TITLE: I'LL ALWAYS BE HERE - Part 10 - AUTHOR: FurBall E-MAIL: Fur.Ball@mailcity.com RATED: PG-13 AUTHOR'S NOTES: Hi Minna here you go chapter ten of my fanfic. I know its long but please bear with me its about to be finished just hold on a little bit more!!! Thanks again to all those people who supported me all through out this fic. As you can see I'm posting this up with chapter nine. I was able to finish it in time to be posted up with the chapter before!!! Stef-chan if you're reading this, thanks for the support!!! Guys you really need to read her fic Final Awakenings its really good!!! ~.....~ thoughts (*....*) Author's Notes DISCLAIMERS: Sailormoon and the other characters are NOT MINE! SO PLEASE DON'T SUE ME! although the some places, characters and incidences are mine, any similarities with other fanfics are purely coincidental! "I know our love's forever... I know no matter what..." - "No Matter What" by Boyzone- /*****/////*****/////*****/////*****/////*****/////*****/////*****/ "Tuxedo Kamen!!!" They could hardly believe their eyes, here was the person who they thought gave up hope in finding and rescuing their friend. "What..?" Mars started to ask when Tuxedo Kamen shook his head. "Later!! Right now we have to retreat and rethink our strategy!!!" He called out, holding the precious bundle tightly in his arms. If he had been a few seconds later Chibi-Usa would have been killed. His eyes hardened at that thought and looked up at the woman floating before him. "Usako..." He whispered. Turning back to the others, he nodded "Sailor Mercury!!!" he called as he jumped down from his perch. He landed next to Mars, "Come on!!! Just follow me!!!" He called, just as Sailor Mercury called out the attack. Using the mist they escaped to safety. /***************/ Landing on his balcony, Tuxedo Kamen waited for the others to do the same before pushing the sliding doors open. "So are you not going to tell us why this sudden turn about?" Mars asked sarcastically. Mamoru turned to look at her and nodded at the sleeping Chibi-Usa in his arms. "Would you mind I placed her in bed first?" he asked, and without waiting for an answer went to his bedroom and gently laid Chibi-Usa on his bed. He touched the broach on Chibi-Usa's chest and detransformed her. He took off her shoes and covered her with a blanket, kissing her forehead in turn. With one last look he left her. Entering his living room, he saw that the girls made themselves at home and powered down at the same time. Tossing his top hat and mask on a nearby table, Mamoru felt a semblance of himself, before facing four angry girls. "Would you mind if I made a coffee for myself first before you question me?" Mamoru asked dryly making his way towards the kitchen. "Why not we ask you the questions while you do?" Rei asked from her position on the couch. "Typical of you Rei." Mamoru said as he placed a small amount of freshly ground coffee into the coffee maker. A few seconds of charged silence followed that comment. Makoto cleared her throat and looked at Mamoru's broad back from her position near the kitchen doorway. "So why did you suddenly change your mind in looking for Usagi-chan?" She asked. Mamoru glanced at her and turned to watch the steady flow of black coffee. "Let's just say someone, came to me and told me what might happen if I don't." he said as he took the brewed coffee from its pot. He got a mug from the cupboard and poured. Then returned the pot to the warmer. Ami and Minako glanced at each other and said nothing. "And who might that person be? Your future self perhaps?" Rei asked, heatedly getting worked up by the minute. Mamoru turned then and looked at Rei, he regarded the girl silently for a few minutes. Sure he knew Rei and Usagi would come to blows all the time, but her love for her was like that of a sister, he couldn't blame her for getting angry but it was getting on his nerves. "No, it was not my future self who told me that." Mamoru countered quietly, sipping his coffee. "Then pray tell who did." Rei said, glaring at him. "Rei stop that!" Ami scolded. Rei turned at her, "Ami, you want to know why he suddenly wanted to look for her again after not helping us for the past few days..." "Yes, I do too," Ami said then turned to Mamoru. "But he won't be able to if you keep inturupting him." "But Ami..." Rei started again. "Rei shut-up!!" Minako said unable to stay silent anymore. Rei glared at her but did as she was told. "You were saying?" Makoto asked Mamoru but was looking angrily at Rei. Mamoru stared down at his mug, "Yeah, as I was saying it wasn't my future self who told me what