AN: My third story, and second one-shot. I don't own Sailor Moon, etc. This story just explores what might have happened if Minako decided to say something to Mamoru about what he was doing to Usagi by breaking up with her.
Red String of Fate Broken?
Usagi-chan came to Hikawa Shrine in tears for our meeting. Luna had called everyone on the communicator, saying she had news and that Usagi had just fought off a new enemy at a cosmetics shop.
I had seen her earlier that day, when she came to tell us that Mamoru-san had broken up with her. I couldn't understand; I could tell that he still loved her. Being the Senshi of Love and the reincarnation of the goddess Venus made it easy to find out. Why would he lie to her and push her away?
Usagi-chan sat on the temple steps and explained what had happened at the shop, but there were still tears glistening in her eyes. She was trying to avoid talking about something and everyone knew it. The four of us exchanged glances to see who would take her aside and talk to her. I nodded, telling them silently that I would try to find out what had happened to our best friend.
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"He said WHAT?! Usagi-chan, why on Earth would he call you a weak girl? You're one of the strongest people I know!"
"I don't know, Minako-chan. I thought you had been right about him having a bad day, so I went to see him. He said he didn't love me anymore and didn't want to have to be with me just because of our past lives."
The barely restrained tears in her eyes broke through, silently rolling down her face. It wasn't her more typical wailing, but that quiet pain radiated from her in waves that hurt me almost as much as I could feel them affecting her. She didn't deserve this kind of torture. She'd already gone through the worst possible things for him, and now he was turning his back on her. Usagi-chan was strong, but not even the strongest person alive could ignore the pain of having your true love push you away with no warning.
"Usagi-chan, please don't cry. You and Mamoru-san have gone through a lot together. This is just another challenge to overcome," I tried to assure her; all the while I hoped was true. My princess didn't need this now, not with the appearance of a new enemy and the mysterious Chibiusa. Or ever, really.
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I stood in front of Mamoru-san's apartment door, bracing myself. I knew I wasn't supposed to interfere in other people's loves, but I wasn't doing this as Sailor Venus, but as Minako, worried about an upset friend. I wanted to know why this was happening. Eventually, I managed to bring myself to knock.
"Coming!" I heard Mamoru-san say from inside. Oh good, he's here.
He opened the door a bit and saw me, immediately trying to shut it again. Naturally, this was not going to be allowed.
"Oh, I don't think so," I said, jamming my foot in the opening. "You and I are going to have a nice chat. You aren't getting rid of me that easily. I have questions and you're going to answer them."
"I don't want to talk about it, Minako-chan," he said firmly, but I could see that he was trying to hide something. You can't hide from the Senshi of Love, after all.
"I don't care if you want to or not. If you'd like I could always call the others to come and MAKE you talk. However, I'd like to think that isn't necessary. Usagi-chan is in a lot of pain right now, and I want to know why. You really are a baka like Usagi-chan always used to say if you think I believe that you don't love her."
At this point he was trying to intimidate me with a stare, but I wasn't going to budge. As much as I was one of the more even-tempered out of the five of us, I was running dangerously close to losing my temper and giving him a piece of his mind. Using a little Senshi strength, I pushed him back into a chair, sitting in the table in front of him.
"Now spill," I ordered. "I'm not leaving till I get what I came for. I don't believe you don't love Usagi-chan anymore. Want to know why?"
"Not really," he muttered under his breath. When I glared at him, he sighed and relented. "Okay, fine, why?"
"Because of this," I replied, moving my hands as if I were stirring the air. A shining red string appeared. It was tied to his hand and led off to an unknown point, at least to him.
"This being?" he asked. Okay, now he was playing stupid. I know the man is intelligent, so who does he think he's fooling? He knew perfectly well what it was now that he could see it.
"That, baka, would happen to be the Red String of Fate. One of the quirks of my position, or curse, depending on your view. It can be both, really. I can see who fate linked together. Care to hazard a guess as to who the other end is tied to?" I asked with a smirk on my face. Let's see him talk his way out of this one.
"Should I care?" he replied. At this point, I could practically hear his thoughts. Something along the lines of 'how does she do this' or 'how does she know' maybe. You'd think he didn't know who I was or something.
"Should you care? Um, let me think… YES! Of course you should care! You know who it is, too, don't you, Mamoru-san?"
"Usako," he murmured under his breath. Now his eyes had tears forming. Hopefully that means we're getting somewhere.
"Someone that you supposedly don't love anymore, and yet you still call her Usako. That's fascinating, really. Yes, that would be the same string that's attached to Usagi-chan. Maybe you're not such a baka after all. You're hurting, but why are you hurting her? And why on Earth would you call her weak?"
