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Wow! I've gotten a ton of response from this story!
I'm so glad everyone's enjoying it! I've really
tried to make it something different. Gomen nasai
if it's a little depressing for some of you. ^^;;
There will be one or two more chapters after this
one...haven't decided yet, since I don't know exactly
how long it will be. This chapter is pretty short.
Sorry about that! ^^;;

Moonlit Eclipse's message board is now serving as
a posting forum for fanfiction! Yes, it's still a
place to come and chat...but now you can post your
work as well! Plus, we've got some nifty posting
levels that are a ton of fun. Moonlit Eclipse's
first RPG will be starting shortly. You can join
the mailing list to hear about dates and such. Also,
joining the mailing list will enable you to hear
about new chapters.

http://www.geocities.com/moonlit_eclipse/

Happy reading!

Love,
Aimee-chan

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Tuxedo Mirage
By Aimee

Chapter Three

	Usagi started crying after the first two
sentences had escaped Mamoru's lips. Two salty
trails traced down her pale cheeks as she listened
in silence, her eyes soft yet pained, her heart
shattered. For once in her life, she wished that
Mamoru and his parents had indeed gotten into a
car accident on his sixth birthday. At least then...
then he would still wonder if maybe he'd been loved.
But this...

	Her face crumpled, and another quiet sob
shook her chest.

	Mamoru hadn't shed a single tear as he
vocalized his tale for the second time in his life,
but his voice wavered occasionally, teetering on a
thin line between control and emotional breakdown.
In years past, he had practiced what he would say
to her should he ever gain the courage, and only
occasionally did he allow himself to stray from the
practiced speech as he told her of his childhood.
Those were the times when his voice wavered. And
those were the only times when Usagi was able to
detect even a hint of emotion in his story. Not once
did he explain how he felt inside while all of this
was going on. It was alluded to, but never vocalized.
Usagi did not prod. She could only imagine what the
child had gone through.

	When the last sentence was uttered, thick
silence flooded the room. Mamoru glanced up at her
from beneath thick eyelashes, his face taunt and
pale. "I don't want you to think you have to pity
me...or apologize for what they did. I'm the one
who should be apologizing. To you. I'm so...*so*
very sorry, Usako. You never deserved to be lied to."

	Her lips parted, but she remained speechless.
Usagi, in all her love for the man before her,
couldn't think of a single thing to say. Her heart
felt as though it were about to shatter into a million
pieces.

	Mamoru reached up to gently wipe away her
tears with the back of his hand. "Sweetheart, I'm
so sorry," he said with a heavy heart. "I didn't
mean to upset you."

	"Mamo-chan..." she whispered, more tears
escaping her eyes with every blink.

	His chest shrunk down as a long breath was
expelled slowly. "Please don't cry, angel," he
whispered, face crumpling with threatening emotions
that he didn't want to acknowledge. "I'm sorry. I
always mess everything up."

	Usagi blinked. "Mess everything up? What do
you mean? You...you don't actually think that what
your father did to you was your fault...do you?"

	He ran his fingers through his hair in a
nervous habit he'd had for years, and his eyes
avoided hers. "Let's put it this way," he began
slowly, choosing his words carefully. "I *know*
deep down that it isn't my fault...yet I still
struggle with believing it."

	She shook her head unbelievingly. "But how
could you possibly be to blame? In any conceivable
way?"

	"He never liked me, Usako. Never," he muttered
darkly. "Even before he knew the truth about what
Isabelle had done, he hated me. Obviously there's
something wrong with me...or something that I did
wrong."

	Usagi cupped his face with both hands,
bringing his downcast countenance to meet her
alarmed face. "There is nothing...*nothing* wrong
with you. If anything, there was something wrong
with him...because I don't think anyone but a
deranged madman could physically harm a child and
do the things he did to you. You are *unspeakably*
precious to me, Mamo-chan. I would do anything for
you. Lie, steal, cheat...even die if I had to. If
I didn't have you, I would have never known what
true happiness was. Or how it felt to be complete."
Her voice thinned and rose as a wave of emotion
took over her. "If there is someone so completely
idiotic out there, who can't see what an absolutely
incredible person you are, then they are *blind*.
More than that, they don't deserve you. They *don't
deserve* you."

	Mamoru's face had fallen downcast throughout
her speech, unable to keep gazing into her intense
blue eyes that bore into his own. They shamed him...
though he didn't know why. "I don't deserve *you*,
Usako," he whispered.

	"You're right," she responded with a smile
and a bit of a chuckle, once again lifting his chin
up so that his gaze met hers. "You deserve much
better. But I'll try to make you happy in the mean-
time."

	"That's not what I meant, and you know it,"
he argued underneath his breath, slightly annoyed
that she would even think such a thing. "And you
do make me happy. You don't even have to try."

