Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Road to Hell ❯ Chapter Nine ( Chapter 9 )

"Oh pwease Usagi-chan, don't go!" Kura wailed on Usagi's neck, big fat tears rolling down her face. Usagi gently unwrapped Kura's arms from her neck and wiped the tears away.

"I have to, sweetie. We have secret club things to do tonight. If I don't go out with Mamoru and the girls, the bad guys will win and Luna and Artemis will get caught. You don't want that, do you?" Kura shook her head.

Usagi's heart broke to see the vibrant four-year-old girl cry like that but she had obligations to fulfill. Kura took big gulping breaths and once again clasped her arms around Usagi's neck. "You pwomise to be careful?"

"Of course I'll be careful. I have to come back and play dress up with you and Artemis, right? Now, you be good for Serena and the others." Bidding Kura a hurried goodbye, Usagi disengaged the little girl's vice-like grip around her neck and stood up to leave.

"Wait, Usagi-chan!" Usagi sighed. 'So close,' she thought. 'I was almost out the window.'

"Can I have a kiss?" Kura asked. Feeling terrible for brushing her off, Usagi picked her up and smothered her with kisses all over her face. Finally she passed the giggling child off to Serena.

"I really have to go now, Kura-chan. I love you," Usagi said as she walked to the fire escape where Mamoru and the girls were waiting.

"I love you too, Usagi-chan." Kura whispered as Usagi followed her team out into the dark night. She snuggled into Serena's arms and gave her a hug.

"She'll be alright, Kura-chan. Usagi-chan knows how to take care of herself. Besides, Mamoru-kun and the girls will protect her," Serena comforted. Kura turned her big brown eyes up to Serena's face.

"They will?" Serena nodded. "Good."

---

I hope we get to the army base before the soldiers come back from their training exercises and city patrol because we really killed a lot of time back at the apartment. I can't really blame Usagi or Kura though, for the holdup. Kura has been a godsend for Usagi. Since she's been living with us, Usagi has been easier to get along with. Kura has managed to break down Usagi's ice walls and make her feel again. Before she came, Usagi has been cold and abrupt with everyone, as if spending more than two minutes talking to a person would allow them through the barriers she has so carefully erected.

Usagi and Kura have formed a tight-knit bond. I think it's because they're compensating for what they've each lost. Kura has found a mother in Usagi, and in turn, Usagi has found a daughter in Kura. Not that they don't genuinely love each other. They love each other so much it's a wonder they only met a week ago, because it seems that they were destined to be mother and daughter. It feels good to hear Usagi say that she loves Kura because it's been so long since I've heard anything of the sort from her.

Kura has been an angel since the moment she arrived. The little episode at the apartment before we left was just a typical four year old afraid to let the one person she loves the most go. She is loved by everyone at the apartment, even the cats. Luna and Artemis act like they hate playing with her, but I think deep down, they love spending time amusing her. Artemis even volunteered sing the 'secret club' song with her the day we went to Okata-san's headquarters because she was feeling lonely all by herself . By the time we got back, they had a full-fledged concert going, with Luna using a flashlight as a spotlight, Kura singing into a wooden spoon and Artemis as a backup dancer. We watched for five minutes before Kura noticed we were standing there. We applauded wildly as Kura executed a shaky curtsy and the cats' jaws hit the floor. We still tease them about it to this day.

It's been a week since that day, and already Tokyo has begun to feel the sting of our attacks. In the early morning hours since we returned from our meeting with Okata, eight explosions tore into the Bullet Train's tracks, destroying them and making the commute into the city via the trains virtually impossible. The impact of the blast has damaged some trains and a few stations as well. Traffic has been terrible since the transit system has been offline. Everyone has been forced to use their cars on the narrow Tokyo streets. What was once a two hour commute from the outskirts of Tokyo has turned into four hours.

The next day, Serena's group and a few of Okata's went out and broke into the power plant, where they spent a hasty four hours making sure power in the downtown business area would be out for at least two days. Trading was halted and the value of the yen plunged even lower than it had in the past few weeks. Downtown Tokyo looked like a ghost town for three days since electricians had been trying to figure out what Serena did to make power very difficult to restore.

