The Truths of Love: Chapter one

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon. Never have, never will, so please don't sue me.

AN: Hey guys. This is my first fic, so please, please let me know what you think. I know it's probably a bit boring, and I'm sorry, but I'll do my best to make it better. Please tell me what I can do to make this story better. Much love to you all!

She was running. She didn't care that it was raining, or that her clothes were soaked through to the skin. That her body was chilled to the bone. All she knew was she had to run. She had to get away. Because if she didn't, he would find her, and he would hurt her. Again.

As she ran, her thoughts raced over the past few months of her life. It had all started so innocently. She walked into the office building where she worked, minding her own business, like any other day. She was dressed in a white silk button down blouse, a light pink jacket over it, and matching light pink dress pants, and on her feet she wore white sandals. Her long, silvery blonde hair was pulled up into its usual style, two buns on the top of her head with the left over hair hanging down her back down to her knees. She smiled at Naru, her best friend from middle school, and now her secretary as she walked to the elevator to head to her office. That was when she saw him.

Her first impression was that he was an angel. Indeed, that was what he looked like, with his golden hair and his baby blue eyes. His face was perfectly sculpted, and not a feature was out of place. He looked like God had sculpted him, and placed him on earth, which made no sense, for a man of his beauty stood out amongst all the normal and plain looking people in the streets. Dressed in a white shirt with denim jeans, he gave every appearance of being an angel. Her heart sped up as she looked at him, and her next thoughts were, 'I'm in love.'

Quickly putting on a smile, she went over to him and stuck out her hand. "Hi there," she said with a smile. "My name is Usagi Tsukino, manager of KDS Inc. And you are..?"

The man smiled at this girl. 'Damn, she is good looking. And the manager. Not a bad catch.' Taking the hand the girl offered, he said, "My name is Matt LaClare. I just moved here from America, and I was looking for a job. A friend of mine said that KDS was looking for employees, so I thought I'd drop in and check it out," he said with an easy smile.

Usagi's heart just about melted at the smile he gave her, and at the sound of his voice. It was PERFECT. A deep, baritone voice, with a strange accent she credited in having come from America. "Well, Mr. LaClare, let's see what we can do for you," Usagi said, her professionalism taking over. "Where have you worked before, and what did you do?"

And for awhile, they talked, going to her office and discussing his background, and all that he had done for other companies he had worked for, and what he planned to do for this company. After an hour and a half, Usagi sat back in her chair and smiled.

"Well, Mr. LaClare, welcome to KDS Inc. When can you start?"

Matt smiled widely. "You mean I got the job?"

"That's what I said," Usagi responded with a smile.

"Well then," Matt said, "why don't I take you out for dinner to celebrate? I'll pick you up at around... say, 7:00?"

Usagi blushed and looked down, and then smiled and nodded. "Alright," she said shyly, "I'd like that. I'll see you at seven, then."

Usagi smiled bitterly as she reflected on how well it had all started. He had been the epitome of sweet, of kindness, of everything she could want. He had complimented her on how she looked every day. He had laughed at all her jokes. He had comforted her when she was sad. He had helped her with difficult situations in her business. He had done so much for her. But then, he changed. There were small changes at first, such as teasing her that she was getting fat, and laughing too loudly each time she would accidentally fall down. But then it was more obvious. His teasing became more than teasing, and when she'd look to see if he was teasing or not, the look in his eyes was completely serious. And then he started making fun of her hair style, telling her it was childish.

At first, she had thought it was harmless, but despite that fact, she stopped eating as much as she normally had, and when he said her hair looked bad, she changed it from her normal style into a single pony tail.

But then he had started talking about her friends. Telling her that she was just a big burden to them, and the only reason they stayed with her was because they felt sorry for her. At first, she'd frowned it off. But as time went on, and he kept telling her this, she started to notice things. How Rei Hino would tell her how useless she was. How even Ami Mizuno would shake her head each time Usagi got a problem wrong or couldn't figure out the problem. How Makoto told her about how much she ate, and how Minako kept taking over plans for what they would do.

The only one he didn't seem to pick on was Mamoru Chiba, Usagi's good friend since middle school. Though they hadn't always been such good friends, they'd worked out their problems, and realized how much they cared for one another. But the reason why he didn't mention Mamo-chan at all was because Matt and Mamoru were good friends.

So little changes kept occurring in Matt's behavior, and when Usagi went to talk to Mamoru, and Matt found out about it, that was when the real trouble began.

Her mind played over that scene for the millionth time.

He'd taken her out to a nice dinner, and then brought her back to his apartment, where he had proceeded to back her into a corner and slapped her.

"So, you little bitch, you thought you'd go crying to Mamoru because you didn't like how I was treating you, hmm? You thought that he would make it all better for you, and you wouldn't have to deal with me anymore, is that it?" Matt hissed into her ear.

Frightened, Usagi shook her head. "N-no Matt, of course not! I just wanted to talk to him and..."

Her voice was cut off as Matt's hand raised and he slapped her again, knocking her to the floor and standing over her, his huge body looming over hers.

"And what, Usagi? Complain about me? Well know this," Matt hissed, "even if you told him everything I've done to you, he won't believe you. He'll believe me over you any day. Because guys stick together, and frankly, my dear, all you are is a nice piece of ass that," he trailed off and licked his lips as he looked down at the body sprawled beneath him, "that I plan to take tonight... right now..."

And with that said, he bent down, picked her up and threw her down on the bed, hitting her once more when she protested, before moving back, pulling his pants off, and pulling the dress she was wearing up around her hips.

