Her eyes widened and she got ready to tell him off, to contradict him. But Mamoru was expecting it and reached into his jacket to retrieve something that belonged to Usagi. Even without looking at her, he knew her eyes followed the movement of his hand as it tossed the Senshii communicator towards her. He'd meant her to catch it. It fell on her lap instead.

"That was beeping earlier," he murmured. "And someone said... Something about you better being home right now and how she's going to where the others are. Apparently you'll regroup later. After she deals with the creep."

This time he did glance. Just long enough to see something flashed in her eyes, something bordering on fear, before she licked her lips. He makes what Motoki called his perfect Japanese-James-Dean-with-a-migraine face, the one that's so sad and adrenalized, and Usagi pretended she wasn't freaking the fuck out. "It's a beeper," she spluttered. Her voice dripped with trepidation to spare. "Kinda."

"Looks expensive."

Usagi blinked. She looked down at what she was holding as if seeing it for the first time. Opened her mouth as if to try some other answer, but instead closed her lips. For a full minute, they shared an uneasy silence, which suited Mamoru fine. He'll speak plenty when they were far enough from everyone else that he wouldn't need to worry about her escaping. Usagi squirmed in her seat and decided she didn't like the quiet. "You went through my pocket!" she blurted. "Where's my pen?"

"I have it."

"Give it back!"

He hated she spoke to him like he was the worst person in the world right now. Not the least because he'd felt like he was the worst person in the world a good thirty minutes ago, when the beeping came out of nowhere and a girl's voice floated out of Usagi's school uniform's pocket and good manners fled because something about the voice sounded too familiar to ignore. Mamoru had stood over Usagi, the blonde still in her weird trance, and made a decision. When he reached into her pocket, his hand grasping the rectangular shaped compact, her pen was dislodged and fell down to the ground after he pulled his hand out. And he'd felt like a creep, a complete asshole for invading her privacy like that.

Then he saw what it was he was holding.

He still doesn't know what it was exactly. All he knew was that it worked like a walkie-talkie, the metal work of high quality and of a unique pale rose tint. There was a small circular screen on the upper right side, six round buttons and two shaped like stars. All in all, it was something a teenage girl could find 'cute' and the little details meant to appeal to Usagi's demographic and yet... Mamoru wasn't a gadget snob, but even he knew Usagi had no business owning something that looked so high end. He didn't even realized they made communicators as slim as the one Usagi owned. Not even the beepers the doctors used in the hospital he sometimes interned for had beepers as small as Usagi's.

As for the pen...

"Here," he said softly, holding it out to her after once again retrieving it from inside his jacket. It was snatched from him instantly, Usagi fretting about how he had no right to take her things. She's not wrong, he thought once more. But now he doesn't care about the legalities of his actions, morally or otherwise. Because he'd figured out just moments before Motoki strolled back into the arcade just whose voice it was that spoke. It had been Sailor Venus.

"Mother of pearl in bright luminous pink, gold, and rubies. A really big one."

"What?"

"Your pen."

"Uh?"

Mamoru shook his head.

Usagi stared at him, waiting for an explanation, and when she realized he wasn't going to provide one, decided to try and make him see reason. "Baka, listen, we can't go to the beach! I have to go back to my friends! I have to check on Minako!"

In lieu of an answer, Mamoru leaned towards Usagi once more and clicked the radio open. Eyes on the road, he navigated the stations until he found the one dedicated almost on just reporting about Senshii business. Both were quiet as the excited DJ repeated what took place in the park, speculating about the monster, and assuring the public only two college students were injured in the attack and that they were being monitored in Juuban Hospital. A caller asked about the lack of Sailor Senshii and Tuxedo Mask in the fight, and the DJ shared their concern why only Sailor Venus was present, but he was happy to report the Senshii looked fine if a little bruised when she gave her signature pose to the people in the park and informed them it was now safe to leave their hiding spots. And that police had searched the area, looking for anyone who could have been hurt, but there had only been the two mentioned earlier. There was another caller, but before the two could hear about their two cents, Mamoru reached out again to close the radio.

"Well, that's just... but my other friends," Usagi pouted, "I still need to check on them!"

Mamoru doesn't answer. Doesn't blink. Doesn't do anything but kept driving.

She tried one more time, thinking hard in a way she never had to before in his presence, on how to get some reaction from him that wasn't this polite shutting her out. "This count as kidnapping, you know? Baka, you, are kidnapping a minor! My parents are gonna worry!"

But he doesn't answer and Usagi grimaced in her seat, clutching her communicator and pen.

Rei was pissed. Minako was taking for-freaking-ever to materialize and in the meantime, Ami was slowly succumbing to the draining going on around them. Worrying about the genius almost irritated her because it was bringing her down out of the necessary military hoo-wah zone she needed to be in right now.