The third day was the most dangerous of our missions thus far. Originally, it wasn't supposed to be that way, but things went awry and a security guard saw us before we had time to escape and shot at us. You see, my group had gone to the mayor's office to burn it down that night. We made sure that the building was empty before we even set foot inside the place and disabled the silent alarm system by bypassing some wires. I don't really understand the dynamics of it since Usagi and Mamoru did all the work, so I can't really explain it. (AN: neither can I! ; ) Suffice it to say, we got into the building with no problems at all.

Once inside, we proceeded to trash the place. We piled all of the mayor's documents and his furniture together and doused it with lighter fluid, intent on starting a bonfire. What we hadn't counted on was an afternoon security guard coming back to the office because he forgot his house keys in his locker. Just as Usagi tossed the match onto the pyre, he stepped forward out of nowhere and shot Mamoru through the heart. Because Usagi had linked all of us to feel each other's pain, we all felt as if bullets had ripped through our own bodies. Mamoru died instantly while the fire blazed behind us.

Through the roar of the flames, I heard Usagi growl menacingly at the security guard. In three steps, she managed to reach him and break his neck before he could even blink and we could react. The rest of us were surprised since we never assumed that Usagi could kill in cold blood that way-well except for Rei that day but Usagi knew that she would come back to life anyway and Rei was practically asking to have her throat slit after she said those awful things.

The fire was threatening to block our escape route so we all helped Usagi carry Mamoru out the office and into the sewers. Once there, we waited until Mamoru revived and hurried back to the apartment shaken, but alive and accounted for. I never thought I would be grateful to Usagi for cursing us with eternal life like that. Talk about a blessing in disguise.

The next morning, the papers said that the mayor was badly injured in the fire the night before and that his advisor, Yamada Yuko, would be filling in as the interim mayor until he can recuperate. The article also said that before the ambulance crews could take him away, the mayor kept uttering "the senshi, the senshi," blaming us for the destruction of the building. Well we were responsible for the fire but we knew for a fact that he wasn't there. Another load of bull the government is feeding the citizens of Tokyo.

The same day, Serena disguised herself and went to a local Internet café where she proceeded to create a computer virus that caused all the ATMs in Tokyo to spew money out into the streets. It's amazing what that girl could do with a computer. I went with her that day and she made the screen look like she was playing a role playing game when all the while, she was constructing a virus that would spread throughout the city in a matter of minutes.

Within five minutes of her releasing the virus, a crowd formed outside the bank across the street from where we sat. Serena and I watched as crowds of people fought each other to grab the yen flying out of the ATMs at a furious pace. Following the café's rules of cleanliness, we wiped everything we touched with the antibacterial cloths provided and left the building. We escaped through the sewers just as we heard the police sirens blaring two blocks away.

The next day, we all rested as Okata's gang went out and phoned bomb threats to the American and British embassies. They also left mysterious packages around town, prompting frightened citizens to call in the bomb squad. The police was busy the entire day responding to calls of ticking brown boxes left outside their homes, businesses and on the street. Once the boxes were opened, all they discovered were clocks, not bombs, making the ticking sounds.

On the sixth day since the attacks began, Okata's gang bombed all the bridges, including the Tokyo Bay Bridge and the bridge linking the island airport to the mainland. Yesterday, Serena's group and four groups of Okata's gang went out and set explosives in the five major supermarkets around town. They detonated within fifteen minutes of each other, keeping the authorities busy guessing where the next explosion will likely to be.

Of course, all our actions haven't endeared us to the public and certainly not the government. Although there were only a few casualties and zero deaths as a result of our tactics, the media played up the injuries and reported hundreds of fatalities which, if anyone bothered to investigate more closely, would have been impossible since the most dangerous attacks took place late at night, when the curfew would be in effect. Usagi and Serena had insisted on that to avoid as many casualties as possible.

Schools and non-essential businesses were forced to close down, by government orders. Also, the Prime Minister has declared a state of emergency in the city of Tokyo and the surrounding cities. The United States, England and Canada pulled out of coming to Japan after the bridge explosions, with more countries following suit. Security has been increased, to the point where whole squadrons of armed soldiers would patrol the streets and helicopters flew overhead.

The most devastating effect was that Rei, Mina and Ami's families now joined Usagi's mother and brother in the detention centre after the mayor's office was burned down. Even our friends were rounded up and taken away. The government spared no one that had any ties to the senshi, even the most insignificant. Students who just happened to be in our class but we never even talked to were arrested and sent to the prisons to be interrogated, or worse. Rei went out of her mind with worry for her grandfather and picked a fight with Usagi the day it was announced by Yamada that either the senshi give up their attacks, or their loved ones and acquaintances would face the consequences. I can still remember the words that passed between those two.