"It's your own fault, darling," he muttered out. "You brought this on yourself. You have no one to blame but yourself." Then he proceeded to rape her.

Her thoughts sped back to the present, and tears ran down her cheeks. 'It was my fault,' she thought. 'He told me it was my fault, and it must have been my fault. Otherwise he wouldn't have done it.' She nodded to herself and stumbled on.

As she got to the park, she finally tripped and went sprawling down, face first, onto the ground, and into a huge puddle of mud. Shivering, Usagi sat up, pulling her tattered clothing closer to her body and standing up once more, only to find a bush, which she promptly headed over for, laying beneath it, not caring anymore about how the rain was still coming through the bush and down onto her. 'I just need to rest,' she thought, her mind a haze. 'Just a few minutes... that's all... just... a few...' And her eyes closed, and she drifted off to sleep.

"...and then he said 'I know your name and I want to be yours!'" Minako spluttered out, holding her sides and laughing with the rest of the girls, minus Usagi, and Mamoru sat, waiting for Usagi. After a few minutes, the laughter died down into chuckles and then trailed off into silence, with the exception of the rain beating outside, and the sounds of Motoki Furuhata running the counter of the Crown Arcade where the girls and Mamoru sat.

With a sigh, Ami looked down at her watch, pushing her short azure colored hair from her eyes. "Do you guys know where Usagi is? Even for her, this is late." Ami said in her soft voice.

The rest of the people at the table frowned, looking outside at the pouring rain.

"Yeah," Rei Hino said quietly, "and not to mention, this is the third meeting she has missed. I wonder where she is..." Rei's voice trailed off and she looked down, her violet colored eyes worried as she thought of her best friend.

Makoto looked up, her green eyes worried. "Did anyone else think she's been acting strange these last few weeks? I mean, when she first got with Matt, all was fine and dandy, but then--"

"Do you mean Matt LaClare?" Mamoru cut in.

Rei, Minako, Ami, and Makoto all stared at Mamoru as though he had started speaking a different language.

"Of course Matt LaClare, she IS dating him, after all," Rei said. "Didn't you know?"

Mamoru's heart twisted at this bit of news, as he had realized a short time ago how he actually felt for the blonde haired girl. Of course, he would never admit it to anyone, let alone Usagi's best friends. And then he remembered something. Something that made his blood run cold.

"Mamoru," Usagi had said a few days ago, "Matt has been acing strangely lately. And I don't know what to make of it. Lately, he's been telling me weird things about the girls, and he's started to... well... he's started to hit me."

"Now Usagi, I'm sure you're just exaggerating. Matt wouldn't hurt a fly, let alone you. And besides, I don't see any bruises on you. But if you want, I will talk to him, and ask him what's going on."

Mamoru groaned slightly, and all the heads at the table turned to look at him again.

"Mamoru. Do you know something we should know?" Minako asked, her blue eyes intense upon his face.

"Maybe... but I didn't think anything of it at the time! I thought she was making it up, or exaggerating..." Mamoru said, and then he told them of the conversation that he and Usagi had had.

At the end of the conversation, Rei let out a hiss of outrage. "And you didn't TELL us about this? And more importantly, you SAID that to her?! How COULD you?! Ami, Minako, Makoto, we have to go find her. She could be hurt. Mamoru... you do what you want." And with that, the four girls stood up and raced out into the cold, rainy night to look for their friend.

After a moment, Mamoru stood as well, running a hand through his ebon colored hair and closing his ocean blue eyes for a moment, before opening them once more, a determined look deep within them. After throwing some yen on the table, he turned and left the Arcade, heading deeper into Tokyo, toward the park where Usagi usually went to think things out.

Usagi woke up after a few hours, shivering and soaked to the bone, and unable to move. She whimpered softly as she tried to sit up and found she couldn't, so she lay as she was, hoping that she would be able to move soon.

As she lay there, she wondered what it was that had woken her up. She thought it had been a noise, but straining her ears, she heard nothing but the sound of the rain still pounding down. Then, suddenly, it came again. The sound of a name...her name... being called, over and over.

Panic flooded through her at the sound of the male voice. 'He's found me!' her mind screamed out, and she curled herself into a tighter ball, hoping he wouldn't look at this bush and see the bright pink color of the dress beneath it.

"Usagi!"

There it came again. That voice, calling her name. She tried to muffle a scream, but despite her tries, another whimper escaped from her throat. 'Hasn't he done enough damage?' She thought to herself. 'Why does he want me back? To do more to me? Of course... he needs to punish me! That must be it.' Her mind recoiled from the thought, but she knew that must be it, and with the sound she had made, it was only a matter of time before he found her and took her back again. Closing her eyes, she waited for the inevitable.

Mamoru walked quickly through the park, cupping his hands around his mouth and calling out Usagi's name repeatedly.

"Usagi! Where are you?" he cried out, desperate. And then he heard it. The faintest of sounds coming from the bush. Quickly, he ran to the bush, pushing the twigs and branches out of the way to find the thing he dreaded most: Usagi, curled up into a ball against the rain, her clothes soaked through, and new bruises forming on her face. He drew in a quick, shocked breath and then bent over her.

"Don't worry, Usagi... you're safe now. I have you."

As he said this, he gathered her in his arms, and as he did so, watched as her eyes fluttered open.

"M-Mamoru?" She asked softly,

"It's me, Usagi-chan. You're safe now. We're going home."

She paused, trying to gather the strength to talk. "Mamoru... don't take me back to him... he'll hurt me again... and don't... don't take me to the girls... I'm only a bother to them..." That said, her voice trailed off and she sank into a state of unconsciousness.