might happen if we don't resolve this." He grimced, and amended "if I don't resolve this, it would be desaster. And the one who told me this was someone else, someone who has more authority with Time and Space." This brought all heads to his direction, It was Ami who voiced out their disbelief and dread. "You don't mean..." Mamoru nodded and answered them. "It was Sailor Pluto." /*************/ "Those girls and that kid who were they?" Usagi asked as she and Akira walked through the corridors that led to the throne room. Akira glanced at her, and grinned. "They are what we call obstacles in our purpose, to put it mildly." "Why not trying to call them pain in the..." Usagi started to say when they had reached the throne room. "Hush... Come on we need to talk to the queen." Akira said as he pulled Usagi with him. Usagi pouted prettily at him. Akirs couldn't resist but giving her a kiss on her lips. "Now behave." Akira whispered in her ear, as they approached the throne. The two stopped in front of the throne and bowed deeply to their queen. The queen acknowledged them in return. "Well, how did it go?" She asked as she stroked the black panther's back, beside her. "It went well, except for our encounter with the Sailor Seishis." Akira reported to his queen. The queen stopped stroking the panther's back and regarded him quietly. "Did they ruin our operation then?" "No, your majesty it didn't, it was all because of Usagi here." Akira said gesturing to the girl beside him. The queen turned interested eyes on the quiet girl beside her general. "Is that so?" She asked Usagi. Usagi curtsied and smiled saying nothing, for her smile said it all. The queen smiled in return. "Good, Good." She said. "Then it is time for the last stage of our little show is it not?" The queen said as she stood up, looking meaningfully at Akira, her eyes conveying a message to her general. Dawning came into Akira's eyes and glanced at the girl beside him. He smiled at his queen understanding what she meant. "Yes, your majesty we are nearing the last stages of our little show." He said, as he bowed again. Oblivious to the look that passed between her queen and Akira, Usagi bowed low at her queen and followed Akira from the throne room. /*****************/ "Oh god, No!!" Ami whispered shaking her head. Makoto stood stunned near Mamoru. "You mean she actually told you in a dream?" she asked Mamoru hoarsely not believing him. Mamoru shook his head as he looked over the four stunned girls. "No, she didn't tell me in a dream she told me." He clarified. "You mean she spoke to you?" Makoto asked. Mamoru nodded. "Yes, she did." Silence reigned in the apartment. If the Seishi of Time actually spoke to Mamoru this means that what was happening now is serious enough to distort the future that must come to pass. And when that happens it's a major problem for all of them. Rei broke the silence. "Mamoru, I'm asking you to tell us what she told you." Mamoru arched an eyebrow on Rei's tone but said nothing, instead told them what Sailor Pluto told him the night before. "She said that if I don't help you, if I don't do anything about it. The future as we know it will not come to pass, instead chaos will reign." Mamoru said looking at the coffee mug in his hand. Setsuna had spoken to him more, but he didn't think that the girls need to hear it. No one said anything after that statement. No one can voice out their horror. Ami couldn't take the silence any longer, she spoke up for once. "Is that all? Is that all she said to you? Is that what it took to convince you to help us?" Mamoru regarded her and said, "No, it wasn't that. It was something else but you don't have to know what it was, or what they were for that matter." then took another sip of coffee. "And why is that?" Rei asked sarcastically, the other girls looked at her murderously. "Rei!! Enough!!!" Makoto said, getting angry with the priestess by the minute. "Yeah Rei, Shut up!!!" Minako said. Rei started to protest, but remained silent, when Makoto looked meaningfully at her. "Alright, we won't go there anymore. It's enough that we know that you are now willing to help us locate Usagi-chan. So what do we do now?" Ami asked Mamoru. "What we do now is to take a rest. You girls need it. I'll take care of Chibi-Usa." he held up a hand when Ami started to say something. "No, its not what you think. I'm not going back from my word in helping you. But if we will do this now, you'll not have enough strenght to do battle with those youma's again. Heaven knows you girls need it." Looking at Usagi's friends, he realized that Setsuna was right he had to battle his ghosts in order to help save not only, the world's future but also his. "I'd like to apologize with how I acted this past few days." Mamoru said. