Sailor Moon is copyright 1992 by Naoko Takeuchi.
North American Rights for Sailor Moon are owned by
D.I.C.

Rating: PG

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

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

Part II - Unravelings
Chapter IXA - Predicament


	"Hey, Odango!"

	"Seiya!  What are you doing here?"

	"Just visiting, since I didn't get to come down
the last time Yaten and Taiki visited.  We just
didn't feel comfortable leaving the princess alone,
even though she said it was okay.  So, we drew straws
and I got left behind.  I was actually going to come
down with Taiki, but something came up and he had to
stay.  So, you and the others will have to entertain
me for the next 2 months," he grinned.

	"No problem.  It's so good to see you, again,"
she said, hugging him tightly.  "C'mon, let's go grab
something to eat, and you can tell me what's been
going on."


^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^


	"He had a small crush on me when we first met.
I didn't notice for the longest time, even though
everybody else did."

	"Even the prince?" Noriko asked.

	She nodded.  Jiro whistled under his breath.

	"When I finally figured it out, I just kind of
talked to him and told him it was impossible.  He
accepted it, and we agreed to be friends."


^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^


	"Usako!"

	"Hey, Mamo-chan!"

	He returned her energized hug and kissed her
forehead lightly.  He looked down at her and frowned,
his dark brows drawing together.  "Usako, I heard
Seiya's back in town."

	"Mm-hmm.  He's visiting."

	"Visiting who?"

	Usagi frowned back.  "All of us, Mamo-chan.  He
knows we're together."

	"I guess . . ." He remained doubtful.

	Usagi hugged him, speaking into his shirt.
"Would you stop?  He's a good guy.  You'd like him if
you gave him a chance."

	He wrapped his arms around her waist, but
didn't say anything.


^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^


	"A bunch of us are going out.  You wanna come?"

	"Where?"

	"To lunch."

	"Yeah, sure.  Who's going?" he asked,
attempting to twirl a pencil in his hand.

	"You, me," she counted on her fingers.
"Minako, Rei, Ami can't make it.  Said something
about studying." She shook her head.  "I don't know
about that girl."

	He only smiled.

	"Makoto's coming and Seiya."

	"Seiya?" The pencil fell to the floor.

	"Yeah, we were planning on treating him out."

	He fell silent.

	"Mamo-chan . . . He's a my friend.  Onegai, for
me?"


^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^


	"He agreed to go, but it was uncomfortable, to
say the least.  The tension was so thick, you could
have cut it with a knife.  Things didn't get any
better.  We kept fighting until one day, everything
just blew up."  She shuddered.  "It was horrible."


^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^


	"Hey," he began casually.  "I tried calling
you.  Where were you?"

	"Oh, I was out shopping.  I got the cutest top.
Here," she said excitedly, rummaging through her bag.
"Look."  She held it up, smiling but lowered it again
her smile fading as well, noticing his dark
expression.

	"With who?"

	Usagi closed her eyes and ran a hand through
her hair.  "Omigod.  No.  NO!  I am not having this
conversation again!"

	"I just asked with who."

	"With Seiya, if you must know." She stuffed the
shirt back into the bag angrily.

	"He still likes you."

	"No, he doesn't!  And even if he did, what
would you expect me to do?  Stop seeing him because
of it?"

"Well, what _would_ you do?  Would you stop his
advances?"

	"What are you implying?" Usagi asked vividly.

	Mamoru only looked back at her heatedly.

	"He's a friend!  A _friend_!  Why is that so
hard for you to understand?  I'm not giving that up
just because _you_ have issues!  Do you not
understand the concept of having friends even after
all this time?!?"



^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^


	"You lost me," Jiro said, sitting back in his
chair.

	"Mamoru . . . Mamoru grew up in an orphanage.
He led a pretty secluded life.  He . . . He didn't
have many friends."

	"Usagi," Kiyoshi reprimanded, frowning at the
guilty girl.

	"I _know_!" She stood and started pacing,
upset.  "I know I shouldn't have said it; it just
came out!  I couldn't help it!  I was so angry at
him."


^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

	Mamoru was silent.

	"I didn't mean that," she tried gently,
horrified at her words.