Makoto made a noise, halfway between a growl and a groan. She was shielding them from the blast coming from Zoicite, the green light coming in contact with any living thing in the restaurant then retreating back to the glowing orb he was holding aloft on his hand. The three of them were the only ones still awake, but hidden as they were underneath a table and Zoicite being the vain little piece of shit that he was, he hadn't bothered to check on his victims and was instead just congratulating himself for a job well done. Rhapsodizing about how this would please some guy named Kunzite. "I say we just transform and kill him," Makoto hissed and Rei had to give her points for not sounding half as snitty as she could have.

"We'll die," Rei whispered harshly. "We barely got that youma last night and that was four of us. We'll need Minako." She hesitated to add the last part. "We need Usagi."

"I can take him," Makoto insisted.

But she can't. They know she can't.

And Makoto hated that fact. Rei saw it, the disgust in herself burning in her eyes. She was a Senshii, and more importantly, the one who was supposed to be the strongest physically. But it was Sailor Venus who managed to get the final blow on the youma, with all four limping to search for their missing leader in the aftermath of the fight. Not that it was decisive one, since all four put every attack in their arsenal to weaken it enough (again and again to the point of exhaustion) for Minako's hit to matter. Artemis had appeared, ready to congratulate them, but Makoto had harshly told the cat to shut it, because it didn't feel like there was anything to celebrate about. A fucking youma nearly killed them. What was the point of being a cosmic Warrior of Goodness—Warrior of Jupiter!—if a lowly minion could end them without even trying. We need to juice up with whatever powers Usagi, she'd complained, because they can't always rely on the youngest of the group to do the killing for them. Usagi barely feels anything after she kills a youma, but we're practically dead on our feet now. I get Usagi's the leader, but can't you two do something about this? I mean, come on, can't you power us up like Usagi? Even half of what she's capable of will work. And Artemis had looked shocked, just for a moment. The cat had quietly joined Minako's side, but clearly lost in thought, while Luna tried to calm Makoto by telling the girl all the right words of encouragement. Something about Usagi being awakened first. And Minako had made a sound as if to contradict, but Artemis quickly called attention to himself and told her they had to go look for Usagi. After all, who knew where Tuxedo Mask had taken her. It took the whole night for their strength to come back.

Rei looked down at Ami, brushing the hair out of the girl's eyes and was relieved when Ami opened hers to give her a weak smile. "Hold on, okay? She's—They're coming."

Ami managed to nod.

Makoto answered the Excellent Question nobody asked: "Usagi won't be any good right now."

Artemis, I fear I must leave now. The crystal is too strong, and she is finally awake.

But before I go, listen to my words: I hope for my Prince to dream happy dreams again. The dawn is your responsibility, not his. This is your Princess's doing, and I will not stand for his life to be served for her purpose. If I must, I shall will the crystal to make him forget again and again and again.

If she fails, she fails without him. I vow it. This darling daughter of Selene, whose dream once destroyed the world. Whose dream, I now see, we all live in still. But, Artemis, I do not hate her. Have never hated her, no matter what she wrought. The girl was so sweet, so full of faith, that even our crystal helped her what it can when your crystal couldn't: How bodies are made, made and washed in the waters of Resurrection. The Prayer to the Dreaming. Made herself closer to man's image. Fabric skin over brittle bones; mother's art and father's craft. But not close enough. Never close enough. Her secret, Artemis, here it is.

She was a god; she must stay a god.

The dreaming fields call me now. Pray we never meet.

Artemis stopped running. He called out weakly to Luna. When she didn't stop and turn, he called again in a louder voice.

She finally paid attention to him and returned to his side, a ready reprimand on her lips the moment she was close enough to whisper. "Not so loud," she told him. "Have you gone mad? Cats are not supposed to be able to speak!"

"Luna, do you remember the Terran High Priest?"

It took a second to reply, because both felt the sudden vertigo that assaulted them at the mention of the man. "What... what was that?" Luna blinked and did her best not to vomit.

"Luna! I asked you a question!"

"Yes, I heard you! I... I don't think there was one?"

"There was. He-he was devoted to... Gads, why can't I remember his name!"

Both paused, miserable, as more and more feeling of disorientation hit them. Luna was unable to support herself anymore and fell to the ground. "Why does it matter?" she managed to ask, hoping it would end the questioning. Hoping, in turn, that it would stop whatever was causing them this distress.

"He was in my head," Artemis gritted out. "Just now. I heard him."

He did not appreciate the skeptical look Luna gave him. "It's true. He was talking about the princess. Luna! Luna, he knows who she is!"

"Did he tell you who?"

At the forlorn expression on his face, Luna rolled her eyes. "So he didn't. Artemis, there is no way he's still alive. And if he was, he'd be like the rest of the Dark Kingdom. Resurrected to try and take over the world again. If he was speaking to you, I wouldn't trust a thing he said to you."