He simply turned away from me at this point, not looking at me or answering my questions. Something had caused him to push her away. I wanted to know what. I simply stared at him, waiting for him to say something. After about five minutes of silence, I lost my patience and began talking again.
"How is Usagi-chan weak? I had only met her once before that day in Starlight Tower, so I didn't really know her at that point. When you taken away, she broke down. She doesn't believe she's strong, I know that. It was cold of you to throw that in her face."
My head drifted into my hands as I remembered Usagi-chan's behavior during those awful days of not knowing. "She didn't know if you were dead or alive, and it seemed like she was dying inside. She didn't laugh or smile. Not knowing what had happened to you was destroying her inside… and then we saw you again. Do you have any idea what it did to her when you tried to take the Ginzuishou from her at the hair salon?"
Now he was looking at me again, not even trying to stop the tears on his face. Apparently the memories of what happened with Queen Beryl and the Dark Kingdom still bothered him a bit. I had to work to squash down my small bit of pleasure at his obvious unhappiness. Part of me thought he deserved it for what he was doing to Usagi-chan, but I knew there was more to what was going on than he was admitting.
"After you left that day, she started making plans to bring you back. It was really the only way to get through to her. Your safety was the only thing she was thinking about. She still tried to present her normal self to the world, and we let her, but we all knew her heart wasn't in it. You continued to save her, though, and that confused the rest of the Senshi, including me."
I paused again, trying to collect my thoughts. It wouldn't do me any good if I didn't get my point across. I knew without a doubt that he still loved her, so now the question was why, and why he would call her weak when she was so very strong.
"Once she managed to heal you with the Ginzuishou the first time, we thought she would be all right, but then you were stolen from her yet again. She refused to give up, though, and came up with a plan to try to save you. It didn't work, but she was trying so hard. Finally, everyone regained their memories of the Silver Millennium. I think it might have hurt her worse than ever, remembering so much of your past together. She didn't know how to cope without you for much longer. We got lucky after that and found the entrance to the Dark Kingdom."
His eyes darkened at the thought. He knew what had happened once Usagi-chan had arrived. "Each of us died for her that day, and you did too. Luna wanted her to leave, to not use the Ginzuishou against Metalia and Beryl. She did anyway, of course, simply because she cared so much about everyone and everything. She was given a way out and didn't take it, yet you called her weak, even knowing what she'd gone through. Usagi-chan won, but her final wish was for a normal life for everybody. She wanted all of us to be able to live without the fighting and without the burdens of our past."
My own eyes had tears now, remembering how Usagi-chan had tried so hard to help us live a new life. Duty had called, though, and we had answered. We could never leave her alone.
"Even after Luna revived us, she was so worried about you. You seemed happy enough, but she missed you dreadfully. She began to know more about Mamoru, not Endymion, and fell in love with you all over again. You, Mamoru, not Endymion. She loves you for who you are, not who you used to be. She looked for ways to bring the two of you back together, and if you weren't as close as you had been, you were at least friends. You didn't even remember her but you continued to protect her. Remember that day with the Doom Tree? You jumped in front of her, trying to protect her even though you didn't remember your own powers."
Okay, now he's muttering. Does he have something against the Moonlight Knight, against a part of himself, for being closer to Usagi-chan during that time than he was? Interesting.
"I think I get the point, Minako-chan. I know Usako isn't weak. I never really thought she was. This has nothing to do with you, though. I'm not going to tell you what you want to know."
"You still protect her, Mamoru-san. Even as you deny her, she knows in her heart that you still care. I think that's the only reason she hasn't entirely let go. Her self-confidence isn't the greatest, though, and it'll get worse if you continue to hurt her like this. I know I can't force you to do the right thing, but for her sake, and yours, I hope you do."
I rose and moved toward the door, getting ready to leave. 'I'm sorry, Usagi-chan, but I can't do more than that. At least I've given him something to think about. I just hope it's been enough.'
"Minako-chan?"
"Hmmm?"
"Why did you tell me all this?"
"Because even if you already know, I had to make sure. I won't stand by and let you hurt her forever. Keep in mind that if things get much worse the Senshi and I are more than capable of making you regret the way you treat her."
"She wouldn't let you," he said.
"You're right; she wouldn't. Usagi-chan has a huge heart, and even as you break it she cares too much to do anything. I didn't say we'd ask her permission though. I have no doubt even Ami-chan would help out, as much as she doesn't believe in abusing her powers as a Senshi. We've seen what happens to her when you aren't there for her; I just pray it doesn't happen again."
I turned and opened the door. "Goodbye, Mamoru-san. Hopefully you've learned something from this. You still love her. What will you do if you lose her for good?"
On that note, I left him alone with his thoughts.