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I guess you could say I was out of it. I just couldn't understand myself why I acted that way either. At least now, you could say I came to my senses." He gave a small tentative smile. "Yeah, you've come to your senses. As they say better late then never." Ami said, smiling for the first time. Makoto cocked her head to the side and gave Mamoru, a pat on the arm. "Apology, accepted Mamoru. Just be sure in the future this won't happen again. I don't think anyone of us could stand it." "Yeah, I for one can't take the strain." Minako winced. Rei looked at Mamoru and stood up. "They may have forgiven you Mamoru, But I still reserve judgement." with that said she left the apartment without even saying goodbye. Ami stared at the door, after Rei's abrupt departure. "That girl, really needs to cool off once in a while." Mamoru was also looking at the door, and shrugged. "If she wasn't like that, She wouldn't be Rei wouldn't she?" /*********************/ After the girls left, Mamoru changed back into his normal self and took a shower. He entered his room to check on Chibi-Usa to make sure she was alright. She was sleeping on her side clutching a pillow tightly in her arms. Mamoru sat down beside her and brushed away a wayward strand of hair form her forehead. He gazed at her sleeping face that was so much like Usagi's. He tenderly pulled the blanket to her chin to ward off the cool air. As he gazed at the little girl, thoughts of what happened the night before when Setsuna came to him drifted into his mind. /********/ Mamoru entered his apartment tiredly after a grueling day at school. He tossed his books on the hall table, took off his shoes and padded towards his kitchen. He got out a carton of juice from the fridge and a glass from the cupboard and poured himself a glass which he drank thirstily and poured himself another. After doing so he replaced the carton of juice and made his way towards the balcony. He felt drained, his whole day was haunted by the look of his future daughter's face when she heard him say that he couldn't help find her future mother, or how she froze up on him when he tried to explain his situation. He hadn't wanted to hurt her, but that was what he ended up doing. He was angry with himself that he did that to her. Mamoru sighed and took a drink of his juice, and started thinking again. He felt that he was betraying Usagi's trust that he wasn't do everything in his power to help, her. But for the life of him, he couldn't understand why he wasn't making an effort in looking for her. What frustrated him more was that, he wasn't feeling a least bit guilty about it. He tensed, when he felt a sudden prescence behind him. "Your highness, do not be alarmed 'tis only me." said a husky voice. He relaxed visibly and turned to look at the person behind him. "It's been a long time, Setsuna." He said quietly. "Your highness." greeted, the Seishi of Time, while kneeling before him. "So what brings you here?" Mamoru asked as he straightened and went to his couch to sit down. He gestured for Setsuna to stand up, which she in turn obeyed, and came to her feet, to stand before her future king. "I have come to tell you grave news, if this continues to go on." She said without looking at him. Mamoru stiffened at that and looked at his glass of juice. "What is this grave news you want to tell me then?" he asked quietly, as he carefully placed the glass on the coffee table in front of him. Setsuna then looked up at him, "If this continues, the peaceful future as we know it will not come to pass, but instead chaos will reign." She said gravely. Mamoru remained silent. Setsuna took that as a chance to speak more freely, "Please your highness, whatever it is that is holding you back from looking for Her highness, don't let it hinder you from looking for her. I know that you want to, but something is holding you back. I want you to put that aside and start to look for her and help the sailor seishi with this fight." She said looking at the silent Mamoru. "Your not helping is making a great rift in the timeline. If you do not do something soon this rift will widen and the whole future will be rewritten. Whatever is stopping you, hindering you, from looking for Princess Serenity, is creating a great havok in all what must come pass." "Setsuna, I don't know if I can." Mamoru told the Seishi of Time. It was difficult for him to tell her that, for