	He clenched his teeth and stared at her hard.

	"Mamo-chan, please, I'm sorry-"

	He turned around and walked away swiftly.

	Tears began to form.  "Wait!"


^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^


	She had tears in her eyes.

Her audience had long ago stopped eating,
entranced by the tale.

	She shook her head from side to side, sniffling
as she spoke.  "I tried to apologize.  But then it
got even worse."


^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^


	"Hey, Usagi-chan."

	She sniffled.  "Hi, Seiya."

	She accepted the tissue he offered and blew her
nose.

	"I'm sorry about everything."

	"It's not your fault.  I shouldn't have said
the things I did."

	"But my coming here-" He shook his head.  "I
could have tried to be nicer to him."

	She attempted to smile.  "Please don't feel
bad."

	He sat down next to her.  "I'm leaving today."

	"Oh!" A hand covered her mouth.  "I completely
forgot!  Oh, Seiya, I'm sorry!  This probably wasn't
the best vacation."

	"It was fun, Usagi-chan," he reassured her.

	They hugged tightly.

	Seiya drew back and wiped Usagi's tears with
his thumbs.  He kissed her forehead lightly and she
smiled her thanks, sniffling again.

	She looked up into his eyes.  She was startled
to find them gazing at her so intently. She tried to
draw back abruptly.  "Sei-"

	"Shh."  He drew her to him again.  He brushed
her hair away from her face.

	"I KNEW IT!!!"

	The two drew away abruptly and Usagi jumped up
to find Mamoru standing 20 feet away.  Angry and
betrayed, muttering choice words under his breath.

	"Mamo-chan!"

	He shook his head slowly.  Darkly he said in a
low, sinister voice, "Don't ever call me that again."

	He spun on his heel and started away.

	Usagi ran after him.  "I didn't do anything!"

	"Well, you didn't stop him either, did you?"

	"Stop him from doing what?  He didn't _do_
anything!"

	"He was going to!"

	"Mamoru, please!  Nothing happened!  Nothing
was going to happen!  I wouldn't have let it!" She
tried desperately to convince him.  "You have to stop
being so jealous!"

	"I'm not jealous!" he thundered.  "And I'm not
blind either.  I know what I saw!  Stop trying to
blame this on me!"

	"I'm not trying to blame you!"  God, when had
everything gone so wrong?  "I'm just saying you need
to calm down," she said, attempting to calm her own
disoriented emotions.  "You're overreacting.  Why
can't you see?  I love you too much to hurt you!"

	"_I'M_ overreacting?  I catch you about to kiss
another guy, and _I'M_ overreacting?!?!  I can't
believe I never saw it!" He ranted and raved,
ignoring her last statement.  "I should have known!
I should have seen this coming!"

	Usagi was crying by then.  'No!  NO!  This
can't be happening!  It can't!'

	"How could you do this to me?  I thought I
could trust you!  I thought I could love you!"

	She looked up at him, distressed.

	"But I was wrong."  He looked at her darkly.

	"Iie!  Mamo-chan, NO!"

	"I can't love somebody like you.  Somebody who
hurts and lies.  Somebody as deceiving as you!" he
yelled.

	He looked down for a moment and then raised his
head.  His bangs covered his dim, shadowed eyes.

	"I could never love you . . ."

	Time stopped.  Usagi not only felt, but she
heard her heart shatter.  She couldn't breathe.  Her
lips parted in shock, her eyes welled up in pain.
Her lower lip began to tremble.  "Iie.  I'm not like
that.  Onegai, you're . . . you're just upset."

	"Go away, Usagi.  Don't ever speak to me
again."


^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^


	"And he just . . . walked away," Usagi sniffed.
"It was horrible!"  Tears rolled down her cheeks.  "I
tried everything to contact him, but it didn't work.
Was it really my fault?" she asked tearfully, trying
to read their faces.  "I never intended to get him so
angry, demo . . . I was so mad at him for suspecting
Seiya.  I wanted to prove that Seiya was over me, so
I kept spending time with him.  And he never tried
anything, except for that last day."