"But—"

"Honestly, Artemis. I expected more from you. Is this why you remember so much? Because you're listening to voices in your head?"

"He didn't sound evil," Artemis tried to defend himself. "He was saying something about—,"

"Yes?"

"I... Oh. I—I don't remember. But it was about the princess. And something about a wish? No, wait, that was a different voice."

Luna growled, thoroughly annoyed now at what she perceived to be Artemis' theatrics. Between his doubting Usagi and now this, she was tempted to shake her companion off. His company today was not welcome. Willing the last of the headache away, she stood up and started to run. She didn't bother to look when Artemis tried to call her back. Whatever it was he was building into, she sensed it would be something negative towards Usagi again. Her heart squeezed painfully at the thought of the girl. She wasn't wrong, she thought. No matter how much Artemis will try to poison her about Usagi, Luna promised she would stay true about guiding her. Because if Artemis was listening to voices in his head to remember the past, Luna had her own memory to reinforce her decision. And this memory was true, she thought. Truer than any memory she possessed.

What she remembered was this: How the Queen Serenity was luminous before her as she waited her death. Luna felt her goddess' presence, in and with her now. And then the Queen turned, and sought Luna out amid the rubble.

"She'll need you. When she awakens, she will need you. Protect her, Luna. Protect my beloved Serenity. Her Guardians, all of them, and the rest, they will be needed to keep her safe. You must make sure they remember their vows. Remember how much you love them. Love her. Luna, she must be made ready. Be there for her when I cannot. Luna, train the Guardians. My dearest companion, be the one to protect her, for I cannot."

And she'd nodded, before kneeling down to show she obeys.

A girl needs a mother, a mother needs her girl. And friends, thought Luna. She needs those too. Her Guardians would be her friends. The Princess will be protected and she will be loved. Built on the strongest ground there is: They're the only people that loved her as much as the other, the way they loved her. Like a mother, like a daughter. Like a sister, like a friend. They're the only ones that understand her in that way. Everytime she awakened one of the Guardians, Luna felt the missing parts of her slowly turn whole. It started with Usagi and ended with Makoto. They were her purpose in life now. Her heart, which stayed true to the promise she made to her Queen even in forget, cannot be wrong about Sailor Moon.

As for Artemis, he began to run again too. A fierce scowl was on his normally cheerful face, as he thought inward, back to the then. The Before. The twin memories came, contradicting each other. So he focused on the recent one, the one where the Queen didn't have the crystal in her grasp. Something about the princess doing something she shouldn't have—

(a promise made)

-and the Queen, turning to Artemis said, Find Venus. Leave us and find Venus. You must find Venus and help her do her duty

Chapter Ten

Usagi kept fidgeting with her 'beeper', her face turning a splotchy shade of red as her resentment against Mamoru build up. Mamoru grimaced, imagining the explosive anger she would be unleashing on him soon. But he's not stopping the drive to the beach, no matter how many times she insisted it was wrong of him to do it without her consent. Too many questions that needed answering. About her odd beeper and why Sailor Venus was talking to her. About that episode at the arcade and why she was suddenly speaking in an ancient language. Then there was her pen. Her freaking pen. Even if he managed to convince himself that the beeper was something within Usagi's reach, that pen was not. He knew jewelry, having spent nearly half his life obsessing about a silver crystal, and that damn pen was packing a fortune in rubies.

Hell, he has money and even he cannot afford something as ridiculously expensive as her jeweled pen.

"We're almost there," he promised her.

She doesn't answer. Instead she crossed her arms and huffed, turning her head away from him. She's so angry, was what her little show was meant to convey. That he was not and will never be forgiven. But Usagi ruined it by suddenly squealing at the sight of a dog staring at her from the backseat of a car running parallel to their lane. Waving maniacally, she turned to Mamoru briefly, face lit up with her painfully beautiful smile, and pointed to the dog who was just as excitedly wagging its tail now at them.

"It's so cute!", she exclaimed.

He chuckled. Sparing a glance at the dog, he allowed himself a moment to watch Usagi making funny faces at her latest friend before focusing on his driving. Very cute, he decided. And she has no idea.

Almost forty minutes later and there they were. Usagi frowned while biting her thumbnail, doing her best to remember this was Very Bad, because her friends were trapped in a restaurant with an Evil Man Who Can Do Evil Magic. No matter how gorgeous the scenery, and the potential to dent Mamoru's credit card via giant cones of ice cream, she needed to find a way to help the rest of the girls.

"Baka, do you mind if I go to the bathroom first?"

Mamoru turned the ignition of his car off and pocketed his key, and seemed to give her request some thought. "Fine. Do... do you want anything? I can maybe buy-,"

"Crepes. And milkshake. Chocolate, please."

"Right."

"Yep. Be back soon-ish!"