she holds the key to the past, present and future. "Your highness you know more than I do that what hinders you is something that you yourself have to fight, as they say it's your ghost. If you don't fight it it would always haunt you, even if you ignore it now it will still come up in the near future. It will be even more harder to fight, it is better to fight it now and win, than to fight it later and lose." Setsuna told him. Mamoru at looked at the Seishi of Time, desperation, hurt, anger and sorrow swirling in his eyes. He then looked away, placing his elbows on his knees, looked at his hands instead. "I know what your saying is true. Lord, knows I know its true. But I can't do it. For the life of me I don't know why!!! Setsuna, it scares the hell out of me saying this to you, of all people, but I don't know to whom I should turn to now. Without Usagi to talk to. Without her... I just don't know what to do." Mamoru said. Burying his face in his hands, as his shoulder slumped in dispair. Setsuna turned away from the hurt and fear she heard in his voice. She knew how much Mamoru loved Usagi that he had made her the center of his very existence, of his very life. It may have been good to others, but for him it back fired, his deep love for Usagi was making him doubt the girl's love for him. With him losing his parents at a very young age and not having felt the love of a mother or a father, he had hungered for love all his life. And when he saw it, found it with Usagi he poured everything, leaving him vulnerable to hurt, rejection and doubt. Setsuna didn't know what to tell him, what he should do to fight his own ghosts. But she had to try, for the future of the world and for his as well. As the Seishi of Time, she cannot say anymore than what she has said already. If she would help him now she would ultimately bring about a more heavier consequence in the future. What has to be done, must be done by the man before her. "I do not know, what I can say to convince you. But know this, the more you prolong this inactivity, the more you will not have the future you wanted." Setsuna said, as she prepared to leave. "You may not know it, but what you are doing has its effects in the future even as we speak." Mamoru looked up at that, "What do you mean?" he whispered. Setsuna opened a portal, before answering him. "You will never have the wife or the child you so long. Even now," she said sadly, "Chibi-Usa is slowly being erased from her existance in the future." /*****************/ Sighing, over remembered thoughts, Mamoru gazed at his future daughter. He told himself to stop regreting his actions, instead do what he can to atone for what he had already done. Gazing down at his future daughter, Mamoru promised himself that he would now really help in looking for his Usako. Not only for his sake but also for the daughter he would have. He was about to leave, when Chibi-Usa shifted, her face grimicing in pain. She then started to shimmer and fade before his eyes. Panicked, Mamoru hauled the little girl in his arms, cradling her and tried to hold onto her at the same time. Chibi-Usa struggled in her sleep seemingly in pain. "Chibi-Usa? Chibi-Usa?!" Mamoru said hoarsely. Shaking the little girl awake. Chibi-Usa opened sleep-pain filled eyes up at Mamoru. Seeing her father's beloved face Chibi-Usa smiled. "Papa? What is it? What's wrong?" She asked touching his face. "You're...You're..." Mamoru chocked back on the words as tears started to clogged his throat. He hugged the fading little girl tightly. Chibi-Usa understood what he couldn't say. "It's okay papa. It will be alright. Its just going to last a minute. Then I'll be alright again." She said comforting her father. Mamoru couldn't believe, his daughter would say such mature things to him. She was just ten years old, She should not have been burden with so much pain. If he could just bear it for her he would. Tears stung his eyes as he held them back. "Chibi-Usa..." He whispered holding his future daughter as tight as he could. Within moments, Chibi-Usa stopped fading and returned back to normal. Mamoru sighed with relief and cradled his daughter. She was pale after the ordeal, proof that her life force was beginning to disappear. "See," Chibi-Usa said trying to smile. "I told you it wouldn't last." "So you did." Mamoru said forcing a smile, as fear still gripped him. Laying her back down, Mamoru brushed a hand against her wet brow. "Go to sleep now, Chibi-Usa. You need to rest." He said as he kissed her forehead. His eyes still misty from tears he refused to shed infront of his child. "I'll just be