We were all watching the news hoping to hear about the fire in the mayor's office last night. Kura was sitting on the couch between Mamoru and Usagi, who had been acting weird since they prepared breakfast in the kitchen together for everyone this morning. Just because Mamoru was shot and killed last night, doesn't mean he could get out of breakfast duty today, right?

"Acting mayor Yamada Yuko announced that Mayor Masahiko-san has been placed in intensive care for the third degree burns that cover 60% of his body. We go live to a press conference that Yamada-san has called to address the growing problem with the senshi," the anchorman droned. What a pack of lies. The mayor wasn't even there last night. We checked the entire building before starting that fire. There was no trace of Masahiko anywhere.

"Good morning, everyone. I have called this press conference today to tell the senshi that in light of their recent hostile actions, I have decided to hold their families and friends in detention centres located throughout the country. They will not be released until the senshi, especially the ones who go by the names Tsukino Usagi and Chiba Mamoru, have turned themselves in. We have apprehended everyone that has any ties to the senshi, and even went so far as to have Aino Minako's parents extradited from England, where they have been staying since the embargo on all non-essential travel to and from Japan has been enforced. There will be no negotiations. That is all, thank-you." With that, Yamada exited the room in a haze of flashbulbs going off due to trigger-happy photographers, followed by her staff.

Usagi turned off the TV. Beside her, Kura pulled her sleeve to get her attention. "What is it, Kura-chan?"

"That was the mean lady who always went to my house and made my daddy bad." All our eyes widened at her revelation. Having this kid around was turning out to be beneficial after all. So that was the infamous 'mean lady,' a.k.a. Metallion.

"Are you sure, Kura-chan?" Mamoru asked. Kura turned to him and nodded. I think her little crush on him has faded since she saw how Mamoru always pined for Usagi.

"Yup. I sawed her black necklace." Indeed, that necklace was so prominent that I doubt a blind person could have missed it. The chain was a thick rope of gold from which a black crystal the size of a golf ball was suspended.

"What about our families?" asked Rei.

"What about them? Do you suggest we jeopardize our entire operation to rescue them?" Usagi asked.

Rei, in typical fashion, fumed. "We can't just leave them there! They're innocent in all this. They knew nothing of our lives as senshi."

Usagi raised her eyebrow and looked at Rei scathingly. "Nevertheless, we cannot allow our personal feelings to get in the way of our mission. The fate of the entire world takes precedence over the lives of a few people." It was a little cold, but she had a point. I knew, however, that Rei would not be so willing to take this quietly.

"How can you be such a bitch? Your mother and brother are in there too! Don't you want to rescue them? My grandfather is old, I doubt his heart could survive the stress of being locked up in a cell. We have to get them out of there!"

I heard Kura gasp and cover her ears when she heard the expletive. Despite the seriousness of the discussion, I couldn't help but grin. She was just so cute. Usagi however, looked far from happy. "Watch your language around Kura, Hino. So you think I don't care about the lives of those people in there? You're wrong. There's not a day goes by that I don't think about going there to free my mother and brother. Don't you think I feel responsible for my father's death? You're not the only one who has a loved one in prison because of us, you know."

Rei rose to her feet angrily. "It's your fault they're in there in the first place! You took away our powers to protect them! It should be you in there instead of my grandfather. You sentenced us all to live this way!"

Oh Rei, how easily you forget how this all started in the first place. Unfortunately for her, Usagi did not forget and stood up to face her, her hand in a tight fist as if about to strike out. Mamoru's hand caught hers and Usagi looked at him for a long while before nodding her head and lowering her hand. I was so sure Usagi would have redirected her punch at Mamoru's face instead of Rei's for interfering in her affairs. See what I meant by both of them acting weird? It was as if they were communicating silently because Mamoru picked up Kura and brought her into the bedroom and told her to watch over Artemis, who had been nursing a cold. She waited until Mamoru came back to the living room before starting in on Rei. I wonder about that. Perhaps Usagi felt Mamoru's presence was the only thing able to restrain her from doing permanent damage to Rei.

"You think it was MY fault that your powers were taken away? Let me remind you of something, Rei. YOU instigated that meeting with the senshi that night. It was YOUR suggestion that Luna take away my powers. You knew she had the power to do that all along and yet you pretended that you knew nothing of it. Care to tell the others why?" All eyes turned to Rei. 'Was it true? Were you just pretending to not know about Luna's abilities that night?' was what our eyes asked Rei.