	Usagi's chest heaved.  It hurt so much.  To
know she had driven away the man she loved.  To have
to live with that everyday and see him with someone
new.  It was heartbreaking.  The ache never went
away.

'It never will.'

	"Usagi," Jiro attempted, "it will be okay."

	"Iie; it won't," she said softly.  "It's been
half a year, more than!  And-" Her voice broke.
"He's found someone else."

	The four exchanged looks.  That didn't sound at
all like the prince they had once known.

	It was quiet.  Even the air was still.

	They didn't know what to say.

	Usagi took in breath of air to try to steady
herself.  Her hands swiped at her face quickly and
she sniffled.

	Abruptly, she took her dish to the kitchen,
just to have something to do.  She came back and her
four friends had not moved an inch.

	"I guess I should get going."

	Without waiting for a response, she headed
towards the door.  It clicked softly with her exit.

	The remaining could do nothing else, except
sit, and stare, and wonder.


^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^


	It was late.  Usagi was emotionally and
mentally wiped out.  Questions flew through her mind.

	'What do they think of me?  Should I have told
them?  Will they forgive me?  Or will they be like
him?  Will they just leave, like all the others?  Do
they understand?  Did they at least try to see it
from my point of view?  Is it all my fault?'

	On the bus ride home, she could hardly wait to
go home and snuggle under her blankets.  'With a
teddy bear.  Or a bunny.  Yep, that's all I need:
some warm blankets and a bunny to cuddle with,' Usagi
thought tiredly, looking very much forward to going
home.

	Lost in her thoughts, Usagi was fairly
oblivious to everything else that was going on around
her.  Hence, she failed to notice the two men
gesturing at her when she got off the bus . . .


~ ~ ~ End ~ ~ ~


Author's Notes:

	A) Yes, I know I'm evil.

	B) Yes, I _do_ realize I'm going to hell.

	C) But not yet, because I have to finish this
story first.

	D) I am very, very, VERY, VERY sorry about the
tardiness of this chapter.  And for the fact that it
is not even a full chapter.  AND for the, uh, slight
cliffhanger at the end.  Gomen nasai.  =(  (refer to
A & B)

	E) PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE be patient with me.
I already know I won't have a chapter or even half a
chapter out next week.  (Again, A & B)

	F) I write very well when I'm depressed.  I
started this story during a rather low period in my
life.  Depression and angst are good for my writing.
Bad for HoNeY, good for writing.  And to be perfectly
honest, life has been good lately.  (==> bad for
writing)  So, if this wasn't really up to par, I do
apologize.  What can I say?  I'm happy!  =P

	G) THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to:
		Rachel
		Lunarbard
		Amy
		Silver Star Moon
		Aisuru-chan
		And Amy again - I think it's another Amy
(Amy @ home), but I'm not completely sure.
	Thank you for emailing me during my, uh,
absence and encouraging me to work on 'Life.'  Thank
you for reminding me, quite nicely (and YES, they
were nice about it), that some people were waiting
for this next part.
	Also, thanks to Tsuki Chibi Kari, who managed
to catch me on AOLIM, and who made me feel quite
guilty about not getting anything out recently.  =(
Thanks for _making_ me promise to have SOMETHING out
by this week.

	H) Another thank you to some mysterious person
who nominated for 'A Moonlit Eclipse.'  It's a
wonderful page and the stories are some of the best I
have ever read.  I was informed by a fan about the
nomination and do not know who actually nominated me,
but whoever you are, thank you.  It's a great honor
for me - even though I didn't get in - that you like
my work that much.  Thank you again.

	I) Even though it's belated: MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
I hope it was pleasant, with lots of fun and food and
sleep and love (yeah, I guess that love thing's
important too - heehee).  And I wish you all a HAPPY
NEW YEAR!!!  Make it bomb, people!!!  ~_^

	J) I think that's all.  I'm sorry again.  Thank
you again.  If you didn't like this half chapter:
join the club.  If you for some strange reason did:
EMAIL ME!!!!  Email good for HoNeY.  VERY encouraging
*hint*hint*  Thank for reading!  Happy Holidays!
*MUAH*

	K) CIAO!!!!!!!!

HoNeY
hnymustd@hotmail.com
hunilove01
12/26/00