Not waiting for Mamoru's answer, Usagi ran inside the nearby diner and straight to the bathrooms. Making quick work of checking to see if she was alone, she punched her communicator to open a line to Minako.

"Usagi! You finally answered! Where are you?!"

"Uhm... somewhere? Where are you?"

"What?! What somewhere? Ermygard, where are you?"

"Not telling!"

"What! Listen here—oh forget it, I'll deal with you later. Can you transform now?"

Usagi grabbed her brooch and tried triggering the mystic power contained in it that would signal her ready to transform but felt nothing. She sighed, making sure it was loud enough for Minako to hear.

"Well, that sucks."

A high pitched whine filled the air and Minako made soothing sounds. "Minako, what do I do?" In the stall, Usagi was hopping from one foot to the other, trying to release energy.

"Just, try not to panic. And keep trying your brooch. I'll send the coordinates where the girls are."

"Okay. Okay, but you're not going there?"

Her friend and second-in-command started laughing like a maniac. "I have a basket of eggs with me. Some stink bombs. That stupid general won't stand a chance. Plus two fire extinguishers. Leave it to me. I'll make that little bitch run crying back to whatever bung hole they pushed forth from."

"What? That-"

"Come as soon as you can transform. Only when you can transform."

How rude, thought Usagi, staring at the now silent communicator in her hand. She was tempted to try and call the others, but understood the danger of it in case they were in hiding. She bit back the complaint threatening to spill from her lips since it would be pointless without Minako to hear it, and tried to straighten the slump of her shoulders. Pocketing her communicator, her fingers briefly made contact with her pen. She wondered what would happen if she transformed into someone else and leave Mamoru behind, but decided against it. What would that do, except piss the guy off, she mused. Somehow, without knowing how, she was now on thin ice with him.

Leaving the bathroom, she tried to imagine what Minako planned to do. Her brain was flinging 404 Error-Appropriate Reaction Not Found, and she ended her wondering with the resolution to never piss Minako off. Stink bombs in the vicinity of Rei-chan. She gave a silent prayer for Minako's continued existence.

When she spotted Mamoru trying to do his best to stop being manhandled by their waitress, Usagi held back to watch, curious what he was going to do.

He was being... kind. Though he tried to show his complete disinterest to her blatant charms, he did it in a manner that wouldn't embarrass her. Even from where she was standing, unable to hear their exchange, Usagi could see her being charmed by his politeness, the gentle way he distanced himself physically without offending her. The waitress very much reminded Usagi of Rei when Rei had tried to secure a date with the Baka. It was as Ami had said earlier; Mamoru was only a jerk when it came towards her. Hesitating for a few more seconds, Usagi cleared her throat. She didn't thought she did it loudly, but Mamoru quickly raised his head to search for her. Relief was evident on his face once she was spotted.

"Usako," he called out. "Over here."

Once more, the 404 Error-Appropriate Reaction Not Found flashed in her head. Convincing herself there was no way the Baka just called her what she thought he called her, she robot walked to where Mamoru was sitting. The waitress glared a look at her, and Usagi stared back with big, innocent eyes. Too focused trying to ESP her innocence in whatever scheme the Baka was doing, she didn't realize Mamoru had grabbed her nearest hand and maneuvered her so she was sitting next to him. When she finally realized it, she quickly snapped her head in his direction, and was rewarded with Mamoru scooting his chair a little closer to hers.

"You took your time, Usako," he said slowly, voice slightly scratchy, and his eyes a dark, cobalt blue. She doesn't understand how and when, but he was now pushing the fringes of her hair away from her face, his fingers lingering on her cheek as he lowered them back to his lap.

"Huh?" replied Usagi immediately. Her eyes were popped wide open. She was not aware, but Mamoru was, that the waitress was now walking dejectedly to where the cashier was waiting to get the order slip. Said cashier—another college girl from the looks of her—was doing a wriggly that-is-so-cute-I'm-gonna-die dance while watching Mamoru's antics.

Mamoru, saved now from a new fan girl's effort to get a date from him, gave Usagi a tight grin. "I owe you. Promise, I'll make up for this somehow." He leaned away from Usagi, and tried to act cool. "I ordered ours to go. I figured eating at the beach would be more fun." More private. When Usagi simply made a choking sound to indicate she heard him, Mamoru sighed. Glancing at Usagi, fully intending to tease her to 'breathe' once again, he went quiet at the sight of her flushed cheeks and reddened ears.

They waited for their order like that, with palpable awkwardness between them, though Mamoru remembered to help Usagi from her chair when the waitress came back with their order. He escorted her outside like a proper gentleman, and Usagi was mortified she couldn't snap out of feeling like a bunch ants were doing the tango on the skin of her arms and the back of her neck. Finally, she thought, except she had no idea why she would even think such a thing.