Sailor Moon is copyright 1992 by Naoko Takeuchi.

North American Rights for Sailor Moon are owned by

D.I.C.



Rating: PG-13



~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*



~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  Life  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~



Part 1 - Recovery

Chapter VII - The Magic of Friends





	Usagi sat on the bus.  She had forced herself

to walk out of his sight as calmly as she could.  She

was thinking now.  All the memories.  All the hurt.

All the unasked questions and all the answers.



	She felt it.  She felt the tears building up

once again.  She couldn't cry.  Not now.  Not on a

bus.  Not ever!  But she wanted to.  Oh, God how she

wanted to!



	She stumbled off the bus.  She was trapped in

her own world.  Her body performed all the necessary

functions without her.



	Get on her feet.



	Walk down the aisle.



	Down the stairs.



	Down the street.



	Try not to trip.



	Through the door.



	All this and Usagi thought of Mamoru.  No, she

wasn't thinking of Mamoru.  She was thinking of Mamo-

chan.  HER Mamo-chan.  The sweet one.  The kind one.

The hopeless romantic once you broke down all those

barriers.  The one who loved her through 1000 years.

The one she would die for.  The one she had died for.

She was lost in her memories of the past . . . of

happiness . . . of love.



	She entered the hospital in a dazed state.  She

came back to reality and looked about her.



	She was overcome with an indescribable amount

of grief.



	'How sad,' she thought sarcastically.  'I'd

rather exist in my mind with the past than actually

live.  You get more pathetic with each day, Usagi.'



	She thought of him and grew more distracted as

she placed the candy-stripper apron over her head.



	Mia watched as Usagi played with the other

children.  Or at least tried to play with them.  She

was distracted; her attempt at smiling was not

working, at least not with Mia.



	Mia had been in a car accident, and her knee

had gotten hurt badly.  She was constantly in the

hospital undergoing operations and doing physical

therapy.



	As a result, Usagi and her had been able to

become and remain close friends.



	Mia walked over to Usagi, tugged on her sleeve,

and whispered in her ear, "Usagi, I need to talk to

you."



	Usagi looked at Mia surprised and nodded her

head.  They walked over to a corner and Usagi knelt

so that they were eye-level.



	"What's up?"



	"You.  What's wrong?"



	"What are you talking about?" Usagi feigned

innocence, not about to pour out her problems to a 5-

year-old.



	"Usagi, you're so sad.  Why?  Why are you sad?

I don't like it when you're sad."  Mia said it so

sorrowfully that Usagi felt bad that she had made Mia

so serious.



	"Nothing important, Mia.  I'll be happier; I

promise," Usagi smiled.



	"But I heard my mama say that not talking and

keeping everything inside makes it bad.  And then one

day, KA-BOOM!" she threw her arms up into the air and

widened her eyes.  "it all comes out and it's not

good!"



	Usagi smiled at the demonstration.  'What could

it hurt?  Besides, knowing her, she won't stop 'til I

tell her something.'



"Well, there's this boy that I like."



	"Who?"



	"You don't know him."



	"Oh . . . What about him?"



	"Well, he doesn't like me back."



	"Why not?"



	"I don't know," Usagi replied helplessly.  "He

used to like me, but then we had a fight."  She

paused.  "I tried to say sorry, but he wouldn't

listen.  So, now, he doesn't like me."



	Mia wrinkled up her nose, thoughtfully at first

and then in disdain.  "Well then, _I_ don't like

him!" she declared.



	Usagi laughed a little and hugged Mia.



	"Do you feel better, Usagi-chan?"



	"Yes, I do," Usagi said, smiling down at her.

"Arigato."



	Mia skipped off, as best as she could, calling

over her shoulder, "I told you so!"



	'I've suddenly remembered why I love little

kids so much.  They're worlds can be cured with candy

and simple words.'  Usagi sighed and picked up a toy.

'Wish I could be a kid again.'



	Usagi went around the rooms, talking to her

friends.  Her shift came to an end.  She glanced at

her pager.  4:10.



