Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Sanctuary ❯ Chapter 7 ( Chapter 7 )

Title: Sanctuary
Author: Maetel
Email:  maemaechan@yahoo.com
URL: N/A
Rating: M 15+
Summary: When Sailor Moon witnesses the death of an innocent, Usagi ends up turning to Mamoru in her darkest hour. Minor alterations have been made on the timeline so that Mamoru knows who he is, while Nephrite is around.
Chapters: 7/?
Status: Incomplete

Year Completed: Incomplete

“Lift me up
Lead me from this place
Let your love be mercy on my face
Rising up, I changed before your eyes
Out of darkness, standing in the light”

- Full Blown Rose “In the Light”

Tuxedo Kamen had been racing through the forest in search of the cathedral when the light had erupted from seemingly no where. He heard Usagi’s pained cry and almost raced to her, but stopped himself when he realized that there was no one of telling if he would survive going into the light. He almost smacked himself for thinking of such a corny cliché when he should have been saving Usagi. He looked around for any sign that the light wasn’t harmful and nodded when he saw a couple of forest creatures emerge from the light calmly, as though they hadn‘t noticed anything.

He leapt from treetop to treetop until he himself was surrounded by seemingly nothing but light. He staggered a bit when he felt a power that was only vaguely familiar wash over him, disrobing him only to instantaneously clothing him once again. He looked down and saw that instead of the tuxedo he was known for and accustomed to, he was wearing deep blue and black armor, and a sword hanging from his side.

Shaking his head of thoughts pertaining to what had happened and why he was now wearing armor, Mamoru once again raced in the direction from which the shriek had come, but also felt the all too familiar link flare to life.

“Hold on, Usagi-chan,” he whispered as he came upon the cathedral type building. Many of the windows were shattered, though there was no glass on the ground below them, and the doors had been blown out, their only remains being the hinges by which they were supported. He stepped inside, taking in his surroundings to make sure that he wasn‘t going to be attacked by a youma, noting the tattered looking screen that was still barely hanging from the ceiling, before he spotted the blonde where she was in the center of the room, the light, which seemed to be originating from her fading quickly. He looked around for Nephrite, but saw the general’s body lying on the floor, literally fading away in a cloud of shimmering dust.

Mamoru quickly raced over and knelt down by the blonde’s side. He placed a trembling hand on the side of her face, and felt a brief moment of relief pass over him as he saw her open her eyes and look up at him.

“Endymion, you’re all right,” she murmured softly before her eyes fluttered closed and she lost consciousness.

Mamoru looked minorly confused for a moment before shaking his head and gathering the blonde up in his arms. He briefly wondered why she wasn’t transformed until a dim flash of gold caught his eye from a table that was strangely untouched.

“No wonder she never transformed while she was captured,” he thought aloud as he moved over and carefully picked up the golden trinket, making sure not to disturb the blonde in his arms. Once he straightened up, he looked around the room to see what had remained, and then to Usagi. He almost couldn’t believe that it was her power that had caused the damage to the building, but he couldn’t think of an explanation otherwise.

He then turned towards the door and carried her out, and into the forest, which Mars and Mercury were racing through on their way to the very building he had just exited.

“Mamoru-san, is she all right?” questioned the dark haired fire senshi as she watched him with the frail, almost broken, looking young girl he held tightly in his arms.

He looked up at the senshi in red, the worry shining from the otherwise emotionless face, and she didn’t need any sort of answer.

“We need to get her home. Her parents have been worrying themselves sick about her,” Mercury stated only to blink in confusion at Mamoru who was glaring at her, with a look on his face that made her almost regret ever suggesting such an option.

“If we take her home in this state, her parents will be in the same condition or perhaps even more stress will be placed upon their shoulders. Besides, we do not know what was done to her exactly,” he stated as he felt his clothing shift back to the tuxedo he had been wearing before heading into the building. “Anyways, we do know how close she was to her home when she was captured meaning, there could be someone after her even now, waiting for us to take her back just so they can recapture her.”

Mercury sighed, seeing his point. “Then where ar-”

“Mamoru-san, would you be willing to take care of her?” questioned Mars, interrupting the blue haired ice senshi. “Mercury and I would be putting our families in danger if she came with us, and from what Motoki-kun said about you, I’m guessing that you live on your own.”

“Thank you, Sailor Mars,” he said with a nod. “I’ll contact each of you once she regains consciousness, and I have a better idea of what was done.”

Before Mercury could utter another word, the dark haired young man walked past both of the senshi. She watched him walk silently before turning her attention to her partner in arms. “Rei-chan, are you sure that letting him take her is wise?”