"WHAT? You knew about this? That night was all just an act, wasn't it? You planned to take away her powers all along, didn't you? You used us to accomplish your goals. I'm going to kill you, you BITCH!" This time, it was Mamoru who had to be restrained from hitting Rei by Haruka and me. In light of recent revelations, however, I wasn't in the mood to support Rei and 'accidentally' let go of Mamoru's arm, which he promptly used to slap Rei soundly in the face.

Rei just stood defiantly with her chin high up in the air as if Mamoru's handprint wasn't on her cheek at all. Usagi looked at her coldly and said, "you knew that the only way to get rid of me as the leader was to take away my powers, didn't you? You plotted this for years, and because of your heightened telepathic abilities, you were able to look into Luna's mind until you found the perfect way to get me out of your life. What you didn't count on was me getting raped that night or that I had grown fully into my powers. Tell me Rei, why do you hate me so much? I offered you friendship, loyalty, trust and love but you rejected them all. Why?"

At last, Rei's façade was beginning to crack. Tears slipped down her face and she made no effort to stop them. "I don't hate you, Usagi. I just thought that if I pushed you hard enough, you'd begin to see your true potential. You have to believe me; I didn't plan this out for years like Usagi said. It's true that I probed Luna's mind, but only to get my memories from the Silver Millennium back once we found out that Usagi was the Moon Princess. It was the first time I had read someone's mind without permission, so I wasn't prepared for the amount of power I had to use just to get past Luna's mental blocks. I lost control and ended up learning far more than I should."

"They're called mental blocks for a reason, Rei. That doesn't explain why you used that knowledge to trick us into voting Usagi out of the group," cut in Ami scathingly. We all winced at Ami's tone, for we had never heard it directed at any of us before.

"I'm getting to that. You see, I found out that Usagi was pregnant and I wanted to protect the baby. Also, at that point, I was sick of the way Usagi behaved when it came time to taking her responsibilities seriously. So I thought I would be able to take care of both dilemmas at the same time."

I felt Mamoru's muscles tense in my arms. It was all I could do to hold him down without hurting myself in the process. Mamoru was fighting Haruka and me all the way, until Michiru and Hotaru stepped in and helped us out. Finally, he gave up and turned to Rei. "Kill two birds with one stone, ne? How did you know she was pregnant?" I shivered unconsciously at the sound of Mamoru's voice. If we thought Ami's icy tone was bad, Mamoru's low, calm voice was even worse.

I guess Rei thought so too, for she trembled silently under his intense gaze. "Usagi and I were supposed to meet at my temple so we could sell charms together but she was late and I had to sell the charms by myself. I was so angry that I decided to head to the school where I heard from Mina that she was serving detention with Haruna-sensei. When I got outside the classroom, I heard someone crying. I know it was bad but I listened outside and heard Usagi confess to Haruna-sensei that she was one month pregnant. I went home without letting Usagi know that I was there. I waited to see if she would tell us soon but when two weeks passed and she still hadn't told Mamoru or us, I came up with this plan. Don't you see, I didn't intend for this to happen! I didn't know she was going to get raped that night. Kami-sama, please forgive me for everything I've done." With that whispered prayer, Rei ran into our bedroom and locked herself in for the rest of the day.

I shook my head sadly. Rei's explanation had all of the good intentions that Mamoru had when he backed up her bid to relieve Usagi of her powers. Unfortunately, we mortals don't foresee the way fate steps in to bite us on the ass when we grow too presumptuous. I guess the old saying really is true; the road to hell is paved with good intentions. (AN: I had to stick the title in there somewhere!) Throughout Rei's confession, Usagi had remained speechless and aloof, as if she didn't care. We all knew that that was an act for we saw how her hands trembled as she sat back down on the couch. I felt Mamoru leave my arms and make his way to Usagi's side, where he whispered words of comfort to soothe her broken soul. What was said there was only heard by their ears for the rest of us retreated to Usagi and Serena's room to give them privacy, and to visit a certain sick kitty in need of rescue from his over zealous nurse.