	'Kai's expecting me.'



	On every Saturday, after her shift, Usagi went

to visit Kai.  It was one of the few times they could

see each other, since Usagi now had school.  Usually,

Jiro, Noriko, and Zared were there as well.



	She didn't really feel like going but she

didn't want Kai to worry.  So, she went.



	She walked into the dim light of El Café and

sat at her regular stool.  Absentmindedly, she

listened to the band's slow beat.



	'He was never _this_ friendly with the other

girls.  What gives?'



		'Maybe he found someone who's

		_the one_.'



	'Shut-up.'



		'You know, someone mature.  Gorgeous.

		Graceful.  Responsible.'



	'I don't care!  I don't need him!'



		Laughter sounded.



	'_He_ broke up with me.  He didn't even talk to

me.  He's the jerk.  It's his loss.'



		The laughter became louder.



	'It is!'



	'Sure, Usagi.  Keep telling yourself

that.  Keep telling yourself that you

don't want to be in his arms.  Keep

saying that you don't want to be kissing

him.  Keep saying you don't care if some

other girl is hugging him, kissing him,

and who knows what else.'



	'SHUT-UP!'



	The more Usagi thought about Mamoru, the more

she frowned.  Eventually, Kai noticed and moved to

place a hand on her shoulder.  "Usagi?"



	Startled out of her thoughts, she said, "Huh?"



	"What's wrong?" he asked hesitantly.



	"Oh!" Silence.  "Nothing."



	Kai wanted to say, "Yeah, sure.  And you hang

out here because it's the new hot spot for all the

teens!"



	But he didn't.  He knew that she would come

around and tell him eventually.  If time and space

was what she needed, then it was what she would get.



	Instead, he said, "Well . . . if you decide

something _is_ wrong . . . I'm here."



	Usagi sighed.  "I know.  Thanks."



	"Why don't you write or something?  You've said

that it helps sometimes.  _Not_ that you're upset or

anything," he said wryly.



	Usagi managed a small laugh.



	Kai handed her a pen and a napkin.  "Just in

case."  He turned to walk away, but paused and turned

to face her again.  "You don't have to tell me

anything, ever.  But if you want to, I'm here.  I do

wanna help, Usa.  I care about you.  But I respect

you too much to pry.  If you don't want to say

anything, fine.  But just know I'm here for you . . .

and those other guys too, I guess," he added a little

grudgingly.



	He still didn't appreciate the fact that Usagi

hung around them a lot.  Sure, _he_ was 25, but

_this_ was different.  He was her 'onni-san.'  What

those other guys were, he still wasn't sure.  Usagi

always said they were strictly friends.  It seemed

like it.  But he didn't know sometimes.



	Usagi smiled softly and gave Kai a tiny hug.

"You're the best."



	"I know," he grinned.





~ ~ ~  End  ~ ~ ~





	Yeah, yeah, yeah.  You don't have to tell me.

It's a sucky place to stop.  I read it and I'm

thinking, "And then . . .?"  But I needed to end it

somewhere, right?  And to be honest, I couldn't think

of anything else.  I'm having, as my math teacher

would say a "brain fart."  They're a daily thing with

me, sometimes.  I'm considering help.  =)



	Anywayz, besides the ending being kinda crappy,

I think it was ok.  The part about Usagi's body

functioning without thinking came from "The Face on

the Milk Carton."  And the whole conversation with

Mia may have been a little exaggerated or not

plausible, but, hey, whatever!  I'm satisfied with it

for now.  Also, I'm not a doctor and I don't plan on

becoming one, so forgive me for not giving all the

technical information on what happened to Mia.



	Thanks to everyone who emailed me.  I really do

appreciate it.  All and any comments, suggestions,

and flames welcome.



	Mad props to Andrea and Moongoddess once again

for everything they do for us.



	Thanks for reading!  Ja ne!



HoNeY

hnymustd@hotmail.com

3/9/00