in the living room if you need me okay?" Mamoru said standing up. His voice rough with unshed tears. "Okay. Good night, papa." Chibi-Usa whispered as she started to drift into sleep once again. Mamoru smiled at that and whispered. "Good night, Chibi-Usa." /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/ "Okay so now what do we do?" Ami asked as she fiddled with her computer. They were at Rei's living room. Thinking of what would be their next step, they hadn't any clue as to where their enemy's hideout is. They never had this much problem when they were fighting with Beryl. Her sister now proved to be more formidable. "Now we try, to lure them out and let them lead us to their hide out." Mamoru said as he sat cross legged on the floor. Chibi-Usa was leaning against him for support. What happened last night drained more then they thought and she was too weak to stand. Mamoru was half bent to let her stay at home and rest, but like her mother Chibi-Usa stubbornly refused and went with him to the meeting. "And how are we supposed to do that?" Makoto asked from her perch on the window. Swining her legs from left to right, she bit into a cookie she brought with her to the meeting. "That would be the tricky part. We need some bait to lure them out. Otherwise this won't work." Mamoru said. "That's kind of hard to do don't you think?" Ami asked as she looked up from what she was doing. "Actually it is. But if you have anymore idea's, that's the best I could think of." Mamoru replied, leaning back bracing himself on two hands. No one said anything for a moment, as they thought of a more better plan than the one Mamoru was suggesting. "How about if we try another fire reading?" This coming from Minako. the other's turned expectantly at Rei who was silent ever since Mamoru showed up for the meeting. She was still seething in anger and couldn't help but to keep silent. Now that the question was directed to her, she glanced up and shrugged. "What good would that do. The last time it didn't show anything, why would it be any different now?" She asked. "The difference would be that we could use Mamoru's link with Usagi as a catalyst for finding her." Ami said looking hard at the girl. "Ami, you forget, he said he dosen't feel any link with her now. Don't you remember?" Rei said meeting her gaze. "So, how in the world would that be a catalyst if he couldn't, as he put it, feel her anymore?" "That maybe so, but I do love Usagi, that could help don't you think?" Mamoru said as he looked at the priestess. Rei turned toward him, anger blazing in her eyes. "Love her? Ha! Don't make me laugh Mamoru, I don't think you ever did love her." Mamoru's eyes turned cold, as he stiffened at the verbal blow Rei gave him. Chibi-Usa said nothing and hugged her father instead. Charged silence followed that comment. No one said a word. "Mock me all you want, Rei. But what I say is true. I do love Usagi. I may have acted like a jerk this past few days that proved otherwise. But don't say I didn't love her because I did and still do!!!" Mamoru said heatedly. He was really getting angry by the minute he didn't know how long he can keep himself from getting at Rei. "Mamoru really you'd think..." Rei started to say when Mamoru exploded. "Rei, I don't know what has gotten into you but your making it hard for me to really understand you!!!" Mamoru said nearly shouting. He calmed himself down by hugging Chibi-Usa. The others listened silently at the two. They all knew Rei had to release all her anger now or they won't get anything done. "What's gotten into me?! You dare to ask me that when for the past few days your the one who wasn't making any moves to look for Usagi!!!" Rei shouted angrily. "My god! Now you expect me to believe that you love Usagi? Hah!! don't make me laugh. They," She said gesturing to the other girls, "May have forgiven you but I haven't yet. I'll believe you when I see it with my own eyes that you really are determined to look for her this time." Mamoru looked at her then. "You want to see how determined I am? Then do a fire reading." Mamoru said quietly his anger subsiding. "And If I don't see that your determined?" Rei asked challengedly. "Then you can say it in my face once again that I didn't love Usagi at all." To Be Continued...... /*****/////*****/////*****/////*****/////*****/////*****/////*****/////******/////*****/ Okay Minna!! that's it for now!!! Gomen if this came out late!!! Chapter 11 is coming out next week please bear with me okay? I promise not to let you down again!!! Gomen!!! Okay guys you know I want emails!!! *grins* Ja Ne!! Minna!!! =)