge into other
people's psyche? I *told* you what you wanted. What else could you
possibly find?!"

"Oh my," whispered Minako. "He doesn't know!"

"Get out." His stillness was unnatural, and the temperature in the room
seemed to drop. Slowly, fine tremors began to run up and down his body,
till he was fairly vibrating with fury. "Get out!" he repeated, and the
"out" seemed to resonate. The girls' finely tuned sense of danger was
shrieking at them to run fast and long.

The Senshi cowered away. Rei had gone too far, and they knew
it. Worse, Minako seemed as though she'd seen a ghost, and was
dangerously close to hyperventilating. "What do we do, minna?" murmured
Makoto.

"Let's go. Please guys, let's go," urged Ami.

Minako stared at a seething Mamoru a few more seconds before slowly
nodding her head. "Yes. He can't be told this. He needs to find his
way. Let's go."

Makoto carefully edged behind Mamoru and began to work on the knots
tying his hands. The other girls waited cautiously by the open
balcony. When the last knot came lose she immediately turned and sprinted
for the balcony, reaching the door none-too-soon as a rose pierced the
wall by the door. With an "eep!" she jumped after her friends and
disappeared from sight.

She found the three others waiting for her in a nearby alley. Minako's
somber expression kept them all quiet.

"Rei, we went too far," said Ami quietly.

Rei nodded, not quite repentant. "I know, but we had to find out. We
had to settle it once and for all. Now we can tell Usagi that it truly
isn't meant to be. Maybe she can move on."

"No," cut Minako in gently. "No, she can't."

"But he's soul-bonded, right? Just like you said before. I assume to
the Princess?" argued Rei, confused with what she'd seen and heard.

"Yes...yes, he loves the Princess with all his soul. But...but he loves
Usagi too."

"But you said that type of bond couldn't be divided!" Rei accused,
frustrated.

"It can't, Rei."

"But--" persisted Rei.

"Oh! Oh..my goodness." Ami stared at Minako, almost hoping for a
denial. Rei and Makoto just looked confused.

But no denial was forthcoming. "Rei," sighed Minako, "what did you
see?"

"I saw a red cord. It was beautiful. And it led somewhere else."

"What did you feel?"

"Feel? I can't describe it! It was every intense emotion one person
can have, all at once. Incredible. It was..." she shrugged her
shoulders, "love?"

Minako nodded. "So I'm telling you again: he has always loved the
Princess, but he will always love Usagi because..."

It was beginning to dawn on Makoto and Rei.

"Because," Makoto finished, "Usagi *is* the Princess."

Minako smiled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In a dark apartment two streets down, a figure kneeled on the
floor. His arms were wrapped around his body as he bent almost to the
floor in his misery, a rose clenched in one hand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

to be continued very very soon...

And this time I mean it! The last part is so close to being finished, I
was tempted to wait the few more days it would take me to finish to send
it in all together. So don't despair! And to prove to you that I love
you all, here is a little masterpiece of mine I call "An Ode to my Swivel
Chair". I hope you all appreciate the majesty of this foray into the
artistic!


Ode to my Swivel Chair

Oh, swivel chair, how proud you stand before the desk!
Of all my chairs, I love *you* best!
You swivel to, you swivel fro
I must confess, I'm proud to know
A swivel chair as great as thee!
And sitting down on you is key...
To my great fortune and delight,
As I sit and type, both day and night!
Oh, swivel chair, swivel chair, thou art divine!
For you I'll even try to rhyme,
Words that end in "m" and "n",
Though I'm not sure I really...uh, ken?
Anyway, I'll forward forge,
Through mountain, river, sea, or gorge,
To sit upon thee, full of fun...
And God Bless Us, every one!

The end

THERE YOU GO! Can you believe I'm sitting on that very chair as we
speak?? No, the swivel chair is not a fantasy!

Okay, I'll shut up now.


salaices@stanford.edu