Ever since that day, Rei had been treated like an outcast in the apartment. She floated around, outside of our existence like a ghost trapped between two worlds. She makes sure that she and Mamoru never cross paths in the apartment, which is a pretty hard feat to accomplish since the apartment was so tiny and Mamoru slept in the living room. In a way, I pitied Rei because I knew that her relationship with Usagi and the rest of us was irreparable. She withheld information about something that important and violated us all in the worse way possible. In a weird way, ever since Rei confessed her sins, our relationship with Usagi and the Outers had gotten better-with the exception of Rei, of course. We are now able to make small talk without the awkwardness on our part and the resentment in theirs, unlike the conversations we had in the past.

From the looks of it, we have reached our destination. We decided to raid the army base set up just outside the city. Since Mamoru, and now Usagi, were technologically inclined, their assignment was to tamper with the weapons stored in the munitions building while Haruka, Mina and I deploy and detonate bombs in the empty barracks. I just hope the base is mostly empty. Unlike our prior missions, this one posed the most risk. We were basically walking into enemy territory and we would be right under their noses. There was the turnoff where we would go our separate ways. We synchronized our watches and set off.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Usagi slip in the sludge that flowed freely in the sewer and Mamoru catch her before she fell. I waited for her to blow up at him but once again, I was proven wrong. I still maintain that something happened between them the night Mamoru got shot, for Usagi had dropped her spiteful attitude towards him and now just assumed an aura of...confusion? I don't know how to explain it, but I get the impression that something happened to make her reevaluate her feelings towards Mamoru, and now her mind's rebelling against what her heart is telling her to feel, and she doesn't know what to do. For their sakes, I hope she decides on the latter instead of the former.

"Makoto-chan, you coming?" asked Mina. Her voice startled me out of my reverie. I nodded. "Good, now hurry up so we can catch up to Haruka."

Mamoru and I have been at this for about an hour and a half. We were hidden in the munitions building, sabotaging the weapons we found inside. I watch Mamoru clog the barrels of the rifles along the wall with a speed and grace that implied that he had been doing this his entire life. My duty was to make sure that their missiles and bombs were too damaged to use on civilians, or worse, us.

Seeing all these guns keeps reminding me of the night Mamoru was shot in the mayor's office. It doesn't help that he insisted on handling them now. Every time I think of that night, all I can remember is the light going out of his eyes as the bullet pierced his body and the pain I felt when I saw those eyes go blank and cold as he lay in a pool of his own blood. I had always loved his eyes. I never felt that I had to rely on our link to know what Mamoru was feeling. I just glanced at his eyes and immediately I knew when he was happy, angry or sad. Even when I severed our soul bond, I could still tell what his emotions were.

Killing the guard did not surprise or disgust me as much as I thought it would have. I guess I always knew that there would be some lives lost while we sought vengeance on Metallion, but I never knew I would be the one actually doing the killing. If anything, I thought it would be Okata's men who would kill in cold blood. When Mamoru came back to life, we headed back to the apartment silently, each person going over their own thoughts.

That night, I couldn't sleep, despite having counted eight hundred twenty six sheep and reading the most boring book I could find in the room. Giving up, I decided to head out to the fire escape for some fresh air. I tiptoed past Mamoru who was asleep on the couch and, as gently as I could, eased the window open and climbed outside. There, I gazed intently at the moon and wondered for the millionth time in the past two weeks how it was that my life has turned out this way. I guess I was too involved in my own thoughts because the next thing I knew, I felt a hand on my shoulder. Startled, I turned and saw Mamoru sitting beside me.

"Oh, Mamoru. I'm sorry, did I wake you up?" I asked, avoiding his eyes in fear of seeing them dull and lifeless like they had been a few hours ago.

"No, I was just going to get a drink of water when I saw you sitting here. Do you want to talk about it?" His proximity to me was making my heart beat fast and I drew a shaky breath in order to calm down. Mamoru must have noticed because he shifted closer to the wall.

Feeling more at ease, I sighed. "Were you scared when you felt yourself die?"

Mamoru thought for a moment. When I finally gave up waiting for an answer, he replied, "the only thing I was scared about was the possibility of me dying without your forgiveness. I was scared that I would die with you still hating me. I still am."

I shook my head. "I don't hate you, Mamoru. I hate your actions but I realized tonight that I don't have the capability to hate you. We're too connected, you and I. Seeing you get shot tonight made me think that if you never came back to life, I wouldn't be able to tell you how I felt about you." I paused, going over what I was about to say to Mamoru in my head.

"How do you feel, Usagi?"