“I’m sure. He… Something about him… Luna told us about what happened the night after the battle before Usagi was kidnapped. Think about it, Ami-chan. As much as we don’t trust him as Tuxedo Kamen, as Mamoru, have you ever noticed how he acts when they don’t fight? When she’s not around? And what about when she first went missing? He may not be the nicest guy towards her, but if you haven’t noticed, unless your name is Motoki or Usagi, you are given the same treatment as a perfect stranger.”

The blue haired ice senshi sighed and nodded. “I can see where you are coming from, but… Didn’t you see how haggard he looked?”

“I know, but he’s still the only one capable of fully protecting her. If we took her with one of us, there would be too many questions to answer,” stated Rei as she felt her henshin fade.

Ami frowned but said nothing to negate the miko’s words. Worry still nagged at her saying that there was some reason as to why Usagi should have just been taken home, but she knew that Mamoru was the only person who could take care of Usagi without raising questions about what had happened to the girl, or putting anyone in any unnecessary danger.

“Come on, Ami-chan, let’s head on home before we run the risk of anyone who saw the light blaming it on us,” said the raven haired girl as she started walking away.

Ami nodded and started after the young miko in training.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

When Mamoru returned to his apartment, he carefully carried the blonde in his arms into his room and gently laid her on his bed. He looked down at her with a hint of relief on his features, as well as amazement. A few days ago, he never would have thought of the young girl as anything but a carefree girl whose only concern was not scraping her knees on her daily rush to school, but after everything that he had learned about her, he wasn’t sure what to think except that she didn’t deserve the pain she’d felt since becoming Sailor Moon.

He could see the old tracks left by tears of pain, though whether the pain was emotional or physical, he wasn’t sure. He wanted to make whoever had done this to the young blonde pay with everything that they could give, but realized that the right belonged to Usagi, and whether or not she had realized it, her revenge had been taken.

He was drawn from his thoughts as he heard her whimper softly, calling out, “Endymion,” the name he had heard her say twice, but never had the chance to ask about. He felt a pang of jealousy that she was calling out for someone else, but those feelings were overwrought by the confusion that came to him as he remembered that she had called him that when he had rescued her.

What confused him even more was the feelings that he had? He’d never felt so strongly before about anything except for the things that he felt for the princess in his dreams, and as he thought back, even the dreams in which he saw her had been affected by what he felt for her. He groaned softly, shaking his head.

Sleep deprivation was getting to him, he was sure. Things would seem clearer after he’d rested, but he wasn’t sure if he should. What if Usagi woke up while he slept to unfamiliar surroundings causing her to panic? As strong as she was, he knew that her emotions ruled over her more than logic. He sighed as he gently leaned down and brushed a lock of hair from her face. A small smile graced his features as her hands moved up to grasp his. He simply watched her as she slept, blushing lightly as her hands moved to clutch his own to her chest like a treasured object.

It wasn’t until he tried to pull away so that he could go an get a chair to sleep in that he realized that she wasn’t going to release him. He tried to pull his hand away a small number of times, stopping when he heard a soft whimper escape the blonde.

Mamoru sighed as he finally gave up. He carefully laid down beside her, so not to disturb her sleep and blinked as she curled up beside him. He wrapped his free arm around her, his tuxedo fading into the slacks and button down shirt he’d been wearing before he allowed himself to drift off to sleep, though his rest was short lived.

Mamoru was forced back into the world of the woken by the thrashing blonde beside him. He groaned softly when her hand slammed into his abdomen, forcing the air out of him, as well as the need to sleep. Just as her hand was about to come in contact with his face, Mamoru’s hand flew up and grabbed her wrist gently. He sat up and placed his free hand on her other arm to gently shake her.

“Usagi-chan, wake up,” he told her.

“No…” she cried softly. “You… You’re lying… I… No…”

“Usagi-chan… It’s me, Mamoru. It’s time to wake up,” he said as he continued to try and make her wake up from the nightmare she was having. “You’re having a nightmare. You’re safe now, Usagi-chan.”

After a long moment, she jerked awake, and stared at him as though she didn’t recognize his face for a long second before suddenly wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, clinging to him like a lifeline.

She sobbed quietly into his shoulder as he hesitantly wrapped his arms around her trembling frame.

“I-I thought that… That you coming to rescue me was just a dream, or that he’d been playing a trick on me…” she whispered. “I-I was so scared. He showed me that you’d died… And… I… I couldn’t feel you…”

He gently stroked her hair as he whispered to her soothingly, trying to calm her and assure her that she was safe. He placed a tender kiss to her temple and rested his chin on the top of her head.

Usagi blinked at his actions, but didn’t release him. After a while, her tears eventually subsided, and she felt as though she had just gotten drained by a youma. She yawned and relaxed against Mamoru, feeling safe for the first time in what felt like an eternity.