	"But are you truly happy, Mamo-chan?"

	He sighed. "Sometimes. You're by far the
brightest object in my life. You give me joy I've
never known."

	"But you still need more, don't you? No,
it's okay, Mamo-chan. I understand. We all need
the love of a parent. It's different than the love
of a mate. But there's something that I'm not
understanding. If Edward isn't your real father...
then who is?"

	Mamoru's face tightened slightly, the line
of his jaw becoming more defined. "I don't know."
His voice was angry...bitter...the voice he'd used
when addressing his mother...a voice that said he
knew he was being mistreated and cheated out of what
he deserved, but he was being forced and expected
to withstand any pain that might accompany the fact
regardless.

	"You...you don't know?" Usagi gaped. "Your
mother won't tell you?"

	"Isabelle is still trying to convince every-
one that Edward truly *is* my father," he explained,
rubbing his aching temple absently.

	"Still? But the evidence!"

	"I know..."

	"It's ridiculous!"

	"I know...I know..." he muttered unhappily.
"They even did a paternity test a few years ago."

	"And...?" she prompted.

	"Negative," Mamoru responded, missing the
sigh of relief Usagi let out. "Edward is most
assuredly not my father."

	"Thank God!" she spat out bitterly. "I might
kill the sleaze-ball if he weren't already de-" She
caught herself before saying the last word, seeing
the way that Mamoru's jaw tightened when Edward's
death was mentioned. But Chiba Edward *was* dead. The
funeral was the next day, in fact. He was a horrible,
cruel man, and though Usagi felt it was wrong, she was
secretly glad that he was gone...so that he couldn't
hurt Mamoru any longer. But why was Mamoru so upset
and sensitive about the subject? Wasn't he glad to
be rid of his abuser? Then something dawned on Usagi
that she hadn't considered before.

	"I'm sorry, Mamo-chan," she whispered,
reaching to touch his arm lightly. "I shouldn't
have said that. I'm getting the impression that you
still think of him as your father."

	Mamoru's empty gaze fell to the soft hand
that moved absently over his skin, comforting him
without really even trying. "He's the only father
I've ever known, Usako."

	Tears threatened to spill over onto her
cheeks at his words. She bit her lip, trying to keep
them at bay. "That's not what fathers are supposed
to be like at all..."

	"I know that, angel," he responded, reaching
out to touch her cheek gently, knowing she was close
to tears once again. "Do you remember when Chibi-Usa
was first with us? Before we realized that she was
our child in the future? All we knew her to be was a
little girl who was in trouble...who was without her
parents at the time. I wanted to be to her what I
never had. She was all by herself here...just like I
was when I was her age."

	A slight smile pulled at Usagi's lips.
Closing her eyes, she embraced him, staying in his
arms for a long while before she spoke. "You're
going to be a wonderful father. I have no doubt in
my mind."

	"Do you think so?" he whispered into her
hair.

	She nodded thoughtfully. "You're kind in
heart, slow to anger, patient, loving. I feel
honored knowing that one day, you're going to be
the father of my children."

	Mamoru's eyes closed almost on their own,
trying to soak in what she'd just said. Was that
truly how she saw him? Those were the very qualities
he felt that he did not possess, and he constantly
strove to attain them and secure them as part of
his character. And Usagi, the person he trusted
most in the world, the person who would never lie
to him, had just told him something that was so
important to him. Reaching to cup her face in his
hands, he let his own gaze burn into hers. "I'm the
one who's honored...to know someone like you. You
bless me. I love you, Usako. More than my life.
Thank you."

	A sweet smile shone over her face through
the tears. "I love you, too, Mamo-chan."

	He hesitated, gazing thoughtfully at her
features, seeing the genuineness and sincerity that
was there. It touched him deeply, and he didn't even
attempt to keep the smile at bay. "I believe you,"
he whispered, feeling something break inside his
heart...soaring into freedom.

	Usagi almost frowned in perplexity at the
sound of his whispered confession but caught herself
in time. Hadn't he believed that she loved him before?
Not for six years? Never mind six years-they'd loved
each other for a millennium! But though she was
confused and concerned, Usagi returned the smile he
offered and let herself be pulled into his warm embrace.

	As their lips met, she thought to herself,
'The past doesn't matter. What does matter is that
he now realizes and understands that I do love him...
and that I would never leave him. Never.'

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Yes yes...very short, I know, but I wrote *something*,
didn't I? Be happy! I've been quite stretched lately.
Writing has taken the backseat. ^^;; I'm trying, though,
and hopefully, I'll have the next installment out by
next week.

Write me! E-mail good!

sailor_moon89@hotmail.com
http://www.geocities.com/moonlit_eclipse/

Love,
Aimee-chan