"I don't know. My mind tells me to hate you for what you've done, but my heart is telling me to let you back in. I don't know which voice to listen to. If I listen to my head, I would be doomed to go through life alone because I could never love another person as much as I love you. If I listen to my heart, I feel like I'm betraying our child for letting you back into my life. I'm confused," the tears I had been trying to keep in finally spilled out. Mamoru gently wiped them away from my eyes. "I can't hate you because you were the father of my child. No matter how much we've changed these past few months, we'll always have that in common. I keep forgetting that I wasn't the only one who lost a child; you did too, and I'm sorry if I made your grieving process much harder because I let my hate rule my heart."

"Usagi, you never cease to amaze me. Your heart is so big that I doubt hate could ever enter it. You've always let your heart rule your life. Hate never ruled your heart because you're not capable of it. I grieve every hour of the day so you don't have to worry about making it hard for me to mourn the loss of our child because I choose to make it hard for myself. It's the most I deserve." Mamoru bowed his head so I wouldn't have to see the tears falling from his eyes. It was now my turn to wipe them away.

"No matter what you did or how you feel, you don't deserve to have your child die in such a horrible way. No one does. I don't deserve it and neither do you. This was an unlucky twist of fate that we had no control over. You couldn't foresee that the baby would die that night just like I couldn't foresee that you would die tonight. You know, in a weird way, I'm sort of glad that I decided to curse you with eternal life. Otherwise, we wouldn't be here finally mourning together, as it should have been." I placed my hands on Mamoru's and looked into the eyes I loved so much. They reflected hope-for the future and for us.

"Usagi, do you think the child you were carrying was Chibi-Usa?" Mamoru asked softly after a minute of silence.

I shook my head. "I don't think so. Chibi-Usa and I had the same birthday and the baby I was carrying would have been born a few months before it. Why do you ask?"

"No reason. I guess I'm just glad that it wasn't Chibi-Usa. We had grown to love her so much that I think it would have killed me even more if I found out I killed her. I mean, of course I would love all our children equally, but the knowledge that Chibi-Usa was our daughter from the future reassured me that we would be together a few thousand years from now. She was my safety net, my guarantee that there was a future to fight for because you would be by my side. Usagi, I can't stop blaming myself for destroying what we had."

"Stop it. You didn't kill our baby; that bastard did and we must not forget it. We can't go back and change all that's happened, but we have lives to live and responsibilities to fulfill. We can't let him take away our lives, just as he did with our baby. Together, we can make sure that the future Metallion has planned for us doesn't happen so that we can build our lives over." My hands caressed his face as he leaned in closer. Not able to resist anymore, I closed the gap between our lips and kissed him.

We started out softly at first, then as the need to feel whole once again grew, so did our desire for each other. I felt him wanting to deepen the kiss, so I opened my mouth to allow him passage. For the first time in a long time, I felt free of all my burdens. It was interesting how not only was this man the cause of all my heartbreak, he was also the only one who was able to mend it. Finally, the need to breathe overwhelmed us so we pulled apart abruptly, our faces flushed in the cool night air and our breathing ragged. I didn't even realize that tears were making their way down my face until Mamoru once again wiped them away.

"I'm sorry Usagi. I shouldn't have done that. I didn't know you weren't ready yet. Please forgive me."

I smiled shakily through my tears. "It's not that, Mamoru. It's..."

"What is it?" he pressed.

"Well, I feel so guilty for loving you and finally feeling happy. This isn't the time to feel this way. I need to focus on defeating Metallion so that we can go on with our lives." I held his hand and squeezed it tightly. "Do you hate me for loving Kura as if she were my own child?"

"Of course not. Your nature is to love everyone and I'm not surprised that you've bonded with Kura like that. You nurture those who are in need and Kura was in need of a mother. I like to think that our child sent her to us to help you heal," he answered, lacing his fingers through mine. I couldn't help but smile at what Mamoru had said.

"I like that. Our baby sent us a gift to help us put our lives back together." After a few more minutes of sitting in the quiet solitude the night offered us, I announced that I needed to go back to bed. We stood up and Mamoru helped me crawl through the window. Once we were inside, I wrapped my arms around his neck. "Please give me some more time to sort out my feelings for you. Just know that I never stopped loving you, and couldn't stop even if I wanted to."

"I will wait forever for you to come back to me. I'm just thankful that we had a chance to talk tonight. Goodnight, Usako. I love you," Mamoru whispered in my ear.