Mamoru looked at the small blonde. “Tired?” he asked.

Usagi nodded and looked up at home. He became worried when he saw a frown cross her features, and asked, “Usagi-chan, what’s wrong?”

“When was the last time you slept?” she replied softly as her hand came up and lightly brushed a lock of hair out his eyes, showing just how shadowed his eyes were. Mamoru stiffened as he felt her fingertips as they lightly ran over his skin.

“That doesn’t matter right now. You should rest, Usagi-chan,” he told her.

“It does matter. You could get sick if you don’t get enough rest,” she said. “I-I don’t want you getting sick because of me. I‘m not worth getting sick over.”

Mamoru sighed but smiled at her. He wasn’t sure how she’d always been able to put others before herself, even after having being captured and held prisoner by Nephrite. Then again, that was probably the reason she was chosen to be a senshi. That was the reason why he’d felt drawn to her in the first place. Felt the need to protect her in battle.

“All right,” he said. “I’ll rest, if you do. You’re going to have to go home soon, and I want to make sure that you’re all right.” Usagi blinked and looked at him, but before she said anything he held up a hand and continued, “I didn’t want your parents worrying about whether or not you were going to be all right in their care. And just in case the Dark Kingdom wanted to try and capture you all over again. No putting innocent civilians in danger.”

Usagi nodded. “I understand. Thank you.”

Mamoru smiled softly at her, laughing quietly as she yawned. “Now, I think it’s time that you got some rest. I’m going to get in touch with the senshi to let them know that you’re all right. I’ll be right back once I’ve gotten in touch with them.”

Usagi shook her head and reached out to take his hand. “I have a feeling that once you tell them that I am all right, they’ll want me to go home, and right now, I don’t think that I’d be very safe at home. I just.. I’d feel safer if I were with you.”

Mamoru blinked and smiled at the faint blush that stained her cheeks. He then nodded and said, “All right. I’ll call them later, when you want me to.”

“Thanks,” Usagi said with a nod as she laid back against the pillows with a tired sigh, but scooted over so that he could lie down beside her. “You need to rest too.”

“I was planning on getting a chair-”

Usagi shook her head and held a hand out to him. “This is your bed, isn’t it?” She saw him nod before continuing, all the while slowly rising into a sitting position and moving to stand. “Then you shouldn’t be put out. I-I could sleep in the-”

“No, I brought you in here so that you could be comfortable,” he said as he gently pushed her back down so that she was sitting. “If you want me to stay, then I will.”

Usagi smiled at him and stretched out on the mattress. “I do. Please.”

Mamoru shook his head with a disbelieving smile that she didn‘t notice. He was once again reminded of just how innocent the blonde girl was. Falling asleep in a tuxedo was one thing. Falling asleep while the girl was unconscious was another, but lying beside an all too trusting girl who he had seen in a short skirt one too many times was on a level that he wasn’t sure he wanted to think about.

“All right,“ he said as he remembered that he had meant to ask her about the name Endymion, but couldn’t bring himself to ask, worrying that it might be too soon after all that had taken place so instead he yawned.

‘I’ll ask her when she wakes up, but for now I’ll just wait for her to fall asleep and then go and get a chair,’ he thought as he stretched out next to Usagi. Before he knew it however, he’d fallen asleep before she did.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

“Zoicite, report before me at once!” roared Beryl.

“You summoned me, Beryl-sama,” said the flaxen haired general.

“Yes. As you should know by now, Nephrite has been destroyed. I want you to start formulating a plan to destroy the sailor senshi,” the red haired monarch declared. “ I want the plan reported to me before tomorrow ends. And take in mind, I will not accept any sort of failure from you, Zoicite.”

“Hai, Beryl-sama,” replied Zoicite as he bowed low to his queen. “But might I ask, I was wondering if Nephrite ever reported to you the identity of Sailor Moon. He had been holding her captive before his destruction, had he not?”

Beryl sneered. “The incompetent fool chose not to disclose the information that he had gained.”

Zoicite nodded slowly. “The sailor senshi will soon be destroyed, for you, Beryl-sama. Of this you can rest assured.”

“Do not be so arrogant, Zoicite. Your predecessors were and look where they have ended up,” she told him with a cold look in her eyes and a raised eyebrow.

“Hai, Beryl-sama,” he said before teleporting out of the room in a flurry of sakura petals.

Beryl then leaned back and smirked. “Soon those senshi will be gone, and the Earth will belong to me.” She sighed as a memory passed through her mind. “Oh, Endymion, if only you had chosen to be with me. Then you could have been by my side on the day that the Earth became a part of the Dark Kingdom. But none of that will matter soon enough. The senshi and their miserably weak princess will be destroyed, and the ginzuishou will be mine.”