"Goodnight, Mamo-chan," I whispered back as I stood up on my tiptoes and kissed him lightly on his lips. I reluctantly let go and walked silently back to my room and fell asleep for the night.

"Usako? Are you ok? I think we're all done now," Mamoru said.

I smiled at his concern. Nodding my head and clearing it out of my daydreams, we turned to head out the door when we heard two guns being cocked.

"Hold it right there. Don't make any sudden moves or we'll blow your heads off." Mamoru and I turned slowly and saw two young men around Mamoru's age aiming their guns at us. I stiffened and immediately Mamoru shielded me with his body. The taller of the two grinned. "Won't sarge be so happy we caught the infamous Chiba Mamoru and Tsukino Usagi?"

The other man nodded his head eagerly. He looked like he was just entering adolescence since his face was covered in pimples. Just as his friend was about to fire, something hit him on the back of his head, causing him to slump to the floor. The same thing happened to the pimply one. Puzzled, Mamoru and I craned our necks and saw Haruka and Mina, hiding behind some crates, holding up two rifles which they had used to clobber the inexperienced soldiers.

"Come on, you guys. We set the charges to detonate in twenty minutes so we gotta get out of here," Mina said, her eyes roving at our intertwined hands. Blushing, Mamoru and I let go and started walking behind them.

"Wait!" I called. They turned back and looked at me.

"What is it, Usako?" Mamoru asked softly so that only I would hear.

"You'll see," I said mischievously. I turned to the unconscious boys on the floor. I unzipped the trigger-happy soldier's pants down and stuffed the other guy's hand in, making sure to cup his fingers around his friend's crotch. Then, I placed their faces close to each other so that their lips almost met in a kiss. Lastly, I took the pimply faced one's leg and placed it between the other guy's legs. The result was a rather intimate position that I'm sure would embarrass them both when they wake up. Part of me wished I could stay and see their reactions but I knew to stay would mean getting caught and I couldn't allow that.

"Way to go Usagi-chan, I didn't know you had it in you!" laughed Haruka. Beside her, Mina and Makoto were doubled over with laughter and were too busy trying to catch their breaths to say anything. I looked at Mamoru, who had a similar devilish expression on his face. At my questioning look, he reached over and put the taller boy's hand on the pimply one's butt. "There, I think they look perfect for each other now."

The girls turned around and made their way to the manhole cover, trying to control their laughter all the way, leaving Mamoru and I trailing behind them. He chuckled, obviously still thinking about our antics. "So what made you do that?"

"Do what?" I asked innocently. Mamoru's eyes twinkled.

"You know what. Why did you?"

"I just thought we needed to lighten up the atmosphere. I felt like laughing but the tension was so thick, I could cut it with a knife. For once, I wanted to laugh at their expense. I just feel kind of bad that those guys had to pay for it," I explained. Mamoru nodded, understanding completely like I knew he would.

"Come on guys. The first bomb will go off in a few minutes and we need to get as far away from here as possible," Mina called out from inside the sewer.

We picked up the pace and caught up to them waiting patiently at the bottom of the stairs. We slipped down the ladder as quickly as we could and was a few metres away when we heard the explosions rock the army base.

When we got back to the apartment, we were still laughing about the two soldiers and wondering what their reactions would be when they woke up. We explained to the rest of the girls what had us in stitches, and they too laughed helplessly. Turning on the TV, we heard the last bit of the news.

"This just in. The senshi have attacked army base 51 on the outskirts of town. 70 soldiers were killed and more were injured in the continuous blasts that exploded through the occupied barracks. We go live now to the temporary mayoral offices where Acting Mayor Yamada is standing by with a statement to the public and to the senshi,"

The scene changes to show Yamada standing behind a podium in front of the Japanese flag. "Greetings fellow citizens. As you may have already heard, army base 51 was brutally attacked by the senshi. Due to the increasingly dangerous attacks, the Imperial family has decided to cancel the plans for the emperor's birthday celebration next week. But rest assured, we are working on a plan to capture the senshi and foil their plans for the destruction of our country. If you can hear me now, senshi, don't get too comfortable in your situation. You don't know what I'm capable of doing. Surrender now and maybe I'll consider letting your families live through the night." Yamada stared at the camera intently, making me feel like she could see me sitting in my own living room. I know now that the rest of my family would, in all likelihood, be dead before the week was out. But the needs of the many outweigh the few.